Things I wished I knew...........

H

HM3105

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Let's help share the knowledge we've accumulated over the years of keeping salt water tank!I'll go first and take the easiest. 1. KISS - Keep it simple silly. The reality is the more complexity you build into you system the more likely you are to be incorporating more points of failure. Always plan your system with the notion that things will fail, so reduce the number of things that can fail when you're planning it.
 
Test kits should be changed regularly.When buying something, think to yourself, can I use this on a larger/smaller system later on? If so, for what? Do the best to plan for the future. If you're planning to be in texas for a while and don't have a great A/C or cooled fish room, just buy a upsized chiller. Worth the purchase.Tank automation helps keep our hands out of the tank. More automation=more stabilityDon't be afraid to buy used gear! Saves loads and can get you what you're looking for, just takes some time. Major life support gear should be bought new and in quantities of two so when the first goes out (yes when, not if), you already have a replacement, never opened, NIB (new in box).Just a few that I can quickly think of.
 
+1 on KISS.  It's quite amazing how much filtration you can get from some live rock and a ball of chaeto.*Test your ^&*()(* water when you have problems.*Calibrate your test kits (then replace if needed).  Double check all questionable test results.Test your source water if you are having parameter issues.Stability is WAY more important than the actual value.Kalk doesn't work if you top off all at once (my method of top-off used to be pouring 1 liter of water in when my biocube went low.  This works fine for topping off, but the kalk just precipitates stuff out at that volume).Start doing things manually so you understand how they work, then only after getting it dialed in use automation.  For the beginner automation exists to make your life easier, but it doesn't generally give you capability you can't DIY.Captively propagated coral does better in your tank than wild stuff.
 
Don't chase numbers, get stable.Use good test kits. My favorites are Hanna for alkalinity, Salifert for everything else.
 
Get a RO unit as soon as u can. It will save your back from lugging water and it will save u money.It is one of the items u will say I cant believe I didn't buy it sooner.
 
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