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Tips, Tricks and Techniques -- the "gotchas", the
regrets, should've/could've, myths and misconceptions, ...
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The Big
Picture: Usually a "balancing act". Pros and cons. Very
few perfect solutions. Wide variations appear to "work", and
meticulous approaches and practices are known to fail (loss of
livestock, tank "crashes").
Murphys
Law can and will strike at anytime. Look at any all areas where
you are exposed.
If it can, water WILL leak or spill. The skimmer WILL
overflow.
Are you going on vacation for any extended time? Say, more
than 2 or 3 days? Think again.
Redundancy, fail-safe, fault tolerance, etc. is usually good.
But, some will install two heaters thinking that's
cheap insurance. You just DOUBLED your points of failure. A
heater stuck on can fry everything quickly.
Go one level bigger. Maybe a 36" tall stand vs. 30" to fit
everything in sump area. See Murphy's Law above.
And, if you do go bigger with your 2nd system (there WILL be a
2nd system), your equipment from system one might scale and be
usable in system two.
A bigger system means more water volume and more stability.
Temperature for example is not as likely to swing as rapidly in
a larger body of water.
But bigger is not always better -- for you. For example,
at a certain glass tank size, it will take two people to even
move an empty tank. Next sizes up might take 4 or even 6
people. Question: Can you reach the bottom of a 30"+ tall
tank sitting on a 36" tall stand? Doubtful. Will
your lighting penetrate the water to a depth of >24"?
Maybe not.
Sponges, clams, yellow leathers and gorgonians should NEVER be
exposed to air. After acclimation, don't take these animals out
of the shipping bag, rather submerge the bag into your aquarium,
and remove the animal from the bag. It's okay if a little of the
bag water gets into the tank. While still holding the bag
underwater, twist the top of the bag to seal it, and remove it
from the aquarium. Discard both the bag and the water.
Get a
refractometer to measure
specific gravity (salinity). <$50.
Blue and royal blue LEDs are significantly different from the
each other.
Too much live rock, or rock that is stacked so areas of one rock
cover another can cause dead spots and problems due to lack of
circulation.
It is very difficult to identify individual species of
Zoanthids, so you
will usually see them by their genus name, Zoanthus and a
creative description of their coloration.
Some Zoanthids contain the highly toxic,
palytoxin so handle with care.
When aquascaping with
live
rock, be careful to arrange and support to avoid a
crash. A cave-in could damage corals and scratch acrylic
or glass, and possibly even crack glass.
Consider seating the base of your live rock on the tank floor,
egg crate, or PVC supports. If placed on the sand, and the
sand was removed from underneath (by flow, or digging animals),
your rock work could give way and cave-in.
To remove coralline algae from a used tank, try vinegar.
Don't waste water by filling the entire tank. Lay it on
one side and treat one side at a time with a thin layer, full
strength. Rinse and repeat.
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