I’m curious about this. I’m no expert by any measure, but I’ve been in the hobby for a very long time. I’ve seen some absolutely stellar advice (not just from the big names, from everyday reefers) as well as, let’s just say absolute rubbish to be polite. What’s the best and worst advice you’ve ever received? Please don’t throw people under the bus (maybe they were honestly trying).
best advice I’ve ever received…..and I really only say it’s the best as it hits me the most often. Is when things go awry, step back, relax, think, and don’t jump into Superman mode trying to save everything. Bad things happen and you’ll only make them worse by jumping in with quick fixes. It’s hard for me, as when something does change, my first instinct is to fix it. I’m constantly having to step back and adjust my attitude.
worst advice…man there’s a lot, I’m going back a ways, but I once had a clear for life uniquarium (they were actually ahead of their time way back when as far as all in ones go) with the wet/dry trickle filter with plastic bio-balls….well the lfs knew I had that thing running for a long time and told me that everyone’s tanks were crashing from the bio-balls. They said it’s a ticking bomb that will explode and nuke your tank with nitrate. We’re advising everyone with plastic bio-balls to replace them with these ceramic balls (I don’t even think they had a name associated with them at the time, they were just loose in a bin and you were charged by the pound). You just remove the old, vacuum out the sump, and drop in the new balls. No need to rinse them or anything. You could probably guess what happened. Water instantly turned into a brown sand storm. I immediately pulled the fish out, but within 48 hours everything in the tank was dead.
best advice I’ve ever received…..and I really only say it’s the best as it hits me the most often. Is when things go awry, step back, relax, think, and don’t jump into Superman mode trying to save everything. Bad things happen and you’ll only make them worse by jumping in with quick fixes. It’s hard for me, as when something does change, my first instinct is to fix it. I’m constantly having to step back and adjust my attitude.
worst advice…man there’s a lot, I’m going back a ways, but I once had a clear for life uniquarium (they were actually ahead of their time way back when as far as all in ones go) with the wet/dry trickle filter with plastic bio-balls….well the lfs knew I had that thing running for a long time and told me that everyone’s tanks were crashing from the bio-balls. They said it’s a ticking bomb that will explode and nuke your tank with nitrate. We’re advising everyone with plastic bio-balls to replace them with these ceramic balls (I don’t even think they had a name associated with them at the time, they were just loose in a bin and you were charged by the pound). You just remove the old, vacuum out the sump, and drop in the new balls. No need to rinse them or anything. You could probably guess what happened. Water instantly turned into a brown sand storm. I immediately pulled the fish out, but within 48 hours everything in the tank was dead.
