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Rookie Mistakes


Jack-the-reefer

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Yesterday I did the dumbest reef related thing I've done since starting my first tank with tap water.

 

I was doing a peroxide dip on a zoa frag to kill some algae. Once the frag was back in the tank, I just dumped to bowl into the sump without even thinking about it. I probably dumped 1/4-1/2 cup of peroxide into a 40g tank. I didn't even realize what I had done til my anemones started shriveling up. I did big water change and I'm just hoping for the best now. I think everything is pulling through. I have a few sps pieces that are looking rough, but they've survived my stupidity before, so I'm hoping they can hold on for this one too.

 

It got me thinking though, as a non rookie, what is the dumbest thing you've done to your tank that you definitely should have known better.

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Yeah that's a decent amount of peroxide, but remember: people can (and do) use peroxide top spot treat algae in the tank. It's probably a bit more than typical, but I'd be surprised if it did any damage.

 

It's definitely a lot. The recommended dose for algae control is 1ml for every 10 gallons.

 

Everything looks pretty okay today. I have one tricolor acro that has totally lost color. I still see polyps though, so hopefully it will pull through.

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Sorry to hear that Jack. As far as dumb things, after 7 plus years of being in the hobby, I still can't consistently remember to turn the main tank pump off when I'm doing a water change until all the air bubbles cue me in . [emoji849] Proud to say I did remember today![emoji3]

Didn't you turn the basement into your tank one time with Rodi? [emoji22]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Killed my Springeri Damsel couple nights ago.... :flamemad:

 

Murphy's law loves me! I can personally post at least 3 pages of ridiculous things that have happened within the last few months.

 

Had the RW-20 shut down for feeding and before i flipped the switch on the Dj bar i always check/clear powerheads so i lightly smacked the magnet a few times in the attempt to chase him out if he was indeed in there, i saw nothing so i flipped the switch, and wouldn't you know it after a thumping sound he shot out of there.

 

From now on, only after i run though my powerhead gently with a bamboo skewer will i turn them back on. Or until i have a accurate fin count of my inhabitants.  :thumbs:

 

Still, i'm pretty sour and a bit angry on the situation. It's only a Damsel, i know, but it might as well be a amazing Regal in my eyes.

I got this fish from Rudy and as far as i'm aware of he normally doesn't sell fish and this fish is not exactly one you see in your LFS everyday.

 

Always check and double check a shut down powerhead, gobies,blennies and firefish among other small fish seem to find them irresistible. 

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I didn't put locks on my stand and our three year old son had been watching me program the timer on the soda ash drip. The next morning I came out to a turned on timer and half a bottle of alkalinity solution already in the tank. Killed a bunch of coral. Now I keep locks on the stand.

Many a tank crash has occurred with kids being "helpful".

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I once did a 20% water change and realized after dumping the old water out that I had only purchased enough water for a 10% change! Of course the store was closed by the time I realized. I ended up running the sump really low and using some dishes and stuff to displace water so there was enough to run for the night.

 

I now keep RO/DI water and salt mix on hand and never dump the old water until the tank is filled and running.

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I once did a 20% water change and realized after dumping the old water out that I had only purchased enough water for a 10% change! Of course the store was closed by the time I realized. I ended up running the sump really low and using some dishes and stuff to displace water so there was enough to run for the night.

 

I now keep RO/DI water and salt mix on hand and never dump the old water until the tank is filled and running.

I've done this plenty of times.

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I once did a 20% water change and realized after dumping the old water out that I had only purchased enough water for a 10% change! Of course the store was closed by the time I realized. I ended up running the sump really low and using some dishes and stuff to displace water so there was enough to run for the night.

 

I now keep RO/DI water and salt mix on hand and never dump the old water until the tank is filled and running.

 

Yeah that's a great solution - never thought of that. I've had to hurry up a mix of new water a couple of times.....now I keep the last two buckets of water on the side until I refill just to make sure. 

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one of the dumbest mistakes I ever made was when I used to use my ATO to fill my tank back up during water changes, after the water was filled I would move the Pump from the bucket full of salt to the bucket with just RODI. I forgot one time to move the pump back to the RODI bucket and didn't realize my mistake for a few days. I don't use my ATO pump during water changes anymore.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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