5 Saltwater Tank Regrets...and How To Avoid Them...

In 15 years I've had lots of success in the hobby, but this is my video showing you some of my issues keeping a saltwater tank
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[@Arizona9001]

if for whatever reason you aren't able to create a drip loop, use a zip tie on your chord and make sure the zip tie is pointing a downwards direction

[@so_so_reef]

Regarding the algae induced death. I’d guess that your algae was your main form of filtration and when you removed it you had an ammonia or nitrate spike as there was nothing absorbing it that led to fish death.

[@PazLeBon]

yeah possibly, in fact even the power cut shouldnt lead to depleted oxygen in a few hours, in fact some fish can go 2 days with no oxygen at all.

[@moustaphaaitani]

@@PazLeBon it also depends on timing of last feeding or amino acid dosing before power cut. My tanks are in Lebanon where we have almost no public power supply at the moment. My most devastating losses before I installed by backup batteries happened when I lost power right after feeding the corals and the fish together.

[@PazLeBon]

@@moustaphaaitani sue, maybe :(

[@PazLeBon]

@@fishman4248 Im English :)

[@PazLeBon]

@@fishman4248 yeehaw?

[@DianoiaNoesis]

My tank- over two years, I don’t test for anything but nitrate. And even than I don’t even test regularly.

[@ianstuart1766]

Yup. High school reefer here. 👋 Test maybe once a month. Only test when I see a problem. Even when I do see a problem I just text some simple levels like you mention. It just depends on how much you know your tank. I know my tank, you know yours. Who needs to test?

[@DianoiaNoesis]

@@ianstuart1766 not us- I don’t chase perimeters or numbers. And my main filtration is a sand reactor that I don’t mess with ever.

[@nickm9922]

Battery back-up makes sense in many countries. But here in Netherlands a power outage is as rare as a terrorist attack... and often takes as long aswell:') these things are damn expensive aswell. I do have a battery powerer airpump though and tank is in my sleepingroom/workroom as i live in a studio. So im keeping an close eye on it for atleast 16h per day anyway

[@ethanmclaughlin868]

I live in ottawa and just started a 20 gal reef tank 2 months ago, 1 month ago we had a massive storm and didnt have power for 6 days. I had one mini battery backup that i used to plug in the filter for 5 min of every 2-3 hours and everything survived. Thank god i didnt have corals at the time.

[@norfolkreefer5801]

I totally agree! I made sure when choosing equipment for my tank that I had a ecotech marine return pump and at least one ecotech marine power head with backup battery so that I had peace of mind whenever I get a power cut….it’s quite often living where I am.

[@lisafoster4468]

I nearly dumped an entire 5g bucket of saltwater on my feet and a power strip on the floor...which I'm not sure was even GFCI-protected. Dodged a bullet. Any power strips I have from now on will be properly mounted. I also lost a 75g full of nice cichlids to oxygen deprivation overnight.

[@so_so_reef]

I replace my heater annually and I’ve found the old one (which I keep for making salt water) always fails about 6 months later.

[@al9030]

Great Video..Thank You ..just bought a back up battery before watching this

[@jules2545]

My biggest problem is relying on too much tech. I work away from home and have an automatic tester. I dose according to the test results. My test results indicated a decreasing KH and NO3. The reality was the other way round, I got home and my tank looked dreadful, I had a dKH value of 17.4 and an NO3 level of 54.3. At the moment I am trying to wean my tank back into stability. The weird thing is that 90% of my coraline algae is dead, that must have bombed my dKH. The inhabitants look frail but still here. I have used this set up over the last year and it has worked well. I need to figure out why my automatic tester is producing low results compared to my Hanna checkers. looking at the state of my tank I am more in line to believe my Hanna checkers at the moment.

[@ISayNukem]

Are you familiar with Father Fish? If not, you should check him out. He doesn't touch his tanks, hasn't for decades. Even did it with saltwater, although I do not know how he pulled that off, yet. But I'll get to that video!

[@foracal5608]

Got a battery back up saved my fish bacon during last year's freezeocolypse here in texas. But had to ration the power to just heater and aeration with sponge filters

[@shimmerysparkles123]

Fantastic tips right from the start! Another one item i would say not to buy used: UV sterilizer bulb. It's just not worth it. These bulbs have a limited lifespan & using the "honor system" has risk. Very important about the fire/electrical warning. Add a water alarm. Both a screaming one that is very inexpensive and also an intuitive one from an apex controller that will send your phone an alert when tripped...

[@michaelross5674]

I bought a battery backup for computers.... It should work long enough for power to come back on... hopefully paid 10 bucks...and had to buy new battery for it but only spent like 25 bucks for it will work power heads till power comes back on

[@RogueAquariums]

Agreed 100% Ryan. Taking precautions will definitely pay you dividends in the long run.

[@dedicatedreefer9966]

kzbin.infotz49-42oUZA?feature=share

[@christinacrout3609]

An ounce of prevention.. great video and some very good points. I don't actually have a back up bar me, myself and I if the power goes.... I've never thought of it, if I hit the 2 hour mark- I just lift the hood as its such a big system and manually stir the water about. Will be purchasing a battery backup- any suggestions?

[@chatvabien5718]

Lets go, I'm always waiting for new videos! Thanks for all those videos !

[@russellbrookes3172]

Worth spending the money on backup in my opinion, I have a 1000w inverter connected to 4 big leisure batteries, powers a pump and heater on the dt and two qt tanks. Only need to use it once and it’s paid for itself!

[@asimsaeed4798]

All the points are 100% correct

[@fuffoon]

I keep a 1000w gasoline genterator on hand. I have a 4000w but it needs a permanent quiet box (its too heavy to just take out) and a junction to the fuse box.

[@pillsnpiegaming]

Sobo makes cheap airpumps that switch on as soon as the power cuts.

[@retropuffer2986]

@6:24 I remember that one. Poor fishy. :(

[@dandy2153]

What kind of battery backup can I get though? I have a mix of Apex and Ecotech.

[@fantasyskeep]

Saltwater is super conductive. Saltwater and electrical equipment are mortal enemies.

[@thedeercamp]

What’s the name of that puffer fish? Hard to find one on Google that looks exactly like that.

[@victororban2624]

Hello what fish is behind the gem tank at 0.25

[@alaskacosplay]

I prefer to buy all new equipment just for the cleanliness and basically brand new features and everything is working.

[@juanriverol7527]

Can you recommend me an air stone back up please

[@michelhaineault6654]

One dangerous mistake is to place the heater in the sump and when electricity fails the big tank is not heated.

[@thomasturbato7021]

how would work in the big one if electricity fail...?

[@lueroifan12]

@@thomasturbato7021 maybe he meant return pump or sum

[@richishere82]

I'm confused

[@michelhaineault6654]

I mean if the sump motor fail , sorry .

[@OA1998.]

Guys i have a tmc return pump, 2 maxspect gyres, i physically cant get a hold of a battery backup system that will keep the return pump running for a few hours.... can someone help?

[@preetg2783]

What fish is that at 1:07

[@PrestigeReef]

UK Coral Frags - www.prestigereef.co.uk Aquarium Consultancy Service - prestigereef.co.uk/collections/merchandise/products/1-hour-consultancy

[@Langenbergh]

All things checked except the electricity part... It's more like a spaghetti behind my tank 🙄😀

[@mustafaadel9219]

All these problems can be avoided if you have apex

[@vtheglad9266]

Regrets? 1. Wrong tank size. Tank is the cheapest investment in this hobby that got over looked. 2. Not having a plan in mind. What type of fish. Where is the finished goal. 3. Not being patience enough to not buy fishes/corals. Or buying sale fishes/coral that has got nothing to do with the plan. 4. Did not make testing a fun activity instead treating it a chores. 5. Stop touching it. Coral goods stop pissing off the clownfish by moving shit around.

[@whyuwhat]

Ratio

[@joshiewhite]

No thanks to marine. Too complicated and too much to go wrong if you ask me. Its so pretty though...

[@Reefgrrl]

When the 600 gallon system was in the planning stages, two of my biggest fears were addressed: heater failures and power cuts. I decided to install a radiant heating system run by a temp controller so that no electric heater failures would ever put my livestock at risk. And we installed a whole home natural gas generator so the frequent and sometimes lengthy lack of power around here, would never be a concern. My stress level dropped immensely when these things were up and running. My biggest mistake was dosing kalk via the ATO and then running micro bubble scrubbing overnight. Within 3 days the alk rose to 12.6 dKH. 🥹 Lesson learned - the kalk got its own dosing pump. Great video Ryan! 👍🏻👍🏻

[@raysville7256]

Beware of 2hand anything

[@gtpowergeorgetennent3786]

Hi mate check out snajays reef on youtube he has a tank that he does no water changes or doses he only tops it up hes been running it for years all he does is tops it up with fresh water and feeds the fish