[jimw369]

As I continue to try and educate myself on this saltwater reef thing I wonder if I am trying to do TOO much for my tank. It is becoming more difficult to continue to just test and do 10% water every week. My water is great got some corals going well and all seems to be fine except for a little diatom outbreak but im taking care of that and I see it receeding a little now.

I see these great tanks people have posted on this site and I just have been fighting the urge to do everything possible to really get going. I have a quaratine tank going, carbon filters going, UV going, Fuge going, bought all kinds of crap from the lfs, got bunch of test kits. (my tank is 6 weeks old and I test 2 times a day for just about everything) I have test tubes coming out my... Should I dose something? More light? More rock in the fuge?
Calcium reactor? What to do with Buffers and how it relates to Calcium levels and Ph? (Ive read a ton on this. I need to get a good grasp on this) I could go on and on. Does this describe many of you? So many people seem to have such an great understanding of all this and yet some of it still not clear in my brain.

I would do anything for this tank to make it better! I cant seem to leave it alone and I wonder if that is a good thing. I mixed up a batch of salt water for a water change and added some chemicals to it thinking that ought to be REAL good. This morning I dumped it out. Just added my regular saltwater this afternoon and all is fine. I think I made the right decision.

Maybe I need a head doctor. What do the rest of you reefers do? Are you all blessed with some gift of unbelieveable patience? Or...have I gone over the edge?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I think maybe you nned to sit back and take a deep breath...............reee eeeeellllaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxx .....it takes time

[glampka]

Remember the words of Jimmy Buffett - Breathe in, Breathe out. Move on!. There is absolutely no need to be testing 2x/day. Sit back - enjoy your tank. You're going to drive yourself nuts!! If you don't have anything in there you're just throwing your money away on all the tests. Wait until you start stocking before going crazy!!!

[jimw369]

Yes, I think I need to go to my happy place.

By the way. I have added:

Cleaner crew
1 brittle Star (prickers)
2 Sandsifting Stars (True and Grit)
2 Cleaner Shrimp (Bubba and Gump)
1 Fox Coral
1 Colt Coral
1 Green Brain Coral
1 Finger Leather
1 Anenome with no brains

Im sorry guys, I fell off the wagon. I wont buy any more for a while. I will post when I am tempted again.

By the way all are doing great!

I do have a small green Emerald crab I call Troll. Hmmm...Not sure but I think we are are going to have quite a battle someday.

[Krazy]

Sit back and enjoy your tank...

Great things cannot be rushed...

Your doing things right and your on the road to a good pay off

[glampka]

We're going to have to set up a support line for reefers wanting to rush out & buy stuff for their tanks!!!

[Six-line Wrasse]

Here it some advice, beyond just "relax."

I watch my tank at least for an hour or two a day when I'm home. I know my tank. If something looks awkward, I test. If not, I don't bother. I check my salinity regularly and my temperature regularly. I'm a bit OCD, so to help calm this I've created a log of my temperature next to my tank. Every time I check the temperature I enter into my log. This helps me feel a bit more calm about knowing my tank and making sure it can be the best it can be.

As for the religious 10% water changes. Good job. That's one of the hardest things to do religiously for most people. It's also usually the most time consuming when you look at it over a period of a year.

Anyways, I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck!

[jimw369]

Thanks everyone. It is just my personality to want things a certain way and when I cannot achieve them it bothers me. I am this way in all walks of life. It ultimately is a good quality.

I started testing from day1, 2 times a day. I practiced (yes practiced) water changes.
I tested walmarts distilled water, RO water from the machine at my supermarket and now my own RO/DI water. I have come to believe that water quality is where its all at in the saltwater business. Its the equal to the air we breathe that keeps us alive. Ive been to all the lfs stores within 50 miles of atlanta. (several times each). Ive researched, tanks, pumps, lights, sterilizers, calc reactors... . Ive bought and read too many books. Maybe $2-$300 worth. I have printed off 3-400 sheets of info from the internet so I can refer back to it in case I do not have access to a computer. I could go on and on. I know, Im anal.

By the way Six line, I record everything. Thanks for responding.

And for you reefers that are looking into your tanks at 3am with flashlights, you are a lot more like me than you think!

RB is the best place to B!

[starfishlover]

I have a notebook I keep with all important test results. I aslo have a page with fish we wantand corals we want. Then another page for when we purchase, die t etc.

[pogodzib]

You're not the only one that can get a little anal at times. Just last night, I sat down and watched my skimmer skim for over 1/2 hour to try to figure out how I can mod it to make it skim better - and then I noticed that the connection for the drain cup had a small leak and had to watch it for the next 1/2 hour to figure out just how much skimmate was drippping back into the tank. The trouble figuring that out is that you need to wait until the foam drops into the cup and then changes into a liquid to see if it drips out of the leak or drains down the tube. I decided that too much was dripping so then I had to take the cup off, put in a new gasket, and silicone the connection just to make sure that it doesn't start dripping again. During the same time as watching my skimmer, I was admiring how many pods I have in my sump (which I way I never reach in there without gloves - the critters start running all over my arms, even after I have my arms out of the tank they are still on them running around)

The thing that I have realized over the years is that I spend weeks on end making improvements to my tank, and then I either get satisfied with what I have or run out of spare cash and stop doing stuff for a while. After several months of doing minimal work with my tanks, I get the urge to improve it and the whole process starts over again. It always ends up looking better a few months after the improvements are made, but worse for the immediate time.

Testing twice a day is insane. Once your tank is setup and going good your should only need minimal testing on everything except calcium and alk. Nitrates should rise slowly if at all, you can look at a stick on temp gauge daily at feeding time, you shouldn't need to adjust pH (but looking at a pH meter anyways is always nice), ammonia, nitrite, and phosphate should be zero, salinity only changes during water changes, ORP should be stable (hopefully in the upper 300s, but most of you probably don't have ozone so you don't keep track of your ORP), TDS of RO/DI water should be zero and checked once in a while. Man, the more stuff that I list, the more I realize that I'm either anal or insane as well. Welcome the the world of insane reef keepers.

BTW - You've ONLY gone to all the fish stores within 50 miles of Atlanta. I've gone to a bunch of stores 3+ hours away from my place just to see what they carry incase I ever go to the area again and have a way to bring some items back home with me.

[Dara]

My boyfriend tells me there is probably a 12 step program out there somewhere for people like me. Glad to hear I'm not the only one.

[ACE]

I have to admit I was that way till I drove my family crazy and they told me to slow down and relax!!!

[Krazy]

I keep a tank log myself, good to have if something goes wrong, you can look back at the log and see previous tests/dosing/water changes, etc...

[jimw369]

Thanks for all the support. It really is hard to be patient.

As for pogodzib watching his skimmer...YEAH! Now thats cool! I like watching the pods in my little HOB fuge. I got about 10-12# of rock in there for the bugs. Wish I could fit more.

I will be posting more questions soon as I am moving into another stage of this saltwater reef stuff. Food. LOL Yep I got plankton, white snow stuff, zooplex, phycopure and lots more. Oh, I dont have any fish yet but I want to know what tastes the best before I give it to the critters. (hmm...shouldnt have told you that)

O,yes! I traveled 80 miles one way to a not so local fs this sat. Saw big red sponges! I MUST HAVE A BIG RED SPONGE! You would all be proud, I did not buy one because I have not done the proper research before buying. Where have I heard that before?

[pogodzib]

The sad part is that I've been keeping reef tanks for 4 years and I still end up having those days once in a while where I just sit down at night and stare at the tank trying to figure out how to make it better. I guess trying to figure out ways to improve my reef tank is part of the fun and keeps me so interested in the hobby.

[purpletang]

I might have the distance traveled beat. I one time flew to Florida from Illinois to check out some LFS's I had read or heard about. I disguised it as a fishing trip so people would'nt think I'm nutier than I appear. Oh yeah I did by some stuff and flew it back as my carry on Reefing is a sickness garranteed.

[jimw369]

WoW! Why did you disguise it as a fishing trip? Thats what it was! LOL

[crabyman]

I really have enjoyed reading all these replies....I guess i'm not as weird as i thought i was lol. As far as stairing at the tank at night, thats my favorite time to watch it. All the little critters come out of hiding and I usually discover something new everytime. If there's a better hobby out there (and i'm mr. sports nut) i've yet to find it! Oh and by the way, even the testing and all that brings a certain amount of enjoyment when you test and find everything all right. It's nice to see you can do something right that alot of folks can't. Keep the passion! Your not alone!

[Six-line Wrasse]

In one of the recent articles of one of the more popular magazines (I don't remember the name and don't have the magazines on hand at the moment) there is an article of the health benefits attributed to owning a saltwater aquarium. I have to agree with them. It teaches patience, planning and discipline for starters.

It also gives me something to really get my curiosity going which is a great means of getting your brain active which has all sorts of positive side effects.