How long have you had your SW tank?

[IfoundNemo]

What kind of mistakes did you make when you start this wonderful hobby?
My first mistake so far is using CC(switching it this weekend) to LS. However, thanks to AA and members, i was able to minimize more mistakes.

[first-timer89]

my dad had it for about 30 years!!!!! it is a 55 gallon. It has had stuff in it thanks to my for onily about 2 years. the tank is old but the stuff in it is new.

[BillyZ]

my first, and biggest mistake... was rushing to the LFS with my giftcertificate before doing any research!

After that, the biggest mistake was cycling with fish! It was just at the end of my cycle that I found AA. The folks here have always been helpful and full of great information.

I've had the tank over 2 years now.

[Corty]

About half a year now. My mistakes were buying $9/lb live rock from the LFS that looked as dead as could be, and "live" sand in a bag. Oh yeah, and going through about five "cycle" products before finding one that actually did anything.

[MACATUA]

A year and a half but the real mistake i made was trying quick cure type of products, those things never work!

[seaham358]

Over 2 years now..... Mistakes........ Listening to the LFS when he told me it was ok to add a Bird Wrasse, Flame Angel, Mated pair Purple Anthis and a shoal Tang to my freshly Cycled tank All Died.....
Oh listening the LFS when he says add some yellow tail damsels 7 of them is a good number they are hardy...... There hardy all right they killed about $60 worth of fish. Little SOB would fight all the time with each other until you added a new fish then they would gang up on the new guy.
Oh ya forgot! listening to the LFS when he say a Christmas wrasse would be great in your reef tank. That fish was nonstop knocking over corals chasing smaller fish... Took a few days to get that SOB out of the tank and back to the LFS.
I know research everything in my fish book or on the Internet before I buy it.
Just had a LFS telling me that a Pilot fish(golden jack) only gets a few inches long. They were cool schooling with the Scopus tang, I was are you sure, I think they get bigger he was ya they stay small...... I told him I would get back... I find out they get over 3' long.... **** good thing I didn't get them.

[Corty]

Yikes Seaham.. time to get a new LFS. 8O

[EL Diablo]

My tank is up about 4 months and has been doing great

Biggest mistake was not making my equipment purchases on-line.
I would have saved a bundle.
The LFS marks the stuff up big-time.

Now all my supplies and Equipment come from the web.

[fishfreek]

Going on 5 years now for me in the salty world.

Mistakes... Living in a house where the AC was not under my control. End result was undue stress and unnessicary fish deaths that first summer.

THings that contributed to lessen my mistakes... I did alot of reading early on as well as research on the net. When all my favorate internet sites went belly up I started this one with Reefrunners help.

[quarryshark]

Had this tank for over a year now. Also had a salt tank back in the late 70s, early 80's. Different hobby then.
My biggest mistake was not using qt on my first batch of fish. Had several very fast losses.

[alarmguy66]

One year, 2 months.

Biggest mistake, learning about ich the hard way (not qt'ing, he LOOKS healthy), having to put all my fish in a tiny qt tank and treating them for a month while my display tank ran fallow.

[lando]

I started my first SW tank in 1995 while I was in college. It was a great conversation peice and it sure did impress the ladies! My bigest mistake was not doing any research back then. I used a substrate called dolamite and knew nothing of LR or LS. I overstocked and killed a lot of fish due to my impatence and inexperience. After I graduated I moved around a bit so my tank ended up dry in my parent's basement. Long story short, boy meets cool girl, boy marries cool girl, boy and girl finially buy a house and boy restarts his tank. This time I did a lot of research. It started as FO, then FOWLR and now a reef. It has been a work in progress and going for close to two years now. I never could have done it without my friends here at AA! Lando

[quarryshark]

Dolamite....lol. That brings back memories of my first tank. That, undergravel filters and using a big crab to cycle were the state of the art back then.

[i have crabs]

almost 1 year and spending over 2 thousand bucks on a 20g when i was allowed to go bigger