If there is one mistake that I see saltwater tank owners make more than any other (besides not knowing their tank personality) is that they choose a path for their tank, then switch.
Here’s an example.
A reef keeping friend of mine was battling bleaching SPS corals so decided he wanted to start dosing the Zeovit system. He tried it out for a week. He didn’t see any results, so he switched to doing heavy water changes. 2 weeks later…no results. Then he switched his lighting and waited 2 weeks…nothing. Then he heard about bio pellets and tried those. He started seeing some results after a week so then he decided he wanted to add back in the Zeovit system, etc…
Get the picture? He was constantly changing what he was doing with his tank.
When you choose a path for your tank, whether its your tank personality, carbon dosing, dosing 2 part solution, change of lighting or (fill in the blank for the path you’re headed on), the best thing you can do is stick to that path for at least 2 months.
Why?
Because:
- Changes take time to affect your tank so you won’t see immediate results.
- The more you change, the more you are throwing your tank for a loop and it doesn’t like that – it likes the same thing, every day, every time. More changes = more stress = not a happy tank
The only reason you should immediately change the path you are on is if you see negative results in your tank!
I.e: fish die off, corals bleaching or retracting, large algae growths, parameter (pH, ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) spikes.
Among ocean going vessels, there is a saying for this – “Skipper, hold your course”.
Hold your course, your tank will thank you.
