Well it didn't take long after starting my first ever saltwater tank that I realized I needed to start over. Thanks to all the excellent information here on MAAST, several other helpful forums and a couple LFS here in the area, I was able to fix my tank early without too many mistakes.
When I first started my tank a few months ago I made several mistakes due to lack of knowledge. I was using tap water, didn't have enough live rock, and added fish I never should have bought, just to name a few....
Thankfully a few helpful people pointed out my mistakes early on and I was able to turn the tank around. I did a 100% water change with RO/DI water, bought a RO/DI unit, took my yellow-tail back, added 40 more pounds of LR, and took half the crushed coral out just to name a few things!
I can now say I am VERY happy with my tank. Things are going much better so far (minus the diatom outbreak, Aiptasia hitchhiker, and now a mantis shrimp I think). Rights of passage in this hobby I hear... The fish are very happy and I added new T5 lights and a few frags last week that have really taken off!
Here is a before and after picture. I hope you enjoy and others can learn from my mistakes!
Good job, it's hard to take some of our advice as constructive criticism, but everyone means well. Tanks are so much better when you can just enjoy them.
Don't feel bad my first tank in 82 had crushed limestone and a undergravel filter. In 1991 I changed my 135 over to salt and used the same water that I had in the tank for my fresh water fish. We all learn and continue to learn. My next learning curve will be these new bio pellets out on the market.
My 36G bowfront re-build....
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Tanks are so much better when you can just enjoy them.
