The one thing I would do differently is?

[Scavenger]

I would have married a reef friendly spouse. lol!

[Matt]

You know, the talk of "I would have gone bigger" is interesting. During the Barrett-Jackson car auctions this weekend, one of the commentators asked: "Why do these guys put so much money and time into these cars, and then sell them?" Noting that they often sell them for a loss... Answer: "Because those cars are finished. Time for a new one!".

I think a lot of people take satisfaction in the hobby end. Planning, building, refining, revising, modding, breaking, fixing, shopping, installing, buy-and-sellling... etc.

I regret nothing!

[Reefer Rob]

I would have kept my tank in the dark for the first 2 months, then been very careful not to get any nuisance algae on my frags. Algae eradication is a skill I wish I never had to learn.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Matt, is a reef tank ever finished though? We do tend to trade up or down a lot. I went from a 33 to a 45, to a 72 to a 77 to a 90 then to a 155 then a 20 then a 15 then a 90 then my current 60 cube. If I had stuck with what I had somewhere along the line, goodness only knows how great a tank I would have right now. When you say, I regret nothing, I think wow, that's awesome, sure I wish I hadn't made so many mistakes, or spent all the money that ended up being wasted. Do I regret it though, I'd have to agree with you, no regrets then, the hobby has kept me happy (and frustrated and broke). Who ever said marry a reef friendly spouse, hush we don't say that stuff out loud but that would have been the smart thing wouldn't it.

Doug

[steve fedyk]

I would have built my own Ca reactor. The next tank I'm building every thing my self, to save money and I love building things. That way I get every thing the way I wont it.
A differant Ca media is a good start.

[Brent F]

Originally Posted by marie

If I went straight to a 175g tank I doubt I would have even got into the hobby. It's one thing to spend $100 here and $500 there upgrading (I refuse to think of how many hundreds and five hundreds I've actually spent) but the cost of setting up a large tank straight off would of scared me silly

I started with a 175 as my first salt tank 15 - 20 years ago. Sold it 10 years ago when I moved cities. Just got back into salt and started with three nano tanks - no interest in getting a big tank again. Too expensive and too much work.

The one thing I would do differently - drill my tank instead of using a CPR overflow.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Marie,

I totally agree. I got my 210g reef setup for an excellent deal, but shelling out $1250 in one shot would have caused me to switch to a cheaper hobby. I think it takes a year or more of spending ridiculous amounts on your tank to make you immune to such spending decisions. Now I can easily drop $200 in a day visiting LFS, but balk at spending $80 on groceries. Hmmmm, don't need those groceries but the tank sure needs some new corals & fish. NUTS, eh.

Anthony

[bv_reefer]

i would have put a good 2'' of sand, and did my aquascaping with pvc for better design

[Snappy]

I find all this talk of starting bigger scaring people away from the hobby because it costs too much surprizing. When I said if I have a "do-over" I would have started bigger, it was on the basis of " if I knew then what I know now". For me the question "what would you do different?" suggested just that. Otherwise how would we know what we would do different? I did some research before I entered the hobby but never guessed I would have outgrown my 130 gal tank in a couple of years.

[Reefer Rob]

Hmmm... I find my 180G too big, a lot of time and money to fill it with corals, and 3 400W lights is a killer on my electrical bill! My next tank might be smaller, then I could fill it with only my favorite corals.