The one thing I would do differently is?

[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.

[Brent F]

Rob,

Totally agree. That's why I switched for 170 display tank to a system totaling 80 gal.

I find the "glad I didn't start big because the cost would have scared me off" type comments funny. I came to the opposite conclusion after thinking about the cost and decided to stay small this time.

How much do you want to bet that in a year I’ll post pictures of a new 250 gal tank proving I didn’t learn from the past?

[untamed]

I wish I had put a liftable subfloor into my fish room to make it easier to put things into spots they weren't planned for. I'm now realizing that my plan wasn't "perfect" (ha...there's a surprise!!), but it is really hard to modify things after the fact.

I didn't plan for a refugium and managed to squeeze that in. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to install a larger skimmer....ozone...UV...

I suppose there just wasn't enough flexibility in the plan... Now that it is running, every mod is much harder.

[digital-audiophile]

As goofy as it sounds, I would have bought a different house that had the proper space for a large tank. Buying a house with a finished basement really only allowed me the space for a display tank of 90 gallons. IMHO anthing bigger than that and you need a proper fish room for all the goodies that go along with a large tank.

In our next house I want a walk out basement that is unfinished so I could do a 300+ gallon in wall tank with a proper fish room (I think we are still 10 years away from a new house though lol)

[bassman]

I would build the fish/sump room first allowing lots of room for expansion and make sure ALL the water that was put in the system was treated via RODI and chemically balanced first. i.e. Ca, PO4, Alk etc...

[adidas]

I woulld have bought the good light right off the bat, and a controller from the start. also would have built up the rock on a pvc frame as well.

I don't regret starting with a small tank, was good for learning and working through mistakes.

[TRIX]

I would make my list out well ahead of time and slowly buy everything used off of Canreef members.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Marie,

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

Sad but true