Reef Tank Weak Link

Identify Your Weakest Link…and Strengthen It

There is a saying out there that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In literal terms, this means the strength of a chain is limited to that of the weakest link in the chain, even if other links are stronger. I believe reef keepers should take this saying to heart. There are many things that can cause a reef tank to take a nosedive and spiral out of control. A return pump could seize up, a needle valve on a C02 tank feeding a calcium reactor could malfunction and dump excess C02 into the tank, a dosing line could get clogged, and so on.

Have a Solid Plan in Place

Many of these things can be prevented with regular maintenance but sometimes misfortune can be caused by poor planning or a faulty design when setting up equipment. For instance, I have a float switch in my sump that is designed to kill my auto top-off when the water hits a certain level in my sump. The problem is this float switch is positioned too high in my sump so by the time it is tripped my salinity will plummet.

Why is it too high.? Well, the switch is designed to be hung on something like a divider in a sump and the only spot available is one that is a couple of inches too high. It was on my list to fix for years but I dragged my ass on fixing it.

Laziness is a Killer

The point here is to not be lazy, like me, and strengthen those weak links that can potentially take a tank down. Remember, it doesn’t matter if other parts of your system are strong. Do an audit of your system (hey, tax season is upon us) and identify those weak spots. Come on, ya know you have at least one 😉

Additional Resources

If you would like some help with a new tank build, including help designing a custom aquarium, or help re-configuring your current setup then you can visit this page for more information. And if you are looking to add some equipment, I do sell GHL, Pax Bellum, Reef Octopus Calcium and Kalk Reactors and Royal Exclusiv products, including Dreamboxes, which is the equipment I use and recommend. I also sell Reef Brite metal halide and LED fixtures as well as Maxspect & IceCap Gyres.

As for additional insights and information, please explore my many other reef tank and SPS related articles as well as my YouTube channel. For an even deeper dive into reef tank care you can check out my Reef Keeping Master Class. This online course is an immersive and one of a kind educational tool designed to help reef aquarium hobbyists build and maintain a beautiful SPS reef tank. The course is a series of video presentations with some supplemental video from my YouTube channel. There are also quizzes to help students retain and understand the information presented in the course.

Need some frags…..I can help with that as well 🙂 Please visit my SPS Frag store to see what is available.

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