Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Have Just Left The Tank Alone...

10) My critters spent a summer in plastic tubs because I decided to tear the tank down to scrub the rock, and I dropped a 15lb. rock onto the bare bottom. !!!CRACK!!!
tabwyo of Riverton, Wyoming

9) It's my birthday. We're going out to dinner. I stop home from work, check the tank and look in the sump. Aha! I spot a missing Green Chromis in the sump. Ok, I can solve this before leaving for dinner... I shutdown the return and skimmer pumps, close the ball valves on the return lines to prevent siphoning, grab a net and go fishing. Twenty minutes later, I'm still fishing. Finally, I catch the Chromis. I'm encrusted with salt creep that was under the stand. I open the top cover, and let the fish into the tank. I drop my net. It lands on one of my hard corals and frags it to pieces. Darn! I crank open the valves on the return line and one of the valves breaks off in the closed positions. Double Darn! So much for my birthday dinner. Happy Reefin' Birthday!.
DownTown of Absecon, NJ

8) Because turning that one rock one inch counter-clockwise inevitably turns into a four hour aquascaping project, after which you discover you liked it better the way it was.
jharr of San Diego, CA USA

7) You tighten up a bulkhead that 'might' be loose only to create a huge leak that leads to re-plumbing the return line!
Doni of Raleigh, NC

6) Because it was fun watching my little cousin clean the tank... until I saw the scratches he left!
warriorss08 of Illinois

5) Remove that ONE rock to do something to it, and you'll NEVER get it back where it looks right, ever again!
Serk of Rowlett, TX

4) That one critical, load-bearing piece of base rock is now buried under the other 200 lbs. just because you had to have it where the light, current and everything is perfect; moved due to the fact it had one stinking star polyp on it when you got it.
DASKILTERLIVES of Northern NJ

3) It all started in a LFS when I had to pull out my credit card... I should've just kept walking.... three maxed-out credit cards later!
jeffltodd of Martinez, CA

2) How was I supposed to know my hermit crabs wouldn't like a Kenya Tree house?
jmccomb420 of Unknown Whereabouts

1) You should have left the tank alone because now the mantis shrimp wants to thumb wrestle all the time!
rickyfins of ALTOONA, PA

Reefkeeping's next Top Ten for November: Top Ten Comments From Visitors Upon First Seeing Your Reef System... Our thanks go out to Serk for suggesting the next topic!

Honorable mention goes out to the following members for submitting 10 Top Ten reasons: Serk, jeffltodd, rickyfins. Thanks, folks!

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