Oops...

So, I keep a blog called "reef genius".  It's actually "Reef, Genius!"; it's nature that's the genius, not me.  I really need to get around to finding a new theme for this site.  Regardless.  If I didn't make mistakes, how would I learn.

My quarantine tank (QT) was set up with some live rock from my display.  I figured there would be no cycle.  Well, I was wrong; there is ammonia in the system with the new coral frags.  It's no big deal, the tank is small enough that I can do water changes on a daily basis until the cycle is complete.  Yes, this works, I've done it before.  So, this mistake happened, and it could have been costly, losing all the coral I picked up this weekend, but experience saved me.  First, I tested my assumption that there would be no cycle by using a simple ammonia test.  Armed with the facts, I am able to mitigate the risk.

I guess this is the kind of thing that you really need to know when keeping a reef.  Never do anything that you can't back out of!  There are a lot more don'ts than there are do's in this hobby.  If you can back out of a decision, it's alright to make an assumption (that pretty much applies to all of life).