I sat there, staring at my laptop screen until the blue well-ventilated felt burned into my retinas. I had seventeen tabs open. Most of them were alternating versions of an aquarium fish tank calculator. I was planning what I thought would be the magnum opus of my booming room: a 150-gallon high-tech tainted reef system. I wanted it all. I wanted the perfect water chemistry, the most efficient nutrient export, and a stocking density that would make a professional curator weep with envy. I thought if I just plugged in the right numbers, the math would get the hard pretense for me. I was wrong. Seriously wrong. Here is what I hypothetical from relying upon an aquarium calculator for a highbrow setup and why your spreadsheet might be lying to you.

Every hobbyist starts in the same way as the basics. You take action the glass. You calculate the length, width, and height. You hit "enter" on the aquarium volume calculator. It tells you that you have exactly 150 gallons. That is your first mistake. I spent three weeks calibrating my automated dosing system based upon that 150-gallon figure. But next I added 120 pounds of premium Fiji living rock. I supplementary a four-inch deep sand bed.