Bouncingsoul39
Valuable Member
This thread is full of ad-hominem attacks and comments like this are completely missing Grandis' point. I've yet to read one thoughtful comment in discussion of his actual point or anything to further the discussion. I find it unfortunate in this hobby that those that are viewed as "experts" writing articles and making videos are not held to any sort of ethical standards by those within the hobby and those whose platforms the articles and videos are featured in. Reminds me of BRS videos on the Chinese Black Box LEDs and their videos on Live Rock. Highly biased, not fact based etc. Yet people take it as gospel and we are not allowed to question or challenge, or even question those making the dubious claims. The whole mess just makes me want to tune out the internet portion of the hobby completely and long for the days where their were filters and checks in place in the form of Publishers making sure that only high quality information by TRUE experts in their field actually made it into the public realm because their sales and reputations depended on it. Makes me really miss Coral Magazine and TFH Magazine, and honest to goodness BOOKS! Online, there is no accountability and nothing matters anymore. Words don't mean anything, meanings don't mean anything. Plus people act as if there isn't already twenty years old database of established knowledge and common proven practices for this hobby since now Reef Central is dead and this forum has taken over as the mainstream of the hobby. It's no wonder the hobby is in the state it is in.
To Grandis's point, it's foolish and dangerous in our hobby to act as if the old tech doesn't exist any longer, the old tech is harmful or has more negatives, while ignoring the positives of it and also ignoring the negatives of the thing you are promoting, in this case it is LEDS. LED is still a changing, evolving technology. Do people realize that every time they buy an Ecotech LED that they are paying to Beta test an LED product and pay for Ecotech's R&D costs? It seems like people don't realize this or care about it, just eager to jump on the hype train for whatever is the hot trend.
On the other hand you have T5 high output and Metal Halide which are established proven technologies that have not changed and will not change. Paletta's recent articles and videos, along with Bulk Reef Supplies, are guilty of this. There is a BRS video where they proclaim that a Metal Halide Fixture w/T5 built in is the Gold Standard for lighting in the hobby. Is that no longer the case because it has been replaced by LED? No. LED has its pros and cons and Halide/T5 has its pros and cons. I give BRS a pass on this because they are a business purely out to make a profit. Paletta though, he doesn't get a pass.
His recent article and videos are biased and are not presenting ALL of the facts and a balanced view point of successful reef keeping equipment and techniques. For example, LEDs are not simple, using LEDs is not "KISS". They require programming, they have to have a set intensity level, blah blah. It's not a simple lighting tech to use for reefing. Both T5 and Halide IS MORE SIMPLE. Plus his use of circulation pumps. Having a mix of Tunze and Eco tech all over the tank IS NOT SIMPLE, nor KISS. Having a closed loop system would actually be much more simple and far less maintenance.
I want to make clear that I am not attacking Mike Paletta's integrity as a person here. I think he's a good dude and am actually glad that someone is taking the time to create content for the hobby who has some experience. But I am calling out the integrity of what he has written as well as it's quality. I question his relationship to vendors/manufacturers because I feel that it is important to know in this circumstance. I am also questioning the claims in the article and the video as Grandis is. We do this because we know better from real world experience in the hobby.
