Gadgets and Crazy Cool Equipment Hurting the Hobby?

[Quietman]

I feel kind of the opposite. With so much tech available to address every issue it can seem that there's a solution to purchase to solve every problem. This can make it seem easier to be successful with technology and ignoring a lot of fundamentals for newer hobbyists. It is work to maintain a reef tank, weekly maintenance, cleaning, water changes, and patience and no amount of tech eliminates all of that.

 

[Wyvern]

I'm a techie, so I love to try new technology every chance I get and tweak it to get the best performance.

However, there are things that I believe should be left to human intuition and touch-
What I paid on my espresso machine , I could have gotten one that can grind, dose, extract and froth all by itself, but I got one with a lever and valves with a grouphead that has existed since the 60's.

But the reason I bought the manual machine is I am involved in every step, and I know after every step if the drink is going to turn out good, or bad- so if I choose, I can repeat a step to get the result I want.

With the automatic machine, I am asking for a particular drink and the end result is purely dependant on the machine functioning correctly- I can't intervene in the process, and if the drink is disgusting, It's up to me to figure out what went wrong.


The point is; automation can be a life changer- I can't live without my Robot Vacuum now, but when lives are literally at stake, and there are things used in our tanks that can wipe out all life, I do not trust Chinese made cicuits and pumps and flaky software with my animal's life.

 

[Hydrored]

I think a lot of us forget what a "hobby" mean. Do what makes you happy.
If having all the gadgets is fun for you, go for it.
If you don't like gadgets, don't do it.
If you enjoy corals, grow them.
If you just like fish, keep them.

What is hurting the hobby is all the folks who believe the "good old days" are always the best. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but don't be stuck on it or else you will stagnate progress.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I personally really enjoy the gear side of reefing and like to try out different things, do what makes you happy in the HOBBY. Once you stop caring about people's opinions on how you run your tank or what you spent on your tank you'll be much happier in the hobby.

 

[ShadowMan]

As a new reefer and someone who only got into the hobby this year, I voted No. Sure there's a lot of cool looking stuff but for the most part, like any other hobby, it's optional and probably aspirational to some extent.

I think starting simple and getting a good foundation on the basics, lends itself to upgrading and acquiring some cool gadgets further down the line.

 

[Brady4000]

Vote “Eh”

I think the hobby is inherently complicated trying to re-create a tropical reef in your living room. The whole reason I got into this hobby was the fact that it was challenging and the reward was worth it.

As for the “look” of it being complicated due to equipment, which might be pushing people away from the hobby. In my opinion, they would have failed anyways, if your not willing to put in a ton of days/weeks/months/and possibly years Into this hobby. It might not be for you to say it nicely.

 

[ShadowMan]

I see so many pictures of tanks with every bell and whistle, yet nothing in the tank, as in the example tank you posted. I guess for some people it's the colored plumbing, full automation, and a new light every six months rather than corals and fish.

And for all that fancy tech, the tank's still got some dodgy shims

 

[shwareefer]

Do all the gadgets and crazy equipment choices hurt or help the hobby?

Help if you do your research. Hurt if you are an impulse buyer.

Do you think all the cool gear and gadgets cause the perception of reefing to be harder than it really is?

Nope, just more expensive. Many great tanks on essentially freshwater tech. Many great corals that are not SPS.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Aside: I work at Apple (I’m the guy who just did all the client integration for “Hide My Email”).

Just want to say thank you for that. I love this feature

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

As a new reefer (< 1 year running), the cool gadgets are great and help me out a lot. Automated stuff (I’m using hydros), skimmer alarms, ATO, etc. I don’t think I’d be able to be successful in the hobby while working (and chasing 3 kids around to soccer practices) without these things. So yeah they are a lot to get your head around but I think they help more than they hurt.

Plus, as a musician, backpacker, and car guy, I’m a certified gear nerd anyways

 

[Midrats]

And for all that fancy tech, the tank's still got some dodgy shims

Yeah what's up with the shims!?

 

[shwareefer]

Wonky floors are way more common than not. It's probably a basement room and concrete floors are always higher at the wall and sloped to a drain. It looks like a steel stand wrapped with wood and the shims are right where they should be. Cut them flush and a strip of edging and it's mint.

 

[paintman]

It's all about instant gratification. The GenX and Gen Z's loath doing anything manual. That would mean getting up from in front of their computer or smart phone and actully doing something. It also has alot to do with impressing themselves and others.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with that. It's just the direction our society/culture has led them. They were born in a time of great technological advances, as well as having had most everything handed to them without having to do much work. Hence, they would rather just click and drag a scroll bar and get instant information, or perform some trivial task at their tank. Such as water change, temp. increase, or parameter check,

Don't believe me? Just look at all the posts about how long it takes to do a Nitrate test using the Hanna checker. Or how about how cumbersome manual water changes are. Or my favorite one...."It's such a pain to wash my filter socks". Really??????????

When I go out to dinner with my wife, I often wonder how many of the fools who are out with their dates, are on their phones and looking at their DKH and ALK readings. All because they think it's going to make their date get all googly eyed over them.

My biggest gripe with all this gadget stuff is the fact that most of it's overpriced fall apart junk being manufactured in a 3rd world country by under age and/or slave labor. But still we buy these gadgets because it somehow makes us feel better about ourselves and hopefully impresses are friends.

 

[DavidinGA]

Having been in the hobby for about 20 years now I would say much of the new tech is just not needed and doesn't really add much to the enjoyment of keeping livestock. Now, if most of your enjoyment comes from new gear and tech then you're kind of missing the point of keeping a reef imo...

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

It's all about instant gratification. The GenX and Gen Z's loath doing anything manual. That would mean getting up from in front of their computer or smart phone and actully doing something. It also has alot to do with impressing themselves and others.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with that. It's just the direction our society/culture has led them. They were born in a time of great technological advances, as well as having had most everything handed to them without having to do much work. Hence, they would rather just click and drag a scroll bar and get instant information, or perform some trivial task at their tank. Such as water change, temp. increase, or parameter check,

Don't believe me? Just look at all the posts about how long it takes to do a Nitrate test using the Hanna checker. Or how about how cumbersome manual water changes are. Or my favorite one...."It's such a pain to wash my filter socks". Really??????????

When I go out to dinner with my wife, I often wonder how many of the fools who are out with their dates, are on their phones and looking at their DKH and ALK readings. All because they think it's going to make their date get all googly eyed over them.

My biggest gripe with all this gadget stuff is the fact that most of it's overpriced fall apart junk being manufactured in a 3rd world country by under age and/or slave labor. But still we buy these gadgets because it somehow makes us feel better about ourselves and hopefully impresses are friends.

Did you have to walk to the LFS uphill in the snow every morning to get water for water changes?

 

[Wasabiroot]

I think if we did a better job of highlighting the pluses of automation and the fun aspect, it would be less intimidating to newbies. At the same time, I feel like we do a poor job of emphasizing budget reefing or the lack of need of controllers, high-powered lights (think softie only tank, beautiful) and refugiums/etc...We need to do a better job of saying : You can have a beautiful tank that does NOT require any fancy equipment.

 

[kittenbritches]

Did you have to walk to the LFS uphill in the snow every morning to get water for water changes?

Thank God for this comment!!

 

[BaghdadBean]

Personally, I think some of the high tech stuff leads people to believe that this hobby can somehow be made simple, or easy. Instead of learning the chemistry, they can program parameters. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with either a low tech or a high tech principle. Regardless of how you run your system, if you don’t learn the basic underlying biology and chemistry, your tank will never look as good as somebody who truly dedicated themselves to the science behind it as well as the presentation in front of you.

 

[KenRexford]

I would imagine that the abundance of tech would scare the crap out of someone who on a Saturday afternoon thinks to himself, "Gee, I'd like to take up reefkeeping and have a 200 gallon reef tank with SPS, LPS, and NPS corals in it. How do I start?"

Who is that person, though?

I think most people are like me. First, I see the pretty blue fish and want that. What the heck is that arrow crab? Sure -- throw that in. These die, just like the goldfish, but I start looking into things more.

Then, a real, semi-functional bigger tank with blue fish surviving, this time hermit crabs (uglier but I'm practical). Even a Seaclone protein skimmer!

Then, frustration with algae, a green star polyp rock dead in a week, and weird stuff from Mars. So, the person hunts around for better info. Feels rather embarrassed by the Seaclone protein skimmer, etc. Cool tech?!? Bigger blue fish?!? The new green star polyp lives just like the free brown ones that pop up from time to time? Cool!

It then grows from there.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Sure, if newcomers are lead to believe that a reef aquarium requires twenty odd pieces of equipment and a $10K+ investment, then many will decide against it. I find this unfortunate as a good working knowledge of reef keeping doesn't cost much to obtain and generally 'The more you know, the less you need...and the less you'll need to spend'.

Like most I can appreciate a quality piece of equipment, but since I keep my reef aquariums running a long time I want as few of these as absolutely needed to maintain proper reef aquarium conditions.

For those that are fond of constantly changing/upgrading systems/adding the 'Latest and greatest', just realize that like all Tech 'It's great when it works and sucks when it doesn't'. In this hobby this is especially important as we are dealing with living creatures that depend on reliability to maintain a suitably stable environment, so having as few failure points as possible is literally a life and death matter.

 

[Greybeard]

Reefing is perceived as a geeky, complicated, high knowledge hobby. Honestly, many of us are here _because_ it's perceived that way. If it weren't, I'd guess that many of us would have chosen another geeky, complicated, high knowledge hobby.

Does that 'hurt' the hobby? No... but it might keep the participation numbers lower than they would be were it perceived as simple. Are lower participation numbers bad for the hobby? Depends on your point of view. If you're selling reefing supplies, ok, sure. As a more typical hobiest? Eh. If everyone had one, I'm not so sure I'd _want_ one!

Look at other things you do for fun. Me? I'm a precision long distance shooter (another geeky, low participation hobby), and I'm into 3D modeling and printing (yeah, that too).

One question others here seem to be more interested in:

IS the hobby complicated?

Not necessarily. My old 240g DSB system was _far_ from complicated. High tech Gadgets? Where would I have gotten stuff like that in the 1990's? Plumbing from the hardware store, drilled myself, sump was a stock watering tank, Southdown play sand from Home Depot... Tank was very successful, though somewhat atypical of the times.