Gadgets and Crazy Cool Equipment Hurting the Hobby?

Does cool gear and gadgets cause the perception of reefing to be harder than it really is?

  • YES

    Votes: 327 49.3%
  • NO

    Votes: 168 25.3%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 152 22.9%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 16 2.4%

  • Total voters
    663

reef4now

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My take on this is if you are new to the hobby,do your research and start with basic hob ,live rock,heater low end pls,some fish .Keep your eye on water quality ,do partial water change and be patient .You’ll end up with a decent piece of the ocean that you can enjoy,this setup won’t cost you an arm and a leg.From there sky is the limit,go as big as you want.
 

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flyfisher2

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As I read the comments and the way people basically say the gear is “cool” but not necessary I think back on high end audio. The Stereo days back in the 70’s. Wow I’m old.
I remember the receivers, the speakers the turntables. It was fantastic and sounded great.
Today we’ve seen a resurgence in Vinyl and stereo is making a comeback.
Is it necessary to own the latest Amp and speaker on the market when we all know how fantastic the tube amps of yesterday sounded and if you’re lucky to have vintage gear still do?
My point?
Some things can’t be fixed because they aren’t broken!
I have a controller and most of my issues are WITH the controller!
The freakin thing beeps and whistles in the middle of the night and needs to be reset but it sure looks cool and the flashing disco lights accent the color of my bright pipes under my tank
It’s the first thing I show people when they come to see the rocks and water in my aquarium. (Joke)
I actually missed the day at reefing school when the gear became the attraction. Many of the most impressive AQUARIUMS out there have a salty crusty, dirty looking engine room which is doing a fantastic job on the livestock.
As with audio, the gear is a tool to enjoy the music!
In reefing the primary goal is to succeed in
Keeping a thriving piece of the ocean
If my gear is beautiful and shiny and clean but my tank looks like a desert somethin’ wrong!
I have a friend with a beautiful Jeep, all decked out and you need a ladder to climb into the dang thing but when she goes to the Jeep meets they go scrambling. Not her, it’ll get dirty!
 

Stan2782

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I believe the issue is new some new reefers look at the awesome tanks pictures on social media sites and they say I want that. Then come the misconception of to get that amazing tank I have to get all the reactors, controllers, etc…. So they go get all the proverbial bells and whistles then fail anyway, because they failed to take the time and understand water chemistry, and most of all comprehend the meaning and importance of stability.

you don’t need all the equipment to be successful if you understand the basics. I manually dosed for years. I would dose major elements, aminos, every day. To control phosphates I would take a bag of phosban and put in in the sump when pO4 would stay creeping. And I’d remove it when it got a little low. Obviously not the most efficient way but it worked. My point is to all new reefers, all the crazy equipment is necessary to have that amazing tank but please do your research on basic water chemistry, and stability and a little on the biology . This hobby is never ending research. You guys want to have a discussion? We should discuss how many countless hours that we research fish or coral before we ever even purchase them.
 

Stan2782

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I believe the issue is new some new reefers look at the awesome tanks pictures on social media sites and they say I want that. Then come the misconception of to get that amazing tank I have to get all the reactors, controllers, etc…. So they go get all the proverbial bells and whistles then fail anyway, because they failed to take the time and understand water chemistry, and most of all comprehend the meaning and importance of stability.

you don’t need all the equipment to be successful if you understand the basics. I manually dosed for years. I would dose major elements, aminos, every day. To control phosphates I would take a bag of phosban and put in in the sump when pO4 would stay creeping. And I’d remove it when it got a little low. Obviously not the most efficient way but it worked. My point is to all new reefers, all the crazy equipment is necessary to have that amazing tank but please do your research on basic water chemistry, and stability and a little on the biology . This hobby is never ending research. You guys want to have a discussion? We should discuss how many countless hours that we research fish or coral before we ever even purchase them.
Sorry guys typo. The crazy Equipt is not necessary to have that amazing tank
 

Midrats

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In fairness, isn't it when the tank is brand new and clean when most people are going to share their equipment and plumbing setups.
Since you are asking, yes, that's when people most often share pictures. There is a surplus of pictures of very elaborate empty systems on here, which is all fine and good if that's what you want to look at. When I see a thriving reef tank, that's when I want to see under the hood.
 

HK180

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I don't think that the equipment/gadgets are hurting the hobby--you can have a reef tank with minimal equipment. Gadgets easier to maintain a system and give you peace of mind if you're on a trip.

I do think that the hobby is suffering from crazy coral names and (in some areas) price gouging. Coral should be priced on average color/growth rate--sometimes coral changes color/pattern, and I don't think that a slight change in pattern/color is sufficient to justify a higher price.
 

WVNed

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My take on this is if you are new to the hobby,do your research and start with basic hob ,live rock,heater low end pls,some fish .Keep your eye on water quality ,do partial water change and be patient .You’ll end up with a decent piece of the ocean that you can enjoy,this setup won’t cost you an arm and a leg.From there sky is the limit,go as big as you want.
and then people will tell you your setup is crazy, fancy, unnecessarily complex and that you are harming the hobby.
 

Timfish

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It's really sad! People will contact me for help because they constantly have corals and fish dying. They don't understand because they bought everything they were told they needed and after literally tens of thousands of dollars they got nothing. No one told them anything about basic tests or doing water changes. We'll disconnect or turn off equipment and start testing and doing water changes and quickly the animals they still have start looking better.
 

attiland

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I don't want to start a fight here but I thought this could be a great question to ask. I recently saw a comment from someone on social media stating how they would not get into the Saltwater Aquarium hobby because all the equipment and gadgets needed. They had seen a photo, that we like to share, of a complex and well put together sump/equipment area that featured lots of fancy tubing, acrylic, electronics, etc. My personal opinion is that the "gadgets" make reefing more fun but also helps us be more successful. But maybe the perception hurts the hobby? Let's talk about it!

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

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


image via @Elder1945
20171105_112625.jpg
No gadget is a must but why would you have a car without a radio?
All automation is not a must but why would I dose or top up by hand if I can get gadget to do it?
The hobby is up because we love reef and willing to pay for gadgets which fuels the industry and keeps the LFS in business.
Win win I would say
 

Spicy Reef

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I disagree with the premise of this question "cool" :cool: equipment
new reefers would be better off to spend time and resources on books and research, "keep it simple stupid" goes a long way in the beginning.

I love the idea of a new reefers goal to be how cheap can you do it and still have a beautiful slice of reef. Then again I'm a "softy" at heart - lol

here's a simple nano I'm setting up...
 

Discotu

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a successful aquarium can be maintained with just the basics. However, I believe a lot of hobbyist are generally tinkerers so gadgets are cleverly marketed for us :)
 

kados

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Since you are asking, yes, that's when people most often share pictures. There is a surplus of pictures of very elaborate empty systems on here, which is all fine and good if that's what you want to look at. When I see a thriving reef tank, that's when I want to see under the hood.
I hear you and agree with you. I agree it's up to the individual to enjoy whatever part of the hobby interests them. I personally enjoy a FOWLR system and big ol fish instead of nuclear atomic bounce hellfire something.. some like to chase the coral name game and collect. Some enjoy plumbing a system. My comment was solely directed to the point of time when most people would likely post pictures of elaborate plumbing and sump setups..and that is when it's first set up and clean and most likely with an empty or cycling tank at that point of time. Others enjoy a frag collection and $2K worth of lights blasting PAR into the sand. End of the day we are agreeing.
 

Lilly Moore

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I don't want to start a fight here but I thought this could be a great question to ask. I recently saw a comment from someone on social media stating how they would not get into the Saltwater Aquarium hobby because all the equipment and gadgets needed. They had seen a photo, that we like to share, of a complex and well put together sump/equipment area that featured lots of fancy tubing, acrylic, electronics, etc. My personal opinion is that the "gadgets" make reefing more fun but also helps us be more successful. But maybe the perception hurts the hobby? Let's talk about it!

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

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


image via @Elder1945
20171105_112625.jpg
Which one do I put because I like the gadgets
wording sometimes throws me off
 

UK softy bloke

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I don't want to start a fight here but I thought this could be a great question to ask. I recently saw a comment from someone on social media stating how they would not get into the Saltwater Aquarium hobby because all the equipment and gadgets needed. They had seen a photo, that we like to share, of a complex and well put together sump/equipment area that featured lots of fancy tubing, acrylic, electronics, etc. My personal opinion is that the "gadgets" make reefing more fun but also helps us be more successful. But maybe the perception hurts the hobby? Let's talk about it!

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

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


image via @Elder1945
20171105_112625.jpg
I've gone the minimalist way, I don't even have an ato.
 

MikeReed

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I think it helps to think of most equipment categories in the hobby as mainly options to be weighed along side other methods of achieving the same result. Most equipment isn't needed, it's just a matter of whether the task being handled or issue being fixed in a given tank is annoying enough to justify the cost for the reefer.

Actually, now that I'm thinking through the different types of equipment out there - a lot of it boils down to how frequently you mind performing water changes and how much water you want to replace in one.
 

Mark Bradley

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Two years into developing my reef and I think the ‘gadgets’ have made my life simpler and helped the tank to be a success. I previously tried marines a few years ago and unknowingly cut corners and it didn’t go well and had me returning to tropicals very quickly.
 

AustinBabler

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I think the gadgets probably scare some beginners off. I’m new to the hobby I’m just about a month in. Technology doesn’t scare me I love as much tech as I can to help make things easier for me. I farm so we have all sorts of cool tech we use everyday. The one thing I struggle with is finding answers that you don’t have to have a college degree in marine biology to decipher back into layman’s terms haha. I wish I could find someone local to me to mentor me a little. Someone to call when I need a hand you know? Like a newbie starting out can only soak up so many videos on YouTube or scroll a forum so long. Don’t get me wrong I’ve learned all sorts of valuable information just looking through here and watching BRS videos on YouTube. But that’s not like having someone face to face helping you out.
 

Nigel35

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I remember a guy who was being introduced to saltwater aquariums and the second I opened the cabinet door he saw the sump and said forget it... Lol

Nigel
 
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