Good Luck With That: Is there a common reefing practice that you've found to be futile for yourself?

[AlyciaMarie]

We reefers do a lot of different things to make our tanks successful, but is everything we're doing actually helpful? Let's discuss it!

Is there a common reefing practice that you've found to be futile for yourself?

P.S. Everyone has opinions, so let's make sure we can respectfully disagree before responding to said opinions. Some things that work for you, may not work for others.

 

[tbrown]

Ultra low nutrients don't work for me. I've been having to dose nitrates and phosphates even with heavy feeding. Keeping nutrients low, I've been slowly losing corals.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

my tanks quite small so it may make sense I haven't experienced this but I have tried a protein skimmer multiple times and just never felt the value of it.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Stressing over trace elements. I don’t even measure them. Never done an ICP test, and don’t plan on it.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Chasing numbers/trying to make adjustments and NOPOX dosing did not work well for me.

 

[mjszos]

Chasing narrow ranges of numbers... Trying to keep things specific I've found causes more stress, and leads to mistakes.

 

[GARRIGA]

Time and money...

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Time and money...

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Water changes! I don't know what it is, but bringing myself to do them is not enjoyable.

 

[xWascallyWabbit]

Filter socks/floss. No real need.
Skimmer
Fuge
Water changes
Done.

 

[mjszos]

Water changes! I don't know what it is, but bringing myself to do them is not enjoyable.

Just need to invest into making them as easy as possible!

 

[X-37B]

WC are down to 5% every 2 months and working well on 3 systems.

 

[Doctorgori]

color chasing

 

[PharmrJohn]

I said no. Not that I'm THAT good. I just kept things REALLY simple. I plan on managing things a little differently with my upcoming build so I know I'll hit something......

 

[ScottJ]

Two gallon water change each week on the small tank, fresh filter sock on Sundays and 7 gallon water change every other week on the bigger tank, still trying to figure out the newest tank.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Voted No. all practices have their own merits, some may be not applicable correctly but that doesn’t make it wrong in my view. They all depend on the end goal.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Over complicated lighting schedules, seen so many people get obsessed over % other people are running. Corals adapt to such a wide range.

 

[formallydehyde]

Physically or chemically removing aiptasia from live rock has consistently given me worse results than literally just ignoring them and having well fed peppermint shrimp around that occasionally pick them off when they feel like it.

 

[shwareefer]

Aminos. I've never noticed any benefit unless you include cyano as a benefit. My corals look much happier with a few drops of chaetogro.

 

[Silly clownfish]

I have never been able to keep macro algae alive long term in my fuge.

I also don’t chase numbers and do minimal water testing. I feel like overcomplicating does not yield better results.

The above is my experience so far. But it’s only been 27 years, so maybe I will change my mind in the future.