How easy is keeping a saltwater reef aquarium for you?

[SashimiTurtle]

Gonna have to go with hareasy... zoas and LPS grow like weeds in my tank. For the last year I've killed every SPS that has entered my tank. I know what the problem was in my last tank(heavy metals from black sand) and I think I transfered it over to my new tank with the rocks from the sump.

 

[jtl]

It is pretty well accepted that a softie tank is the easiest then lps, then sps and finally a mixed tank. Unfortunately a lot of us go for the mixed. like I said in a previous comment I perhaps make reefing more difficult than it has to be because I want a pristine looking tank. Some people I know are not so particular and can live with some algae. Another thing is the type of corals you chose to keep. Probably the smart thing would be to try different corals and don't replace the ones that die with the same type. Of course if you ever change lights or start moving things around you may go back to square one. When I set up my current tank I loaded it with frags, probably 70 or more realizing that some would not make it and that was the case. I lost at least 15 early on. Now what I have is alive and showing color but not growing as fast as I would like. I my goal was to purchase a step or two up from basic everyday corals so due to the cost the frags were small, just 2-3 heads in many cases. Now they are mini colonies but still not very large. I still have no need to dose CA or ALK so you know I am not getting a lot of skeletal grow and this is about 15 months now.

 

[fish farmer]

For me it is both hard and easy, but I keep softies and LPS. If I let the tank get away from me...no WC, etc. some things die mainly LPS. This happened while I was busy courting my wife several years ago. Most of the softies did fine.

Fast forward a couple of years and I started to clean things up and added a hammer frag and it started growing and bringing me back into routine maintenance. Other additions for the most part are doing well, but the hard part for me is finding the time to make the changes to make things easier. I have a dosing pump and other parts for a WC station, but they still haven't been put to use.

Currently I'm at day 15 of my last WC....I need to do one tonight, didn't get to it this weekend because I worked and this is prime fishing season for me so I get redirected to the other hobby.

 

[Dburr1014]

My first reef tank in the late 90's/early 2000's seemed so easy. I could mess up bad and things would grow. I hardly ever tested the water then. I think it was water changes and basically keeping my hands out of the tank.
This tank I have now is quite different. I struggled in the beginning. It's getting easier now but still struggling with growth rates. I'm in a new house so the water quality could be slightly different even though I use rodi in both tanks. It's coming into its own but wish it was better. I don't keep up in water changes as I should, but I am testing the water more and keeping a journal.

 

[ChrisW]

I have a love/hate or hareasy relationship w it at 8 months in. only have about 8 frags that all seem to be growing well, had a few fish fatalities that no one has been able to explain, but mostly its been going at a decent pace. My biggest headaches are actually equipment based; the skimmer, (HATE IT), the overflow box, (can't drill into the tank) and for some reason I cant get my phosphates lowered. I think the other thing is the slight guesswork that's involved w/ the testing kits. Man how the hell do I know what shade of that blue/purple is between 8.4 and 8.6 or whatever on the PH. Those syringes?! I mean seriously....like most on here, the $ amount invested is well over a reasonably decent 1st vehicle for a new driver and this is what I'm given? come on man.. But hareasy is about where I expected to be at this stage in the hobby.

Oh almost forgot I have a extremely impulsive roommate that LOVES to surprise me w/ a new addition to the tank that we arent always prepared for. QT DUDE QT!!!!

 

[AlexStinson]

Due to some geography issues I tried switching to planted tanks to scratch that itch.... That was SO much more work. I was spending a couple hours a week mowing an underwater lawn with scissors. Reef tanks have much more information to pull from, much better equipment and monitors, making it really quite easy once you learn what you are doing.

 

[Cujo#31]

If it was easy, if you could just walk up and turn the key I would not be doing it. I like to be challenged. I like to chase the elusive. Keeping a tank, and having it be relatively easy to maintain requires planning, diligence, having rock solid husbandry practices, and accepting the reality of the hobby. It takes money, and time. If you do not have both, you will be challenged to be successful and you will most likely wind up losing both.

 

[Rcpilot]

I'm currently not operating a tank, but never found it too difficult to grow corals in the past. It's been a good 6 or 7 yrs since I had a tank running.

Jumping back in -- I see a lot of new technology to make it even easier.

Never been easier, that's for certain. We've an abundance of equipment, methods, research, and vendors supplying our hobby these days.

@Greybeard

Can we make it complicated? Yep, I know I sure can!!
I've had 3 lower back surgeries. There's 13 pieces of metal in my lower back. When putting a tank together, one of my areas of focus is always, "How can I automate this heavy job?" (water changes mostly) Last time I had a frag farm running, I had my top-off fully automated with a DIY system that used electronic float valves and relays. I still have those boards and hardware, so I'll be setting that up along with the new tank. I want to set up a "push button" water changing system. Walk up to the tank and push a button. Shuts off the ATO, return pump and anything else that needs to be turned off. Pumps a predetermined amount of water out of the main sump. Pumps the new saltwater back into the sump. Turns everything back on. Cycle complete. I know you can do with with a DOS pump and an APEX controller... and probably easier. I get a kick out of DIY designs and low voltage gadgetry.

But we can also make it very simple. You can run a pretty bare bones system with T5 lighting and still keep really nice corals. Simple usually requires a higher level of daily care. If all you run is a 30g sump with a skimmer and some poly filter socks -- thats pretty darn simple -- but it requires that you change the socks every 3--7 days. You can top-off with a plastic pitcher of RO water every day. Still simple, just a little more work. It will grow corals just fine if you keep the parameters in check. How you go about that is up to each person. Some could keep a simple system running perfectly with nothing but water changes. Others might measure out teaspoons/milliliters of buffer and dose daily. Its simple and you can do it. I did it with a 29g frag tank that had HUNDREDS of frags inside. I had frag racks on all 4 sides of the tank, on multiple levels, and they were tierd so everybody got good lighting. I started out dosing it daily, by hand. I eventually figured out how much my tank was using each day and came up with a regular/repeatable dose to put in my ATO water reservoir each week.

I've got the "green thumb" and can grow house plants pretty easily. That translates over into "water gardening" pretty well. I never had a lot of trouble reefing. I'm fairly patient and I think that probably helps a lot in this hobby.

 

[Cujo#31]

I have a love/hate or hareasy relationship w it at 8 months in. only have about 8 frags that all seem to be growing well, had a few fish fatalities that no one has been able to explain, but mostly its been going at a decent pace. My biggest headaches are actually equipment based; the skimmer, (HATE IT), the overflow box, (can't drill into the tank) and for some reason I cant get my phosphates lowered. I think the other thing is the slight guesswork that's involved w/ the testing kits. Man how the hell do I know what shade of that blue/purple is between 8.4 and 8.6 or whatever on the PH. Those syringes?! I mean seriously....like most on here, the $ amount invested is well over a reasonably decent 1st vehicle for a new driver and this is what I'm given? come on man.. But hareasy is about where I expected to be at this stage in the hobby.

Oh almost forgot I have a extremely impulsive roommate that LOVES to surprise me w/ a new addition to the tank that we arent always prepared for. QT DUDE QT!!!!

Getting stable numbers takes a great deal of time. The tank needs to mature before consumption becomes stable and predictable. Until your tank achieves that you will be forever chasing numbers. Don't drive yourself crazy chase numbers, try to stay within a range. PH fluctuates so much, you need to test at close to the same time each day as PH changes at a fairly predictable level based on lighting and flow. Go with a PH monitor. They are relatively inexpensive and far more reliable. As for the rest of the testing, use Hanna wherever possible, or stay with high quality test kits.

 

[Greybeard]

I'm currently not operating a tank, but never found it too difficult to grow corals in the past. It's been a good 6 or 7 yrs since I had a tank running.

Jumping back in -- I see a lot of new technology to make it even easier.
@Greybeard

Can we make it complicated? Yep, I know I sure can!!
I've had 3 lower back surgeries. There's 13 pieces of metal in my lower back. When putting a tank together, one of my areas of focus is always, "How can I automate this heavy job?" (water changes mostly) Last time I had a frag farm running, I had my top-off fully automated with a DIY system that used electronic float valves and relays. I still have those boards and hardware, so I'll be setting that up along with the new tank. I want to set up a "push button" water changing system. Walk up to the tank and push a button. Shuts off the ATO, return pump and anything else that needs to be turned off. Pumps a predetermined amount of water out of the main sump. Pumps the new saltwater back into the sump. Turns everything back on. Cycle complete. I know you can do with with a DOS pump and an APEX controller... and probably easier. I get a kick out of DIY designs and low voltage gadgetry.

But we can also make it very simple. You can run a pretty bare bones system with T5 lighting and still keep really nice corals. Simple usually requires a higher level of daily care. If all you run is a 30g sump with a skimmer and some poly filter socks -- thats pretty darn simple -- but it requires that you change the socks every 3--7 days. You can top-off with a plastic pitcher of RO water every day. Still simple, just a little more work. It will grow corals just fine if you keep the parameters in check. How you go about that is up to each person. Some could keep a simple system running perfectly with nothing but water changes. Others might measure out teaspoons/milliliters of buffer and dose daily. Its simple and you can do it. I did it with a 29g frag tank that had HUNDREDS of frags inside. I had frag racks on all 4 sides of the tank, on multiple levels, and they were tierd so everybody got good lighting. I started out dosing it daily, by hand. I eventually figured out how much my tank was using each day and came up with a regular/repeatable dose to put in my ATO water reservoir each week.

I've got the "green thumb" and can grow house plants pretty easily. That translates over into "water gardening" pretty well. I never had a lot of trouble reefing. I'm fairly patient and I think that probably helps a lot in this hobby.

Welcome back I, too, took a decade off. Been back for 4 years now.

I'm putting an AWC system, based on an Apex, DOS, 65g water container, and a drain I recently plumbed to a gravel area on one end of my home. Hope to have it in service in the next couple of weeks.

My 'old' water change system consisted of a 55g rubbermaid container, in which I mixed up water... a pair of 20g rubbermaid containers, into which I could easily siphon... and an APEX WC mode, where a single switch would disable return pump, skimmer, ATO... whatever else I needed off to do a water change.

With the Apex DOS system, there's no level sensors to worry about. ATO system can remain in service... no stopping the return pump. Water changes happen hourly, in the quantity of just a few ounces. Water in and out at the same rate. Over two weeks, it'll be changing the same volume I was changing with my manual water changes... 40 gallons, or about 25% of the total system volume.

Add in a healthy macro algae refugeum, and ESV B-Ionic + Mag dosing through a dosing pump... Tunze ATO plumbed to a reservoir that refills itself as needed. No socks... though I do have a mesh bag full of Matrix.

I'm looking to be down to a monthly refill of my salt reservoir, top off of ESV jugs, weekly testing, and weekly cleaning of my skimmer cup. As little daily maintenance as I can manage, thanks.

Oh, and I am using T5 lights. I like them far better than anything else available at this point.

 

[Rcpilot]

Welcome back I, too, took a decade off. Been back for 4 years now.

I'm putting an AWC system, based on an Apex, DOS, 65g water container, and a drain I recently plumbed to a gravel area on one end of my home. Hope to have it in service in the next couple of weeks.

My 'old' water change system consisted of a 55g rubbermaid container, in which I mixed up water... a pair of 20g rubbermaid containers, into which I could easily siphon... and an APEX WC mode, where a single switch would disable return pump, skimmer, ATO... whatever else I needed off to do a water change.

With the Apex DOS system, there's no level sensors to worry about. ATO system can remain in service... no stopping the return pump. Water changes happen hourly, in the quantity of just a few ounces. Water in and out at the same rate. Over two weeks, it'll be changing the same volume I was changing with my manual water changes... 40 gallons, or about 25% of the total system volume.

Add in a healthy macro algae refugeum, and ESV B-Ionic + Mag dosing through a dosing pump... Tunze ATO plumbed to a reservoir that refills itself as needed. No socks... though I do have a mesh bag full of Matrix.

I'm looking to be down to a monthly refill of my salt reservoir, top off of ESV jugs, weekly testing, and weekly cleaning of my skimmer cup. As little daily maintenance as I can manage, thanks.

Oh, and I am using T5 lights. I like them far better than anything else available at this point.

That sounds awesome! I've read your thread on the open top, penninsula build. Great stuff. Love that stand.

 

[ChrisW]

@Cujo#31 in complete agreement with you on all that. One of the first things I learned on this forum, is dont chase numbers. I'm having some success, so something is going right. I do use RedSea testing kits, but I am going to get a Hanna PH tester. But I learned very quickly just from reading posts from many other seasoned reefers that chasing numbers will get you nowhere fast, and this hobby is about exercising extreme patience. Thank you for the tip on keeping the testing around the same time consistently, I hadnt thought of that. These are reasons why I'm on this forum.
Now if Hanna or RedSea made a tester for when my roommates impulsiveness flares up....I'll pay a premium

 

[SoFloGator]

I don't find it difficult I haven't lost any fish except for 2 one committed suicide the other I am not sure. I did have a large SPSD die out. I guess lighting tripped my ground fault circuit witch knocked my lights out (has been taken out again) while I was in Fiji working for 2 weeks. My house keeper called my son but he was too busy I guess would have taken him 30 seconds to reset it, lost most everything

Have you reviewed your estate plan with him lately?

 

[sghera64]

It was easy at first when I kept things simple. Then it got harder as I added more diversity of species.

In the end, it’s easy once you know what you’re doing (duh)!

 

[Kimberely]

Haha. This is a trick question! I find it pretty easy to maintain my Reefs until I all of the sudden have issues that make things difficult. Anyone of us can get stumped at any given time in my experience.

Agreed. It's been pretty easy until my first tank became infested with dinoflagellates...then it became a pain. Now that the dinoflagellates are gone, it's easy again. Except for bubble tip nems. I can't keep one alive and I've tried twice.

 

[Rakie]

Very easy to keep a reef, especially now... It's never been easier for me personally, and I attribute it to a few key things.

First of all: KISS

Do not buy into all the stupid hype, all the stupid product spotlight videos, all the stupid triton essentials chaeto ultimate zeo-scam stuff. You need absolutely zero of it.

Second of all: If you skimp on equipment, you're doing it wrong. I'm a firm believer there's no wrong way to run a reef... Unless you're skimping and cutting corners to save money. It will always, always, always bite you. Spend every penny you can on every item you need. No cheap pumps, no cheap lights, no cheap equipment. period.

Good equipment, can the hype = easy success.

 

[Dburr1014]

First of all: KISS

Do not buy into all the stupid hype, all the stupid product spotlight videos, all the stupid triton essentials chaeto ultimate zeo-scam stuff. You need absolutely zero of it.

Second of all: If you skimp on equipment, you're doing it wrong. I'm a firm believer there's no wrong way to run a reef... Unless you're skimping and cutting corners to save money. It will always, always, always bite you. Spend every penny you can on every item you need. No cheap pumps, no cheap lights, no cheap equipment. period.

Good equipment, can the hype = easy success.

First paragraph I would agree with. Not so much the second.

My reasons are for an example; an apex. I don't have one and I don't think I want one. Why, because my cheap timers work great. I used to turn on lights with them ((now my led light have integrated timer) but fuge still has one) and pumps and things.
I do also hear apex problems dropping out from the routers. So you wouldn't even know if it's working in a power failure mode. But my mechanical timer always turns back on. [emoji2]

 

[jtl]

First paragraph I would agree with. Not so much the second.

My reasons are for an example; an apex. I don't have one and I don't think I want one. Why, because my cheap timers work great. I used to turn on lights with them ((now my led light have integrated timer) but fuge still has one) and pumps and things.
I do also hear apex problems dropping out from the routers. So you wouldn't even know if it's working in a power failure mode. But my mechanical timer always turns back on. [emoji2]

I have had a few reef tanks over the years. I do manual water changes (about 10 gallon per week), my light has an internal timer, I have no controller but I do have an ato. I don't have a need to dose at this point but when I do I will do that manually as well. Very simple and straightforward system. I also don't have nor do I believe that reefers need high end equipment to be successful.

 

[Rakie]

First paragraph I would agree with. Not so much the second.

My reasons are for an example; an apex. I don't have one and I don't think I want one. Why, because my cheap timers work great. I used to turn on lights with them ((now my led light have integrated timer) but fuge still has one) and pumps and things.
I do also hear apex problems dropping out from the routers. So you wouldn't even know if it's working in a power failure mode. But my mechanical timer always turns back on. [emoji2]

Never said you needed an Apex either. It's a glorified wifi power outlet.

I said don't buy cheap lights, skimmers, junky pumps that need annual replacing.

 

[Rakie]

I have had a few reef tanks over the years. I do manual water changes (about 10 gallon per week), my light has an internal timer, I have no controller but I do have an ato. I don't have a need to dose at this point but when I do I will do that manually as well. Very simple and straightforward system. I also don't have nor do I believe that reefers need high end equipment to be successful.

I don't think they need high end gear either, what talking about are the people who buy the cheapest junk they can that barely works it doesn't last a year.