I stop buying stuff for my tank and it's the best decision ever

[MnFish1]

Who here doesn't have a closet full of unused reef gear? I have at least 3-4K worth of stuff for just in case moments.

I don't. But I have a local fish store/petco/petsmart at which I can substitute anything I might need on short notice.

 

[FrugalReefer]

Nice! I stopped using GFO and activated carbon a while ago and have never looked back. My corals seemed to stress out and not enjoy it, paling out some or closing up, every time I swapped out for a new batch, even when using less than recommended amounts. I got the inspiration from this observation and high end reefers, Jason Fox notably, who don’t use GFO and carbon to make this decision. My corals are now doing better and have been without the chemicals.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I'm with you. My 180 has been running for about 8 years and has never looked better. I manually dose 2 part in the morning and change 20g of water a week and let it run itself. I spent plenty of time chasing numbers and trying the latest miracle in a bottle over the years and usually did more harm than good.
I do have 2 other smaller tanks that I'm experimenting with growing sticks so those get a little more attention but I'm still trying to keep it as simple as possible.
Fuges in all tanks with chaeto. Doesn't really help with nutrient removal but sure does grow some cool life forms.

I'm pretty set in my ways, one of my reef buddies calls it "the rusty special". And it's not perfect, but it works. I try to keep things as simple as possible. I do have an auto-doser for alk and calcium on my tank, an ato, heater controller, etc. My job is really unpredictable so I need the tank to be able to run itself with a minimum amount of attention for awhile if need be. For example, with my tanks uptake, manual dosing just isn't going to cut it when I can't get to it every day. But hey, a $40 used doser snd I'm in business. My wife and I have a 32g biocube and 34g red sea. Both just have a piece of filter pad in the overflow and extra rock in the back chamber. That's it. No skimmer, etc. I just do regular water changes with regular old instant ocean I boost the calcium in a little.

 

[Gretchacha]

Been in the hobby for 10+ years and looked in my "fish closet" a few months ago and saw the graveyard of unused equipments and random bottles of reef elixirs and potions. I have 2 extra IM reactors, 5-6 wavemakers / pumps, 2-3 heaters, pod hotels (remember those??), and I dont even know if these equipments still all work. I have tubs of phosguard, GFO, carbon that I haven't used, I have all kinds of amino acid, reef buffer, trace elements, reef roids, bacto balance, np-plus, elimi-np, iodine, and other random junk. It made me realized BRS does a heck of a job marketing and I fell for it time after time. I was close to pulling the trigger on a $400 algae scrubber because I been dealing with high phosphate. Then I told myself no more.

I took down the 2 reactors already running in the tank. I threw away all the bottles of additives. I got some chaeto + red macroalgae and started my fuge back up. Fast forward to now and my tank been in the best shape ever. My parameters are in check and I am going to go back to the basics.

Filter pad + Skimmer + Fuge + 2 parts + Feed my fish. That's it. The only thing I will have to buy ever again is filter pads, frozen fish food, and RODI replacement. I am done adding anything else to my tank. Unsubscribed from BRS, Aquacave, and SWA.

I just have a canister filter and ATO. Ultra Low Maintenance. I change one bucket of water weekly.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

What I noticed while reading this contribution is that many people use a refugium. And by that they mean an algae filter with Chaeto. I would therefore like to note that Chaeto is fine but there are many types of macroalgae that deliver much better results. From basic knowledge we know that a closed aquarium system is based on three pillars and that the third pillar, photo-autotrophic growth, is indispensable. What is unwanted algae growth? The cause is usually algae, which tend to overgrow everything and make optimal use of situations where the competition has a hard time in their search for nutrients. To clear the water of nutrients while maintaining balance, balanced growth is required and that growth must be harvested in a timely manner. And then one must talk about what is brought in and how the surplus is removed. Is what remains after remineralisation balanced to support growth and clear the water? Nitrogen management starts with what is fed and the C:N ratio of the diet plays a very important role. Adding high protein food is asking for a strong second pillar to support the carrying capacity, certainly if a skimmer is in use, constantly but very selective exporting parts of organic waste and DOC but not inorganic nitrogen compounds.

What is the role of a mechanical filter in creating an unbalance of nutrient availability for growth, if removing organic waste but not produced nitrogen compounds. Mechanical filters can be very effective mineralization filters.

What I also note is that the skimmer still is considered indispensable and is not thrown overboard. A point of attention may be that with regard to the nitrogen surplus and nitrate build-up, little has changed in the many decades that skimmers have been used, despite the fact that it was said at the time that a protein skimmer was necessary to prevent nitrate build-up. With today's knowledge, the name skimmer is used and the protein is omitted. There is a clear link between the use of a skimmer and nitrogen build-up.

 

[Nano_Man]

My little nano tanks are really ran like fresh water tanks no skimmers
I use natural sea water and that's about it and standard lighting. This one of my cold water nanos

 

[BZOFIQ]

Who here doesn't have a closet full of unused reef gear? I have at least 3-4K worth of stuff for just in case moments.

Problem is people gather stuff for a build or hold as spare and all of these things lose warranty and value.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Problem is people gather stuff for a build or hold as spare and all of these things lose warranty and value.

Agreed.

I regularly browse the sale ads in the market section for great deals. I am up to my gills with lights but when I saw an ad for 2 Kessil A360x for an awesome price ,I snitched them up like it was candy lol . I don’t even have a tank for them so they’ll go to my reef closet.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Been in the hobby for 10+ years and looked in my "fish closet" a few months ago and saw the graveyard of unused equipments and random bottles of reef elixirs and potions. I have 2 extra IM reactors, 5-6 wavemakers / pumps, 2-3 heaters, pod hotels (remember those??), and I dont even know if these equipments still all work. I have tubs of phosguard, GFO, carbon that I haven't used, I have all kinds of amino acid, reef buffer, trace elements, reef roids, bacto balance, np-plus, elimi-np, iodine, and other random junk. It made me realized BRS does a heck of a job marketing and I fell for it time after time. I was close to pulling the trigger on a $400 algae scrubber because I been dealing with high phosphate. Then I told myself no more.

I took down the 2 reactors already running in the tank. I threw away all the bottles of additives. I got some chaeto + red macroalgae and started my fuge back up. Fast forward to now and my tank been in the best shape ever. My parameters are in check and I am going to go back to the basics.

Filter pad + Skimmer + Fuge + 2 parts + Feed my fish. That's it. The only thing I will have to buy ever again is filter pads, frozen fish food, and RODI replacement. I am done adding anything else to my tank. Unsubscribed from BRS, Aquacave, and SWA.

Every possession is a burden.

 

[Philip Chin]

I gone simply a while ago and things have been great. Got rid of calcium reactor and the harder sps. Just sticking to zoas ,rbta and gsp plus weekly water changes. No more additives so I have more money for fish and zoas. Life is so much more easier

 

[nursingcoral]

I’ve also bought extra stuff during the “Black Friday” sales,..and have yet to make use of them. This year I promised myself that I would buy only what I needed, and so far I have been able to not impulse buy. I missed this year’s reef palooza, so I didn’t like I have done at previous events.

 

[Garf]

I’ve never been into spending excessively, apparently I’m a cheapskate.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I’ve also bought extra stuff during the “Black Friday” sales,..and have yet to make use of them. This year I promised myself that I would buy only what I needed, and so far I have been able to not impulse buy. I missed this year’s reef palooza, so I didn’t like I have done at previous events.

People do tend to overcomplicate things.

There are way too many shiny gadgets that beckon.

 

[Lavey29]

Reefers had beautiful tanks decades ago too and didn't have any of this modern tech and additives.

Who wouldn't take a 69 Camaro over a tesla?

 

[snackpack]

Reefers had beautiful tanks decades ago too and didn't have any of this modern tech and additives.

Who wouldn't take a 69 Camaro over a tesla?

Who wouldn't take a brand new car with modern tech and reliability vs a 54 year old muscle car? I'm taking the new car

 

[Lavey29]

Who wouldn't take a brand new car with modern tech and reliability vs a 54 year old muscle car? I'm taking the new car

And I'll cruise right past you at your 45 minute charging....old school rules

 

[vlangel]

Yep, this is the way I roll. Simplicity works for me.

 

[snackpack]

And I'll cruise right past you at your 45 minute charging....old school rules

Probably on a flat bed

I'm a bit biased - I've been in the automotive industry for 20 years and have grown to value reliability and comfort over my old sports cars.

 

[Kfactor]

i gave up on all that stuff too and made my new tank simple . i founds it way easier back in the day and never had problems like i do now lol

 

[ninjamyst]

I didn't buy anything from BRS during their Halloween sale. So proud of myself. Also been staying away from live sales since my tank is pretty much full.