Misinformation in the Reefing Hobby

[Ocean’s Piece]

What are some things you consider to be misinformation in this hobby?

I’m fighting a tank crash right now because I got lazy with my tank. I think this is ultimately due to overcomplicating things that I hear people say are necessary on YouTube, on these forums, or online.

 

[Timfish]

Adding labile DOC, aka carbon dosing, is a good thing. There's a mountain of research showing carbon pollution is far worse than nitrogen or phosphorus pollution. Effects can be acute or chronic and can affect genotypes within a species differently. Even DOC from a coral can compromise it when it's health dosed at 10X the normal level.

 

[Viperdragon]

Adding things to your tank you don't need keep it simple.

 

[90's reefer]

Several coral vendors, I want post names, say and post on their website that best alk level is 8.5-9, just like the ocean.

Not sure what they are reading but average ocean alk is 6.5.

Never understood, but know why, so many want to run elevated alk levels.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I’ll give you what’s been bothering me. I’m not saying any of these pieces of advice are wrong, but any advice is never a one size fits all and there are always other solutions. But, these solutions tend to be frowned upon by some groups, which makes it hard to discern what’s best for you tank.

1. You should stick to a once weekly/very often Water change schedule

2. Some things that BRS or other large Reefing businesses recommend to do.

3. Soft Corals are inherently bad, or other corals people hate on because they don’t like them

4. Tap water is terrible for your aquarium (didn’t realize that our city’s tap water is one of the best in the country, so this is kind of an outlier to other instances)

5. LPS and SPS will fill up your tank in a year or two if you get a lot. (Marketing scam IMO)

6. You have to have the most fancy Hanna checker to be successful

7. You need to get expensive corals, gear, and gadgets to be successful

These are just a few. With experience in this hobby, it’s allowed me to see through the BS and understand that I don’t need to do everything one way.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Several coral vendors, I want post names, say and post on their website that best alk level is 8.5-9, just like the ocean.

Not sure what they are reading but average ocean alk is 6.5.

Never understood, but know why, so many want to run elevated alk levels.

I agree. I keep my Alk at around 9, but there’s no difference in growth when things are low. I think it’s a marketing scam where they want you to keep your Alk or other parameters high so you go and buy more salt, two part, or whatever to sustain your corals needs. Same thing with SPS corals. These businesses don’t make money off of people who run soft corals tanks that don’t need to worry about parameters as much as LPS and SPS

 

[90's reefer]

Best advice I can give after 30+ years is keep it simple.
Find a fellow reefer who has from day one a build thread that documents everything.
Start with a plan. Pick your parameters and focus on keeping them in range.
Many make it way harder than it needs to be, imo.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

“You can sustain fish off of pellets and mysis/brine”
Luckily this is getting better. But many local fish stores and even online vendors gloss over the importance of a highly varied diet of fresh seafood.
nearly everyone with 15 y.o. + fish either primarily feeds their own seafood blend, live foods, or a mix such as rods or lrs. I have yet to see a fish thrive off of pellets or easily aquacultured “shrimp” for a lengthy period of time. They either mysteriously die (malnutrition), kill each other off (food scarcity), or contract diseases very easily.
i would even venture to say 80 percent of common reef diseases could be countered with a frequent, proper diet, especially for tangs.
Also most fish we keep are either herbivores or planktivores that either require high fiber or high wax/keratin in their diet. Realistically only digesting a fraction of the protein thrown their way. Feeding copepods (some species consist of up to 70 percent wax) or large amounts of algea to fish should be considered a necessity for proper gut health as well.
in short. Don’t listen to your lfs telling you to feed mainly pellets and brine as a treat. You are keeping an EXOTIC PET. Feed it like one.

 

[Crustaceon]

What are some things you consider to be misinformation in this hobby?

I’m fighting a tank crash right now because I got lazy with my tank. I think this is ultimately due to overcomplicating things that I hear people say are necessary on YouTube, on these forums, or

1. The notion of only being able to keep certain livestock after a predetermined amount of time. Ex: wait a year to keep anemones.

2. Expensive equipment will keep your tank pristine and algae free.

3. Mandarin dragonets require a massive tank with TONS of live rock and a refugium, PLUS constant stocking of pods because OnLy the Biota ones are trained to eat frozen foods.

 

[Potatohead]

delete

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Several coral vendors, I want post names, say and post on their website that best alk level is 8.5-9, just like the ocean.

Not sure what they are reading but average ocean alk is 6.5.

Never understood, but know why, so many want to run elevated alk levels.

Well i think that actually does have some science behind it...if I'm not mistaken, elevated alk levels can increase growth rate if the ratio of nitrate and phosphate are correct

 

[vlangel]

Been reefing since the 90s and what has worked for me is keep it simple. For me that means let the biology do the heavy lifting. I have a respectable amount of live rock and sand in the display and sump. My filter media is floss and I use activated carbon, both in an area of high flow that I change weekly. I do a 5% - 10% weekly water change with tap water but ours is good.

I keep soft coral, a few LPS and have ornamental macroalgae to take up nutrients given off by my fish. I have no skimmer, no reactors, and no controllers. It's an easy simple system but it is nice and works for me.

 

[MtnDewMan]

I hate the term misinformation.

 

[Dburr1014]

IO is bad.
Algae is bad.

What is good for one tank may/or may not be good for another. Take what you hear/read with a grain of salt.

If you want to try something that someone suggested, think real hard, develop a plan, and start slow. No need to rush into anything even if your tank looks bad. It may not be so bad after all.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I actually started a similar thread a while back which wasn't welcomed by many. Seems taking responsibility for your advice isn't very alluring to many people.

The Start of Misinformation, Misunderstandings, and Acknowledging Lack of Knowledge

First of all in this day and age I first have to state this is aimed to offend nobody and is not intended to offend in any way. This is something I do, however , feel is important for someone to say and since nobody else has said it yet I will. I THINK a lot of misinformation gets started on...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ReefGeezer]

There is a big difference between misinformation and information of which one might disagree.

For example, I disagree with @Timfish concerning adding carbon sources in certain situations. However, I also know that the contention that carbon can be a pollutant as bad or worse that nitrate or phosphate is not misinformation. In fact, it is a valuable bit of information to consider when deciding whether of not to add a carbon source.

My pet peeve right now is all the information being posted about "Biomes" and how to establish them. I think there are a lot of assumptions made that are not likely to be true.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

What works for Joe Dirt on this forum might (actually probably won't) work out the same way for you so do some scientific research instead of solely taking advice.

 

[rtparty]

ReefGeezer hit it on the head. There is a very big difference between misinformation and information you don’t agree with.

 

[90's reefer]

Well i think that actually does have some science behind it...if I'm not mistaken, elevated alk levels can increase growth rate if the ratio of nitrate and phosphate are correct

OP wanted to know misinformation. Its one thing to say best alk is 8.5-9. It misinformation when you say thats the alk of the ocean.

Yes elevated alk grows coral faster if everything else is inline.

 

[ReefGeezer]

What works for Joe Dirt on this forum might (actually probably won't) work out the same way for you so do some scientific research instead of solely taking advice.

Very much of the true misinformation we see in the hobby stems from misunderstanding or misapplication of scientific studies not intended to apply to our tiny little closed environments. Many times, advice from a reliable source is better. I'll agree it can be hard to pinpoint that source though.