I’m doing the same thing… my difference is I took a 12yr break only to come back and the reefing game has changed and so much crap people dose and have automated it’s crazy! I’m just rolling with what I know and that’s a simple tank with nothing more than good lights, flow and a skimmer lol… would love to get back into vodka dosing but this tank I got now runs low on nutrients already and I’m over feeding like crazy to keep all the tangs happy and get them up! For the first time in my life I have a controller or I should say a Apex for a ph monitor :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing: And it’s used for nothing else… I like my old skool timers and a dj power strip where I can flip switches to turn stuff on and off vs my phone with app and all that stuff.
Yep!
So, people might Flame, or get fumed, but what the heck this my personal journal :)
1. I do not subscribe to ICP. I do not, because a test is a snapshot, too many rely, then blindly dose a given product for trace correction. These machines require professional oversight and maintenance, and anything wrong in the calibration, well it could be your tank, good luck with that! I do however feel these tests are likely more accurate in Aquaforest, TM, or ATI facilities, but here's where the European model is light years ahead of us.
2. Just choose a good/great salt for goodness sake! I choose Aquaforest for their small batch testing, NSW values, and fortified to NSW values for minor as well. Do a dang water change!!!
3. Wifi--- No thanks, those old timers that have 15 minute intervals, that you manually plug in and set, yeah, sign me up for that :) My situation is unique, I work, but am home more often than not, I don't travel often. Putting my faith in automatic dosing, based on monitoring, and all contingent on wifi... nah...
4. Bacteria- beginning to re-think this one, my tank looks the best ever, and this is since no additional added.
5. Lighting- T5's straight up grow corals, and more importantly, color corals....PERIOD! For anyone struggling, slap an ati unit above your tank, and watch the magic happen. No tweaking spectrums, no bs, straight blanket of light, no PAR mapping stuff. No I do not know my PAR, and don't care, neither do my corals, why? T5's ;)
6. Kalkwasser- Another easy way to boost ph, manage alk/ca, and acros just love it.
7. Clean your glass dangit... It's an aquarium, it, and you will benefit, both visually and mentally. I also believe it supplies a broadcast supplement feeding to acros.
8. Your lucky to have a nice tank! No, there is no luck. I scrape, baste, blast, and brush my way to perfection. Since perfection does not exist, neither does the pursuit of it ;)
9. Observation--- Observation is key, it's something we should do more often. I study every single coral, every single day, unless the Therman's Sublime, I skip over it, lol. You can gain a ton of data through observing, and this can correlate into trace dosing, specifically when you know what minor boosts what color.
Do I sound salty? I hope not, and have tons of respect for others doing things completely different! We should encourage each other, despite our choices in equipment or husbandry. Anyone who has interacted with me privately knows that I am a passionate acro nerd!!!
