overrated stuff in the hobby

[exnisstech]

While a par meter may be over rated buying one made it possible for me to keep clams alive. I had no way to measure light except to guess and I guessed wrong and clams starved because of that. Once I was able to measure par I was able to provide enough to allow clams to survive and not starve.

 

[DJF]

water changes are pretty over rated in my opinion. never did a 100% water change on a saltwater tank in my life

Isn’t a 100% water change considered a reset or upgrade ? . Everyone does it at least once.

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

Probably reset

 

[mariano]

People around here selling corals like its an Alexander McQueen, Off-White, Valentino, Yamamoto etc.. boutique.

 

[Reefer Matt]

The marketing hype. Reefing has turned into a fan club for brands. If you need to feel important, reefing is not the way to go, imo.

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

I hate coral names. like walt desneys dont look like him or something out of a cartoon

 

[Mohawk Mafia]

Anything Red Sea. Got duped into that brand, not a huge fan. My tank is 4 months old and broken in 2 spots, might have to warranty it.

 

[X-37B]

Lighting in general is overrated, imo.
I came from t5 and halides forever.
About 5-6 years ago now a reefer at a lfs was telling the owner how 16hds wont grow coral. He ended up buying Radions and I got the 16's he traded in for <$100.
At this point local reefers and lfs would make fun of me because I still ran Halides intil they saw pics.
I had a Aquatop 18" aio nano doing nothing so I set it up using 2 16hds for my first led system.
I used live rock and coral from my other systems.

I found out in real time that the 16hds would grow whatever I wanted.

I have 3 systems running now all led.
From what I have learned is that any decent led will grow coral if the reefer knows what they are doing.

So for me lighting is overrated.
Just pick what you like and focus on the rest of your system

 

[BeanAnimal]

While a par meter may be over rated buying one made it possible for me to keep clams alive. I had no way to measure light except to guess and I guessed wrong and clams starved because of that. Once I was able to measure par I was able to provide enough to allow clams to survive and not starve.

Any cheap visible light meter would have worked

 

[tautog83]

tenuis

 

[exnisstech]

Any cheap visible light meter would have worked

Probably but its so much easier to be able to submerge the sensor on a wand and move it around the tank taking measurements. I spent my career as an auto tech buying tools that were over priced, many rarely used but they made my job easier. I look at the par meter as another overpriced tool that makes things easier for me.

EDIT : yesterday I read on your page how you came up with your name beananimal. That was awesome and gave me a good laugh.

 

[JTP424]

Anything JF.

I made a snarky comment about a dude trying to sell me something JF at a show and he looked like he was going to murder me with his eyes XD

 

[Letmeusemyemail]

I’m a very new reefer, only about a year into it, but I still haven’t vibed with the premium price tag on aesthetic equipment. There is a degree of so called “conspicuous consumption” in this hobby, vs freshwater. It can be hard to parse out what is truly necessary, since people who pay high prices will usually try to justify their habits as necessary. Which is understandable. The waters just get muddied a bit on a sweet spot for “value.”

A lot of overlap with guitar playing in that way, my other hobby.

On a side note the book “theory of the leisure class” is fantastic, where the term “conspicuous consumption” was first coined.

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

yeah, same here

 

[Quietelk]

Computer controlled wavemakers/powerheads in any tank other than a pure SPS tank (and even then, still probably overrated.).

This is my 4ft mixed reef from way back in 2005. T5 lighting obv. but the in-tank flow was the return pipe and two tiny powerheads hanging on the back wall each shooting a narrow little stream of water at the front glass. (I experimented with a third powerhead facing the rear glass but it didn't seem to do anything.)

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

beautiful tank, congrats

 

[GARRIGA]

The word Reef added to anything as it suddenly makes it more expensive. Same happens in boating with the word Marine.

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

Yeah 'plant grow' t5 fixtures are way cheaper than 'reef; t5 fixtures

 

[Slocke]

All American made powerheads. Go cheap and Chinese!!

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

yeah. is that a bangai cardinal on ur profile?