Reefers with 10+ yrs - what's the one thing that was thought to be true 10 yrs ago but is now in current times DEBUNKED?

Brian1f1

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Only 2 clowns a female and male can co exist in 1 tank.
Vacuuming a sand bed is forbidden.
All phosphates must be removed.
PC lighting is not appropriate for any SW tank.
Bacteria in bottle do work, yes they do.
I still believed that about clowns. Not true? I can add to my percula pair?
 

Belgian Anthias

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Nitrate and phosphate levels must be as low as possible because otherwise, it inhibits coral growth and calcification.
A bio-filter producing nitrate.
Organic carbon dosing is safe.
When something is going wrong, check the parameters and correct them as soon as possible.
 

Paul B

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Except for the nitrate thing, I don't see much difference in the last 10 years.
Oh I forgot, there are much less corals for sale now and there is also much less fish diversity for sale, it is all common things. :cool:
 

sixty_reefer

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Any coral have to be jet washed to remove any living living tissue and bleached. ( probably went a bit more than 10years on this one)
 

SamsReef

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+1 on nitrates. Can’t believe they used to sell denitraters at one point of time...and I had one too o_O

Another one - Must have turbo snails as cleanup crew. I keep zero cleanup crew for last 5 yrs. Fishes do much better job at eating algae.

other than that basics have stayed the same...how one follows them have changed.
 

stanleo

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When I had my first tank everyone on the forums told me to get my nitrates and phosphates to zero. It shocked me when I started this tank that now everyone says that I need some nitrate and phosphate. Also, it seemed like bristleworms were just starting to be recognized as good guys. Now, most people think they are. And I never heard back then that asterina starfish were bad, just unsightly in huge numbers.
 

salty150

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That cycling agents (Dr. Tim's One and Only, Bio-Spira, etc.) were snake oil.
 

Brian1f1

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When I had my first tank everyone on the forums told me to get my nitrates and phosphates to zero. It shocked me when I started this tank that now everyone says that I need some nitrate and phosphate. Also, it seemed like bristleworms were just starting to be recognized as good guys. Now, most people think they are. And I never heard back then that asterina starfish were bad, just unsightly in huge numbers.

yes. I carried that old knowledge about the stars with me when I came back after ten years... Even willfully introduced one.... huge mistake, zoa chompers.
 

mikeintoronto

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I have to be honest, I’ve been doing this since 1991 and I’ve never heard of most of these. Some sound familiar but more like something new hobbyists would tell others but weren’t really taken seriously.

I guess I’ll add, we used to do the bulk of our water turnover via the return pump (I still have a massive pump on my smaller tank). I remember when it was newly suggested the return be rated to the skimmer and we thought that was crazy talk.
 

motortrendz

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A few I can think of...

Deep sand beds are the only way to go if you want a system to work,

Nitrates must be zero for acros to do anything but turn brown,

LEDs are a Fad and will never grow coral. But make the tank look cool as an accent light.

Zeovit is the ONLY way to get a colorful tank.

Indo corals are the "cheap" corals and will never be more than its ausi counterpart.
 

jrill

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Interesting. In the 90's it was well known that actinics were essential for growing corals. I started reading forums about the time LEDs started becoming popular. No wonder people thought they were better. People were giving out wrong info.
That's how I remember it in the late 80s and on. You had to have actinic to grow color. Never ever heard the white light thing.
 

nickkohrn

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It was common to need one pound to two pounds of rock per gallon of aquarium volume. That led to massive amounts of rock, stacked into a wall structure, and it creates dead zones everywhere. Now, I use only a single 8”x8”x4” MarinePure plate and a Reef Octopus eSsence 130 to filter my 100-gallon system. It’s a grow-out tank, so I don’t have any rock in the display.
 

nickkohrn

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Hmm... I wasn't aware that this was no longer "true"...
I use a single 8”x8”x4” MarinePure plate and a skimmer for filtration; that’s it for my 100g system. There are many hobbyists that have minimalist aquascapes by using far less less rock than one pound to two pounds per gallon of aquarium. Sure, the ceramic media takes place of the rock’s porosity, but there are other methods that allow hobbyists to use half of the recommended amount of rock, or less.
 

nickkohrn

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Hmm... I wasn't aware that this was no longer "true"...
I should clarify that having to use that much rock is not false. Instead, it’s just another way to achieve results. Maybe it’s not a statement that belongs in this thread.
 

salty150

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I use a single 8”x8”x4” MarinePure plate and a skimmer for filtration; that’s it for my 100g system. There are many hobbyists that have minimalist aquascapes by using far less less rock than one pound to two pounds per gallon of aquarium. Sure, the ceramic media takes place of the rock’s porosity, but there are other methods that allow hobbyists to use half of the recommended amount of rock, or less.

The rock isn't just used as filtation though - it is also used to mimic the natural habitat of, and hiding places for, the fish in the aquarium.
 
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