TOP 3 Ingredients for an amazing Reef Cake...tank! What's yours?

[revhtree]

MMMM I love cake!!

Cake is good unless you forget some of the main ingredients. Then it's not going to be so good! I remember one time just after Tonya and I had gotten married, she was still a teenager, she made us a peach cobbler that looked good on the outside but the taste told a different story. She had forgotten to add the sugar! Thankfully we've had plenty of sugar over the last 23 years so all is good!

The same can be said of reefing! If you want an amazing saltwater reef aquarium you have to get the ingredients right! Not all reefs, like cakes, are going to look the same, taste the same, be the same so therefore some of the ingredients may differ. BUT there are some base ingredients that if skipped will end in a reef tank that isn't healthy and is downright bad. So with that in mind today I would like to hear from you in our question of the day!

1. More than 3 are needed but what do you think the top 3 ingredients are for an amazing reef tank?

2. What does an amazing reef cake, I mean tank, look like to you? What do you envision?

 

[revhtree]

Proper Lighting, Filtration and Time were the three I chose as my top 3 main ingredients.

 

[Hydrored]

Lighting, chemistry, stability. Stability and chemistry ties back to filtration, time ties to stability IMO

 

[Crabs McJones]

More importantly how did you get my picture up above?
Ingredients I would have to say
1.) 0 TDS RO/DI Water
2.) Good lighting
3.) Good flow

 

[andrewey]

I went with water chemistry, stability, and time as I was trying to give a nod to our NPS friends.

 

[Brandon Smith]

I say proper lighting, water chemistry, and stability. You don't want to chase numbers all the time. I mainly aim to keep alkalinity stable. I dose All For Reef to help with that.

 

[ReefKeeperElite]

These 4 are critical:

• Proper Lighting
• Water Chemistry
• Water Flow
• Stability

But if I had to pick 3, they would be:

• Proper Lighting
• Water Chemistry
• Water Flow

Because without water flow your coral would not survive.
They may possibly survive instability, but would be sick.

 

[NashobaTek]

Proper lighting, water chem, stability.
Chasing numbers is like a dog chasing it's tail.

 

[NashobaTek]

Proper lighting, water chem, stability.
Chasing numbers is like a dog chasing it's tail.

 

[WVNed]

Flow, light and chemistry are equally important.

 

[sfin52]

Lighting with out proper lighting coral wont do well unless its nps coral.
Flow with out flow mist coral will parish
Stability I tied that to chemistry.

 

[sp1187]

Lighting, water flow & stability.

figuring stability covers filtration, water chemistry & maintenance & testing.
is that cheating?

 

[PR_nano]

Water
Stability
Light

 

[Flippers4pups]

"sugar and spice and everything nice"! Lol

Husbandry, patience and money!

 

[Stuartmercer]

My top 3 is: salt flavoured water, rock and sand, and a glass box!

 

[ReefGeezer]

1. More than 3 are needed but what do you think the top 3 ingredients are for an amazing reef tank?
Stability in king. "Maintenance & testing", and "patience & time" are needed to create stability. We can all buy different ingredients from the list and make a great cake. These three however, are required regardless of the rest of those chosen, and must be supplied by the reefer.

2. What does an amazing reef cake, I mean tank, look like to you? What do you envision?
Unfortunately, not mine... yet. There are many here on RC though. I'd hesitate to pick one at the risk of diminishing the rest.

 

[Peace River]

The three most important things in real estate are location, location, location.

IMO the three most important things in reefing are water quality, water quality, water quality (and then lighting and flow).

 

[Reefing_addiction]

All of it

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Money.....$$!$

 

[dbowman5]

1 other
2 patience and time
3 water chemistry
were my top three.
water chemistry is the body of the cake; it is what makes the cake a cake. The environment makes the aquarium a viable place for whatever life is in it.
next is time and patience which is the icing. Not the noun icing but the verb.
the actual icing to the cake is what I voted 'other'.
this is what makes it a joy. the personal preferences and accidents that make it yours. the livestock and scape that makes one fond of the whole. You can certainly have a vanilla structure put together by numbers or experts that looks very presentable, but is that worth settling for? Bring out the CAKE and celebrate!