What do you want to see??

[TX_REEF]

Good day friends! I recently got a promotion and have a couple dollars to waste, so I’d really like to buy a couple AIO tanks (thinking reef casa) and literally set them up side by side (with a barrier for light spillage prevention), and then document both here and on YouTube. My desire is to have both tanks as identical as possible, including livestock, and directly observe and document the differences in results while isolating a single variable at a time. My initial thoughts on potential are flow (gyre vs wave pump, or high vs low flow), lighting (different but comparable LED fixtures, LED vs T5, etc) water changes (none vs weekly, or weekly vs monthly, etc), salt brand type, and even temperature. Please let me know what variable most interests you, and within that variable which “x vs y” options within that category you’d like to see! Also open to livestock suggestions, especially coral frags and or anemones, keeping in mind that I’d be buying 2 of the same for this purpose. To help you decide, here is the tank I’m planning on getting 2 of for this little adventure: https://reefcasa.com/product/18-gallon-all-in-one-aquarium/?currency=USD

Also feel free to follow me on YouTube (TX REEF) and Instagram (TX.REEF) for video footage once the project is underway.

Thanks in advance!

 

[vetteguy53081]

side by side - Test Kits

 

[TX_REEF]

side by side - Test Kits

That’s a good thought, but in that case I think I’d be better off just using a single tank for the comparison! Maybe I’ll do that as well.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I would want bare bottom versus with sand both started with dry rock and one single live rock to seed. Using same bacteria starter.

 

[TX_REEF]

Also please make some suggestions for what uniform livestock you’d like to see in each tank - I’m thinking micromussa, birdsnest, candycane, xenia or GSP since I have some that I could frag.

 

[Johnd651]

Top vs no top?

 

[Dmmz]

Just do them all then we don't have to decide

 

[crazyfishmom]

Also please make some suggestions for what uniform livestock you’d like to see in each tank - I’m thinking micromussa, birdsnest, candycane, xenia or GSP since I have some that I could frag.

Since this is an experiment… I might suggest considering the typical canary in a coal mine corals. The birdsnest is a great Coral for that. How about Duncans, some zoas, something like that?

 

[Jmp998]

Algae scrubber vs. skimmer.
Filter socks/roller vs. none.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Lighting using the same LED fixtures with similar PAR but different spectrums (one more blue and one more white) with some of the really common corals and fish would be interesting; you could eventually compare how both tanks' inhabitants compare not only growth-wise but also visually by changing both tanks to the same light settings for a side by side comparison (first to both being either blue or white, then to the other).

No (intentional) water changes vs weekly water changes would also be really interesting to see though.

 

[TX_REEF]

Since this is an experiment… I might suggest considering the typical canary in a coal mine corals. The birdsnest is a great Coral for that. How about Duncans, some zoas, something like that?

I do have some orange bam bam zoas that are doing well in my display, so that’s a contender. Thanks for the idea

 

[TX_REEF]

Algae scrubber vs. skimmer.
Filter socks/roller vs. none.

That’ll be tough with an AIO but I suppose I could have whatever devices I want in the display itself given the nature of the project - I’ll give it some thought

 

[Naekuh]

XR15 Blue vs Pro in growth.

Phyto vs No Phyto. - i want to see if the bottle heads are really accurate.

 

[ThaBeast]

Moonshiners method vs traditional water change

 

[TX_REEF]

right now Lighting is leading! I also added options for sand vs bare bottom and dry vs live rock cycle.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I think seeing which lights perform the best would be interesting!

 

[Jim Gomoll]

I think seeing which lights perform the best would be interesting!

Check out Noopsyche lights. There are alots of post out there on these budget lights that grow all coral types.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n...veaway-win-a-k7-pro-iii-or-a-k7-mini.1040974/

 

[TX_REEF]

Check out Noopsyche lights. There are alots of post out there on these budget lights that grow all coral types.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n...veaway-win-a-k7-pro-iii-or-a-k7-mini.1040974/

thanks! yes, I am aware of NooPsyche. Once we decide which reef variable will be the first project, I'll do a new poll to decide which brands to pit against each other.

 

[TX_REEF]

Looks like Lighting wins - I’ll be making a new poll for which 2 brands of lights will face off over 2 otherwise identical Reefcasa 18 gallon AIO tanks from Reefcasa.