What is your reefing unpopular opinion?

[LiveFreeAndReef]

Thats my ramble for the day haha ;Joyful

 

[MnFish1]

Thats my ramble for the day haha ;Joyful

That was my 5th

 

[Cherie cook]

I don’t mind my red turf algae…in fact I think it’s kinda pretty!

 

[jt8791]

Stocking a tank with temporary residents, fish that need a bigger tank than what you have, is a waste of money and a bit cruel unless you’re already planning a bigger tank in the near future.

most evo 13.5 gallon tanks are grossly overstocked, most pico tanks shouldn’t have anything but tiny fish.

all in one tanks really aren’t worth the money unless you’re going for the full setup with sump underneath. Can do essentially the same thing with a standard tank a couple hob filters, probably better too. Those back chambers are usually cramped, can’t see anyone having a refugium back there.

cube tanks should be left to experienced reefers, beginners should go for the largest footprint they can fit and afford. Hence why standard tanks are better for beginners, can always add a hob filter onto it but that’s not always possible on an aio.

I wouldn’t suggest anything smaller than a 30 gallon for a beginner but I agree with a lot of people that the 40 breeder is the best size to start with.

Every bit of advice should be researched to form your own opinion not just take it and run with it. What works for one tank and person may not work for another.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some really nice aio tanks on the market but at lot of them have their downfalls. But if you can afford to spend the extra money, do your research and go for it, just don’t blow your budget on a fancy glass box that holds water. Fish don’t care about the aesthetics of your build, to them functional trumps looks every time.

Don’t cheap on food, it shows in the long run. Way better to go for quality food and a large variety of it, fish sometimes get bored of eating the same thing repeatedly. I probably spent $100 or so on dry food, probably enough for a few years and at least that on frozen food which obviously doesn’t last as long but I would rather have options to offer than end up with a fish that won’t eat the food I have. If the food goes to waste, oh well I’d rather have wasted food than starving fish.

I still consider myself a beginner even with roughly a year and a half experience with saltwater tanks. If you aren’t constantly learning with these tanks you aren’t trying hard enough. Always do your research and don’t stop researching, always something new to learn about with these tanks.

Edit: typing on a phone is a headache, I think autocorrect is designed to drive us nuts

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

nsa= not safe aquascape. Please explain your opinion. Thnx

 

[WheatToast]

Yes, but not all people. I show my tank in the best of times and the worst of times. This "produce" farm was my tank in maybe the late 80s or 90s. I don't remember. ;Nailbiting

Awesome Codium! How fast did it grow?

 

[Spare time]

Would LOVE your elaboration on this one?

I think refugiums should be the first choice, followed by a skimmer if necessary. Refugiums are cheaper, remove nitrate and phosphate, don't sterilize the water column fby removing filter feeding food, don't need to be drained, grow food for fish, harbor lots of microfauna, etc.

A skimmer is good for aeration and CO2 scrubbers. That is the only benefit over a refugium imo. Other than that, they simply delay water changes rather than remove the need for them (when it comes to nitrate and phosphate). Sure you could carbon dose, but often that doens't work well enough for phosphate, and there are risks of overdosing especially if the skimmer fails.

Carbon+refugium+filter socks should be the standard, not skimmer+carbon+socks

 

[Garf]

Porous rocks are bad, unless you’ve got a million ltrs/hr of dilution going on.

 

[MnFish1]

Porous rocks are bad, unless you’ve got a million ltrs/hr of dilution going on.

Can you explain?
IMHO - most reef tanks are vastly under flowed.

 

[Garf]

Can you explain?
IMHO - most reef tanks are vastly under flowed.

Certainly. Porous rocks in the ocean are full of life, bacteria, algae’s, mulm, periphyton, detritus etc. But that is the ocean, not in a glass box. We, in general try to replicate this. This is a problem because we don’t have the natural dilution afforded by the ocean. Lower surface area rock work such as calcite, along with the glass surfaces on tanks, skimmers pumps, overflows bla,bla, bla cope with nitrification easily. I’ve also gone bare bottom which has made things easier to increase flow, but I accept that’s not to everyone’s liking. My tank is 12 months in, but it’s so much easier to look after than my old tank.

 

[MnFish1]

Certainly. Porous rocks in the ocean are full of life, bacteria, algae’s, mulm, periphyton, detritus etc. But that is the ocean, not in a glass box. We, in general try to replicate this. This is a problem because we don’t have the natural dilution afforded by the ocean. Lower surface area rock work such as calcite, along with the glass surfaces on tanks, skimmers pumps, overflows bla,bla, bla cope with nitrification easily. I’ve also gone bare bottom which has made things easier to increase flow, but I accept that’s not to everyone’s liking. My tank is 12 months in, but it’s so much easier to look after than my old tank.

OH ok - my guess is that alot of those issues could / would be mitigated by much higher flow than in your tank - so I was curious - how much flow is in your tank? I'm going to be posting a video of mine tomorrow

 

[Garf]

OH ok - my guess is that alot of those issues could / would be mitigated by much higher flow than in your tank - so I was curious - how much flow is in your tank? I'm going to be posting a video of mine tomorrow

2 x maxpect 250s vertical at 60%, on OCG. Not a clue on numbers but EVERYTHING is movin. 60G tank. It’s on my build thread if interested.

 

[Garf]

How is it expensive? It's free unless you are talking about initial costs. But even then - compared to water changes, it's way less expensive.

I researched algae scrubbers for 2 years. If you google “howdy from the uk day one” you will find my scrubber journey on Santa Monica’s site from 7 or 8 years ago. The advantages of a scrubber are evident immediately, the disadvantages are less evident. I will know if you read it because you will be able to name my puppy, lol.

 

[Uzidaisies]

Certainly. Porous rocks in the ocean are full of life, bacteria, algae’s, mulm, periphyton, detritus etc. But that is the ocean, not in a glass box. We, in general try to replicate this. This is a problem because we don’t have the natural dilution afforded by the ocean. Lower surface area rock work such as calcite, along with the glass surfaces on tanks, skimmers pumps, overflows bla,bla, bla cope with nitrification easily. I’ve also gone bare bottom which has made things easier to increase flow, but I accept that’s not to everyone’s liking. My tank is 12 months in, but it’s so much easier to look after than my old tank.

The dilution in our tanks comes in the form water changes and filtration.

 

[Doreno]

Using “miracle” bottles for fast growing and coloring, instead having stable parameters

 

[Garf]

The dilution in our tanks comes in the form water changes and filtration.

and is pathetic

 

[Uzidaisies]

What exactly is being diluted?

 

[Doreno]

ULNS should be renamed to Ultra Low Residue Nutrient System so as not to be misled that the low of nutrition for corals is good.

 

[sde1500]

I researched algae scrubbers for 2 years. If you google “howdy from the uk day one” you will find my scrubber journey on Santa Monica’s site from 7 or 8 years ago. The advantages of a scrubber are evident immediately, the disadvantages are less evident. I will know if you read it because you will be able to name my puppy, lol.

http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?1823-howdy-from-the-uk-day-one/page15 15 pages of you seeming to enjoy using the scrubber and tinkering with it. No mentions that I noticed to disadvantages of use.

 

[Garf]

http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?1823-howdy-from-the-uk-day-one/page15 15 pages of you seeming to enjoy using the scrubber and tinkering with it. No mentions that I noticed to disadvantages of use.

Indeed, I did enjoy it, it’s a hobby. Somewhere in there, maybe on other threads I had probed the algal exudates dillema which includes the release of unknown amounts of hydrogen peroxide like substances and sugars which feed unknown bacteria species which can cause corals to literally suffocate, and other algae’s either to proliferate or deteriorate, some of these compounds have still yet to be researched by knowledgeable folk. I reached the conclusion that these exudates should be circulated in a media prior to delivery to the display, carbon dosing the media, not the display tank as these exudates are a carbon source and likely subject to rather rapid consumption, however this does restrict the amount of flow through.
That scrubber ran on 100 watts total, if memory serves.