Whats the next trend in the hobby?

[Dark_Knightt]

I prefer it not as automated, because it adds some work and dedication to keeping your tank running smoothly.Well, things rarely go smoothly in this hobby but you know what I mean lol. I prefer having to dedicate time and effort to my tank because then I take pride when things go right: corals are growing: thats because I kept the params stable and everything for the coral. Mandarin is nice and fat: because I was patient with growing copepods for it to eat. Hard work pays off in the end. Always. (And if it doesnt, work harder!)

 

[Paul B]

But an octopus specific tank would be cool, i havent seen one of those yet.

My baby octopus specific tank.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I have been in this hobby a long time, not as long as some, but long enough.

I've seen so many new hobbyists get turned sideways by the "technical" aspects of this hobby.

Automation and control has its place, don't get me wrong, but it's become more of a negative to new hobbyists than helping.

You want a successful, healthy, growing, thriving reef tank? Master the basics and keep it simple and be consistent.

Stripping this, dosing that gets you no where with these environments quickly.

 

[richarddeweerd]

My baby octopus specific tank.

That is genuinely cool!

I'm considering a second tank dedicated to seahorses, but now I'm doubting

 

[PSXerholic]

Agree, people tend more and more expecting a Television manual for a Reeftank these days, but I think the industry spills this expectation with their advertisement of "stuff".........

Here my, Bioball, Siporax, Rock, Sand and algae filtered tank, somewhat old school as well but do things others haven't even heard of usually.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

My baby octopus specific tank.

@Paul B where do you buy these little guys?? What are they called, how big, can you keep them with clownfish?

 

[X-37B]

Im old school and old too.
I always have had the great rock wall.
Not this time in my 120
I went with the minimalist scape. Its 50/50 live/dead rock 75lbs total.
I wanted to have enough room for stags and others to grow and fill in my scape.
Most fellow reefers have as many frags as they can get in their display and constantly frag them to make money or trade.
Very few have colony size display tanks.
The ones that do are awesome looking and thats what I am going for.
I do not have the high end named frags. I do have a WD that I have grown from a nub and paid to much for, lol.
My system is very basic and is almost 1.5 years old.
Filter sock, skimmer, carx with no ph probe or controller. I switched from T5's to MH a couple months ago and growth is huge.
No scheduled water changes.
I dose trace, small amount of carbon dosing, to feed coral and bacteria.
Setting parameters and keeping them stable is my key to keeping a healthy tank.
I run close to NSW levels.
Startup scape and now.

 

[Scorpius]

I think people should consider bare bottom setups more especially if you're busy with life.

 

[Scorpius]

Im old school and old too.
I always have had the great rock wall.
Not this time in my 120
I went with the minimalist scape. Its 50/50 live/dead rock 75lbs total.
I wanted to have enough room for stags and others to grow and fill in my scape.
Most fellow reefers have as many frags as they can get in their display and constantly frag them to make money or trade.
Very few have colony size display tanks.
The ones that do are awesome looking and thats what I am going for.
I do not have the high end named frags. I do have a WD that I have grown from a nub and paid to much for, lol.
My system is very basic and is almost 1.5 years old.
Filter sock, skimmer, carx with no ph probe or controller. I switched from T5's to MH a couple months ago and growth is huge.
No scheduled water changes.
I dose trace, small amount of carbon dosing, to feed coral and bacteria.
Settimg parameters amd keepimg them stable is my key to keeping a healthy tank.
I run close to NSW levels.
Startup scape and now.

I like what you've done with your setup. Not very many people have that much negative space.

 

[MrPike]

I know it wasn’t your intent to bash BRS and they were more of an example then the culprit, but the BRS crews videos are quite helpful to the hobby, and I feel like the sterile movement happened before their videos showed up.

In a bit of an ironic twist, it was BRS offering pre researched bulk chemicals cheaply that allowed some of us old school newbies from either spending our entire paycheck on raising kh/ca/mg, or posting on a forum to find out if such and such ice melt would add toxic amounts of heavy metals and ammonia to our precious tanks.

I think all this automation and sterile environments have a cost. On the one hand people know their parameters and actually test which is good. On the other, it’s still very ambiguous where you should actually run your parameters at, where you should run your nutrients at, how much flow is too much, how much flow is too little, how much light, and then find out all of those things change when you alter any single one of the above. It’s like solving a rubix cube, and every twist costs money and time. All of this takes time and so far there are no technological shortcuts.

 

[X-37B]

I like what you've done with your setup. Not very many people have that much negative space.

Thanks! Its filling in nicely I think.
Its hard for many to picture what the tank will look like 2-3 years down the road.
I have 12 fish and they will have plenty of swimmimg room even when the tank is grown in.

 

[stanlalee]

BRS didn't start the dry rock phenomenon, inability to get fiji rock at a reasonable price...or at all caused that. BRS was up and popular even when real liverock was common. If your like me you never sold or got rid of your real fiji rock so my tanks are running with rock I bought in 2007.
I left the hobby for a good 10 years and the only thing I see different is roller mat popularity and dc everything (skimmers, return pumps, circulation pump...ecotech was the only common one). I also don't remember anybody willing to pay $600 for an inch of name brand acropora frag. An Ora pearlperry was about as expensive as it got. only scullys and a few australian lps went for over $300.

 

[Kershaw]

When I first got into this hobby a fellow reefer told me “do what works for you”
If you don’t like automation don’t use it. If you don’t like sand don’t use it. IMO the valuable part of “old school” is the discipline to take your time and put in the work.
For many the automation allows you to be away from your tank more. My wife likes us to take 2 week vacations. With automation we are able to do so with some piece of mind. I do have some on stand by to come check on things in the event my phone notifies me.
Moral of the story is to be open minded to old and new school ideas and “do what works for you”

P.S. automated water testing is something I have been waiting on!! I’m colorblind and 99% of those color changing test kits suck for me.

 

[X-37B]

I know it wasn’t your intent to bash BRS and they were more of an example then the culprit, but the BRS crews videos are quite helpful to the hobby, and I feel like the sterile movement happened before their videos showed up.

In a bit of an ironic twist, it was BRS offering pre researched bulk chemicals cheaply that allowed some of us old school newbies from either spending our entire paycheck on raising kh/ca/mg, or posting on a forum to find out if such and such ice melt would add toxic amounts of heavy metals and ammonia to our precious tanks.

I think all this automation and sterile environments have a cost. On the one hand people know their parameters and actually test which is good. On the other, it’s still very ambiguous where you should actually run your parameters at, where you should run your nutrients at, how much flow is too much, how much flow is too little, how much light, and then find out all of those things change when you alter any single one of the above. It’s like solving a rubix cube, and every twist costs money and time. All of this takes time and so far there are no technological shortcuts.

Its not really that hard if you have a plan and stick to it, imo.
Many have issues because they dont have a plan and stick to it.
When I set my tank up all 3 lfs said good luck.
7dkh wont work, bare bottoms bad, no scheduled water changes are doomed to failure. No baffles in sump wont work, carx with no controller is stupid.
Metal halides are a joke and will cook your tank.
I believe this is why many people are confused after going to all 3 lfs and getting different or opposing answers to their questions.

 

[jda]

I have a terrible feeling that the next trend might be people shutting down tanks and leaving the hobby. We are teetering on an economic disaster and if evictions are allowed to happen and 3/4 of a million people file for unemployment a week, then it could get bad. Like 2007/2008, expect to see the people in it for the long haul suck up all of the nice things and expect to see the people getting out get 10 cents on the dollar for their so-so stuff and maybe 25 cents for their good stuff. Vendors will be closing doors and basement-frag sellers with no market, or slashing prices.

I want to be totally wrong, but it has somewhat already started locally. I wonder what the numbers on this board look like for daily participation.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Ahh the member berries! There have been a lot of trends in this hobby and they all seem to wax and wane. Theres always a downside to a trend, if people knew up front that they'll have to endure the uglies for at least 6 months starting with a sterile environment, I don't think it would've been so popular. Vodka dosing strips your tank of needed nutrients, MH add heat, bare bottom..., negative space..., closed loop..., automation..., 2 part dosing..., durso stand pipe..., reverse undergravel filter, the list goes on.

A lot of those have already or will fall out of favor in due time, I'm not sure because perhaps I haven't been in the hobby long enough to remember, but I can't think of any of these trends that have gone full circle. I know there are people reminiscing about the old days, but have any of those old school ideas that fell by the wayside ever came back into trend?

I think as new technology becomes more mainstream we move in a positive direction, shedding all those old school ways for better, more efficient approaches. Not to say that the come with their own challenges, but just like anything, add 'time' the to equation and that too will no longer be the way to do things.

 

[X-37B]

Ahh the member berries! There have been a lot of trends in this hobby and they all seem to wax and wane. Theres always a downside to a trend, if people knew up front that they'll have to endure the uglies for at least 6 months starting with a sterile environment, I don't think it would've been so popular. Vodka dosing strips your tank of needed nutrients, MH add heat, bare bottom..., negative space..., closed loop..., automation..., 2 part dosing..., durso stand pipe..., reverse undergravel filter, the list goes on.

A lot of those have already or will fall out of favor in due time, I'm not sure because perhaps I haven't been in the hobby long enough to remember, but I can't think of any of these trends that have gone full circle. I know there are people reminiscing about the old days, but have any of those old school ideas that fell by the wayside ever came back into trend?

I think as new technology becomes more mainstream we move in a positive direction, shedding all those old school ways for better, more efficient approaches. Not to say that the come with their own challenges, but just like anything, add 'time' the to equation and that too will no longer be the way to do things.

I agree that technology changes are always good for any industry.
What I have witnessed first hand is no matter what system or technology you use the basics of stability stay the same.
However many people dont set a range of parameters at the start and stick with them. They tend to change things too often and are always tweeking their system.

I went full circle from MH to T5's to led to T5's then back to current MH. I believe one day I will be running full led.
My current upgrade im working on will be my current MH and 2 used xr30 gens 4's I bought for a song.
Just some long time observations from an old reefer, lol.

 

[Justin Cook]

I'm a half breed. I like some of the new stuff but I'm never an early adopted. Shoot, I didn't switch to LEDs until 2018. I like them but the old halides & T5s did what I needed them to do and there's always something else to spend $$ on. The biggest change I've made in my view of the hobby is around frags. I never used to like them, they were a means to an end - colonies. However, I started cutting a few of mine up and I'm hooked. I love watching a little or mound heal up, grow down to the base, encrust the plug and grow into a little mini colony. I used to think I'd never be a frag guys but I just cut some basic red monti this morning. Nothing fancy but I've grown to love watching the little pieces grow and spread.

This change all happened when someone gave me a little piece of some idaho grape monti. It was absolutely buried and surrounded by the epoxy that was used to mount it. I decided to try and "fix" this issue and in the process of removing the epoxy with coral nippers, it basically shattered into a few teeny tiny pieces and I was only able to find one of them. I put it on a dab of super glue and it took a while but it did survive and turn into a real frag and then a colony. I don't know why I felt I needed to mention this but that's what got me on the frag train.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I agree that technology changes are always good for any industry.
What I have witnessed first hand is no matter what system or technology you use the basics of stability stay the same.
However many people dont set a range of parameters at the start and stick with them. They tend to change things too often and are always tweeking their system.

I went full circle from MH to T5's to led to T5's then back to current MH. I believe one day I will be running full led.
My current upgrade im working on will be my current MH and 2 used xr30 gens 4's I bought for a song.
Just some long time observations from an old reefer, lol.

I have fell back on old trends that I am comfortable with, like vodka dosing to get control my nitrates. I don't view that as the hobby as a whole coming full circle. I can't see the hobby ever going back to MHs, or back to 10k spectrum, blue spectrum lighting brings out colors in corals that other spectrums can't. And it's not just that the blue light fluoresces certain colors, it actually pulls them out. I think the only way we move away from the windex look is when technology shows us a better way.

 

[Paul B]

@Paul B where do you buy these little guys?? What are they called, how big, can you keep them with clownfish?

I didn't buy them. My octopus hatched them out