Do reef hobbyists over thinks thing? Equipment etc?

Exactly what the title says. Im having some problems with my 55 setup. Its a 55, about 80 pounds of live rock, live sand, AquaC Remora protein skimmer, Large CPR HOB refugium with chaeto, gracilaria, Miracle Mud, and LR rubble, running carbon and gfo in a reactor and a 4 bulb Aquaticlife T5 fixture. I have had nothing but problems with algae outbreaks, cloudy water, etc. Water params always check out good on nitrates and phosphates, but I know that really doesnt mean anything, as the algae is consuming the excess nutrients and keeping them out of the water column for testing. I had a huge green hair algae outbreak, and bought a gfo reactor to combat the problem. GHA cleared up, now comes a bad Cyano outbreak, water is cloudy as all get out, and an ich outbreak. Now people are recommended i get a UV sterilizer to help with the algae and ich, using chemi clean etc. Makes since, but heres what gets me..........

I used to have a 55 setup a few years ago. The 55 was basic as it could be..... i ran a power filter, and a protein skimmer with gfo and carbon in the protein skimmer and did water changes about every 2 weeks and topoff evaporated water everyday. I didnt even have strong lighting. Just 4 regular flourescent bulbs. Never had algae or ich problems, never had cloudy water, never even tested my water. No problems whatsoever. I pretty much just set it up like a freshwater tank, added a couple of extra flourescent tubes, and added a protein skimmer. I didnt do alot of reading, or alot of research.

With this new setup, i researched for months, did tons of reading. Read reviews on equipment etc etc. Im on the marine forums all the time, always new threads popping up with this problem and that problem. They list their setups and almost always have sumps/refugiums, calcium reactors, uv sterlizers and all of this equipment, yet still have problems. Then, someone will pop up, or ill watch a vid on youtube of a beautiful tank, and they have a canister filter, or a power filter and a protein skimmer and thats it. And say they never have any problems. Take Ronsreefs tanks for example. Basic, beautiful tanks. Im spending money on extra equipment, still having problems, and am always being recommended to buy another piece of equipment to battle whatever the problem may be. Its getting to the point where if i keep adding stuff, my tank is going to be filled with pumps running all of this crap, and im not going to have any room left for fish or corals HAHA.

Calcium reactors, bio pellets, leds, uv sterilzers, ORP controllers, reef keepers, timers, Ozone, magnetic controllable power heads etc etc etc. Is all of this crap really needed? How can anyone enjoy there setup having to constantly spend money on fixing problems?

Im really thinking about doing a series of water changes, losing the reactors, and refugium, saying screw any extra equipment and just going back to a basic setup with power filter, and protein skimmer with water changes every two weeks. This setup has really broken my spirits, and made me think back to when i actually got to enjoy my basic 55 years ago. I got the refugium to help with pod reproduction in plan of getting a mandarin and to help with nutrient export. But the macro algae doesnt seem to be making that much of a difference, and the bottom of the refugium is building up with detritus, which i believe is one of the problems with the excess nutrients in the system. I can always reproduce pods in a seperate 10 gallon tank if i need to.

So, do you think there is too much equipment available and too many people over thinking things in this hobby? Do you think i would be better of just dropping allof this stuff, and controlling nutrients via water changes? Im really getting frustrated.

 

In short i do agree with you. I think there is a large majority of people that do over think things.

I try to keep things simple, but have some pretty advanced stuff on my 27 gallon, AI SOL light, MP10 powerhead, vertex skimmer, reactor with carbon, and ato. Thats all I run, i just make sure to keep on my maintenece of these items and dont really have any issues.

 

how old is your current 55 gallon ?

 

its been setup since february. And i know its still considered a new setup by most and there are algae stages etc .....BUT I never had the "Algae Stages" or any "new Tank Syndrome" problems with my other setups in the past.

Ive been told that a power filter or a canister filter becomes a nitrate factory on simple setups. But IME, all of this stuff i have now is a nitrate factory. Detritus gets stuck in the floor of my refugium, as well as trapped in the chaeto. Detritus gets trapped in my prefilters for the protein skimmer, reactors, and cpr refugium, and the sponges in my reactors. Thinking back, it was ALOT easier to pull out my power filter cartridges and rinse them off in RO every few days or replace them, than it is to drain this HOB refugium to remove and clean, clean all of these prefilters or replace, and break down this reactor to clean the sponges and replace media. I used to just rinse my PF cartridges or replace, and change out my media bags and thats it. Took 5 minutes at most every week or 2. Never had any water quality problems.

Im in a situation now, where ive got a cyano outbreak, and an ich outbreak. Ive been told to do a three day blackout to battle the cyano, but my hippo tang hides when its dark and i cant feed him. I need to keep him eating to keep him healthy in hopes of him fighting off ich. Ive also been told to try chemiclean, but I dont feel comfortable adding chemicals and doing a large water change which could stress the tangs out further and sentence them to death by ich. And the end result will just be more detritus still getting caught in all of the stuff, and it happening all over again.

I feel like all of this is caused by the detritus being caught in all of this extra equipment, and could have been handled better with simply changing out PF cartridges. Every time i have to break all of this stuff down to clean, i feel like it stresses the fish out.

 

Yeah, detritus settling down in areas can be bad and i have that issue as well. I just use a turkey baster and blow the stuff around so my skimmer can try and catch it. I also have a powerhead in my sump to help keep stuff from settling. I wouldnt worry about stuff settling in the fuge, thats kinda what it is for.

 

Absolutely, yes! I was in the same exact situation as you with my last tank.

Check out the link in my sig, "Putting on the Brakes: How Much is Too Much?", then check out my newest tank build. Simplicity works.

 

Thanks for that, just read the article and checked out your tank build. I really think im going to lose the cpr refugium, and reactors, and go back to the power filters.

I like growing the macro algae and pods in the refugium because the tangs love to munch on it, and im planning on getting a mandarin. But think i will grow macro and pods in a seperate 10 gallon for food for the fishes. Just as easy to shake the macro to release pods into the tank, as it is to THINK pods are making their way to the tank from gravity fed water from the refugium. The more and more I think about all of this equipment, the more and more i think it is BS.

I have a 125 planned, and was going to drill it and run a sump, but now wondering if i wouldnt just be better off going simple on that too. Seems to me that the more plumbing, and baffles and equipment that you add, it just gives detritus more places to settle, causing more nutrients and cleaning, and the purchase of another peice of equipment to battle a problem that you wouldnt even have to begin with.

 

I think your right, the more I read others stories the more confusing the hobby becomes, I read something just the other day that had me scratching my head again for the many countless times, this time it was an Ozone Reactor, the tank in my avatar was a 65 gallon, had 6 of the normal 40w T8 bulbs, just sun about half the time and only a SeaClone skimmer, other than heater and water movement no other equipment was used and the tank was very successfull, I find myself starting to get in that state of mind of I need this and I need that.

 

Problem #1 as I see it. Blue Tang in a 55=Ich.Simple solution is to pick appropriate fish for your tank.
Problem #2 If detritus is building up in your refuge I would clean it more often or remove more macro so it doesn't collect. Lots of people use the equipment you describe with great success.Does that mean there are never any problems with there system?Absolutely not. If it were easy to recreate a complex ecosystem in a small glass box in your livingroom there would be a whole lot more reefers.



The truth of the matter is while some equipment may be necessary for success EVERYONES system is different and 99 percent of the time its not the equipment that is failing but the way in which we are using it. I personally don't use mechanical filtration . The use of prefilters,filter socks,or floss just traps detritus that your skimmer or animals in your tank cannot remove.I do have two small sponges in my reactors but these are cleaned at least once every two weeks.I absolutely agree that the more complex the system is the more things there are to worry about and for some the KISS method is better; however in the hands of a skilled aquarist complex systems can absolutely work. Ever taken a tour of the system in a public aquarium?

 

I'm beginning to get in the state of mind of I DONT NEED THIS and I DONT NEED THAT. I look at the CPR Aquafuge HOB refugium as an example and think to myself..... what the hell was i thinking? I spent $285 on the fuge, the light, and the light stands to grow pods and macro algae for my tangs. It doesnt export enough nutrients for me to even mention. I could have accomplished the same thing with a $30 10 gallon setup. Here are the differences i can think of..... I would have to dip pods out of the 10 gallon tank with a net or shake the macro algae in the DT to release pods into the tank.......instead of HOPING that they are gravity fed in the DT from the rufugium. The thing that really sucks is i cant even see whats going on in the hob fuge. If it were a cheap 10 gallon i was doing this in, i could even add see horses, or a mantis shrimp or something else that i could enjoy besides the pod and macro production. Not to mention the difference in cost. The $240 extra spent on the aquafuge could have been used to purchase corals. The CPR aquafuge is a complete waste of money IMO.

With that being said, i have a Large CPR aquafuge available if anyone wants it... its a great addition to any reef setup ;D