Do reef hobbyists over thinks thing? Equipment etc?

What may/may not work for some. I've been running the aquafuge for over a year now. No room for a sump/fuge. So for me it was a no brainer. What's in there that I need to see? Nothing How do I get my pods out....shake the cheato in my DT
Run an mp10es~jbj ato~no skimmer~bi-weekly wc. That's it for me. I love simple. Biggest waste of money for me was the 2x nano skimmers. Both totally useless and are sitting in bags.Waaay to many people over think this hobby. Myself not included

 

as far as the ich, I used to have a small blue tang in my other 55 with no problems. I kept it in a 55 for over a year before an ice storm knocked my power out for 4 days and killed my tank. No problems . I have a 125 being put together for the Tangs within the next few months. I know you are going to say due to your experience, that i should have waited until i had the 125 setup to purchase the tang. But due to MY experience in keeping a small one in a 55 for around a year with no problems, i went ahead and did it. Its worked for me before.

Of course i think some of this equipment will work, but i think it requires alot more maintenance than what its worth. But IMO....and just my opinion, I think the cost of the equipment and the added maintenance isnt worth the benefits that most of this stuff provides. It just seems to me people have gotten more into trying to automate their setups, when in actuality its causing even more money spent, and more time on maintenance, and less time to enjoy the tank.

 

Im totally opposite, i love my Aquac Remora pro skimmer (although i wouldnt exactly call it a nano skimmer).......hate my aquafuge. I didnt think i needed to see what was going on in the aquafuge either, until i got behind my tank and looked under it and saw that the bottom 1/2 inch or so of my mineral mud had turned black. I drained about half of the water to remove it and inspect the black mud a little further and found about an inch of detritus build up and hydrogen sulfide spots in the mud. Not good at all IMO. There were some critters digging tunnels in the mud, i hate think of what would have happened if the would have hit the sulfide spots and released that into my tank. Some of it may have made its way into the water column, it could be the cause for cloudy water and sick fish. <------- that last sentence just hit me. Anyone know a way to tell if hydrogen sulfide has been released into the tank

 

of course we do, the more popular a hobby becomes, the more you see companies coming out with unnecessary equipment that they imply is vital to the hobby. it happens in nearly every hobby.

 

Another reason for the, NO MUDD CLUB

 

The no Mud club? I thought everyone swore by this stuff!!??

 

So all I need is rodi water to do constant water changes, salt, a powerhead for movement and a cheapo hang on the back filter? Well, I guess I don't need this site any more...


I had a successful hex SW tank with just an undulate triggerfish for a few years about 15 years ago. The stock teeny hex light, cheapo hang on filter and about 2.5 pounds of live rock. The only think I measured was the salinity haha. Added the declorinator to the tap for water changes and vacuumed the bed every water change. It wasn't a reef tank but it did well.

I'm really hoping the 29 gal tall reef I'm in the process of building will get on cruise control and will not require much maintenance, because maintenance sucks.
Water changes are key. In the end, we're really keeping water...

 

my first tank was a 20 gallon, i had a yellow tang and two clownfish in it. i just had a heater and a power filter. had about 10 pounds of live rock and a bit of kenya tree coral. never added any supplements or tested for anything other than salinity and i had the tank thriving for almost 2 years.

 

Love it !...
also the "just keeping water" part..hysterically profound. 8)

 

I always thought the main purpose of a refugium is a place to grow macro algaes that will help reduce Nitrates and Phosphates, i'm in the market for one too, its anither tool to help nature to do its thing, that 65 gallon tank I mention before that did so well, did I mention its bilogical load came from 3 fish and the tank naturally keeped all 3 fish feed no fish food added, my tank has 3 fish and I think its 2 fish to many as it is.