My way of reef keeping is the best! What??

I just read a post and i wanted to comment on the tank but, the more i read the more concered i became. He said that the hobby was just to make money, that all the sellers of coral were just to make a dollar, and were selling everybody things they didn't need just to make a dime, ok some might be but, would the things he sold work? I believe they did work as they were discribed to work. Could you have used something else to do the same thing probably so, he sold you what worked for him, in most cases, or what he had on hand to sell. Now if i payed to much for it i didn't shop around enough. My thoughts on coral price are, i'm glad they cost money for if they didn't there would not be any for sale. All the aquaculture falcilities would not be there and coral would be even more extinct then it is. I would not have those priceless items in my home to look at and awe over everyday.

I really wanted to say wow your tank is great, and it was but,then he said his way of reefing was the most superior to all others. I had a real disire to post some reef picture's of tanks across the world that put a little dent in his theory but, i didn't do it, he said protein skimmers and reactors were a waste of money, didn't need them. That they didn't work,they were not natural to the ocean, they didn't mimic the ocean and on and on. The truth is there are as many ways to keep a reef tank as you can skake a stick at as my mama would have said. I seen a reef tank that would make your eyes bulge out, it had bubble makers, live rock, sand, thats it! And had been running for years. He also said live rock wasn't a good biofilter, it just when on and on. What it all boils down to to me is this.
There is no copying the real ocean, every tank we have in our livingrooms that work are man made on the principle of the sea's reefs and must contain some of the eliments to work. We can't produce all of them in a glass fixture. My way as long as its working is no better than yours. I may have to work a little harder then you to keep it but, its worth the work to me and if you give me another idea to make it better with less work thanks man i just had to vent a little

 

Just about everyone has their own way and everyone thinks its the best way. If it works for you, great. By the way, protein skimmers do have a natural counterpart. Beaches and salt marshes provide many of the same functions that skimmers do.

 

And an awesome vent at that

 

+1 I was going to post the exact thing, minus the salt marshes, didn't think about that one. I live 5 miles off the Atlantic, and you should see the sea foam that comes up on the shore on a rough day. I've seen it actually on the shore so high that when I walk down it's up to my waist high. Of course I didn't walk through it, that's some nasty stuff, but it looks exactly the same as the crud I toss out of my skimmer cup every night.

 

Each tank is different and the needs of the animals in the tank are different as well. I have now had two saltwater tanks. Even though all the livestock from the first was transferred into the second. I consider the second tank a brand new tank because it has acted completely different than the first.

My set up is simple. I have a skimmer that is overkill for the size of my tank. I have a GFO reactor and lots of "live rock". I've also kept my bio load to a minimum. At this point the tank pretty much runs itself and all I do is add water and food.

My only battle was with cyano and I figured out that was because I was doing weekly water changes. I stopped doing them weekly and started monthly and wouldn't you know, BAM, no more cyano (knock on wood!).

Basically what I'm saying is, what works for some might not work for others and vice versa. I think the key to my success so far has been keeping my hands out of the tank, over doing it with my skimmer and rock filtration and not worrying so much about the small details in water chemistry.

Would my method work in an identical tank across the room? Maybe... Would it work in an SPS tank? Probably not... but maybe. I personally don't think any one way is better than another. Of course reef keeping is also about making money. It's like any hobby.

 

all i know is i lose money.

 

The bad thing is when people post observations without and causal links to what is happening and think that it must be because of this. Another problem is the definition of "what works" and what works "best". Keeping a fish alive and a zoa alive works.. a thriving reef is another story entirely.

Sorry to point out an example... but I'll use the one above. You can't claim that over skimming is a key to successes. because there is no such thing. Huge skimmers do not remove any more stuff than a properly sized one.. in fact it can be argued if it is too large it will remove less. So what that means is that "skimming" can be a key to success, or that you may be removing less stuff and then that is a win for the anti-skimmer camp that says no skimmer is better.

I have a pretty firm idea of what works well... but in this hobby, and adverse as life is, it all seems to work just as well in other different tanks. The truth is there are components to filtration.. and while some hobbyists may employ different methods... the methods they employ do contain the same component functions. What is funny is that the main component nobody ever mentions of quantifies is "Husbandry". A great reef keeper can get away with crappy equipment because he/she is just better at it... a poor reef keeper can look how good all my stuff is.... fact is they both come to the same wrong conclusion about the importance of proper equipment... the poor keeper would crash a tank with poor equipment, and the good keeper's tank could "explode" with better equipment.

 

believe me when i say, i've spent a litle bit of moolala on this hobby. i've tried just about everything one can think of to get the perfect livingroom reef, and i'll say it again, there is no perfect setup we try to replicate the ocean's reef but, we can't do it like mother nature, no matter how much money we spend. what i've tried to do is come to a place where little to nothing dies on me. i wish i could say that i have but, for a reason that is not known to me it happens from time to time. the good news is its happening less and less. i played golf once or twice it cost over 500.00 before i knew how to spell tee? it wasn't worth it to me so, i just watch how. this hobby is the same way except i get to look longer at the course and players after the money is gone. one has to value is it worth it to them. and i quess it was to me after 20 years i'm still in the game.

 

i enjoyed your post i think you have some great ideas, i over skim because i over feed so, a bigger skimmer in my mind was a must. i also use gfo and like it and i'll say once more as long as we employ enough ocean reef principles in our reeftanks they will work to the degree of there bioload cap.

 

Skimming has plenty of benefits. Overskimming is impossible and does nothing more than regular skimming except uses more power, takes up more space and cost more money.

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