Are we over thinking this hobby?

carolinareefguy · Jul 19, 2014

I have read a lot of interesting topics lately and I think we are over thinking and forgetting priorities. We are worried if filter socks clean too much and harming corals, if we should stick our fish in a glass swimming pool with no live rock and no live sand to prevent ich, if we are over skimming, placing tangs in QT for months at a time because this will prevent disease and stress even though we got a 20 gallon qt tank.

How about weighing both sides and remembering our beginner priorities. When I got into a long time ago, there were a couple must haves.

1. Live rock - Natural biological filtration and provide fish with natural items to pick at and hide in. Now we are scared of bristle worms and ich so people are skipping this important step. Let's stop looking at the tank at 3 in the morning and just let the live rock do what it is suppose to. Remember the check for aptasia and other hitch hikers the could be problems but the positives far out weigh the negatives.

2. Clean water/ water quality and feeding corals - Alot of people are concerned about too clean water and over skimming. Feed your fish daily, turn the lights on and keep your hands out the water and you will be fine. Clean your filter socks regularly and same for your skimmer. The most important food to corals is light and they are not living off what floats in the tank.

Lastly. QT new fish - However I'm reading stories about quarantining fish for 6 to 8 weeks. I am not sure how the tang police tells me that my 180 is too small for a naso but ok with folks putting tangs in a 40 breeder for 2 months with copper. Try to buy fat and healthy fish from vendors or lfs that u can trust. Placing fish in small qt doesn't guarantee anything except that u get to acclimate them again going to your display tank.

Just my 2 cents...

b_rad_G · Jul 19, 2014

cutterx23 · Jul 19, 2014

+1!!!! It doesn't have to be as hard as some people make it. But you gotta do what works for you!!!

3dees · Jul 20, 2014

I think sometimes we go a little overboard. I have a simple set up. 120 gal. no sump, hob Reef Octopus skimmer, a wp40 and wp25 pump, 150 lbs of live rock and 80 lbs. of sand. two 150w Chinese made dimmable led units. 13 fish. no tangs and my one spot foxface will be the biggest. all softies and no dosing. 11 months in and so far everything is going great. you can spend thousands but there really is no need for a healthy tank. yes, it will cost more for sps or lps but it can be done for much less if you don't want the best and latest.

Ryan2428 · Jul 20, 2014

Well said like to also add that it is your tank you do what you want not what others want or tell you to do

saltyhog · Jul 20, 2014

Agree with 1 and 2. The benefits of live rock far out weigh the risks. We do get too caught up in chasing numbers and way over think things.

Have to disagree with the last paragraph. The shortest QT protocol that I can come up with that is based on present knowledge is 5 weeks. There is a huge difference in a small fish that will become a big fish living for 5 -6 weeks in a smaller QT and living years in a DT that's too small. Yes it does come with some risk, but a healthy tank is very much worth it IMO. Everyone is free to do as they choose. I choose to aggressively QT all fish.

425nm · Jul 20, 2014

No vendor (except maybe Live Aquaria even then I'd QT them) can afford to thoroughly quarantine fish. By and large we are still keeping wild fish. Wild fish have high parasite (including bacteria and protozoans) period. I've even seen captive bred fish come in with some weird infections.

Keeping fish in too small a tang is a long term health hazard. A month or two stint in a small QT tank is far less of a problem than sticking them right in a display where you can't effectively treat whatever they cane in with.

There are heaps of studies in the Scientific literature that very clearly show that for many corals up to 50% of the nitrogen corals need come from heterotrophy (eating or direct absorption from the water column).

Aquaph8 · Jul 20, 2014

saltyhog said:
Agree with 1 and 2. The benefits of live rock far out weigh the risks. We do get too caught up in chasing numbers and way over think things.

Have to disagree with the last paragraph. The shortest QT protocol that I can come up with that is based on present knowledge is 5 weeks. There is a huge difference in a small fish that will become a big fish living for 5 -6 weeks in a smaller QT and living years in a DT that's too small. Yes it does come with some risk, but a healthy tank is very much worth it IMO. Everyone is free to do as they choose. I choose to aggressively QT all fish.

I agree, there's no magical vendor that can sale 100% healthy livestock all the time. After you've lost 20+ fish to a disease and had to tear your tank apart to get them all out you tend to think differently. Truth is that we have learned a lot in the last five years and there's many ways to do things these days.
Theirs a fine line between tang police and people just trying to help you do what's best for a fish from experience.

carolinareefguy · Jul 21, 2014

Well, I have bought fish from LFS that run copper in their systems and properly qt the fish at the stores. I think having multiple tanks just qt fish is not feasible to most hobbyist. We know to add tangs and angels to our tanks that they need to be added at the same time or close together. If I treat 1 tang a couple months and add and then treat another 1 and add 2 months later then the first fish will establish territory and be aggressive. So then you try to start with placing by size and temperament. However even docile fish will get more aggressive after 6 months and u are adding the 4th fish. I am not setting up multiple tanks just for qt. Then u add the last fish and they beat him up and gets ich and all your fish die anyways. This is exactly what I was talking about.

If u want to believe how much food corals eat in the water column and how important this is let's do our own study. Cut your lights off and just feed. I will not feed but just leave the lights on, I have a 20 gallon with only a blenny and only feed pellet food once a week. Let's compare after a month. I don't care what they say in a study, SPS is just fine with light and a little fish poo and your filter socks are just fine to have.

I

Zero Nitrates · Jul 21, 2014

Lol! It is really all about the basics.

Aquaph8 · Jul 21, 2014

Most LFS that run copper run it at low levels not high enough to kill ich but high enough to mask stuff like marine velvet. If you quarantine properly that last fish that got beat up and nuked the whole tank wouldn't get ich. It doesn't have to be so difficult, it just takes some practice. Learning how to add fish with established ones and when to not even try is another thing that just experience and patience.

PCygni · Jul 21, 2014

Once you've experienced a devastating parasite outbreak you realize the absolute necessity of a lengthy QT process. If you've gotten lucky so far (and that's all it is, luck) dumping fish right into your DT, then you look at a QT as waste of time and extra "stress" on the fish. I know all this because I've been on both sides.

ETORRES477 · Jul 21, 2014

I like the less is more approach, great post. I don't think your far off on the QT approach, but people are very passionate about it so I won't touch it lol.

footballdude2k3 · Jul 21, 2014

A ton of different things work for a ton of different people, while I do agree that some people over complicate things, that works for a lot of people. Find what works best for your tank and your lifestyle, and run with it.

clownfitch · Jul 21, 2014

footballdude2k3 said:
A ton of different things work for a ton of different people, while I do agree that some people over complicate things, that works for a lot of people. Find what works best for your tank and your lifestyle, and run with it.

Well said as was the OP. It is only as complicated as you wish to make it.

clownfitch · Jul 21, 2014

. double post

carolinareefguy · Jul 21, 2014

Being in the hobby for as long as I have been I have seen a lot but far from everything. Many hobbyists call me locally for tips for a problem. More times than not they are over thinking it and panicking over something minor or nothing at all. This leads to them constantly in the tank, changing something or stressing out the inhabitants. The worry drives them to make a huge decision that leads to more problems. It is a vicious cycle.

Aquaph8 · Jul 21, 2014

footballdude2k3 said:
A ton of different things work for a ton of different people, while I do agree that some people over complicate things, that works for a lot of people. Find what works best for your tank and your lifestyle, and run with it.

I agree with this as long as it's also what's best for the inhabitants, a lot of people have the "it's just a fish" mentality and I prefer to treat each and every fish like most people treat the family dog or cat.

looneywun7 · Jul 21, 2014

amen i agree with this post!

rworegon · Jul 21, 2014

Keeping it simple is great when you are starting out. However, as you get into more difficult fish and especially corals things do get a bit more copmplicated. At some point doing water changes to keep alk and calcium at the proper levels becomes much more expensive than dosing. The more stony corals and clams you put in a tank the faster these elements are diminished.

As for quarantining you new fish, I believe that strarting with your very first fish and QT'ing every single fish from then on is just good husbandry. If you cant afford a small extra tank with a filter and heater then you really don't belong in the hobby. You truly are playing russian roulette by not doing this crucial step. I've been there. It is devistating to lose all or most of your fish because you skipped this one step. The only time you really need a large quarantine tank is if you skip the qt and end up having to treat all your fish at once.

This is my experience, you can do what you want, just try to remember that the animals we keep in our tanks are living things.