Jon Fishman
Cleveland Ohio, buy/sell local!
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2019
- Messages
- 5,105
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I don't know if this is going to be random brain droppings, ranting, vivid flashbacks, or what, but I have had a lot of coffee and it's a bit slow at work, so I think I will put this in the "Here's how I see it" category:
A quick glance at the dry-goods forum (don't though... I don't like the competition) will show you that clearly people enter this hobby, buy some REALLY nice stuff quite often, and then "Only used 16 months, like new!" You can't just throw money at the hobby, and make it more enjoyable......... or can you?
What I ultimately see/feel, is that a bigger tank (once you get past the laws of diminishing returns from the pico/nano tanks that are super finicky, to "normal" sized/stable tanks, is that people budget for the biggest tank they can get, and then get it running with the necessary equipment, while many of these tanks get the "good enough" treatment.
FOR INSTANCE: (guess I should provide real-world examples to make my point have even the slightest semblance of coherence)
I wanted a long tank...... non-custom long tanks I looked at, or used (many good deals out there too) put the total water volume at 350, 400G whatever...... I don't have the resources to dedicate to treating/maintaining that much water...... don't want to buy another 200lbs of rock, etc....
I went with a 140-ish gallon tank, for the same (probably more) price than a 300+ gallon tank, but what I do is this:
When I look at skimmers, I look at ones that handle 300-400G..... When I look at UV Sterilizers, I look at 120W units that say they are good for 400+ gallons..... Same for heaters, powerheads, whatever.... you name it, I want to be able to run my return pump on the lowest setting, not the highest.... I want to be able to turn off my skimmer if I am worried about "over-skimming" not run it 24/7 and "Hope" it's keeping up.
I couldn't feasibly set-up a water-change system that would change 100g every week, so..... I change my 35g per week on my smaller system more or less manually, and it works for me....
Could I have gone down the 400g tank road and "Made it work" ? Sure.... I would ultimately start slacking on water changes, probably not have sufficient gear to keep it clean/happy, and my enjoyment would suffer.
I am sure they are out there..... I know this...... but to this day the nicest home-aquariums I have ever seen, and been blown away by, have all been 90g or so, and less....... I have seen some absolutely gorgeous RSR setups that are just popping with color, crystal clear, and coral wall-to-wall.......
If I ever had to give up my tank, I think the 50-60g is my sweet-spot..... Just absolutely load it with coral, every gizmo-dosing-triton-whatever I can get my hands on.
What's your "Ideal" tank size? (would add a poll, but will just let you church-lady-talk-amongst yourselves......
A quick glance at the dry-goods forum (don't though... I don't like the competition) will show you that clearly people enter this hobby, buy some REALLY nice stuff quite often, and then "Only used 16 months, like new!" You can't just throw money at the hobby, and make it more enjoyable......... or can you?
What I ultimately see/feel, is that a bigger tank (once you get past the laws of diminishing returns from the pico/nano tanks that are super finicky, to "normal" sized/stable tanks, is that people budget for the biggest tank they can get, and then get it running with the necessary equipment, while many of these tanks get the "good enough" treatment.
FOR INSTANCE: (guess I should provide real-world examples to make my point have even the slightest semblance of coherence)
I wanted a long tank...... non-custom long tanks I looked at, or used (many good deals out there too) put the total water volume at 350, 400G whatever...... I don't have the resources to dedicate to treating/maintaining that much water...... don't want to buy another 200lbs of rock, etc....
I went with a 140-ish gallon tank, for the same (probably more) price than a 300+ gallon tank, but what I do is this:
When I look at skimmers, I look at ones that handle 300-400G..... When I look at UV Sterilizers, I look at 120W units that say they are good for 400+ gallons..... Same for heaters, powerheads, whatever.... you name it, I want to be able to run my return pump on the lowest setting, not the highest.... I want to be able to turn off my skimmer if I am worried about "over-skimming" not run it 24/7 and "Hope" it's keeping up.
I couldn't feasibly set-up a water-change system that would change 100g every week, so..... I change my 35g per week on my smaller system more or less manually, and it works for me....
Could I have gone down the 400g tank road and "Made it work" ? Sure.... I would ultimately start slacking on water changes, probably not have sufficient gear to keep it clean/happy, and my enjoyment would suffer.
I am sure they are out there..... I know this...... but to this day the nicest home-aquariums I have ever seen, and been blown away by, have all been 90g or so, and less....... I have seen some absolutely gorgeous RSR setups that are just popping with color, crystal clear, and coral wall-to-wall.......
If I ever had to give up my tank, I think the 50-60g is my sweet-spot..... Just absolutely load it with coral, every gizmo-dosing-triton-whatever I can get my hands on.
What's your "Ideal" tank size? (would add a poll, but will just let you church-lady-talk-amongst yourselves......
