Has reefing become too complicated?

[vtecintegra]

Not too complicated. Too expensive.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Not too complicated. Too expensive.

If anything, thats truth.

 

[silent1mezzo]

A lot also depends on how much you want to complicate things. For some, dosing, measuring, etc.. is the fun part. For others, its not. My most successful tank was a 10g, no tech at work. Par 38 bulb on a mechanical on/off timer. No ATO, no testing, no dosing, nothing. It flourished.

 

[billyocean]

I have kamoer dosers for alk/calc/phosphate...filter socks and live rock. Once a week I dose kz 1 2 3 4 and waterchange every week or two. I'm acro heavy...no problems.

 

[Suohhen]

This hobby is a house of cards. Success can be simple but recovering takes a lot of patience and hard work.

 

[Greg D]

Opposed to when I started 4 decades ago, I would say it has become simplified-automated and with much more information about husbandry-fish-corals-equipment and disease management

The point is newcomers having to decipher all that info....but that point was made already multiple times.

 

[officialreefbros]

As someone who hasn't been in the hobby that long, I fully agree with the difficulties deciding. There is so much from ozone generators to algae scrubbers. It's hard to tell what you really need to get started some times

 

[19Mateo83]

People get too upset and worried over trivial things and make drastic changes only to create MORE PROBLEMS!

But then I read stuff like, "IF YOU ADD 3 POUCHES OF TROPICAL PUNCH KOOL-AID TO YOUR TANK ON A DAILY BASIS IT WILL SOLVE ALL OF YOUR AQUARIUM PROBLEMS!", and wonder where people come up with this ****?

I couldent resist

 

[anabechara]

I am on my first year of reefing (I see you July 1st!) so I don't know how it was before... but more than complicated, I would say this hobby is expensive... and then the patience you need is at a different level... patience to keep going after things get hard and patience to wait for things to flourish.
For me, one hard thing was understanding what was my goal amidst so many picture perfect tanks online. And then tailoring the tank and the gadgets to that goal.

 

[slickreefing]

Hundreds of threads talking about parameters, dosing all kinds of wacky stuff, disease prevention, insanely expensive and complicated equipment, etc. and it has me wondering if reefing has just become too complicated in general - especially when it comes to new people entering the hobby.

Here I am, a reefer of almost 20 years who never doses anything, don’t test for anything, have zero automation besides ATO and a light timer and my tank seems to do a lot better than the majority I see on here.

Is it time that the hobby takes a step back and get back to the basics?


*Note that I am completely aware that there are many people striving to keep acros and difficult to keep critters like that and also hobbyists who are complete tech heads who love the automation stuff. I’m not really taking about the niche keepers like that. I’m just talking about regular everyday people who want a cool reef tank and not a whole lot more.

Good points, a large issue is that the average tank has a coral, fish, or invert that is out of place; meaning it doesn’t belong in that aquarium. Most aquariums are not tailored to house the intermediate or advanced coral, fish, or invert in mind for peak health. Nearly every aquarium is a mixed reef which is somewhat challenging in any amount of water volume. The measure of success is different for everyone, and so is the labor in having a reef tank. Some gear is made to give the average lazy Reefer a viable opportunity at a successful aquarium. Some folks just buy things they don’t need because they saw what they consider is a successful aquarium running that equipment so they assume they would also need it to replicate the results. Endless ways to see this.

 

[ErikVR]

The cost and complexity is the reason why I've only Just started out. Not too long ago, when I still had a regular job in IT/software development, the cost really put me off.

I remember some 6 years ago I went to my LFS to get a quote on a small 80g system. The aquarium and basic equipment came to over €3000. A similar fresh water system wouldn't cost you more than €750 for the same quality tank. And that was 6 years ago!!!

My new tank including equipment, rocks, sand, testers and rodi was over €6000. And then we get to fish and corals... €450 for a yellow tang anyone??

 

[killer2001]

It's complicated. The complexity of the ocean should not be taken lightly. I like to think of it as the equivalent of trying to run a human body on machines for every organ. Our reef systems are on perpetual life support.

 

[UtahReefer]

I think complication comes from impatience, let me explain... We as humans expect instant gratification in this society. We see an issue, read about magic bottle "A", get it, dose it and wait. If we don't see a result short term we start looking for bottle "B". We complicate this hobby, not the industry. What's available from the manufacturer's is always changing, as it should to improve the hobby and their companies. However, success is achieved through the basics and patience, I don't think this will ever change. We have so many choices, so many methods, we get ourselves into a mental frenzy and keep making changes. There are many different paths to success, but all have one thing in common... a consistent approach to that method. New tanks need to mature, period. There are tons of products that say them will help this process along, but the tank still needs to mature. Complication??? We do it to ourselves.

 

[Alexraptor]

I'd say quite the opposite. Especially with the arrival of all-in-one dosing solutions like All-For-Reef, which reduces my work to simply just dosing a single fluid, and only have to test alk regularly, with occasional mag and Ca tests to make sure things are still balanced.

My simplest mixed SPS reef has only two things, a light and a pump, nothing else.

 

[Seansea]

No matter what type of saltwater aquarium you are aiming for whether fowlr tank, easy to keep softy tank or the very high end acro tank the goal is to keep nuisance algae from grabbing hold. Most people leave this hobby from constant battles with some type of pest or algae they just cant manage. But if you prepare ahead of time then not dealing with that stuff is easier than ever was. 25 years ago algae scrubbers had to be home made and never really worked that good. Now there are many models to choose from. Lighting is much more efficient. Dosing chemicals are way better. I dont think it is more complicated just more evolved.

 

[Nano_Man]

If you have plenty of money you can have the latest equipment does it make you a better reefer probably not . If you have no money and only use basic essentials to run a reef do you get more satisfaction when you have the same reef as someone who spent a fortune. Yes would be my answer . But it’s up to each individual how they want to spend there money and run there reefs . Is today’s equipment better than some that came out 10 years ago ? Are leds better than other older lighting ? . It’s all about your preference . One thing you can not buy off the shelf is knowledge and experience that just comes with time.

 

[Paul B]

The internet does that. We read that we need to quarantine, medicate and change water five times a day and test every day so we can add things we don't need.
I, and the fish feel this is a very easy hobby but we unnecessarily make it complicated.

I am no genius but normally my fish die from old age and never get sick even as like I did yesterday by dumping in a bucket of amphipods and mud right from the sea with no fanfare.

Fish are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves as long as we don't get in their way to much. Fish need food they recognize and they don't care what kind of angelfish is on the package. They don't even need food from a package, shellfish that we eat will do just fine and have all the bacteria in it fish need to stay immune from just about everything except maybe boredom and RAP music.

They need secure, dark hiding places preferably with a couple entrances where they can't see you even if you look like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt. Those hiding places need to be tight so they can barely get in and those nasty moray eels cant get in to eat them even though you don't keep moray eels, the fish don't know that.

Fish hate PVC elbows so don't use them except if you are installing a bath room.

 

[Azael]

I started reefing with almost nothing and it went great, but in time I just wanted a little more.
I had marine tanks for almost 9 years and never done tests until recently.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I don't know, it seems when I got serious in the hobby circa 2004 things were just as complicated. The only difference was that you had to seek out the information rather than have it slap you in the face on a daily basis.

It was easy for someone like the OP to have a simple tank and think that was enough. He wasn't bombarded with information overload unless he went looking for it.

As for me, I had a thirst for knowledge and practically read everything I could on any subject saltwater related. The information we get today isn't as different as you would think, its packaged differently, maybe in clever videos and threads. Back then, the climate was different plus there weren't companies making mass product for reefing so marketing didn't have control of our subconscious.

The biggest difference is that it was easier to be ignorant back then. Today, with everything in your face, most people wouldn't be content with a tank with just an ATO.

 

[zheka757]

Growing up as a kid I thought very little of how cars run, to me it was just start with key, and go! Fast forward to now. I'm a 18 years experience as a auto technician. Yes I can say cars are very complex/amazing peace of engineering machines. Runs by modules,crazy networks, and so on.
My point is reefing is complicated, because now reefers are learning now at marine biologists level, and sharing their thoughts on forums, thus making it look complicated for new reefers.
Basics of reefing is still a thing. But with experience people want to dive deeper into science of reefing.