I haven't posted here yet and have read through these comments. I haven't had a reef since 2001 (yep, that long ago) and working on a new tank now. I hope to reproduce what my 450 gallon did in 2001...as it was featured in the premier publication at the time, Aquarium Frontiers. So, I thought I would chime in here ...
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Back in 2001, you didn't have all the copy catters from China that we have today. You had the Europeans setting many of the standards and the US trying to recreate those standards at US prices. Today, it is easy to copy products and many people are searching based on price, not necessarily based on results, support, etc.
Back then, the premise on having a successful reef was don't cut corners or you are going to pay more in the long run. I still think that holds true today. What creates complication is that there are LOTS more choices and opinions giving the opportunity to "cut corners." If you are going to try to find options that are less expensive (either by finding less expensive finished products or DIY), you really need to "know" what you are doing. The basic biology of a successful reef hasn't really changed. We know more on what causes problems and have remedies to solve or stay ahead of them (like AEFW...we had them...I had them...we just didn't know what they were or how to treat them yet).
Today, creating your own or buying from vendors that have less expensive options are so prevalent that it is hard to really know what will actually work. As many have already mentioned, people like to defend their personal choice because they already spent the money and don't want to admit they made a poor choice. The other thing that is important is defining "good" or "works great." You always see people saying "I bought an XYZ and I love it..it works great..." With no disrespect to anyone here, what is "good" for one is not necessarily good for everyone. It all depends on one's baseline of "good" to compare your personal results to.
We have all read it here..."my results are awesome..." and then when you see the aquarium with the "awesome" results, the spectrum of awesome is very broad. Personally, my baseline is the top 10% of the tanks we see on the sites here. Whether you love SPS, LPS, softies, or a mix, if the animals are showing long term growth/health with great color and extension, then that is "awesome" in my book. If we look at the majority of these "awesome" reefs, they are mostly using name brand equipment with long term (more than a couple of years) proven track records. Unfortunately, that is also usually the more expensive products.
As so many who have been in this hobby as long as I have, you really need to do your research to understand "why" results are "awesome" and duplicate it...whether it is with name brand equipment, DIY or the Chinese knockoffs. In general, the Chinese stuff is the cheapest copy of something that is really good, but with little regard to long term reliability or support. Companies who design solid products and then have it made in Asia to save on manufacturing can be quite good, but you really need real data from people who are actually using the products, with viewable "good" results, rather than marketing and anecdotal recommendations.
For me, getting back in the hobby has been a great learning experience. LEDs is one of the biggest game changers. For SPS tanks, LEDs have moderate success. Most of the SPS tanks with LEDs report just average results and the tanks correlate to that finding. The question is why? T5s still rein on the top of most supreme SPS tanks in Europe because it seems they work with the best results across the majority of tanks. Again, the question is why?
I read a great article from the aquaculture folks in Toronto, CA. It is one that is referenced on this site and a link from EcoTech. I called them and learned a great lesson...LEDs are great, but the light spectrum that the LEDs need to produce is critical to get the SPS results we all want/need. Most people with LEDs mess around with the light spectrums because, well, they can
. LOL. But the animals need a certain light spectrum for them to grow and thrive. The problem is that light spectrum doesn't necessarily look good to the human eye...its blue. Guess what, that was the case with MH way back when...which is why the 20K Radium was so popular. The animals loved it, but we thought it was ugly and dull. We all compensated with 10Ks to give the white we all "liked to look at" as well as the 20Ks so the animals thrived. Then came along the 14K...and wala...we had nirvana! Same is true for LEDs. As people have learned with experimentation, the more expensive LED fixture brands give us the power to control the spectrum better so the animals will thrive. But we need to be careful to understand what the animals need to thrive.
All this said, I personally have chosen the new GHL LED fixtures for my new SPS dominant tank. I hope they work LOL. I have seen the fixtures personally. I haven't seen any long running tanks with animals in them yet because they don't exist...just a frag tank. However, they do provide the light spectrum that SPS corals need to thrive. They have broad coverage and the ability to adjust the spectrum for the animals to thrive while also looking good to the naked eye. They have all the goodies for control with wifi, etc. And they come from Germany, the country who continues to set the standard for reef aquarium products worldwide. They also come with the support we expect with such a high price for a product. By the way, I don't work for this company and I am paying the same price as anyone else would.
The point is, if you want the best results, you need to really consider choosing some of the best leading products in the industry. It comes with a price, but that is the reef hobby...it is expensive no matter how you cut it
. You can pay now...or pay later...but if you want that top 10% tank, you need to duplicate what those top 10% people are doing.
Happy reefing
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