Is the hobby just too young still?

[Big_Mclargehuge]

My question is. Why is there no go to solution for almost any problem in reefing? Is it the amount of variables etc.. or is it that we truly don't really know what and why things work? I'm asking this just because there is never a simple solution for anything. Dinos, gha, etc...Everyone seems to have a different experience. Just looking to hear why this may be? You would think after people having reef tanks for decades there would be some for sure go to solutions to some things but it really doesn't seem that way. I'm fairly new to the hobby. Just interested to see what peoples thoughts are on this!

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

The answer to your question is that there's a flood of new products that have come onto the market within the last few years and only a limited amount of research. Lighting companies are pretty good about backing up their research, but BRS is the only other company putting time and money into research.

That said, I think 90% of the answers you're looking for have been consistent over the past 10 years. Reefcentral has a wealth of knowledge available from pre-2015 (or whenever Reef2Reef took over as the dominant forum).

 

[JosephM]

I think you’re spot on with variables too. We can’t replicate the ocean perfectly and even different oceans have different levels of everything. What might work for someone’s tank with 20ppm nitrates, 12dkh, etc etc might not work with someone with a ULNS and 7dkh system. So many factors play into issues and solutions it’d have to be a massive database for solutions to different levels of elements. And you also have to factor in the dozens of different species of nuisance algae’s and bacteria’s that are most common in the hobby and how each systems defense again a certain said bacteria or algae will vary greatly

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Our limits of understanding tend to trend with return on investment. I.e. if there was more money to be had by figuring it all out, we'd know more by know.

 

[shwareefer]

The reefs are essentally homogenous water chemistry while our tanks are not from one to the next. I think with ICP and now microbiomic testing we may start to see why our tanks are all so different and actually have something new to guide us..

 

[Ippyroy]

Dinos are easy to defeat. You have to use a microscope and figure out the specific type you have. There are proven methods for most issues in reefing. The biggest issue is creating a diverse micro biome when using dry rock. This is being worked on and I expect to have a better system available with in the next 2 - 3 years.
The biggest problem I see is that too many old schoolers claim that their way is the only way to be successful. You see this a lot in dry rock vs. live rock threads. Instead of trying to figure out a happy middle ground, people just swear by one way or the other. It's my belief that soon we will be able to buy a bag of rubble rock in bags that we just dump into our tanks to seed the rocks. We as a hobby starting to slowly learn that the cycle is not just nitrifying bacteria, but many other bacteria that allow reefs to thrive. Just my .02

 

[Azedenkae]

My question is. Why is there no go to solution for almost any problem in reefing? Is it the amount of variables etc.. or is it that we truly don't really know what and why things work? I'm asking this just because there is never a simple solution for anything. Dinos, gha, etc...Everyone seems to have a different experience. Just looking to hear why this may be? You would think after people having reef tanks for decades there would be some for sure go to solutions to some things but it really doesn't seem that way. I'm fairly new to the hobby. Just interested to see what peoples thoughts are on this!

In my opinion, the reef-keeping hobby is indeed still quite 'young'. There has been A LOT that is now known, but still a lot that can be done. My PhD research was in marine microbial ecology and physiology, and so I could see there is so much more that can be done. Especially since I could tell then that there would need so many more people studying so many more aspects associated with reef-keeping are needed for a complete image to be built. I will proudly say that I can offer a lot of knowledge of microbial physiology for example, but will also readily admit I am just like anyone else learning about every other aspect, from lighting to water chemistry. so yeah, I would say there is still a lot ahead.

But that's okay. People have kept reefs successfully from decades ago, so it is not like we need to know everything to be successful. There are philosophies embraced now that works. So I think as much as we need to make sure to be open to new knowledge, we also should not think our hobby is too young. Learn from and embrace the knowledge of veterans where you can, embrace newer, different practices when you can't. And so on.

 

[mdb_talon]

I guess i have an entirely different perspective. There are so many easy answers to the vast majority of issues now. This hobby has advanced leaps and bounds in 30 years i been in it. Especially in the past 10.

Many of the limitations we still have is due to still somewhat limited information on our water chemistry. For the most part we still are just testing the same basic parameters(kh,nitrate,phosphate,ph,salinity). However things like ICP tests allow us to get a much more complete(though still far from complete) picture of relevant parameters so even there great strides have been made. Even 10 years ago something like would have been prohibitively expensive for most.

Still a lot to be learned in the hobby of course, but i think the strides that have been made are remarkeable. We are trying to produce a living ecosystem in a small glass box.....

 

[Hermie]

IMO it's because the science is so complex and still evolving. But I would disagree with the premise because it seems the reef hobby has been "figured out" by the basics: water changes, good lighting and maintain your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium.

 

[Waynerock]

I would be bored with the hobby if there where 100% Solutions to every problem in my tank. At home I am half Neptune and half max scientist.

 

[Dkmoo]

This is bc of interconnected nature of everything thats happening in the closed system that you can't look at each individual organism (ie, fish) and treat only problem associated with that. Because each tank is unique thats why many treatments are hit or miss depending on what else is happening in the tank. In this sense, you almost have to view your entire tank as 1 single complex organism with an unique homeostasis and each animal in it as an organ but whose interactions with other organs are not consistent from one "tank species" to another. Its like having two dogs, one has a 1 heart and 2 lungs while the other has 2 hearts and 1 lung, and you are trying to treat a respiratory disease in both dogs...

 

[Nano sapiens]

One thing to remember is that we are setting up a very small slice of arguably the most complex environment on earth, the coral reef. And even just this small slice has a plethora of possible interactions that influence how a system operates. Even if we set up two systems as identically as we can, they will not function in exactly the same way, so what might work for your aquarium, might not work for mine.

The best we can do is provide the conditions that we know are required by the life on a coral reef. This gives the organisms the best chance of being able to adapt and hopefully thrive in our artificial reef environments. While intervention is sometimes warranted (such as removing pests that have no natural predators, overly aggressive interactions, etc.), for the most part the community of organisms will sort things out by themselves given sufficient time.

 

[Augus7us]

This is a beef I have with this hobby.

This hobby is complex and requires a lot of science and research to understand properly. We really have never had that. If you take something like auto racing then think about how Mercedes and Ferrari spend millions on R&D to be the best at F1 and how that technology trickles down to the consumer market. This happens with every major automobile maker in every major country.

We need some large influx of research capital into the hobby to demystify some of this stuff. Because the downside is this leaves the hobby open to way to much BS. Having been away for almost ten years I was amazed that almost nothing has changed except the equipment.

If anything there is more BS to deal with now. I see people spam posting their rules and beliefs on how to fix issues or cycle a tank, with nothing to back up what they are saying except maybe some posts on here...

There is hope though. First, I think there will be more research funneled into the hobby as climate issues drive R&D globally. Second there is still good data out there you just have to hunt harder. Pay attention to stuff from guys like Randy Holmes-Farley; veteran's with a scientific background. Also look at the member tanks and how they are built and managed. You'll notice a lot of those guys have amazing tanks and long term success, but most of them don't post in the general section or debate people who try to push pseudo science.

Finally I'll say that based on my experience, this hobby is not for the timid. Most start, fail and will never be back. You need to have that drive to succeed and constantly adapt to the problems you encounter. You will encounter them. But as you do your ability and confidence will grow. Then its eventually just managing numbers, cal, mag, etc.