Looking for a Mentor for sps dominant system

[hart24601]

And keep in mind there are many, many successful ways to keep reef tanks, you will find many arguments amongst the 'masters' too. I was just reading Sanjay on FB mock a chart suggesting 0.02 PO4 and under 5ppm nitrates for sps systems. Him Ross and others were tearing that apart as horrible for new reefers to shoot for, and these are some of the most respected reefers on the planet. When it comes it almost every aspect in the hobby, with the exception of alk stability, there are sps gurus all all over the place when comes to how they run their tanks.

I just try to not get locked into a "best" mentality and try to remain flexible and opened minded. I don't know how many times in the hobby I have heard _____ doesn't work (or doesn't work well) then when someone shows it does work you hear excuse after excuse. A mentor is great as is online, but don't let that discourage seeing what works best, slowly, for your system and husbandry.

 

[Ike]

And keep in mind there are many, many successful ways to keep reef tanks, you will find many arguments amongst the 'masters' too. I was just reading Sanjay on FB mock a chart suggesting 0.02 PO4 and under 5ppm nitrates for sps systems. Him Ross and others were tearing that apart as horrible for new reefers to shoot for, and these are some of the most respected reefers on the planet. When it comes it almost every aspect in the hobby, with the exception of alk stability, there are sps gurus all all over the place when comes to how they run their tanks.

I just try to not get locked into a "best" mentality and try to remain flexible and opened minded. I don't know how many times in the hobby I have heard _____ doesn't work (or doesn't work well) then when someone shows it does work you hear excuse after excuse. A mentor is great as is online, but don't let that discourage seeing what works best, slowly, for your system and husbandry.

There are a lot of different ways to do this. However, driving phosphorous and nitrogen too low will never be that way

 

[hart24601]

There are a lot of different ways to do this. However, driving phosphorous and nitrogen too low will never be that way

Perhaps not but even in this thread there is one master, jda, that has levels so low it can't be detected with hobby kits he has said before.

 

[Ike]

Perhaps not but even in this thread there is one master, jda, that has levels so low it can't be detected with hobby kits he has said before.

One big difference is that I believe he just comes by those levels naturally.

 

[hart24601]

One big difference is that I believe he just comes by those levels naturally.

Not sure I follow the difference part, different than what?

Anywho without going down a wormhole of semantics (what is natural in our completely unnatural reefs we keep in our house and why would natural be better when our reefs are as unnatural as it gets) as to my original post you will find masters with really variable nutrients and husbandry. I used to keep my reef at jda levels too and had great success, 0 ppb, hint of color on salifert nitrate, slightly higher now because it's just where this system likes to go. It's not about numbers but more what the corals tell you once you get an eye for it really.

 

[VR28man]

Not sure I follow the difference part, different than what?

Anywho without going down a wormhole of semantics (what is natural in our completely unnatural reefs we keep in our house and why would natural be better when our reefs are as unnatural as it gets) as to my original post you will find masters with really variable nutrients and husbandry. I used to keep my reef at jda levels too and had great success, 0 ppb, hint of color on salifert nitrate, slightly higher now because it's just where this system likes to go. It's not about numbers but more what the corals tell you once you get an eye for it really.

I think what @Ike means is by using different additives or media to do so.

John Tullock, a formerly prolific aquarium writer with iirc a PhD in marine biology, once said that a healthy system, if left over months without people messing with it, will naturally balance itself out to be nearly zero nitrates and phosphates. (aside from short spikes from feeding and the like) Constantly chasing certain numbers in some cases would be constantly messing with this process, leading to a perpetually Unbalanced system.

In my very limited experience, coral growth rate is most important, followed by the growth of nuisance algae, over weeks, to tell whether or not things are in a good place (i.e rate of feeding, skimming, use of media, etc).