Poll: How do you manage your reef?

ArowanaLover1902 · Jan 7, 2018

These approaches are totally different, but I've seen all work incredibly well, I'm not saying anything against any of them. I think its an interesting question and I'd like to see what you guys think about it. Personally, I take the middle approach.

sbash · Jan 7, 2018

I am:

Low Maintenance, take-care-of-itself, hands on, continual monitoring, whatever equipment works...

But then, it really depends what you are keeping...

Crabs McJones · Jan 7, 2018

I am medium maintenance. I have good equipment but only where I feel i need it. Example I have a good skimmer and good return pump, but I don't have an apex or any sort of controller. And I futz with the tank daily cleaning and doing other stuff to it.

mort · Jan 8, 2018

I'm a mixture. I have good equipment but old equipment. I still run ai sol lights as they work perfectly and I see no need to change them until I have to. Tunze pumps which last forever. I had a new nyos skimmer but the pump went after a year and I haven't replaced it.
I used to be really hands on but the longer I leave it, the better it seems to do without me so I haven't had my hands in properly for months. I do monitor parameters occasionally, normal every 6 weeks or so when I remember and they are pretty constant. My interest has waned a little meaning less time fiddling but the tank is the better for it.

Basically I think reefs become more stable after a few years and reduce the need for tweaking. Now mine is 7-8 yrs I only have to frag the corals and feed the fish.

Labridaedicted · Jan 11, 2018

I try to keep my system fairly hands off through redundancy and automation. I find my tank does best when I don't tinker and get everything on a reliable schedule. I don't get top end equipment, usually, but I am a hard core DIYer, so I have some ugly (usually) but effective cheap equipment that is more robust than anything I could buy premade.

ThunderGoose · Jan 11, 2018

I don't think I can vote yet - my tank is just over a year old. High cost equipment (but no master controller), lots of testing, trying to keep my hands off but the tank isn't mature and stable yet.

jsker · Jan 11, 2018

As simple as I can, yes I do have a controller, test, and dose but that is about it!

Js.Aqua.Project · Jan 11, 2018

I consider myself Medium.

I have an Apex (2016), but it isn't overloaded with modules and I don't stress over the probe readings and re-calibration. I feed and dose my tank daily, but don't even scrape the glass but maybe once or twice a week. Then do 20% water changes on the weekend.

XNavyDiver · Jan 11, 2018

The only thing on my tank that's DIY is the stand. I bought the tank used, but I did a lot of research into all the equipment for it. I try and keep my hands off and out of the tank as much as a can, sometimes that's hard for me as I like to tinker. Sometimes I'm reminded of a MST3K (I was always a HUGE fan!) quip; "Just don't do something, stand there!"

Mark Waltermire · Jan 11, 2018

I think there should be a choice somewhere between high end equipment and medium end. I use an Apex gold with their Dos pumps, have a skimz skimmer, and use an MP40 for flow which all of those would be “high end”. However, I use DIY LED/T5 lights and don’t need to mess with things constantly. My tank is only 5 months old and I don’t need to mess with stuff every day. I test certain things weekly, some things twice a week, and other parameters once a month.

reefwiser · Jan 11, 2018

I like to keep and eye on everything and I have found that buying good equipment helps as it is made better and generally has the best support for parts if needed. I have learned to keep spares of everything so I have extra pumps, heaters, Skimmers, lights. I have been in industrial maintenance for 45 years and I have learned this lesson at work and in my hobby. Always be prepared and buy good equipment. I have been in the hobby for 54 years now and so I am not getting out of the hobby anytime soon.

Hopefully.

five.five-six · Jan 11, 2018

My work load fluctuates. Sometimes I am home a lot to tinkerother times I work 80+ hrs a week and have taught my wife how to mix up kalkwasser for those periods because I simply don’t have time to do it. When I have time, I really enjoy tinkering and tweaking. I only buy top quality equiptment for mission critical systems. Ie: return pump and flow are tunze.

In general I do my best to design my system to be able to run itself for weeks at a time as given my business, that is a requirement. Oddly enough, the inhabitants look their best when I have been neglecting them for a few weeks. LOL

ca1ore · Jan 11, 2018

One of the best pieces of advice I got early on in this hobby was to keep your hands out of the tank as much as possible. I do try to buy quality equipment, with a proven track record of reliability; though, of course, that's not always possible. I do monitor a lot of things, and probably do have too many apex modules, but I use that in combination with personal observation.

don_chuwish · Jan 11, 2018

I'd get the top of the line equipment if funds would allow. But instead I'm always looking for that perfect middle ground where cost is acceptable and the functionality good enough. Working from home allows me to be a bit too attentive, but I resist the urge to constantly fiddle.

ArowanaLover1902 · Jan 11, 2018

Heyyy glad this got featured, I thought it was a good question. I'm glad everyone is voting, I was really curious.

ArowanaLover1902 · Jan 11, 2018

don_chuwish said:
I'd get the top of the line equipment if funds would allow. But instead I'm always looking for that perfect middle ground where cost is acceptable and the functionality good enough.

I understand this, it's usually my approach, I'm planning another tank very soon, a 30 gallon reef, and I'm hoping to spend around $700-800 on it which is wayyy more than my usual, but it'll be nice and I can't wait to have more room.