Reef myths debunked?

[ScottR]

Perhaps pet peeves of mine but I hate hearing what others to believe true but to be completely false and bull garbage. All of these are False False False:



You can tell if a fish is wild-caught or not if it eats from your hand. Only aquacultured fish will eat from your hand.


Dinos only happen in low-nutrient tanks with bottomed out NO3 and PO4.



Tangs and foxfaces eat all GHA



Algae is bad for your tank. Any sign of algae is poor husbandry

 

[Mattman1977]

Yeah there’s a lot of false information on the web that somehow becomes “the truth” I agree with all of those except dino as I’m still not 100% sure what conditions cause dino to bloom. I’ve read pages and pages of threads on how to get rid of dino but haven’t seen much on how to prevent.

algae being bad for your tank. Made me giggle out loud.

Matt

 

[Gareth elliott]

My take on these, answered in the reply

Perhaps pet peeves of mine but I hate hearing what others to believe true but to be completely false and bull garbage. All of these are False False False:



You can tell if a fish is wild-caught or not if it eats from your hand. Only aquacultured fish will eat from your hand.
Nope, anecdotal evidence says yellow captive bred have higher hlle incidence. But that could also be false, how many wild yellows die at that age in tanks before they could show signs?

Dinos only happen in low-nutrient tanks with bottomed out NO3 and PO4.
From what i have seen it is due to low competition, or creating an environment where a strain of dinos is able to outcompete other organisms. In the wild this is super high nutrient levels. Like what has happened in florida for 2 years with brevis dinos.
Tangs and foxfaces eat all GHA
No fish is exactly the same just like us, I have a gene that i can taste certain chemicals, i cant eat food with them, they taste nasty. Others dont and cant tell the difference. Sure fish are the same.
Algae is bad for your tank. Any sign of algae is poor husbandry
Depends where the algae is. Algae growing on certain corals means it will probably dir or at least certain parts.

 

[ScottR]

My take on these, answered in the reply

My point is aiming at blanket statements per se. For fish being easily hand fed is usually directed at clownfish. Many say that you can tell a if a clownfish is wild-caught or not based on whether you can feed it by hand. Not true in my experience.

For dinos, I’ve run high nutrient systems and had dinos. Yes, bottomed-out tanks welcome dinos but no, high nutrients won’t choke them out. The thinking is that high nutrients help competition outgrow dinos which is true but sadly, dinos can grow in high nutrient systems. It’s more wishful thinking and luck in the long run.

 

[sixty_reefer]

My point is aiming at blanket statements per se. For fish being easily hand fed is usually directed at clownfish. Many say that you can tell a if a clownfish is wild-caught or not based on whether you can feed it by hand. Not true in my experience.

For dinos, I’ve run high nutrient systems and had dinos. Yes, bottomed-out tanks welcome dinos but no, high nutrients won’t choke them out. The thinking is that high nutrients help competition outgrow dinos which is true but sadly, dinos can grow in high nutrient systems. It’s more wishful thinking and luck in the long run.

We’re your po4 high also wend you collected this data?

 

[ScottR]

We’re your po4 high also wend you collected this data?

Not high but detectable. .006 maybe. But for phosphates, it’s another story. You can detect zero because they are being consumed too quickly. If extremely high and you’re having algae issues, then action must be taken. Personally I don’t GFO or other phosphate strippers.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

For dinos, I’ve run high nutrient systems and had dinos. Yes, bottomed-out tanks welcome dinos but no, high nutrients won’t choke them out. The thinking is that high nutrients help competition outgrow dinos which is true but sadly, dinos can grow in high nutrient systems. It’s more wishful thinking and luck in the long run.

As an aside, my theory on dinos and competition in low nutrient systems is that the competition is actually, at least in part, for a trace element such as iron or manganese (or some other ion or combination of ions).

If there is enough algae growth to limit that element, then the growth of dinos are limited.

BUT, if that element is not being limited by algae growth, then dinos may thrive even if there is lots of nutrients. In part, this theory is supported by the many reports that Dinos are not hindered, and often seem to be spurred on by water changes that don’t impact nutrients all that much.

 

[Quietman]

I have a larger issue with the lack of critical thinking in general but your points illustrate it perfectly. People believe what's easy and convenient for them without asking the next two or three questions. Where does this information come from? Where is the data to back the claim? Is this seen across numerous instances or just an individual?..sigh.

I'll trade you teaching cursive in schools for a course or two teaching critical thinking/logicial analysis.

Ok...I'll get off my hobby horse now.

 

[tripdad]

It is my pet peeve when people state opinion as fact. Maybe they feel it it is because that"s been their experience. However anecdotal evidence is not fact. I try and add when offering advice, IN MY OPINION, so everyone understands I don't claim absolute knowledge.

 

[ScottR]

As an aside, my theory on dinos and competition in low nutrient systems is that the competition is actually, at least in part, for a trace element such as iron or manganese (or some other ion or combination of ions).

If there is enough algae growth to limit that element, then the growth of dinos are limited.

BUT, if that element is not being limited by algae growth, then dinos may thrive even if there is lots of nutrients. In part, this theory is supported by the many reports that Dinos are not hindered, and often seem to be spurred on by water changes that don’t impact nutrients all that much.

I am currently seeing GHA taking hold on a part of the tank where dinos haven’t evacuated. It’s sort of an experiment of mine. They’re growing near dendrophyllia which aren’t photosynthetic. Waiting this one out

 

[ca1ore]

Wasn’t there a recent thread on this same topic .... my answers are there ..... didn’t get a ton of traction ....

Most common "reef myths" with little basis in reality...

Hey guys, I wonder what - in your experience - are things which seem to be "common knowledge" in the reefing world which are actually pretty wrong-headed. Off the top of my head: The idea that if you choose to have a DSB, you should stir the sand yourself in order to avoid buildup of...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Magellan]

It’s a known fact that reefers will argue any blanket statement

Water is wet!

 

[brandon429]

Old claim- you have to remove your sandbed in portions so the live rocks have time to take on more bacteria

2020- no you don’t, and none of that above occurs/links 30 pages of instant bed removal reefs.

(If live rock took on replacement bac to make up for sand, that is a net zero gain on surface area, and SA is what exposes bac to water to remove waste, stacking bac on bac doesn't increase exposure. Live rock is simply enough surface area without sand, or nine extra canister filters etc. removing unneeded surface area has no impact on required surface area, surfaces in a reef tank tend to self regulate bac levels if flow/shear and nutrient balance allows)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Wasn’t there a recent thread on this same topic .... my answers are there ..... didn’t get a ton of traction ....

Most common "reef myths" with little basis in reality...

Hey guys, I wonder what - in your experience - are things which seem to be "common knowledge" in the reefing world which are actually pretty wrong-headed. Off the top of my head: The idea that if you choose to have a DSB, you should stir the sand yourself in order to avoid buildup of...

www.reef2reef.com

One of the problems with such myth discussions is that a statement that is actually perfectly true is sometimes generalized inappropriately and then someone else says it isn’t true in their system and is a myth.

An example might be aeration with outside air to raise pH. It will always raise pH in systems with excess CO2 relative to the air, but many folks never hear that second part and think it always raises pH. Then they try it and it fails, myth debunked??? Or just aquarist misunderstanding of the nugget of truth behind the statement???

 

[Gareth elliott]

It’s a known fact that reefers will argue any blanket statement

Water is wet!

I am only sure of one thing. The mirror always calls me pretty.

 

[ZoWhat]

Algae is bad for your tank. Any sign of algae is poor husbandry

Luv luv luv this one Scott!

Algae is a sign that things are GROWING. Algae is actually a GREAT indicator that the water nutrients are there for things to GROW

Unfortunately Algae is like the 300lbs dude at the BBQ Party. FIRST inline to eat.

I look for algae slime to tell me corals have the opportunity to eat nutrients.

I let Turbo Snail knockout the algae film or hair.

Turbos are the unsung HEROSof any tank

 

[MrsBugmaster]

For dinos, I’ve run high nutrient systems and had dinos. Yes, bottomed-out tanks welcome dinos but no, high nutrients won’t choke them out. The thinking is that high nutrients help competition outgrow dinos which is true but sadly, dinos can grow in high nutrient systems. It’s more wishful thinking and luck in the long run.

I had a big problem with dinos and had very high phosphate, so high it would not even register on the hanna checker. And nitrates was like in the 80's. So I know this to be true.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

A new myth (to me at least) that I am starting to see around here (& I know the source influencing some people) is that you need to maintain a N to P ration no higher than 5 - 10 :1 or your corals will suffer, won't grow, & you'll have algae everywhere.
It originated from some published science results.
After reading a bit of the science, & taking into consideration numerous successful aquariums that dare to run nutrients at levels such as 2ppm nitrate & 0.04ppm phosphate ), it seems that the science [ocean] has been applied to the hobby [fish tanks] & then generalised inappropriately to create blanket statements.

From what I understand, if PO4 levels are below 0.028 ppm (the threshold, & no surprises there) then a N-P ratio above 22:1 can exacerbate the problems created by the low phosphate. But when phosphate is above the threshold, the N-P ratio is unimportant.
But for some this has morphed into claims that keeping nitrate at say 2ppm, with phosphate at 0.04, is bad because that's a ratio of, shock horror,,,,,,,

50:1

LOL

 

[IslandLifeReef]

@Scrubber_steve, I agree with you even though my tank maintains a NO3O4 ratio of roughly 10:1 on its own. My only nutrient export is a skimmer and a 10% water change twice a month. I look at it like this, as long as my corals look good and are growing, why chase numbers.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

@Scrubber_steve, I agree with you even though my tank maintains a NO3O4 ratio of roughly 10:1 on its own. My only nutrient export is a skimmer and a 10% water change twice a month. I look at it like this, as long as my corals look good and are growing, why chase numbers.

Yes!
Nothing wrong with that ratio,,, it's just not necessary