VR28man
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- Joined
- May 16, 2017
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- What state or country do you live in
- Virginia
I think very few fundamental things have changed. Therefore, it's mostly the same.
My favorite book on reefing is still John Tullock's "Natural Reef Aquariums", from 2000ish, and his "Saltwater Aquarium Models" (now on Kindle). Granted, he was ahead of its time, e.g. his advocacy of a sump system. But he was a real marine biologist who spent decades in aquarium retail and wholesale from the 70s to the 00s - so he'd seen a lot.....
Everything from before still works the same as it used to. It's just some things now work better than others from before.
That being said, a lot of "changes" are driven either by things going out of fashion (DSBs in the DT is a great example), in things that companies want to push, and by factors that have changed the overall market.
However, some things stay in, or come out of and return into, fashion. For instance, people wrote about basically the triton method in the 00s, several times. The triton method adds better (proprietary and expensive, but very good) testing, and their own (proprietary and expensive, but allegedly very good) trace elements supplementation.
But, if you know what you're doing, there are now more good options to help manage your tank, and if something worked well before it still works. For instance, very few people use HOB power filters or undergravel filters anymore. BUT, in some instances, a HOB filter makes sense; Seachem makes a very good and suitable one, especially for a sumpless tank. And @PaulB the great makes a good case for a reverse undergravel filter.
These don't suit everyone, but they are things that wold be good to understand and choose from.
Changes have generally been evolutionary, just evolutionary, and only in some areas.
My thoughts, in mostly no order:
Live rock - this is a big change. Instead of importing all kinds of rock from all over the Pacific, dry rock has taken over most LFS'. It is the staple of the big online vendors. This rock is easier to aquascape; and if I used this I'd definitely spend the time to drill/chisel/etc to make it exactly what I wanted. It's also cheaper, I think, than previous pacific live rock. However,it has disadvantages which you can read on the boards - which often echo John Tullock's cautions about this kind of rock from a decade ago. (as an aside, there are several companies which do "bacteria in a bottle" treatments for this kind of rock now)
One thing I'd avoid, honestly, is "Real Reef Rock" which is somewhat common online and very common at LFS. This is a purple painted cement-type thing that's been in water long enough to have nitrifying bacteria from the manufacturer. I've found it to be heavy, and allegedly it's not very porous for denitrifying bacteria. It's also about as expensive as real aquaculutred live rock. That being said, sometimes they have useful or neat shapes, one reason I might use it.
Even places that sell aquacultured live rock - from Miami/the Keys (KP aquatics and ARC reef. KP by itself is a small change to an old thing: it was run very well as SeaLife INC for many decades by the current owner's father), from Tampa (Tampa Bay Saltwater's customer service is excellent. He's on the forums as @liverock) and Fiji (walt Smith used to sell it). None of them get their products into retail stores anymore, as far as I've seen.
I would go dry rock or aquacultured rock from Florida.
GFO - I think we see more people using GFO to contain phosphates now instead of macroalgae refugia.
Dosing - where IIRC Tullock said "just run kalkwasser", kalkwasser is now a bit out of fashion. Instead, we have all kinds of fancy and not so fancy (e.g. BRS two part) dosing systems to do the same things. This IMO is one change; dosing is now more precise, making SPS growth easier and more reliable.
More completely captive grown fish and corals - I think captive bred fish are maybe around 30-50% of the market now (especially beginner fish like clowns), and captive bred corals probably the majority. The ability to grow corals in your own tanks has led to a bit of a celebrity coral effect (i.e. the most colorful coral specimens being widely available as frags). It also has made it easy to enter the coral sale market; fortunately captive grown frags do well in aquaria and so I think they've come to dominate the market due to just the sheer supply. Further, as of last year, the mariculture businesses has ended in Fiji and is on hold in Indonesia. Wild collection is also more difficult in many places. Fortunately some forms of fish can be efficiently bred for the aquarium market - the work of ORA and Biota are great examples.
LEDs - a potentially more energy efficient and controllable form of lighting compared to what we had previously. Some say they're great. Some insist on old school T5s and Metal Halides. Regardless, IMO this is the way to go, for me. I never liked the idea of metal halides and the gigantic, hot bulbs. When I decided to get back into the hobby and saw a Kessil, and I was instantly sold
Cheap made in china stuff - Jebao, as well as a few other manufacturers selling by ebay or "fulfilled by amazon", have set the bottom of prices for the market. Sometimes the quality is not so good. Other times, the brand is the house brand of the same factory that subcontracts for Marineland, etc. so the quality is not bad. YMMV. Jebao I'm told is not highly reliable, but for the price they're quite good. If you want basic stuff at low prices, and are willing to risk the occasional dud, (and accept these these are basically disposable; use once and they're gone) these can be a good deal.
ATOs - these are very common now, and for the better.
However, there are three big changes, in my opinion:
Newer nitritifcation and denitrification means - Now there are lots of artificial materials that are effective means to do both of these tasks instead of live rock- Seachem matrix is the one I use; I've also used Marinepure but there's a lot of cautions about it. There are also plenty of other such materials.
Live rock, IMO, instead of being the primary filter is now supplemental, or can be purely decorative in theory. So, you can use less, giving all kinds ideas for interesting aquascapes compared to the old walls of rock. I'm not even sure that the "1-2 lbs of live rock/gallon" rule was ever accurate.
Wavemakers - software automation of DC pumps has opened many new flow possibilities, - to include the Maxspect gyre, Ecotech MP10/40/60 series, and the tunze wavebox. Instead of constant flow or control boxes, you can set several different patterns on all these controllers. We're not at the point where the amount of flow is similar to the ocean, but still these are much better I think for coral growth.
Computers - i'll end with this because I think this is the by biggest, most revolutionary change. The common use of small computers to control your tank gives unprecedented power in the hands of aquarists. Automatic dosing, temperature/pH/salinity monitoring (which granted I'm not convinced is useful), precise control of lights and wavemakers.
The coral spawning efforts in London and at the Steinhart Aquarium are both IIRC run by apex (Neptune even has a promotional plug at the Steinhart). There is no way they could run their systems without it; lights and all that are carefully timed with the apex.
My favorite book on reefing is still John Tullock's "Natural Reef Aquariums", from 2000ish, and his "Saltwater Aquarium Models" (now on Kindle). Granted, he was ahead of its time, e.g. his advocacy of a sump system. But he was a real marine biologist who spent decades in aquarium retail and wholesale from the 70s to the 00s - so he'd seen a lot.....
Everything from before still works the same as it used to. It's just some things now work better than others from before.
That being said, a lot of "changes" are driven either by things going out of fashion (DSBs in the DT is a great example), in things that companies want to push, and by factors that have changed the overall market.
However, some things stay in, or come out of and return into, fashion. For instance, people wrote about basically the triton method in the 00s, several times. The triton method adds better (proprietary and expensive, but very good) testing, and their own (proprietary and expensive, but allegedly very good) trace elements supplementation.
But, if you know what you're doing, there are now more good options to help manage your tank, and if something worked well before it still works. For instance, very few people use HOB power filters or undergravel filters anymore. BUT, in some instances, a HOB filter makes sense; Seachem makes a very good and suitable one, especially for a sumpless tank. And @PaulB the great makes a good case for a reverse undergravel filter.
These don't suit everyone, but they are things that wold be good to understand and choose from.Changes have generally been evolutionary, just evolutionary, and only in some areas.
My thoughts, in mostly no order:
Live rock - this is a big change. Instead of importing all kinds of rock from all over the Pacific, dry rock has taken over most LFS'. It is the staple of the big online vendors. This rock is easier to aquascape; and if I used this I'd definitely spend the time to drill/chisel/etc to make it exactly what I wanted. It's also cheaper, I think, than previous pacific live rock. However,it has disadvantages which you can read on the boards - which often echo John Tullock's cautions about this kind of rock from a decade ago. (as an aside, there are several companies which do "bacteria in a bottle" treatments for this kind of rock now)
One thing I'd avoid, honestly, is "Real Reef Rock" which is somewhat common online and very common at LFS. This is a purple painted cement-type thing that's been in water long enough to have nitrifying bacteria from the manufacturer. I've found it to be heavy, and allegedly it's not very porous for denitrifying bacteria. It's also about as expensive as real aquaculutred live rock. That being said, sometimes they have useful or neat shapes, one reason I might use it.
Even places that sell aquacultured live rock - from Miami/the Keys (KP aquatics and ARC reef. KP by itself is a small change to an old thing: it was run very well as SeaLife INC for many decades by the current owner's father), from Tampa (Tampa Bay Saltwater's customer service is excellent. He's on the forums as @liverock) and Fiji (walt Smith used to sell it). None of them get their products into retail stores anymore, as far as I've seen.
I would go dry rock or aquacultured rock from Florida.
GFO - I think we see more people using GFO to contain phosphates now instead of macroalgae refugia.
Dosing - where IIRC Tullock said "just run kalkwasser", kalkwasser is now a bit out of fashion. Instead, we have all kinds of fancy and not so fancy (e.g. BRS two part) dosing systems to do the same things. This IMO is one change; dosing is now more precise, making SPS growth easier and more reliable.
More completely captive grown fish and corals - I think captive bred fish are maybe around 30-50% of the market now (especially beginner fish like clowns), and captive bred corals probably the majority. The ability to grow corals in your own tanks has led to a bit of a celebrity coral effect (i.e. the most colorful coral specimens being widely available as frags). It also has made it easy to enter the coral sale market; fortunately captive grown frags do well in aquaria and so I think they've come to dominate the market due to just the sheer supply. Further, as of last year, the mariculture businesses has ended in Fiji and is on hold in Indonesia. Wild collection is also more difficult in many places. Fortunately some forms of fish can be efficiently bred for the aquarium market - the work of ORA and Biota are great examples.
LEDs - a potentially more energy efficient and controllable form of lighting compared to what we had previously. Some say they're great. Some insist on old school T5s and Metal Halides. Regardless, IMO this is the way to go, for me. I never liked the idea of metal halides and the gigantic, hot bulbs. When I decided to get back into the hobby and saw a Kessil, and I was instantly sold
Cheap made in china stuff - Jebao, as well as a few other manufacturers selling by ebay or "fulfilled by amazon", have set the bottom of prices for the market. Sometimes the quality is not so good. Other times, the brand is the house brand of the same factory that subcontracts for Marineland, etc. so the quality is not bad. YMMV. Jebao I'm told is not highly reliable, but for the price they're quite good. If you want basic stuff at low prices, and are willing to risk the occasional dud, (and accept these these are basically disposable; use once and they're gone) these can be a good deal.
ATOs - these are very common now, and for the better.
However, there are three big changes, in my opinion:
Newer nitritifcation and denitrification means - Now there are lots of artificial materials that are effective means to do both of these tasks instead of live rock- Seachem matrix is the one I use; I've also used Marinepure but there's a lot of cautions about it. There are also plenty of other such materials.
Live rock, IMO, instead of being the primary filter is now supplemental, or can be purely decorative in theory. So, you can use less, giving all kinds ideas for interesting aquascapes compared to the old walls of rock. I'm not even sure that the "1-2 lbs of live rock/gallon" rule was ever accurate.
Wavemakers - software automation of DC pumps has opened many new flow possibilities, - to include the Maxspect gyre, Ecotech MP10/40/60 series, and the tunze wavebox. Instead of constant flow or control boxes, you can set several different patterns on all these controllers. We're not at the point where the amount of flow is similar to the ocean, but still these are much better I think for coral growth.
Computers - i'll end with this because I think this is the by biggest, most revolutionary change. The common use of small computers to control your tank gives unprecedented power in the hands of aquarists. Automatic dosing, temperature/pH/salinity monitoring (which granted I'm not convinced is useful), precise control of lights and wavemakers.
The coral spawning efforts in London and at the Steinhart Aquarium are both IIRC run by apex (Neptune even has a promotional plug at the Steinhart). There is no way they could run their systems without it; lights and all that are carefully timed with the apex.
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