What Is Something That Is Overrated In The Hobby?

[IntrinsicReef]

Softies: Zoas, leathers, xenia, GSP, etc...

The "no water change" flex. Extremely overrated.

Rimless tanks.

LPS under blue lights that glow. Not hard. Just takes some blue light and money. Not impressed. Sorry not sorry

Shhhh...you're giving away the instagram formula

 

[kevgib67]

Bounce mushrooms, the look, not impressed. The price, the final nail in the coffin.

 

[exnisstech]

SPS. If you want something shiny, delicate, branching, expensive, and that doesn't grow much, buy a chandelier

But a chandelier will never mysteriously develop rtn or stn and loose you hundreds of dollars over night so what's the fun in that
I have sps but know where you're coming from. If I had to make a choice for some reason it would be LPS, leathers, and softies in that order with a nem or two tossed in there somewhere.

 

[The new fish on the block]

Santa Monica Algae Scrubbers (sorry not sorry) $100+ for a basic nano tank algae scrubber and $400+ for bigger tanks is ridiculous. Especially when the nano scrubbers look to be made of 2 lunch meat containers….. I just can’t justify the price.

 

[7of9]

Bounce mushrooms, the look, not impressed. The price, the final nail in the coffin.

They kind of look like tumors to me.

 

[Tamale]

I'll get hammered but here it goes. Fleece rollers and UV.

After using one for 8 months or so I will die on the hill of them being fantastic. Over-priced but they WORK and way less tedious than socks.

 

[UtahReefer]

I guess I'll get hammered on this, but it's just my opinion. Chemicals... There are so many natural ways to keep balance and run a reef successfully. However, there's a whole segment out there that believe a chemical is the solution to everything. I think for newer reefers it can be confusing and even dangerous for their systems. Just have seen too many posts where newbies added "chemical x" because it was recommended by someone to either fix a problem or improve their tanks and they end up killing things. I don't get that, never have in all the years I have been doing this. We are trying to replicate an echo system. Bacterias and other natural ways IMO are better and safer ways to do it.

 

[Someguyfromsc]

Opinions.

Came here to say this lol

 

[Troylee]

High dollar sumps are overatted, imo.
Give me a 40 breeder without baffles and im good.

I agree and I make them lol.. baffles to keep the skimmer water level are needed thou.. everything else is just a waste of valuable space..

 

[snorklr]

CLOWN FISH!!!!!

more specifically, "designer" clownfish that don't look as amazing as an original one

 

[Waynerock]

All the monitors and auto testers #1 overrated for me. Such a disconnect from the meat and potatoes of the hobby. And yea they might tell you something’s wrong, or it might be malfunctioning and lying to you or not even telling you something’s wrong or maybe they are just waiting to really malfunction and kill your whole tank when you least expect it. They do t make you better, period. Reliance on those is a problem waiting to happen. All these companies are so good at making you think it’s a good idea to drop $1000 on something you can do yourself for free. Maybe I am old school, or maybe I just don’t have the disposable income for one but we seem to have traded convince for accuracy and tank time. 400+ dollar pumps are 2nd in my opinion. Hey if you got the moneys you do you boo. It’s not making you a better reefer, Ecotech or Abiz will tell you it will but it won’t. Go into it knowing you are dropping money on new toys not that it’s gonna make you more successful.

 

[Rewd]

Algae scrubbers. No one has yet been able to demonstrate to me how these are superior to having a refugium other than it makes your sump "look clean." And hundreds of dollars is a long way to go to make the sump less cluttered, especially when it's the reef tank I care about, not your stupid sump.

 

[Rewd]

Never once have I flipped my astreas. I have several that are more than a few years old.

Same here. I have a mix of trochus and astreas in all my tanks and there are a lot of astreas in my 90G that have been there since early 2020. Some of them have lots of algae on their shells so they don't even look like astreas anymore lol, but hardy and long lived for me with very little intervention.

 

[themcnertney]

Gem Tangs

Haha. A $1500 fish that comes with permeant ich dots.

 

[mattdg]

LED lighting upgrades are overrated IMO. We have plenty of options at this point and changing lights when the newer "better" model comes out, is really upsetting for all species and types of coral. New lights often set off a chain of events such as algae and cyano blooms, RTN and STN. Purchase any fixture you like with enough power to cover you for the next 5-10 years, ramp it up to where you want it over a few months and never mess with it again, unless you absolutely need to replace it. Watch your coral grow into happy colonies.

 

[c4haskett]

Santa Monica Algae Scrubbers (sorry not sorry) $100+ for a basic nano tank algae scrubber and $400+ for bigger tanks is ridiculous. Especially when the nano scrubbers look to be made of 2 lunch meat containers….. I just can’t justify the price.

Better than clearwater! This people are insane for paying that. I bought an icecap and works awesome.

 

[jimfish98]

Forgot to add....I don't test my water after its cycled, on any system. Testing on a stable system is a waste of time/money to me. The only exception to that is if there is an extra algae build up and I think the GFO is expelled, then I run a phosphate test. I like to believe that my eyes and nose are far better indicators of what is going on than droplets in a mini beaker. Been keeping fish for 25 years from small tanks to my 2000g koi pond...my nose knows.

 

[MaxTremors]

The name game. UV sterilizers in reef tanks. Dry rock.

 

[MaxTremors]

Acans grow skeleton first and won't encrust on rockwork, plus they only really come in red/orange and are just not my thing, favias are superior.

This conversation is hilarious. There are no Favias in the hobby and the Acans you’re speaking of are Micromussas.

 

[c4haskett]

Ecotech