Who's still Reefing Ol' School?

[ScubaShane]

They didn't have glass when I started. I use a brass boiler gauge from the Plaza Hotel circa 1920



You can see it on the wall behind my very modern skimmer and telephone

Awesome! Still in use?

 

[ScubaShane]

I gave a guy a 8" Red Mushroom rock and mixed some saltwater for his bucket. He was in disbelief by the method I used. "You dont use RODI water?" Nope! Stress coat is all I use! "How do you know what temp the water your using is?" I just do! "What about the salinity?" I use 1 cup of salt for this amount! He asked me to measure everything and the results were 78°, 1.024sg 0-PO4. He was impressed and told him thats whats in the DT for years with no water changes. He then again thaught I was full of crap!

 

[Paul B]

Awesome! Still in use?

Of course, How cool is that!

 

[atoll]

I mix the old with the new and so I don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I don't use any type of pre-filtration ( you don't get much old school than that) unless you call my skimmer pre-filtration which you could to a point. I grow algae still but not so much in the tank but in an ATS, after all, it's just a variation on a theme as I used to grow Caulerpa in my DT. I make much of my own foods and have been doing so for about 30 years. I keep fish in pairs and groups mainly, some might consider that new school but not when you have been doing so for around 30 years it isn't. I hardly ever use test kits apart from my eyes which are the best test kit you can have, feel free to differ.

 

[Edward sneddon]

Yes mosty all the above hydrometer floating thermometer and tap with prime...

 

[Bill Bolton]

Currently, I'm saving up and gathering equipment to set up my 750 peninsula again. It's been in storage for about 5 or 6 years. I will be doing things old school. I refuse to pay the crazy prices for newfangled junk. With the rock scaling done correctly, I was able to keep everything from light hungry acros to low light sun corals, shrooms and zoas. I had fish that are very moody such as Moorish Idols that lived over 4 years. I just get sick when I see how everything in this hobby has turned into a keeping up with the jetsons affair. I don't like everything to be automated. This is a hobby.... get involved!!! Since live rock is now devoid of life, when the time comes, I will look into having a good friend in Tonga collect rock, and ship it on the airline I work for, unwashed, unscrubbed. That's the way it used to come, and I used to get some awesome corals for free. Sure, you may end up with a hitchhiker or 3.... but it's worth it. I even ended up with a small tropical octopus once.
We are starting construction on our new house in June, hope to be setting up the tank a year after...... I'll certainly make a build thread when I do.

 

[tiggs]

Currently, I'm saving up and gathering equipment to set up my 750 peninsula again. It's been in storage for about 5 or 6 years. I will be doing things old school. I refuse to pay the crazy prices for newfangled junk. With the rock scaling done correctly, I was able to keep everything from light hungry acros to low light sun corals, shrooms and zoas. I had fish that are very moody such as Moorish Idols that lived over 4 years. I just get sick when I see how everything in this hobby has turned into a keeping up with the jetsons affair. I don't like everything to be automated. This is a hobby.... get involved!!! Since live rock is now devoid of life, when the time comes, I will look into having a good friend in Tonga collect rock, and ship it on the airline I work for, unwashed, unscrubbed. That's the way it used to come, and I used to get some awesome corals for free. Sure, you may end up with a hitchhiker or 3.... but it's worth it. I even ended up with a small tropical octopus once.
We are starting construction on our new house in June, hope to be setting up the tank a year after...... I'll certainly make a build thread when I do.

Amen on the rock. Most of the live rock around now isn't nearly as "live" as it used to be back in the day. Granted, I'm sure the conservation efforts have a lot to do with that, which I understand. The Fiji rock I have in my system now was originally placed into a reef tank in 1998 and has been there ever since. I wouldn't trade it for anything (reef related).

 

[Reefs of Space]

Tap water with prime, old Hamilton Tech MH with PCs (just found two new actinic PCs 96w) and manual top offs using hydrometer. Hang on the back coralife skimmer. No issues with mixed reef!

 

[rioreef]

Yup, Mag Drives were the go to and top of the line back in the day!

Those mag drives are still running

 

[Fritzhamer]

My first tank had a reverse flow under gravel filter. I was so excited when I finally upgraded to a Skilter!

I ran Vita-lights for full spectrum, some 50/50 bulbs and some actinic. VHOs, PC, MH to T5. Still using a mag pump but only for mixing now.

 

[Paul B]

My original live rock I collected on my Honeymoon in Hawaii in 74. I carried it home on the plane on my lap. Today they would just shoot you if you did that.

 

[atoll]

My original live rock I collected on my Honeymoon in Hawaii in 74. I carried it home on the plane on my lap. Today they would just shoot you if you did that.

You would never get it on a plane on your lap paul unless you put it in your socks. However, the way you walked might give the game away

 

[JasPR]

Back in the day--- we called them "Invert tanks" and they were populated with feather dusters, star fish, sea cucumbers and flame scallops * and maybe a shrimp or two. Most died back to a few hearty souls and that was it. But today, I still keep very difficult fish species in a system run on two large ehiem canister filters only. It can be done if you know the obvious challenges and keep ahead of the inevitable with maintenance demands

 

[Paul B]

In his Book "The Salt Water Aquarium in the Home" Robert Straughn (The Father of Salt water fish Keeping) called them "anemone rocks". That was in the late 50s.
I realize most of you noobs never heard of him.

 

[ostrow]

Well I run MH/VHO because LEDs will still never pay back the startup cost just by electric bill savings. Plus, I like my corals to grow!

Never thought CaRx would be "old school"! (I used to do DIY b-ionic and an IV pump - when that was new school.)

DSB. Always.

None of the B.S. tonics all the rage that require 6-channel dosers.

E.T.S.S.1000 skimmer. Nothing comes close to its performance even still. Nothing.

But I do run an apex. As another put it....am not doing anything differently but the apex makes what I am doing easier and makes "seeing" much easier!

And Gyres replaced my Tunzes.

 

[srad750c]

I’m still hanging on, I have my original live rock from 1992, drip plate trickle filter with HOB overflow, 90 gal All Glass Aquarim tank, a leather coral that came in on rock, I still dose supplements by hand except 2 part. I still HW Wiegandt Biotip and MiraTip. I still use glass heater inside tank. I only check dKH, Ca and phosphate. I checked NO3 a few times this year cause I was trying to get it up to 1 ppm but gave up.
Some stuff has been upgraded cause it just gave out. Added LEDs cause I needed to cool down my front room.

 

[ScubaShane]

I’m still hanging on, I have my original live rock from 1992, drip plate trickle filter with HOB overflow, 90 gal All Glass Aquarim tank, a leather coral that came in on rock, I still dose supplements by hand except 2 part. I still HW Wiegandt Biotip and MiraTip. I still use glass heater inside tank. I only check dKH, Ca and phosphate. I checked NO3 a few times this year cause I was trying to get it up to 1 ppm but gave up.
Some stuff has been upgraded cause it just gave out. Added LEDs cause I needed to cool down my front room.

Nice! I also had a trickle filter with a HOB overflow box that you had to suck start!

 

[ScubaShane]

Tap water with prime, old Hamilton Tech MH with PCs (just found two new actinic PCs 96w) and manual top offs using hydrometer. Hang on the back coralife skimmer. No issues with mixed reef!

Awesome! Thanks for the Pic. You know how reefers are on here. No Pic, it didn't happen!

 

[Belgian Anthias]

What is old school? Early 70 ties we used good lighting, a skimmer, UV light and a bio ( sump). Not much is changed except for the fact we can measure nitrate and phosphate now.
We have to follow other parameters but sps are kept with the same equipment. Keeping a healthy reef aquarium without RO/DI water and live rock!

 

[Tapio]

I suppose I am old school in some ways like using MH lights and no plans to change that. I use no additives and use only Instant Ocean salt although I used to use Tropic Marin until it became too expensive. I have always used RO DI water starting early 1992. I have used a home made huge calcium reactor since 1997 and used two part before that. I continue to use Iwaki external pumps because I can trust them to last forever and always start after a power outage. New developments are Reef Brite XHO blue to substitute for old school VHO actinics. mp40 pumps and Apex controller.