Why have a Gross Tank?

[fish farmer]

Again I think this has to do with goal. Not everyone is worried about how effective a living room centerpiece their tank is and are more interested in the health of its inhabitants. Neither option is wrong or even hard to understand. Also sometimes people just get busy, and scraping away coralline is often far down the list as it's typically strictly a vanity venture.

I think the first time I posted a picture of my tank on this forum I was ridiculed. I'm not sure if it was the bits of hair algae, the spreading mushrooms or the less than perfect photography skills.

I should have set up my tank to the gatekeepers goals of easy maintenance, wide and shallow, don't glue rocks for easy removal, don't build it in a wall for challenging access, don't put corals too close to the glass to ease coralline eradication.

I also let some of my lawn grow tall as well, it's to benefit riparian wildlife.

 

[anthonymckay]

I got my first reef tank 10 years ago, a bio cube 29. I was casually into it for ~7 years, and then eventually other hobbies and interests took my focus. Then kids came, etc. and before I knew it, I had a tank that went 3 years without any maintenance other than topping off the water when the overflow was low enough that the sound of the water spilling over annoyed me (I dunno why I never had an ATO for that tank...) and occasionally I'd scrape the glass if we had company over. Orange mushrooms corals and green turf algae overtook pretty much every bit of rock.

Sometimes people just lose interest in the hobby and spend their time and energy focused on other things in life.

I finally got back into the hobby in the past year and a half. Upgraded to a larger tank and am now far more into it than I ever was in those first 7 years.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Some people live in filth and some people drive around with their cars like this... You're never going to understand them all, just do your thing and don't worry about it.

good god... theres a scratch on the steering wheel

 

[ReefDreamz]

Seems odd to me that someone who would spend the time and have the attention to detail to build a dedicated sump room would have a messy tank. As another data point for you, I have the type of equipment room your describing and my tank is kept clean.

 

[Cyanohater]

Personally I love coralline on the back well of my tank where my aio meets display. I do however like my glass to be pristine, as well as my sandbed. My equipment on the other hand looks okay to the naked eye. But if you catch me working in it it's a hot mess. nonetheless it motivates me to organize it which in turn gives me important values elsewhere.

 

[Mschmidt]

I resemble this remark. I don't choose to live in filth, nor do I, but here's the deal: my front glass (acrylic) needs to be scraped, but I work full time, am in school, have a dog that will destroy not only the house but my marriage and life if he doesn't get played with, along with maintaining my own sanity and other house projects. so yesterday I had a choice, test water quality, sit down for 20 minutes and enjoy a calm evening, or clean my tank glass. I chose to test water because I'm out a whole lot more if something nukes my tank because chemistry is off. I'll suffer trouble seeing my fish for another day or two until I can get the magic eraser out again. But I know they are healthy.