Deeeeluxe or simple system?
 

OK... I hear all too often from people that "I should run this or I should run that" and "you are going to have problems if you dont"... so on and so on.

So I am wondering, who has a "deluxe" system or who likes to keep it simple?

Deluxe meaning.... Zeo, RO, calcium reactors and so on.

Simple meaning... In my case... treated tap water, carbon, dosing on a schedule... so on and so forth. No fancy gadgets or expensive doodads.

The poll includes RO or treated water for BOTH options, as I know some people use RO but no other fancy stuff.



I love my tank. It has no nuisance algaes or other nutrient issues. Fantastic coral growth. Healthy (as I can see) fish.


I have be doing the same things for the past 6 years or so and all these troubles people keep telling me I am going to have, well, I don't and never have. AND I only water change every 4-8 weeks.

I have always been a booster of keeping things simple, as...

1) Maintenance is easy
2) less technical issue.. meaning NO technical issues.
3) less money on techy stuff means more money for the stuff that goes in the tank.

For people who can, please post a FTS. I would actually like to see what, if any, differences can be seen. A statement that "my tank is on zeo so its better", is not good enough.. and visa versa. A picture is worth a thousand words.


Really just curious. I have no intention of changing something that works very well for me, but I would like to SEE the difference between others simple systems vs deluxe.

Everybody has a different tank, and what is working for me, may obviously not work for others.

Sorry for the ramble, If I may have missed something, or have something wrong (not with my tank) with my definition of deluxe, please correct me.

ALSO... please comment on whether or not you have any issues with your system and what they are.

Thanks very much!

Note... please do not post negative feedback on other's tanks. Everyone, again, has a system that may work for them, and we are not to say what that is. Critique your system and let us know about your own!

Thanks.

My tank is deeeeluxe. LOL, none of the super high end stuff but I grew algae like crazy with the simple version as well as the simple version with RO. Then got into SPS and had to add all the bells and whistles.

http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/IMG_1999.jpg

Doesn't get any easier than this one - but I don't keep anything too fancy either. Started this tank in 2004 and (knock on wood) haven't had too many issues so far. I do a 10g water change every two weeks which is tap water filtered through an aquarium pharmaceutical filter, I have a remora skimmer, 96w 50/50 PCs and 50 lbs of live rock. I had a battle with ich and my centre brace broke a couple of years back but all in all it's been pretty good. My tank may not compare to the fancier set ups but I enjoy it just the same and have had it for the long haul.

Bells and whistles meaning?


I do not research this stuff as I do not PLAN to buy it, so Please elaborate if you can Miss Deeeeluxe. :wink:

Also.... Are you saying with your past system SPS did not do well?

My tank is full mixed reef and I have SPS in my tank that are growing quite well. Quite well indeed.

I try to make it as simple and hands off as possible. I'm pretty busy with my PhD, so I don't always have time to be messing with the tank. No FTS right now but it's:

50G rimless with beananimal overflow (I consider the overflow the fanciest part of my tank), 15G sump
RO/DI (I cheat. I get to use the $10K Millipore RO system in my lab that gets water to the ppb levels. Score!)
Vodka/MB7 dosing
carbon
Rowaphos reactor (not needed but a safegaurd)
Vertex IN-80 skimmer
Tunze ATO with kalk in the top off water (Number one item that reduced my maintenance)
90% SPS, some LPS and softies

I admittedly have some algae right now because I have been feeding the tank 4 times a day (cyclopeeze, mysis, live brine, pellets) while getting the new anthias to eat. It's eating like a champ, so I'll start scaling feeding down now.

ill post a pic in a bit but im as simple as it gets.


90g tank
90g sump

asm skimmer
mh/t5/led combo
tlf reactor for gfo

tap water for top up
weekly water changes of 20g every sunday with IO


45g fuge with halimeda,red macro,dragon macro(?),mangroves,cheato,dsb

recently added a ATS


i have absolutely no algae in the display i run a mixed reef but mostly lps i am getting the best growth ive ever had with a mixed reef, my sand is white, my glass is algae free and my rocks are sptless.

im getting huge pod growth and lots of growth from my macro.


i stopped testing for phosphate because im running gfo so im not gonna do anymore than that regardless of what the tests say.

i have high nitrates( -40ppm) but my corals dont seem to mind.

i have a low bio load of less than a dozen small fish and dont plan on getting anymore anytime soon.


if the algae scrubber does not work i may consider carbon dosing but right now its a last resort method as the ATS seems like its gonna do what its supposed to:)

ill post a pic or vid later:)



oh and i tell everyone i help start new tanks that simple has success and is the better way to go with a new tank, add the bells and whistles after the tank gets loaded with fish and corals.

oh sorry :biggrin: bells and whistles meaning more "complex (read $$)" equipment. Like metal halides and waveboxes and controllers and dosing pumps/calcium reactors (have had both, currently using doser).

I dunno, I tend to think of the simple as also inexpensive (but not cheap, lets say like, thrifty). Like running a maxijet vs a tunze, or running a lower end skimmer rather than a bubbleking. I applaud those that can get by using tapwater (actually it just amazes me because if I even look at my tank wrong using RO, algae grows). And dosing daily, well thats not my thing. Some days I don't even remember my own name let alone remembering to dose my tank.

My first tank (no SPS, mostly softies and a couple LPS, maybe a frogspawn or something like that) was an algae fest but it was the most lush, vibrant green hair algae you'll ever see. It was quite lovely but was choking out the corals so I ended up finally getting an RO unit. Then I upgraded to a larger tank and wanted to try SPS and clams so I upgraded to metal halides. Dosing would have been ridiculously expensive (locally it was available from one store that charged an arm and a leg) so I bought a calcium reactor. Then various timers failed so I bought a controller. Then my calcium reactor failed so I bought a doser to go with the controller. Ad infintum. My system certainly isn't simple but I don't think its all that complex either (not like some of the systems I've seen that just blow my mind). Besides, I just like saying deeeeluxe :razz:

Ooohhhh-eeee, my system is deeeeeluxe! :wink:

Denny... you gotta be drunk! Look at these sentences. HA HA HA!

Just buggin yah Denny!


QUOTE=reefwars;679755]



i stopped testing for phs because im running gfo so im not gnna d anymre than that regardless of what the tests say.



i have a low bi load f less than a dozen small fish and dont plan on getting anymore anytime soon.

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LOL.

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haha i know damn smart phone aint that smart obviously is it lol for some reason the letter " o " on my phone needs to be pressed harder then the others .....yuuuuuuup!!!!!!!!!! lol