Quote:
Originally Posted by OceanicCorals
First, a quick debriefing on the one issue that seems to have kept most people out of Probiotic methodologies for so long:
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In my opinion, the issue that keeps even more people from reliably using a probiotic system is that it is incredibly labor intensive. I've gone out of my way to automate evaporative top-off, Ca, Alk dosing. Why would I then add a husbandry practice that requires tedious daily dosing? I could forego the costs of the dosing pumps, and auto top-off if I chose to stand around the tank in the morning and dose a bunch of probiotic supplements.
I know all the probiotic proponents will say things like "Well when you're feeding your fish daily it only takes a couple more minutes to dose the additives." or "Probiotic systems are not for 'lazy' hobbyists." Unfortunately, I regularly have to go out of town for the weekend or longer and I don't want to have to rely on someone else to dose several additives. When I've tried vodka dosing in the past I always felt guilty about having to miss days of dosing when I was away and didn't have a tank-sitter.
I like my tank and I like to tinker (sometimes too much) but I don't want to
HAVE to do something daily at the risk of some potential negative consequences - I have enough stress at work. I don't want my hobby to be a source of stress. So I guess probiotic systems are for those people who can devote the time and aren't worried about the incurred expenses.
Sorry for the off topic post. I just wanted to make it clear that while many of us look at probiotic tanks and like what we see and aren't concerned about the costs, we just don't have the patience for the tedium of daily dosing.