Complex Setups: What gives?

[Myanth]

I'll chime in here but you have to remember that I build my system to be as self sufficient as possible and I don't dabble in expensive (okay really expensive) or really fragile livestock. I don't overload on Bio producers and I have a huge cleaning crew (approx 100 hermits and 80 snails, not including the ones breeding in the rock)

I have a lot of liverock. 140lb in a 90 gal tank with 15-20 gal sump. I think that is the most important part. I have two 250W MH lights with parabolic reflectors. I change 10-15 % water once a month. I use filtered well water which is already high in calcium. I have a sump and a SEIO pump in the tank. Water flow is as essential as liverock. I would not run without a skimmer and I got a bubble king from Snappy that is trouble free.

I add nothing as a general rule. The minor water changes keep everything pretty much up. I add calcium if my coral growth rate seems slow (I do measure first) and magnesium if my KH is too high, which my well water seems to contribute to.

I have recently been running a 50 micron filter in the sump for esthetics, keeping the water clear.

I have macro algea growth in the tank which seems to keep phospates down.

Basically I like to have a functioning ecosystem. And it works for me.

I feed the eleven fish I have only twice a week and only about a quarter sized frozen piece of mysis. And some Nori on no real schedule.

It works for me, but only after a lot of learning and a lot of research.

It really does take a lot of work to be this lazy.

[Chaotic Cricket]

Originally Posted by Myanth

I'll chime in here but you have to remember that I build my system to be as self sufficient as possible and I don't dabble in expensive (okay really expensive) or really fragile livestock. I don't overload on Bio producers and I have a huge cleaning crew (approx 100 hermits and 80 snails, not including the ones breeding in the rock)

I have a lot of liverock. 140lb in a 90 gal tank with 15-20 gal sump. I think that is the most important part. I have two 250W MH lights with parabolic reflectors. I change 10-15 % water once a month. I use filtered well water which is already high in calcium. I have a sump and a SEIO pump in the tank. Water flow is as essential as liverock. I would not run without a skimmer and I got a bubble king from Snappy that is trouble free.

I add nothing as a general rule. The minor water changes keep everything pretty much up. I add calcium if my coral growth rate seems slow (I do measure first) and magnesium if my KH is too high, which my well water seems to contribute to.

I have recently been running a 50 micron filter in the sump for esthetics, keeping the water clear.

I have macro algea growth in the tank which seems to keep phospates down.

Basically I like to have a functioning ecosystem. And it works for me.

I feed the eleven fish I have only twice a week and only about a quarter sized frozen piece of mysis. And some Nori on no real schedule.

It works for me, but only after a lot of learning and a lot of research.

It really does take a lot of work to be this lazy.

So would you still put two clowns in ten gallons

[KrazyKuch]

Personnaly I have Skimmer, Kalk Reactor, Calcium Reactor, Coil Denitrator, Auto Top Off....All of which I have built my self or was built for me Which I find saves you tons of money if you DIY everything....My skimmer I built cost me $80 and it is equivelant to something that would cost around $500....

and Like Bev Said none of it is neccissary, I have them because I am lazy and don't want to dose everyother day and do weekly water changes so this equipment lets me go longer between water changes!!

[BMW Rider]

For me, the complexity is for simplicity. I love my tanks, but I don't want to be tied down by them, having to be continously checking this, adding that, feeding, testing, etc. I do usually fiddle and tweak daily, plus I feed daily some frozen food and nori. Additional twice daily feedings are done with a feeder. That way the fish are used to dry food and I can set the feeder for a bit more and all is good for an extended absence. Same goes for the automation, the tank runs pretty stable without any additives needed except on rare occasions, so it will be fine if I'm not there for a week or more. There's enough top off water to get through at least a week. I can add a larger auxilliary resevoir for longer trips. I also have power backups for the critical return pumps. I still have someone come by and make sure all is running a few times if I'm away fro more than a couple of days, but I know that barring disaster, the tanks will survive just fine without me while I'm away. They might be a bit gross with algae when I return, but that is a minor thing to cleanup again.

I don't buy the fancy name brand equipment, some of it is just way to pricey for me. I like to DIY when I can, but some things I've found are jsut too much work to DIY and make it operate reliably. For those I have bought premade, typically a decent product, but not the real high end stuff. Other things, like my CA reactor have been marvelous DIY successes for much less than the cost of buying.

I also agree with the concept that by making the routine chores less demanding there's more time to do other chores. Of course it can also lead to complacency which is something I've found myself falling to once in a while when other hobbies dominate my attention. Generally though, it just makes the reefing more enjoyable and less frustrating for me.

[Myanth]

Originally Posted by Chaotic Cricket

So would you still put two clowns in ten gallons

Yeah.

Under the right circumstances. I did most of my research and experimentation with that ten gallon. It was a reef tank / quarantine tank for two years before I got it from a friend. I purchased 12 lbs of cured liverock and two clownfish when the ammonia levels were non-existant. Had a penguin 270 HOB filter with no media and a powersweep something, second from the smallest. Corallife 96 W light came when I couldn't get any growth from candy canes. Had seventeen species of coral, scooter blenny, two clowns and two cleaner shrimp, plus twenty or so hermits and assorted snails.

The clowns are getting on three years old and are breeding happily under their heteractis magnifica anemone. (picture in the invert thread from a couple of days ago)

Now would I ever subject a heteractis magnifica anemone to captivity in any size tank ever again. That's a different question. The time will come when I can not supply what this animal needs and I will be looking for a new place for it.

But two clowns in a ten gallon. Sure.

I would post pictures if someone let me know how to put them in the message. I can only seem to get them on as attachments. Duh...