Complex Setups: What gives?

[Jason McK]

I agree with Todd. It's the people that are obsessed that endulge in the more elaborate set ups and may spend more time and Money than others. These are the same people that might be willing to spend more money on unique corals as well.

J

[Delphinus]

I think you can have a nice setup that is simple. Or for that matter, you can have a complex setup that's having trouble.

Having said that though, you mentioned sumps, and I think this is a good example for getting into the "why's". To me having a sump makes things SIMPLER not more complex. Yes there is some plumbing involved but it's a one time setup. After that, you have a place to hide your heater, skimmer, etc. and you increase your water volume. It only helps, and it helps to make your maintenance a simpler task. And therein lies the crux: the extra infrastructure support making the mundane tasks simpler.

And thus you get into the really crazy things. It seems like a lot of equipment but each thing is intended to make some ongoing facet, something simpler.

Ultimately it's up the reefkeeper to understand the processes involved. Having a piece of equipment that one doesn't fully understand, is missing the boat, in my opinion. One have to understand why (and how) they're doing something, otherwise they'd probably risk doing it wrong.

[Moogled]

I agree with what you all said. Understanding how a certain item contributes to a tank is central to success.

What is another example of a piece of equipment that makes the overall reefkeeping experience easier?

The complexity that I'm thinking of is aimed towards the equipment setup itself. As Tony mentioned, you can have a large system with a complex setup that has problems while a smaller tank can be very successful.

In light of that, would superior experience itself play a larger role in maintaining a tank than all the reef tank add-ons which ultimately make the maintenance tasks easier?

[fishface]

well, i'm in the midst of setting up a nice 120g with sump, canopy, controller etc. i'm currently running a "ghetto" 25g that's really starting to resemble an "eye sore". i've got a 250w MH light hanging from the ceiling, an HOB skimmer and refugium with a clip on fan. talk about salt creep man!

that said, now that i know i enjoy this enough to take it to the next level, i'd like to have a system that's a little more all encompassing, stable and automated. this, i believe to be easier to maintain and makes it better looking, more stable and overall more enjoyable in the long run.

[marie]

My simplest, easiest to maintain and arguably my most successful tank was my 40g, 3 maxijets, a bakpak skimmer, vho lights and a heater
right side


left side


unfortunately I had to tinker and upgraded

[Beverly]

Wow! Nice tank, Marie How long had it been running at the time of the photos?

Moogled said:

In light of that, would superior experience itself play a larger role in maintaining a tank than all the reef tank add-ons which ultimately make the maintenance tasks easier?

We've been reefing for the last 8-9 years and currently have a 120g - no sumps, no skimmers, or refugiums in any of the many tanks we've had over the years. Currently our most sophisticated pieces of equipment are a pH probe and digital pH readout thingy, a refractometer and, haha, a turkey baster, not to mention alk/Ca/Mg test kits and chemicals. While I'd like to go
larger our condo just doesn't have the space for it, but I'd do the larger tank the same way we've done all the others. Costs are less for equipment, but there's a bit more elbow grease involved, which I don't mind.

Experience in this hobby makes a huge difference, IMO. I know in our first reef, we never tested for alk, Ca or Mg. I'm surprised the tank did so well with such terrible chemistry neglect. Now that I've been keeping a log of the uptake of alk, Ca and Mg for the past year or so, I can adjust the chemistry in the 120g without having to test so often.

[marie]

Originally Posted by Beverly

Wow! Nice tank, Marie How long had it been running at the time of the photos?...

That was my first actual reef tank and a lot of mistakes were made on it. At the time of the photos I think the tank had been set up for 4 yrs and had gone through every nuisance algae that has ever plagued reefers . Starting with cyano and hair, then the dreaded dinos (during the dinoflagellate attack I learned what phosphates were), followed by more hair, then dictyota and a mild reccuring cyano problem.

[rickjames]

Originally Posted by Moogled

What is another example of a piece of equipment that makes the overall reefkeeping experience easier?

Light timers, top off resevoir/float valve, and Calcium Reactor. I would go crazy without them.

I think there is a couple of reasons why complex tanks overall seem to do better. The biggest is experience. Usually everyone starts off with a little tank with a HOB skimmer and some maxijets. You don't usually see a newbie with Reactors/timers/wavemakers etc right away. An experienced reefer could run an excellent tank without that stuff. But it would be WAY more work.

Another reason is that while a setup might look complex, the goal is usually automation of the mundane tasks. Turning on/off lights, toping off the tank, replenishing Ca/Alk, making water current. When all of that is taken care of, you really start to enjoy your tank. You get to use your "reefing time" to do things you might not have had time for otherwise. Like tweaking Ca/ALk/Mg levels. Checking each coral colony for polyp expansion, health, and growth, feeding your fish and watching the frenzy, nuking those aptasias. Epoxying that frag you got last month to the rock instead of it rolling around on the bottom of the tank.

My tank is in a public office so I usually get a lot of questions about how hard it is to maintain and why it looks so clean. I always tell them "you get out what you put in". A complex setup will help, but the more time you put in to a tank the better and healthier it will look.

[Chin_Lee]

Complexity is a very relative term in this hobby. When starting out in this hobby, just learning about the balance between pH, Alk, Cal, Mg had my mind spinning. As I became more familiar with the basics, my curiousity into other aspects of the hobby expanded to Calcium reactors, kalk dosing, skimmers etc.
I currently have a lot of "gadgets" in and out of my sump and while they may seem overwhelming, each and every item has a specific function to simplify the complexity of the hobby. Understanding the functionality of each gadget will reduce the perception of complexity.
As complex as some systems may be, there is not one guaranteed recipe of success when putting together a tank which results in continuous modifications and improvements to our existing "already-complexed" systems. Fortunately this is where new ideas and methods are created and the internet has provided the gateway for the new information to be shared and tried by other hobbyists - a positive cycle of information sharing.

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by Chin_Lee

Complexity is a very relative term in this hobby. When starting out in this hobby, just learning about the balance between pH, Alk, Cal, Mg had my mind spinning. As I became more familiar with the basics, my curiousity into other aspects of the hobby expanded to Calcium reactors, kalk dosing, skimmers etc.
I currently have a lot of "gadgets" in and out of my sump and while they may seem overwhelming, each and every item has a specific function to simplify the complexity of the hobby. Understanding the functionality of each gadget will reduce the perception of complexity.

I have a DIY auto-top off that's not very complex, but it does make tank maintenance simpler. I just fill the 6 gallon glass jug with water, and it lasts about 2 days. It tops off twice a day for me, while I only have to fill the jug every second day. I do plan on upgrading it to something quite complex to just top it off straight from the RO/DI. It'll have an autofilling resevoir (to prevent TDS creep) and multiple float switches to add safety.

as for complexity for simplistic's sake, there's some people who argue the difference between calcium reactors and dosing pumps. I'm planning on upgrading to the way of the dosing pump because it's simpler than a calcium reactor and much simpler than measuring dosages on a daily basis.