Musings of an Old Reefer

[ajkochev]

I've been reefing for almost 30 years now and I'm amazed at how far we've come.  I remember starting out back then and books recommending undergravel filters(to actually filter, not for plenum space) for tanks with anemones.  I remember standard florecent tubes and metal halide.  I remember a few years back the garlic dosing craze that claimed to cure fish parasites and adding vinegar to your home made kalkwasser to get it to hold more calcium  (don't know if ether is true).  I remember when deep sand beds(6 inch) were considered to lower nitrates.

 

Anyway I'm amazed by how far we've come in that short while.  To ultra bright LEDs on wifi controlers and macro algae reactors and designer zoas and clownfish.  Just wondering what the next big inovation(or crazy fad)might be in the future.  Your thoughts?

[Nocturnal]

It is pretty crazy. I've only personally owned a reef for the past 6 years, and even in that time I've seen crazy changes. I've been around aquariums and some reef tanks and worked on several in pet stores and my dad's AQ maintenance businesses since I was like 14 though. (that was loooong ago) Back then I remember reading Julian's book and being amazed. 

 

A tank with piles of fresh live rock, random wild caught corals, a huge skimmer and halides was so amazing. "You can't do a reef smaller than 100 gallons". Lol. Now some of these these guys are under a gallon! 

[sadie]

I hear ya.  I started my tank 18 yrs ago, it was my first salt water tank, though I had fresh for yrs before that.  I started with a 12 gal and after about 5 yrs stopped going in the forums and posting and keeping up with the times.   My tank had it's ups and downs and now I'm trying to get it back to what it was so I came back to the forums and I can't believe how much has changed.  I feel like a newbie.

[1891Bro]

Member?

[wsonner]

On 4/19/2018 at 11:27 AM, ajkochev said:

I've been reefing for almost 30 years now and I'm amazed at how far we've come.  I remember starting out back then and books recommending undergravel filters(to actually filter, not for plenum space) for tanks with anemones.  I remember standard florecent tubes and metal halide.  I remember a few years back the garlic dosing craze that claimed to cure fish parasites and adding vinegar to your home made kalkwasser to get it to hold more calcium  (don't know if ether is true).  I remember when deep sand beds(6 inch) were considered to lower nitrates.

 

Anyway I'm amazed by how far we've come in that short while.  To ultra bright LEDs on wifi controlers and macro algae reactors and designer zoas and clownfish.  Just wondering what the next big inovation(or crazy fad)might be in the future.  Your thoughts?

Martin Moe forever!!! ahahhah. My new AI HD Prime makes LIGHTNING! I started off with a 55g show tank with a 16" "orbicular batfish", black and green dolomite for a substrate over a UGF.  I've grown up a bit since then :).  Thank goodness for the likes of Fenner and Calfo who, amongst other greats, brought the science of our hobby into our living rooms.  Oh, and if you ever mention the batfish I'll deny it ;-).

[WV Reefer]

On 4/21/2018 at 10:59 PM, 1891Bro said:

Member?

I member. 

[Subsea]

PaulB and I both started our marine tanks in 1971.  I was on Galveston Bay and he was on Long Island Sound.  For substrate I used crushed up oyster shells from chicken feed store on top of undergravel filter.  Ten years later, I bragged on my dark burgundy mat of cynobacteria, not knowing what it was.  For live rock, I used an oyster cluster with numerous filter feeders.  Inhabitants included Ghost Shrimp, green mollies, sheepshead minnows and condalacta Anemone collected from jetties in Galveston.

 

During the course of those 45 years, I have thrown a train load of equipment away.  I now lean toward using sponges and macroalgae to balance out my natural filtration.

[HarryPotter]

Next thing that will trickle down to hobbyists is automated testing and titrations.... it is so darn close with the GHL alk moniter and the upcoming Apex Trident. Too expensive right now, but once Jebao makes one it'll be more popular LOL. 

 

    If you think about it, Hanna checkers are $50 each- a automated checker is just adding on some dosing pumps and clever software. I was thinking of playing with that- taking apart a hanna checker, setting it up with an arduino to have a dosing pump flood the vial with tank water to rinse+ clear the lines, suck back a few ml to get it to the line on the vial, and another pump to dose the reagent. 

 

 

I think once hobbyists have more automated monitoring of water quality, we will see a big jump in the popularity of reefkeeping. 

[wsonner]

46 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

Next thing that will trickle down to hobbyists is automated testing and titrations.... it is so darn close with the GHL alk moniter and the upcoming Apex Trident. Too expensive right now, but once Jebao makes one it'll be more popular LOL. 

 

    If you think about it, Hanna checkers are $50 each- a automated checker is just adding on some dosing pumps and clever software. I was thinking of playing with that- taking apart a hanna checker, setting it up with an arduino to have a dosing pump flood the vial with tank water to rinse+ clear the lines, suck back a few ml to get it to the line on the vial, and another pump to dose the reagent. 

 

 

I think once hobbyists have more automated monitoring of water quality, we will see a big jump in the popularity of reefkeeping. 

Oooh, and connected to dosing equipment...hands-free reefing?

[OldManSea]

Martin Moe and Julian Sprung - I was mesmerized when they gave lectures at our local society (Potomac Valley Aquarium Society) - Martin Moe for simplicity and Julian Sprung for sophistication.  My first tank was set up following an even older pioneer - Robert P L Straughan.  I still have a few copies of his magazine Salt Water Aquarium, from the mid-1960s and a 1970 edition of his book Salt Water Aquarium in the Home.  That takes me back!

[ToplessCube]

Even 13 years ago when we had our 500 gallon, things seems so elemental compared to now. We made our own RO unit. We discovered that UV sterilizes were useless (still believe that) and that halides were the best for coral growth (still believe that too). We bought 480 lbs of Marshall Island rock straight out of the water, and brought it in via Delta Dash. We spread it all out on our porch and  built our reef on a pvc rack with cable ties. We also learned that the best way to keep calcium levels up was to keep our salinity slightly elevated. So much has changed but truthfully, except for the power bill that came along with that tank, I miss everything about it. Maybe I’m stuck in the past....