Newest Hardware Trends (possibly returning to hobby)?

[Mr. Microscope]

 On 7/12/2021 at 12:21 PM, Murphych said:

Would be great to have you back. You guided me through a few problems back in the day! 

 

Hi there!  It's so awesome to see so many friendly handles on here from way back.  I'll probably have to depend on pro advice if/when I get something going.  Cheers!

 

7 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

A name I remember and welcome back! (as they say in reefing, "They all come back eventually") 🙂

 

Still nano reefing with the basics, so unfortunately I have no first hand input as far as the 'latest and greatest' equipment wise for the larger systems.

 

Whatever you go with, all the best!

 

 

Yes.  Definitely starting another reef at some point.  Still in the planning phase at the moment.  The basics have certainly been working for you!  Until I have enough income to support my dream tank (more on that later) I might set up my old 7 gallon cube with a 10 gallon sump.  I'm actually thinking I may build my next aquarium from scratch.  So, perhaps I'll do a smaller mock-up and run it as a nano instead of the 7 gallon.

 

6 hours ago, gena said:

yay!!!!  I took a few years off too.  I needed a nice break to appreciate it all again.  Sounds like you are well on your way to a comeback 😁.  I'm envious of you having saved equipment.  I had sold everything.  So many regrets LOL.

Hi there Gena!  Great to see you're still here.  Yes, I tossed a lot including my old tank, stand, and sump along with a bunch of old pumps and my heaters, but I'm really glad I saved some of the more boring stuff to buy like bulkheads and salt.  And I'm super happy I saved my Tunze Osmolator ATO, and RO/DI system.  Those will help jump-start me.  I also saved a lot of my old rock including pukani and branch that I don't think are available anymore.  Planning to reuse those after a brief acid soak.

[michaelbog]

I do not have any personal experience with them but I have heard https://www.cadeusa.com has some nice Steps. not exactly cheap but maybe have a look.

[blasterman]

5 hours ago, Murphych said:

Haha I read that in the voice of an old timer shaking his stick at a "whipper snapper".  

I think this, automation is a regular part of life now, having to login to applications to use them is more than common place.

My daughter laughs at me when I tell he not only did I not have a smart phone but I didn't have a TV or car at home when I was a young boy. 

It might not be the way we did it back in the day.... but it's absolutely fine.. 

Having things like AI primes and wifi dosing pumps are they a must, not really and can they be done cheaper? Yeah of course they can... do I even need the control it gives me.. na never... Is this hobby FOR ME as much about hardware / software as it is about the life in the tank... 100% yes that's why it's such a rich all encompassing hobby, it can be what you want it to be.. I still reserve the right to moan about the price 

 

I'm not a newbie or young.. I just like to use new and exciting technology.  

I've built data centers for for billion dollar companies and deployed and provisioned all their servers. Im hardly a technophobe. 🙂

 

There is improved technology and more consumer junk. Having auto dosers is fine if you have a massive tank full of SPS. It is not an option for beginners or mixed reef owners. Yet they buy this stuff anyways and end up with totally screwed up water params because they dont understand it.

 

Lightibg is just as bad. My Radion XR15 cost nearly 5 bills and the totally usable PAR is less than 100 watts. But....it has all those programmable modes that do nothing. Im going back to building my own lights.

 

I have a 20L that literally has no more room for coral. I will attach a pic. I manually dose, dont do water changes , dont skim, use drain cleaner for alk and likely spend less time fussing around with it then somebody with 10x $$$ the investment and can't get their frags to grow.

 

Its not about gear. BRS would love to take your money. Its about understanding your tools.

[Murphs_Reef]

49 minutes ago, blasterman said:

I've built data centers for for billion dollar companies and deployed and provisioned all their servers. Im hardly a technophobe. 🙂

 

There is improved technology and more consumer junk. Having auto dosers is fine if you have a massive tank full of SPS. It is not an option for beginners or mixed reef owners. Yet they buy this stuff anyways and end up with totally screwed up water params because they dont understand it.

 

Lightibg is just as bad. My Radion XR15 cost nearly 5 bills and the totally usable PAR is less than 100 watts. But....it has all those programmable modes that do nothing. Im going back to building my own lights.

 

I have a 20L that literally has no more room for coral. I will attach a pic. I manually dose, dont do water changes , dont skim, use drain cleaner for alk and likely spend less time fussing around with it then somebody with 10x $$$ the investment and can't get their frags to grow.

 

Its not about gear. BRS would love to take your money. Its about understanding your tools.

To each their own is what I say, some like traditional methods, some new and others like a hybrid approach. 

 

New technology is attractive to many people, myself included. My house is automated.. do I need or even use half of it? Nope.. why do I have it? Because I can.. does it make me a poorer reefer than you? Does it hell.... Just different...

[mitten_reef]

5 hours ago, blasterman said:

I've built data centers for for billion dollar companies and deployed and provisioned all their servers. Im hardly a technophobe. 🙂

 

There is improved technology and more consumer junk. Having auto dosers is fine if you have a massive tank full of SPS. It is not an option for beginners or mixed reef owners. Yet they buy this stuff anyways and end up with totally screwed up water params because they dont understand it.

 

Lightibg is just as bad. My Radion XR15 cost nearly 5 bills and the totally usable PAR is less than 100 watts. But....it has all those programmable modes that do nothing. Im going back to building my own lights.

 

I have a 20L that literally has no more room for coral. I will attach a pic. I manually dose, dont do water changes , dont skim, use drain cleaner for alk and likely spend less time fussing around with it then somebody with 10x $$$ the investment and can't get their frags to grow.

 

Its not about gear. BRS would love to take your money. Its about understanding your tools.

Let me rephrase how I read you last few messages; to which, I totally agree. 

some noobs are too hyper focused on tech and gear, without the understanding of the fundamentals.  Fundamentals, when applied correctly, will work every time. Tech isn’t a shortcut, forcing something without fundamental knowledge, it’ll never work out. 
 

now that I got that out the way. @Mr. Microscope, I don’t think tech and gear changed much since you left other than everything now have the option of being WiFi/cloud controlled. One controller brand left (digital aquatic aka reef keeper), coralvue came out with HydrosControl which is supposedly more user friendly than apex. But I won’t know, don’t have either. 

[Mr. Microscope]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

Let me rephrase how I read you last few messages; to which, I totally agree. 

some noobs are too hyper focused on tech and gear, without the understanding of the fundamentals.  Fundamentals, when applied correctly, will work every time. Tech isn’t a shortcut, forcing something without fundamental knowledge, it’ll never work out. 
 

now that I got that out the way. @Mr. Microscope, I don’t think tech and gear changed much since you left other than everything now have the option of being WiFi/cloud controlled. One controller brand left (digital aquatic aka reef keeper), coralvue came out with HydrosControl which is supposedly more user friendly than apex. But I won’t know, don’t have either. 

Thank you for the update!  I was looking at BRS and saw gyre style pumps from three different companies now.  That's kind of neat!  I thought MaxSpect had a patent on that design.  I'm also seeing a lot more powerheads with controllers like an MP10.  Some of them look very nice.

[blasterman]

7 hours ago, Murphych said:

To each their own is what I say, some like traditional methods, some new and others like a hybrid approach. 

 

New technology is attractive to many people, myself included. My house is automated.. do I need or even use half of it? Nope.. why do I have it? Because I can.. does it make me a poorer reefer than you? Does it hell.... Just different...

Its not new technology. Thats the problem. Somenody says its new technology in a marketing dept selling something they don't understand and the wallets come out. Your $1000 new fangled Reef light runs on old fashioned 2.4ghz wifi using 5yr old LEDs ...but some marketing twit says its new tech and the wallets come out.

 

The average new reef tank owner is in and out of the hobby in less than 24 months. Cruel stats quoted by several LFS store owners I know. They dont sell you this junk to have a succesfull reef tank. They sell it because they make lots of money knowing beginners will charge up their credit cards then get frustrated and ebay their tank in two years.

 

If your goal isn't to have a successful and thriving reef tank not really sure what your goal is. Being taken advantage of by carnival barkers doesn't suit me well 

[blasterman]

1 hour ago, Mr. Microscope said:

Thank you for the update!  I was looking at BRS and saw gyre style pumps from three different companies now.  That's kind of neat!  I thought MaxSpect had a patent on that design.  I'm also seeing a lot more powerheads with controllers like an MP10.  Some of them look very nice.

I've used a bunch. The Chinese have basically figured out how to more efficiently design DC based pumps and controllers. Just watch out for specs. Oddly most are under rating their minimum flow. I still run my MP10.

[Murphs_Reef]

6 minutes ago, blasterman said:

Its not new technology. Thats the problem. Somenody says its new technology in a marketing dept selling something they don't understand and the wallets come out. Your $1000 new fangled Reef light runs on old fashioned 2.4ghz wifi using 5yr old LEDs ...but some marketing twit says its new tech and the wallets come out.

 

The average new reef tank owner is in and out of the hobby in less than 24 months. Cruel stats quoted by several LFS store owners I know. They dont sell you this junk to have a succesfull reef tank. They sell it because they make lots of money knowing beginners will charge up their credit cards then get frustrated and ebay their tank in two years.

 

If your goal isn't to have a successful and thriving reef tank not really sure what your goal is. Being taken advantage of by carnival barkers doesn't suit me well 

Aye ok.. your right..

[Mr. Microscope]

Hello All,

 

After careful research into the cost of the setup I really want to create, I've decided not to take the plunge. I just don't have the budget at the moment.  I was very close to pulling the trigger on a few options, but I think I'm going to have to wait a few years.  Thank you all for your support.  I hope to make a triumphant return one day.

 

Mr. M

[jservedio]

1 hour ago, Mr. Microscope said:

Hello All,

 

After careful research into the cost of the setup I really want to create, I've decided not to take the plunge. I just don't have the budget at the moment.  I was very close to pulling the trigger on a few options, but I think I'm going to have to wait a few years.  Thank you all for your support.  I hope to make a triumphant return one day.

 

Mr. M

Ah, that's too bad! I'm sure in the next few years things are only going to continue to get nicer. It'll be worth the wait to do it exactly how you want.