Long ago PurpleTang
New member
I want to re-enter the hobby. I used to have 180 gallon tank approximately 22 to 20 years ago. I forgot most of everything I used to know about it so I wanna re-educate myself to start up a new tank.
Wanting to re-educate myself to re-enter the hobby
- Thread starter Long ago PurpleTang
- Start date
vapormd
Premium Member
Welcome back! I've been in the hobby for > 20 years
IMO, biggest changes that I've seen
1) Flow. Things have gone from big pumps and closed loops to in tank propeller driven powerheads that move way more water and are quieter too.
2) Lighting. LEDs have mostly replaced T5, VHO's, and MH's
3) Automation is a lot better than 20 years ago.
Things that haven't changed: cost, water changes, and ich
IMO, biggest changes that I've seen
1) Flow. Things have gone from big pumps and closed loops to in tank propeller driven powerheads that move way more water and are quieter too.
2) Lighting. LEDs have mostly replaced T5, VHO's, and MH's
3) Automation is a lot better than 20 years ago.
Things that haven't changed: cost, water changes, and ich
Last edited:
out2lnch
Member
I'm in the same boat. Had a lot of experience...but many years ago, and I feel like a newbie all over again. I finally retired from the military and instead of moving every 3-4 years and having to break everything down and restart over and over, I'm finally situated in FL. Would love to start up again, but when I took a look through the forums, it seems as though everyone's speaking a new language. So much has changed! Thanks Vapormd for boiling it down so succinctly!
Before I get going as to who has the best what, I'd like to get in mind what the overall system will look like. My favorite tank previously was a 90 gal reef with bio-filtration and skimmer in the cabinet underneath. I was just learning about refugiums, LEDs just came out, automation was just starting, etc. So, the question at this point is: does anyone know of any good current references that describe pluses and minuses of different set-ups with today's technology? I need to re-educate myself with the advancements in mind.
Thanks in advance for the recommendations! I'm sure I'll be back with more questions after I do some serious learning! At least I'll be able to read through the forums and understand what everyone's talking about!
Before I get going as to who has the best what, I'd like to get in mind what the overall system will look like. My favorite tank previously was a 90 gal reef with bio-filtration and skimmer in the cabinet underneath. I was just learning about refugiums, LEDs just came out, automation was just starting, etc. So, the question at this point is: does anyone know of any good current references that describe pluses and minuses of different set-ups with today's technology? I need to re-educate myself with the advancements in mind.
Thanks in advance for the recommendations! I'm sure I'll be back with more questions after I do some serious learning! At least I'll be able to read through the forums and understand what everyone's talking about!
Welcome back! To my knowledge there are no really current books about the pluses and minuses. There are several comparison videos put out by bulk reef supply on YouTube that are pretty good (keep in mind they are a business and are also trying to sell items they sell) but are still usually fairly representative of the market.
Let’s see…one of the biggest things for me was “map pricing”. I had never heard of it. Most “map” items are your name brand and never go on sale more than maybe 20-25% at max (even on Black Friday).
Automation/Controllers…biggest names are Apex, GHL, Hydros, and Reef Pi. They all essentially do the same thing, it depends on what features and customizablity and how much DIY you want to do. I have an Apex. It’s very convenient for the PH probe, Temp Probe/controller, and ATO. The manual “on/off/timer” capability through the app is convenient but can be resolved just as well with a smart power strip (at a significantly less cost). I have no experience with any other brands but Reef Pi is the most DIY of them all from what I understand
LED…There’s a few things here. One of the biggest things is par. Most LED fixtures can throw significant par causing you to burn/bleach/kill your coral.
Most fixtures will have multiple channels with varying levels of control. The “Chinese black boxes”, usually Viparspectra brand or similar, usually have the least control with 2 channel control with digital timer.
The next step up I would say is SmatFarm or NiCrew. The NiCrew I have no experience with except one of their cheaper fixtures which wasn’t worth the $50 spent on it. Minimal control allowed with it but I’ve heard good things of some of their slightly pricier reef lights. I own a SmatFarm, it has 6 channel control with sunrise/sunset and a remote. I found the remote to be quite useless but the features for the price is very nice.
Then you have Noopsyche lights which have very good reviews and a moderate price point. No experience with these.
Beyond the above, you start hitting brand names like RedSea, Kessil, Neptune, GHL, Radions, etc. No experience with these but they are pricey, typically MAP items, but have multiple level control, apps, and some can be programmed in with a controller.
That’s about all I got for right now.
Let’s see…one of the biggest things for me was “map pricing”. I had never heard of it. Most “map” items are your name brand and never go on sale more than maybe 20-25% at max (even on Black Friday).
Automation/Controllers…biggest names are Apex, GHL, Hydros, and Reef Pi. They all essentially do the same thing, it depends on what features and customizablity and how much DIY you want to do. I have an Apex. It’s very convenient for the PH probe, Temp Probe/controller, and ATO. The manual “on/off/timer” capability through the app is convenient but can be resolved just as well with a smart power strip (at a significantly less cost). I have no experience with any other brands but Reef Pi is the most DIY of them all from what I understand
LED…There’s a few things here. One of the biggest things is par. Most LED fixtures can throw significant par causing you to burn/bleach/kill your coral.
Most fixtures will have multiple channels with varying levels of control. The “Chinese black boxes”, usually Viparspectra brand or similar, usually have the least control with 2 channel control with digital timer.
The next step up I would say is SmatFarm or NiCrew. The NiCrew I have no experience with except one of their cheaper fixtures which wasn’t worth the $50 spent on it. Minimal control allowed with it but I’ve heard good things of some of their slightly pricier reef lights. I own a SmatFarm, it has 6 channel control with sunrise/sunset and a remote. I found the remote to be quite useless but the features for the price is very nice.
Then you have Noopsyche lights which have very good reviews and a moderate price point. No experience with these.
Beyond the above, you start hitting brand names like RedSea, Kessil, Neptune, GHL, Radions, etc. No experience with these but they are pricey, typically MAP items, but have multiple level control, apps, and some can be programmed in with a controller.
That’s about all I got for right now.
out2lnch
Member
reefing102 - that's all you got???? That was great! That covered everything! Thanks so much!
One thing I learned from before...go slow. So I'm going to keep researching the "modern" systems and this is ultimately going to be a very slow build. But again, thanks so much for the reply! It's great data and that's what I feed on.
One thing I learned from before...go slow. So I'm going to keep researching the "modern" systems and this is ultimately going to be a very slow build. But again, thanks so much for the reply! It's great data and that's what I feed on.
Oh one other thing is rock. Most LFS no longer carry live rock. Most will be dry rock. I’m a strong proponent of live rock and most you will find now is either aquacultured from the gulf (KP Aquatics, Tampa Bay Saltwater (a sponsor here), Gulf Live Rock or similar) or you will occasionally see Australian live rock (but very pricey).
Many systems start with dry rock and bottled bacteria but in my opinion you can’t beat the biodiversity from ocean rock. You could also do a split of live and dry to still get the biodiversity and seed the dry rock.
Welcome back
I am also hoping to re-enter the hobby after over a 10 year hiatus. When I left, things were just starting with biopellet reactors and bacterial dosing. Do people recommend these kinds of products, or is a good old skimmer / refugium still the go-to filtration method? I was having a look on Bulk Reef Supply to see what kinds of products are out there now, and I noticed a lot of things I don't recognize - Zeovit, Algae scrubbers, Biopellet reactors...
I was also curious if there were any updates in technology for calcium dosing? In the past, SPS "Tank-of-the-months" often had calcium reactors. I had a mixed reef (and hope to again) and used a two-part dosing system. Any recommendations on how this aspect of the hobby has changed? I hadn't heard of CO2 scrubbers before.
I think I would like to go with a 40-75g-ish tank. I love the sleek look of the ReefOctopus or AquaForest tank/stands, and would love to buy a system with a sump that's ready to go. My old tank was very DIY, so I wouldn't mind something a little more stream-lined. Any suggestions on this aspect would be greatly appreciated.
Lastly, I am very interested in making sure my next tank is fully eco-friendly. In the past, I never considered this, but I would ideally like to make sure all of my rock, sand, coral and fish are captive breed. Any good resources on how this has changed in the last decade?
Thank you very much!
I was also curious if there were any updates in technology for calcium dosing? In the past, SPS "Tank-of-the-months" often had calcium reactors. I had a mixed reef (and hope to again) and used a two-part dosing system. Any recommendations on how this aspect of the hobby has changed? I hadn't heard of CO2 scrubbers before.
I think I would like to go with a 40-75g-ish tank. I love the sleek look of the ReefOctopus or AquaForest tank/stands, and would love to buy a system with a sump that's ready to go. My old tank was very DIY, so I wouldn't mind something a little more stream-lined. Any suggestions on this aspect would be greatly appreciated.
Lastly, I am very interested in making sure my next tank is fully eco-friendly. In the past, I never considered this, but I would ideally like to make sure all of my rock, sand, coral and fish are captive breed. Any good resources on how this has changed in the last decade?
Thank you very much!
Welcome to Reef Central
People still carbon dose but it's not as popular as it once was. Biopellets made it more automated, but many people just dosed vodka or vinegar daily and got good results. I did vinegar back in the day and it definitely works - too well in my case since all my corals went pale from lack of nutrients. Btw carbon dosing doesn't work without skimming since that's how the excess bacteria that grow are exported. Bacteria dosing is still very popular - Brightwell microbacter7 and Dr Tim's one and only (and many of both companies other bacteria offerings) are commonly dosed at startup and randomly or regularly as part of general maintenance. Zeovite is an entire system of over the top control of every parameter - costly but it's hard to argue with the results. Algae scrubbers are not new but the interest is certainly higher than it ever was - basically a compact high volume refugium that you regularly harvest the algae from as an export method. I think it's a sensible approach though I don't run one myself.
Big tanks with lots of stony corals still need calcium reactors. Smaller systems still use kalkwasser, two part, or the new kid on the block is Tropic Marin All-for-reef. AFR definitely works well but mucho expensive if you ask me. I'll stick to kalk and two part. CO2 scrubbers are again not new, just new to reef tanks. They use pelletized kalk in a reactor on the air intake to your skimmer. Work well to give you as much as .3 PH boost but again mucho expensive long term because the media expires fast. It's been learned that keeping PH near 8.3 results in faster coral growth, so that's the reasoning.
I think all the modern systems look the same so they're not my thing. Cade, Red sea, FijiCube, Innovative Marine are some of the popular brands.
Captive bred fish are definitely more available but there will always be species that just can't be done. As for rock, it's much more common to use dry or manmade rock these days so lots of options available with Marco-rock, Real reef rock, Caribsea Liferock being common choices.
Hope some of this helps.
Wow! Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful! Exactly what I was hoping for. I really appreciate it!
shred5
Premium Member
I will be a little different here. I am going to say not much has changed in 20 years. What worked then still works today.
The main thing I think really changed is now LED is the most used lighting.
The second is use of dead rock even though now liverock is making a comeback.
This hobby goes through fads but if you look at the people that last in the hobby they still adhere to the basics.
Prices have goon way up too.
The other change it is hard to even know where to begin with all the chatter on the internet. Since now a day most watch videos and I have seen very few videos for the beginner. Most are just trying to sell garbage that most do not need just to make their sponsors happy. It is a hard hobby to break back into. I am trying to get back into freshwater and do something different there with a planted aquarium and it is hard to find the right info.
The main thing I think really changed is now LED is the most used lighting.
The second is use of dead rock even though now liverock is making a comeback.
This hobby goes through fads but if you look at the people that last in the hobby they still adhere to the basics.
Prices have goon way up too.
The other change it is hard to even know where to begin with all the chatter on the internet. Since now a day most watch videos and I have seen very few videos for the beginner. Most are just trying to sell garbage that most do not need just to make their sponsors happy. It is a hard hobby to break back into. I am trying to get back into freshwater and do something different there with a planted aquarium and it is hard to find the right info.
