How to spend wisely and hedge failures

[Full Hedge]

Hi there. Ive been keeping reef aquariums for 8 years now and hopefully I can shed some wisdom to a new aquarist.

Over the years, Ive seen people leave the hobby due to cost and changes in amount of commitment they can afford. I’ve experienced that too and my methodology of reef keeping and philosophy has changed over the years. Personally, I think the most beautiful aspect of this hobby is seeing the tank mature, rather than chasing stuff. Different people have different goals in the hobby, some are coral farmers and others want to bring out the absolute best colours. While many people want to maximise growth and colour, it may not be sustainable in the long haul(years). I was chasing those goals when I started out but slowly began to appreciate just leaving the tank to mature. For those who just appreciate their tank everyday you may find my tips valuable.

So let me share some tips to keep your aquarium hobby more sustainable over the long haul.

First, keep additives to a minimum. Cost and effort. If you chase additives, The cost of additives is going to add up alot, not to mention, more work. The only ones you really need is calcium( Calcium hydroxide or CaCl2), magnesium( chloride or sulfate) and sodium bicarbonate. You can save quite alot of money by buying powder form in larger quantities. Just weigh it out and make your own solution for easier dosing. 

Seachem alkalinity buffer is slightly more expensive but contains borate. Bicarbonates or carbonate ions do not offer much buffering against downside pH drops. At pH 8, borate provides half the downward buffering capacity despite contributing only 3% to total alkalinity. So the higher cost is merited. But i personally use sodium bicarbonate only.

Amino acid and vitamin supplements are expensive. Im not going into a debate on whether they work and how useful they are. However, its my personal opinion that if you worry about corals not getting enough nutrition, just feed them. Also note. Amino acids contain nitrogen. Corals are amazing in the sense that they can conserve nitrogen. Thats what you get from years of evolution in an oligotrophic environment. Dont worry about them being starved of nitrogen. If you worry. Feed them.

Trace elements. Often people worry about iodine. Your skimmer will not remove iodine, iodate etc but may remove iodine bound to organic compounds. Seafood is a good source of iodine for people suffering from iodine deficiency. So feed your tank seafood if you worry. Metals may inhibit zooxanthellea population in corals to bring out better colours. However its much easier to overdose trace elements especially since you cant test for them. Your corals arent going to die from trace element deficiency but will die from careless overdosing. Risk is skewed. Not in your favour. Seafood contains trace elements. Feed your tank seafood. An exception may be iron, especially so if you rely on a refugium. But Im uncertain about the reliability of iron test kits so I dont dose iron. Again. Seafood contains iron.

So to sum off for additives. Dose what you need to dose. Diminishing returns come in heavy and risk is skewed against you when you dose something you cant test for.

 

Secondly. Maintain clean STABLE water. Its not so much of having 0 nitrates and phosphates. Its more important to keep them low and stable. It pays to think of reef keeping in a more macro perspective. Clean water helps increase the survival rate of your inhabitants. Lower mortality rate means less money spent on ‘replacement’ livestock. Not to mention the intangibles like emotional pain. Invest in a good filtration system. Its a one off thing that pays for itself. 

On a side note, corals can suffer from phosphate starvation. If your nitrate suddenly spikes while u run gfo aggresively, you may encounter that. Just a note of caution.

Third. If you have a tight budget. Have money set aside for emergancies. What if your chiller suddenly broke down? Or your return pump? Lights and skimmer failures are important but a non-emergancy. Power failures(it will hit you when youre not home) can be hedged with a backup system. I use the ecotech vortech and backup battery. So before you splurge your budget (which you should have) on a fancy frag or amino additives. Account for such failures. They may be low occurance events. BUT VERY DETRIMENTAL. Hedge out that risk with a buffer fund.

Fourth. Livestock choice. Before you buy a sun coral or a sponge or whatever. Think thrice if You can REALLY commit to keeping it for the long haul. Your lifestyle commitments may change drastically and often in unforseen ways. I never envisioned myself serving the country overseas for a year. Thankfully, my corals are photosynthetic and fishes are pellet trained. So my father helped me maintain the tank while it was on autopilot mode. Keep it simple, that way somebody else can do it for extended durations if need be.

Fifth. If you have the time. Read college textbooks on chemistry, marine biology, ecology and oceanography. You may need some background chemistry but it pays to have a better understanding of the ecology and biology of what you keep.

In summary. Plan wisely and keep it simple. Most tank crashes are due to temperature, salinity, ammonia and disease. Hedge what you can. Your corals are not going to die because you did not dose trace elements. They will die if power is out and you are not home or if theres a drastic change in temperature. Focus on what is important.

 

 

[Xtraster]

Thanks!

[Cliff]

What seafood do u feed?


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[lis9090]

Great tips. Thanks bro.. feed seafood as in u blend it? If not how to feed the corals or u jus meant to feed the fishes seafood? Sorry if its a stupid question

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[Kishore]

Reef roids and mices shrimps are best supplements for corals


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[Cliff]

Reef roids and mices shrimps are best supplements for corals


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Tks


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[Full Hedge]

Pellet also seafood. If got time and energy can make your own blender mush. Good for broadcast feed. 

Reef roids and mysis is also a good combination.

Personally, I used freeze dried cyclopeeze that i stockpiled. I broadcast feed a pinch for my 30gallon tank at night 2-3 times a week. I spot feed lps market prawns. Corals naturally extend their feeding tentacles at night because zooplankton rises through the water column at night.

word of caution. Feed sparingly as it is very easy to pollute the tank. So if you start feeding your corals, be sure to monitor your nitrate and phosphate levels.

[Cliff]

Pellet also seafood. If got time and energy can make your own blender mush. Good for broadcast feed. 
Reef roids and mysis is also a good combination.
Personally, I used freeze dried cyclopeeze that i stockpiled. I broadcast feed a pinch for my 30gallon tank at night 2-3 times a week. I spot feed lps market prawns. Corals naturally extend their feeding tentacles at night because zooplankton rises through the water column at night.
word of caution. Feed sparingly as it is very easy to pollute the tank. So if you start feeding your corals, be sure to monitor your nitrate and phosphate levels.

Tks


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