I'd like to see R2R start a 'Minimalist Reefer' forum for those of us who want to keep it simple and maybe be a bit 'old school' in the way we do things.
I'm a member of the Reef Squad here and in talking with a few other Reef Squad members, I've found they have some very similar feelings. So I invite anybody who wants to 'keep it simple' to join me here with this thread. W ether you are new to the hobby, new to aio tanks or experienced and just want to get back to simple basics, feel free to post and discuss ideas here.
Here is a bit about how I got to this point in my aquarium keeping career.
Over 20+ years I've kept a variety of bigger tanks (75g to 180g) and at one point had over 700g of saltwater in the house. I also worked for an aquarium led lighting company for a few years. But I felt it was time to give the hobby a rest.
However, I live near saltwater estuaries and beaches as well as snorkel in the Florida Keys several times every year. And I enjoy doing some collecting. So, I sold most of my equipment and livestock. I only kept a few small tanks (5g to 40g).
After about 6 months I discovered the AIO (All In One) tank idea. So I started a 40g breeder AIO tank that would be mostly local stock of coral, anemones, sea stars, a sea cucumber, a mantis shrimp, some rock boring urchins and CUC (just 2 clownfish I inherited from a friend who was shutting down a tank). The tank is just a 40g breeder with an AIO insert that uses a filter sock and a return pump. There is room for more hardware or mini refugium, but I don't use it.
It worked so well and required so little effort to maintain, I started a 40g cube with another AIO insert. This time it would be all sps & lps corals, some anemones, a couple stars, a coral banded shrimp and some CUC, NO FISH. It's been 18 months now and everything is doing just fine.
I find the amount of high tech hardware, other equipment and the glut of chemicals and additives to be a waste of time and money.
I spend 5 minutes each morning dosing Ca and alk. BTW, I use Dow Flake (snow melt salt) for Ca and swimming pool soda ash for alk. I use Randy Holms-Farley's recommendations for mixing. And I do testing once a week, but my parameters change very little over time.
I'm a member of the Reef Squad here and in talking with a few other Reef Squad members, I've found they have some very similar feelings. So I invite anybody who wants to 'keep it simple' to join me here with this thread. W ether you are new to the hobby, new to aio tanks or experienced and just want to get back to simple basics, feel free to post and discuss ideas here.
Here is a bit about how I got to this point in my aquarium keeping career.
Over 20+ years I've kept a variety of bigger tanks (75g to 180g) and at one point had over 700g of saltwater in the house. I also worked for an aquarium led lighting company for a few years. But I felt it was time to give the hobby a rest.
However, I live near saltwater estuaries and beaches as well as snorkel in the Florida Keys several times every year. And I enjoy doing some collecting. So, I sold most of my equipment and livestock. I only kept a few small tanks (5g to 40g).
After about 6 months I discovered the AIO (All In One) tank idea. So I started a 40g breeder AIO tank that would be mostly local stock of coral, anemones, sea stars, a sea cucumber, a mantis shrimp, some rock boring urchins and CUC (just 2 clownfish I inherited from a friend who was shutting down a tank). The tank is just a 40g breeder with an AIO insert that uses a filter sock and a return pump. There is room for more hardware or mini refugium, but I don't use it.
It worked so well and required so little effort to maintain, I started a 40g cube with another AIO insert. This time it would be all sps & lps corals, some anemones, a couple stars, a coral banded shrimp and some CUC, NO FISH. It's been 18 months now and everything is doing just fine.
I find the amount of high tech hardware, other equipment and the glut of chemicals and additives to be a waste of time and money.
I spend 5 minutes each morning dosing Ca and alk. BTW, I use Dow Flake (snow melt salt) for Ca and swimming pool soda ash for alk. I use Randy Holms-Farley's recommendations for mixing. And I do testing once a week, but my parameters change very little over time.