Question: do there exist yearlong “perfect” reef aquaria?

[Joepie]

On R2R (and other fora) we are continously pleased with pics , movies and building of the most beautiful aquaria. I always question myself if that is the whole story. Let me explain this. I myself have a humble 200 liter reef since 20 years. With ups and downs en sometimes even disaster. Sometimes you don’t want to show your tank to others because you shame yourself. Then times in witch everything goes excellent. i wonder if there for these reasons exist a publication bias. Only showing your tank when all went fine, and less went there is disaster, dirt, dying corals etc. Sometimes i see exceptionnaly beautiful pictures on this forum and after a year the pictures and story stop for unknown reasons. You must quess what the reason of stopping was. My question therefore: how long stays your reeftank exceptionnaly beautiful, many years? Sincerely?

 

[i cant think]

On R2R (and other fora) we are continously pleased with pics , movies and building of the most beautiful aquaria. I always question myself if that is the whole story. Let me explain this. I myself have a humble 200 liter reef since 20 years. With ups and downs en sometimes even disaster. Sometimes you don’t want to show your tank to others because you shame yourself. Then times in witch everything goes excellent. i wonder if there for these reasons exist a publication bias. Only showing your tank when all went fine, and less went there is disaster, dirt, dying corals etc. Sometimes i see exceptionnaly beautiful pictures on this forum and after a year the pictures and story stop for unknown reasons. You must quess what the reason of stopping was. My question therefore: how long stays your reeftank exceptionnaly beautiful, many years? Sincerely?

Mine has stayed exceptionally beautiful for the past few months. Well, in my eyes it’s been like that for 3 years now however it seems most people want big SPS reefs… I feel quite happy with my Mixed Reef thriving for the past 3 years. I will admit I’ve heavily focused on the fish for the past 2 years but now I’m happy with my dream fish and now I am building my corals around those fish.
Although my photos all primarily feature my fish I do enjoy sharing FTS’s of my reef. Here’s my most prised possession as of today along with an FTS. It’s definitely not what people expect but it’s what I love and if people don’t like that then I just think in the politest way ‘Mind your own business then’.

 

[SPR1968]

As long as you maintain them correctly they can stay beautiful indefinitely.

I have a largish 6 1/2 years old mixed reef and a very large 3 year old one, no particular problems in either

For established reefs it’s just a matter of monitoring and adjusting parameters were necessary otherwise leave well alone.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I think if you are willing to put in the time and effort you can have a tank last for a very long time with little to no issues

 

[Dbichler]

Before and after lol

It all depends on how much work you put into it. Life gets busy I don’t think it’s possible to keep everyone happy all the time.