Why do ‘neglected’ tanks look so good?

[Sophie"s mom]

Are you blasting sand/rocks daily? I could see that closing things up daily. I do aggressive type cleaning like that either the day before or during a twice monthly water change, because it does close stuff up for a bit.

Exactly what I do. Cuz it just makes sense to me. When I do my twice monthly water change, I like to stir everything up first by turkey basting, glass cleaning, then in mind anyway, lots more gets sucked out with the water change.

 

[scotty333]

I’m definitely a figiter, thing is I’m problem solving all the time
I mean right now I’m dialling in a 4 head doser to control nitrates , phosphate, feed corals and a little iodine
Last week I had a kh drop so that meant a load of kh testing and adjusting
Sometimes my calcium runs a little low so bump that up in range

I mean, I’ve not reached that stage yet where I can just let it settle because things will go south quickly cos it’s only 400 litre

Those with bigger tanks can get away with less testing cos daily/weekly changes are minimal

I’m also dabling in trace elements dosing as my icp keeps coming back with low trace , just the important ones that might be contributing to lack of pe

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I feel like many people get too caught up in number-chasing and constantly fiddling with their tanks. They should step back a little and focus more on stability.

 

[VirginiaReefer]

Beautiful tank you have there. I do fiddle a lot, but maybe ought to let things be. Logic suggests that those things I usually do daily e.g. manually dosing, glass cleaning, sand basting etc may be the cause to problems, not the solution.

you dont do water changes? do you just dose and skim?

 

[AlyciaMarie]

I guess it would depend on what you mean by "neglect." If you mean completing basic tasks (feeding, glass cleaning) but not bothering with dosing every time a parameter gets slightly off or moving coral around like chess pieces, you're probably not imagining it. Lots of people swear by a "hands-off" approach. It wasn't doing awesome when I was super involved with my tank. But now that I've left it to do its thing, it's looking better than ever!

 

[GARRIGA]

Tinkers create stinkers

 

[VintageReefer]

you dont do water changes? do you just dose and skim?

Don’t know who you are talking to? You quoted someone who was quoting me and I talked about no water changes

I don’t do water changes, I don’t run a skimmer, I don’t use socks or rollers, I don’t dose daily

I add all for reef once a week with filtered tap water when I replace evaporation

 

[apb03]

I think stability is the wrong word. Newbies read stability and chase numbers in an attempt to achieve stability.

The word we should use is consistency. The tank will find stability if you have a consistent husbandry plan and make changes thoughtfully and gradually.

I believe tinkering is fine and should be encouraged because that's how you learn. Otherwise, you rely on word of mouth on the internet, which is not reliable.

 

[X-37B]

Get a plan and stick to it.
So many here just wing it and wonder why they have issues.
A plan = stability.
Neglecting a system is not a plan for success, imo.
I clean the glass/powerheads when needed. 5% WC per month when I remember, lol.
I may get flamed for this but, with todays tech weekly WC's are not really the best way to keep a system stable unless you have a small very low bioload system.
Live rock, 2 part or carx, trace elements, keeps it simple.
Flow, lighting, feeding, all play a part but imo. without a plan to go forward you just make things more difficult than they need to be.

 

[Miguel Negron]

I agree, keeping hands out the tank can help tremendously.

 

[ieatbugman]

That is a sweet tank man

What is it that you are normally doing…

I don’t even do water changes. I don’t understand why people fidget everyday. Hands out. Let things adapt to the spot they are in and give them stable conditions

 

[NettieD]

What is it that you are normally doing…

I don’t even do water changes. I don’t understand why people fidget everyday. Hands out. Let things adapt to the spot they are in and give them stable conditions

Wow! Awesome tank!

 

[VintageReefer]

That is a sweet tank man

Thank you!

I would not call my tank “neglected” although some people make it sound that by not doing what they do, I am a “neglectful” reefer. So be it

 

[ieatbugman]

If people try to say that tank is neglected i don’t know what their on

 

[One Reefing Boi]

It could be a figment of your imagination. Seeing dirty glass for days on end and then suddenly wiping it clean revealed an instant moment of gratification.

Or the truth of the matter is far too many people are conditioned to constantly fiddle with their systems. It's amazing what happens when you allow things to happen and let nature take its course.

My tank is hands off and I allow for corals to grow into each other. I don't focus on nitrate and phosphate, I'm bot constantly hovering over it.

Great tank! Do the SPS not sting each other when they collide?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Great tank! Do the SPS not sting each other when they collide?

Not really stinging. They grow together and usually just grow another direction.

 

[Sawacoral]

What is it that you are normally doing…

I don’t even do water changes. I don’t understand why people fidget everyday. Hands out. Let things adapt to the spot they are in and give them stable conditions

How long does it take for that zoa colony to grow that big?

 

[VintageReefer]

How long does it take for that zoa colony to grow that big?

I put 5 standard size frag plugs of different zoas on those two shelves at the end of January 2023. 3 of them proved faster/more dominant and over grew 2.

FYI. Rasta seems weaker and was one of the types that was overgrown by the others

 

[Outlaw Corals]

you dont do water changes? do you just dose and skim?

If you don’t want to do water changes a algae scrubber is the way to go and dose