d2mini
Reef enthusiast
So before I got back in to the hobby with my new tank, a few years back I had a 150 gallon reef. I was thinking today about how much easier that tank was. Now it was quite big and I didn't have as much free cash to put into it. Plus it was had a much larger start up cost. But what I was noticing was that I had ZERO problems with that tank as far as algae is concerned. When I set it up I only had a few big pieces of live rock because that's all I could afford so I added a little at a time. I waited a month before adding fish like we do now to let it cycle but I never tested anything. I don't remember going through any algae cycles. All water for the startup came from my LFS. I almost never did water changes and in the rare instance I did it was a very small amount, 15 gallons tops. All my water for topoffs and water changes came from the LFS. I kept some softies, lps and fish, no sps. And the tank was lightly stocked. I had a chiller. I did not have a fuge. I had the chiller because I had MH lighting supplemented with PC. I did not have a heater. My sump had no fuge, just the protein skimmer that came with it. I spent very little time on internet aquarium forums.
Differences with new tank:
Now I have a 46 gallon with HO T5 lighting.
No chiller because it's not needed, just a couple fans.
My sump has a dsb fuge.
I test for everything and act on whatever needs adjusting.
Tank is full of rock and has a higher ratio of corals and fish per gallon of water.
I make my own RODI water and mix my own saltwater. TDS meter reads a big fat 0.
I have a controller running temp, lights, ATO, etc instead of a couple cheap light timers.
So what gives?
I wonder if any of the differences contribute to the increased difficulty in keeping this tank vs the old one. I'm very interested to see what happens with my next tank but also wondering if there is anything to be learned from my two experiences so far.
Differences with new tank:
Now I have a 46 gallon with HO T5 lighting.
No chiller because it's not needed, just a couple fans.
My sump has a dsb fuge.
I test for everything and act on whatever needs adjusting.
Tank is full of rock and has a higher ratio of corals and fish per gallon of water.
I make my own RODI water and mix my own saltwater. TDS meter reads a big fat 0.
I have a controller running temp, lights, ATO, etc instead of a couple cheap light timers.
So what gives?
I wonder if any of the differences contribute to the increased difficulty in keeping this tank vs the old one. I'm very interested to see what happens with my next tank but also wondering if there is anything to be learned from my two experiences so far.
