poll: who takes care of their reef "intuitively"?

[pathos]

Since this is my first post to the message board I thought i'd enter amidst a storm of controversey

. Over the past several months I have referred to reefs.org for mucho valuable info regarding this hobby. One thing I have noticed is that a lot of people maintain the myriad variables in their tank with the precision of a german engineer

.

My question is are there any of you who take care of your reef in a more intuitive manner? I mean, without testing calcium and ph and nitrates and nitrites on a daily basis? Do any of you regulate the lighting on your tank manually (i.e. without timers), varying the time slightly from day-to-day? Dose B-Ionic only when you feel it necessary (sometimes daily, other times every 3 or 4 days). Change water only when you sense the inverts need it? Sometimes stick your hand in the tank to re-position liverock/corals, etc.?
Of course specific gravity, temprature, good lighting and filtration, etc. are absolutely essential to a thriving ecosystem, this goes without saying.

I understand this may be considered an irresponsible approach but I have had really good luck with this "lazy man's" method. All my corals and fishes are thriving! Just wondering if I am alone in my ignorant bliss?

 

[dvmsn]

I am an intuitive reef keeper and proud of it. I have been in the hobby for nine years. The only parameter that I monitor on a regular basis is temperature. I will occasionally test for other things out of curiosity. I have relied on close daily inspection of my animals to give me clues as
to how healthy my system is running. This probably isn’t the best approach for a beginner who might not know that open brains aren’t supposed to suck all the way into there skeleton and
expose their ribs, but it works for someone who knows what a healthy animal is supposed to look like. I have had success keeping lps, sps, softies, and clams. I believe a person should build a healthy balanced system and then sit back and let it maintain itself.

 

[swreefer]

I re-arrange my tank usually twice a year. I get bored looking at the same thing. I manually turn my lights on and off. Sometimes the actinics stay on longer by themselves if I forget to turn on the daylights. I don't really test ammo, nitrites, or nitrates unless something goes wrong so I don't even have the kits anymore. I test pH maybe once a week. The SG is tested every day because it's Summer and I have a lot of evaporation. I did a water change last week. This was the first one in about 3 months. I only did it because I was re-arranging and cleaning out the skimmer otherwise I would have left it alone. I tend to try and keep things as simple as possible.

 

[Nathan1]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pathos:
<STRONG>Of course specific gravity, temprature, good lighting and filtration, etc. are absolutely essential to a thriving ecosystem, this goes without saying.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


...and clean water, sufficient pH, sufficient calcium, suffieient alkalinity, sufficient water motion, testing your water parameters and sufficient lighting duration aren't important to you?! WOW!

If you have a strict regluar schedule for everything and know where your levels are at and they don't fluctuate, then you might not need to test your tank as often, but to forgo testing, and to blindly and randomly add the essentials to your tank you are asking for some serious trouble down the road.

-Nathan

[ July 17, 2001: Message edited by: Nathan ]

 

[Tanu]

Lighting is on timers: fish (and inverts) do have a biorhytm, just like most other organisms. I think it is very unnatural when sun goes down and up on different times weekly..

Temp is measured constantly, salinity each two weeks or so. Other tests are done once or twice a year, just for curiosity.

Trace elements are added 3 times a week:
mon: Corall A and iodine
wed: Corall B
fri: Corall C and strontium
I have ordered a dosing system for these elements, as I don't want these levels fluctuating too much.

Feeding: daily, sometimes once, sometimes twice a day. Sometimes 3 times daily, sometimes a whole day without. Skimmer is cleaned 2-3 times a week. Water change is done when I think the tank needs it, last time is about 6 months ago.

Auto top-off, temp is controlled by a chill/heating unit, calcium-reactor, huge skimmer. I used to dose ozone with the help of a redox controller, I dose it manually now, just when I think the tank needs it...

Tanu www.tanu.nl

 

[Mickes]

I guess I'm one of the lazy ones.... I test for salinity once a week, Alk and Nitrate every two weeks. I haven't check for ammonia, nitrite in over 3 years. Only when I'm low on salt, or the Alk, or nitrates are out of whack is when I do water changes. In-fact since I'm in Kuwait for the next 3 months the tank will be taking care of itself. I just have my wife keeping the water level up and feeding the fish.
All my lights and different pumps are on timers though...

 

[Toadally1]

I agree with Nathan - I feel probably the most important things would be, SG, cal and alk. I check these parameters weekly and also do weekly water changes.

 

[whirley]

Salinity and temperature.

I watch the corals daily though,
and monitor any changes.

But, besides that, Nope.

I should check phosphate, calcium and alk.
One of these days, I'll go out and buy
a test kit...one of these days.

whirley

 

[Mike02]

yep i think the corals know when the sun is coming up and when it is going down. some of mine open up just b4 the sun comes up. if i shut off the light every nite at 5pm and then all of a sudden change it to 6pm, they will still close up at 5pm anticipating darkness.

 

[Nathan1]

Once you get into SPS corals you will *HAVE* to keep an eye on your alk and ca levels. If you don't your corals will die.

-Nathan

 

[hreef]

I am the keeper of my Reef. I maintain everything. The only thing I try not to do is keeping my hands out. But of course as many know it's hard to do. I rearrange about once every 3 to 4 months. (I only have a 40gal). I do water changes every other week plus evap. top off when ever needed. I try to keep everything freash for all of my animals. They thrive in a pleasant environment. These animals depend on us to keep things consistent as possible. If this happens the results are much pleasing to you and the Reef.

I forgot: I check Ca, Alk. and ph levels about once a week.
I dose Reef Solution everyday
DTs 2-3 times a week
Calcium/2 times a week
I buffer about 2 times a week or whenever needed.

[ July 17, 2001: Message edited by: hreef ]

 

[slojmn1]

On my 120g(sps and lps) I test calc,alk,pH(easy to read the digital numbers on my pinpoint moniter whenever I feel like it). I do weekly water changes, check salinity during water change and every few weeks randomly if I think of it, watch temp fairly closely in the summer(okay, I admit I check the temp every time I walk by the darn tank, It is a bad habit). I have an auto top off and kalk system, auto timers for all lights and fans, calcium reactor with pH controller for ease of use. This tank is run with the "precision of a german engineer". There is a lot of sweat and $$$ in this tank to run it just by "the Force". Although I do use "the force" as well, looking and making mental notes about all creatures. Nothing gets by me.

On my 40g(softies) I test nitrates every month or so as there is sometimes a problem with this, test alk and cal every few weeks if I think of it, check temp on a hot day only so I know if I should set up an extra fan or not, weekly water changes, top off with DIY drip kalk container at night when I need it. I use "the force" more often on this tank. It is over 10 years old and has gone through its assortment of crashes and re-births. This tank always seems to chug right along despite my attempts to kill it

 

[pathos]

Wow thanks for sharing your methodologies. It's nice to know that I am not alone in mine. Since I do not follow a strict regular schedule for everything, it's hard for me to know where my levels are at all times. Like dvmsn, "I believe a person should build a healthy balanced system and then sit back and let it maintain itself". I am going to put the lights back on timers though, good point Tanu.

Here's a couple of recent pics of my tank:
http://www.warmcommunications.com/coral.htm

 

[Len]

nathan,

I've got an predominately sps populated tank. I don't monitor anything at all in the tank. But to be fair, everything is pretty automated: Ca reactor and kalk dosed via litermeter. Everything controlled by Aquacontroller. All I do is feed the fishes, and clean the skimmer cup every 2 weeks. Hand goes into the tank only to frag stuff. I am the ultimate lazy reefer.

 

[percula]

Owell, I can relate somewhat. Yet then again I like to automate the cool things... like reactor (If I could find room) top off, testing randomly/never, lighting, but ya know, now that I think of it, thats not too lazy, seeing that I sit in front of the tank for hours, occasionally fiddling with something, but all and all, leave and let live. Everything depends on personal setup. ANd pathos, remember, take your own path... you are doing something right, those 3 pics look good.

Have fun! Hop e you enjoy the board!

 

[JennM]

I guess I'm a "combination" reefkeeper.

I do regular water changes every week-10 days or so, not like clockwork but more in accordance with my schedule, and how the tanks are looking. I know my livestock and how they "should" look and behave. I haven't seen significant changes in the last year, so I'd say I'm doing things right.

Lights are all on timers. The creatures are used to that, and my electric bill is high enough without me "forgetting" to turn something off.

I eyeball temp whenever I observe my tanks. I check salinity before/after topoffs (either or, not usually both), it's not that exact a science, IMO if I'm between 1.023 SG and 1.024, then life is good.

I test for nitrates every so often, and the rest maybe monthly. The tanks are stable (knock on wood) but I test newer tanks more often until the results are consistent. I have 7 tanks with various filtrations, from Berlin to sponge filters to Eclipse filters, for different purposes.

At the moment I don't keep SPS except for a few frags I've got here and there from other reefers, and I am confident that the LPS and soft corals I do have are receiving adequate nutrition. I feed my reef fishes twice a week or so. My seahorses are fed daily because they need daily feedings. I keep a closer watch on the seahorse tank as heavier feeding gives cause for more potential problems, however I'm running a sump/refugium on that tank and am pleased with the water quality.

Jenn

 

[gazpep]

I must admit that I rarely test my water conditions, except for keeping an eye on the temperature. I do however closely observe the health of all of the inhabitants as the primary indicator of a potential problem. I'm also careful to top off any water loss to avoid SG fluctuations.

My tank is relatively uncomplicated, very few stony corals and a fairly basic skimmer to maintain.

 

[redneck]

Nathan had a point, but made it rather strongly. He's right about testing when you're dosing additives, and the parameters needed for a successful tank.

However, I agree more with Leonard on the approach. If you have some decent equipment, a quick scan of the tank and equipment will let you know if things are up to snuff.

Once I had my calcium reactor dialed in, my readings didn't vary for years. I test Ca and Alk about once every month.

My chiller keeps my temp in line, and timers run the lights. A Nurce unit maintains my salinity, but I evap about 8 gallons a week, so makeup water (weak kalk) is a regular task. I have a Pinpoint controller to monitor my PH, so that's just a quick scan.

The real effort is pruning the macro algae, cleaning the skimmer, and the glass. That's once a week, but I often remove diatoms from the glass twice in a week. Then, once a month I check my salinity (you loose some salt from the skimmer), and do a water change. On my 180, it takes me about two hours a week, which includes SPS fragging and mounting.

I think that's about as loose/intuitive of a schedule as I'd like to run it. But it is important to be able to eyeball the tank, and be sure nothing's gone awry.

[ July 17, 2001: Message edited by: Redneck Cowboy ]

 

[Nathan1]

Leonard, RedNeck

My point was that if you randomly chuck in some calcium, and arbitrairly "add a dash" of alkalinity like you are some sort of master chef AND then you DON'T take measurements, then you are asking for trouble.

Both of you, on the other hand, have hi-tech equipment that is designed to add the necessary elements for you, so you don't *have* to test ALL THE TIME or hardly at all.

That's great! But I'm warning Pathos, that the philosophy that he has adopted of "I believe a person should build a healthy balanced system and then sit back and let it maintain itself" is unrealistic and to put it in Pathos' own words:

"I understand this may be considered an irresponsible approach"

Luck runs out, and then you will be out thousands of dollars... It's up to you.

-Nathan

[ July 18, 2001: Message edited by: Nathan ]

 

[pathos]

fellas,
glad to see that some of you were interested enough to chime in and deliver your thoughts on the subject. it appears that my style of reefkeeping falls a little too much on the lazy/irresponsible side of the scale - something to work on i suppose. please keep in mind however that some of us are not in the hobby to master it. it is not my intention to have the most incredible reef on the block (although i do) nor is it to rival mother nature in her ability to equalize and control the environment in and around tropical reefs. also, i do not intend to raise stony corals or large prize fish. my reef is fully stocked and has been very stable for two years now. i use no regular schedule for anything (except lighting, temp, SG). over time i have learned how things should look and when something needs attention. in some ways i would align it with the practices of a master chef, or better yet those of a mother caring for her children. of course i do not want anything to go wrong, not because of the money but because of the animals! i believe for my setup/circumstances i am doing great. the point i want to make here is that it is possible to maintain a healthy and harmonious reef without monitoring every little thing 24/7, as long as you have achieved a harmonious balance of plants and animals combined with good lighting and filtration within your ecosystem. this is more important (to me) than achieving balance on the scientific side of things.

please note--> these comments are intended to stimulate discussion only