the never ending upgrade

[jhale]

I think we as reefers take the saying "there is always room
for improvement" to a different level.

I'm beginning to wonder if there is ever a tank set up that from the
beginning that is perfect, or if no matter how much we plan
and prepare we will always find something to change.

I know all my friends on MR have gone through some serious equipment upgrades over the past year. You know who you are. I bet if we totaled up the money we have spent the collective total would be staggering.

I guess this is more of an observation than a question, but does anyone know of a reef tank that has not been upgraded significantly, ever?

Another interesting observation that spykes and slamma came up with is that we all tend to influence one and other. This to me is different from peer pressure, but Dave and Mikes hypothesis is that all out tanks are gradually turning into identical systems. For example look at how many people keeping SPS have changed to a BB tank, myself, solbby, sting, spykes, herman, jackson, aaron, zahner, tonyscoots, these are just a few off the top of my head.

 

[ezee]

Jhale,

Cool topic! I think that proliferation of ideas is natural in this hobby. A lot info is spread by word of mouth/board and results in people saying "Ooooh, I think I need to do that!"

One observation I have is; Building, setting up, upgrading, is half the fun of the hobby. Seems that a lot of people get bored with what they have pretty quickly.



E

 

[jhale]

yes, there are plenty of equipment junky's on the board.

how many skimmers has cali-reef tried out? and sting has upgraded/changed his lighting and skimmers more times than I can count

for my part I just got a ca reactor and now I'm thinking of dosing 2 part, which sypkes, jackson, and herman are doing, also kedd (using b-ionic), who was the first person I saw having great sucess with it. spykes took the diy approach and is using a modified randy 2 part formula.

 

[prattreef]

If it matters, I use B-Ionic exclusively too. Randy

 

[pecan2phat]

That's why it's so true when they say "pay once, cry now". I guess if we were all fortunate, we would research and educate ourselves on the proper and appropriately sized equipment that would include future tank upgrades within reason.

But in the end, this is a money sucking hobby. Just last night I was counting the 36 fish that I have spread over 3 tanks and a nano and figured on a calculator that I paid a little over $2k for the fish alone.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

it seems that no matter how much you plan at first there will always be some change involved. whether it's minnimal or drastic is another topic. people certainly get bored looking @ the same thing everyday so a little change in livestock or equipment is a way of staying involved and trying different things. of course the more stuff you try the more knowledge you will have...hopefully.

my next set up will be a BB 55g w/30g sump SPS only. and currently working on a 30xh which seems like a good tank for more sps given that it has a lot of flow and is high.

 

[inline6]

Just to prove a point - I've decided not to upgrade anything on my reef tank - LOL
Seriously I don't really have a huge urge to upgrade I don't know why.
I have no skimmer, no special equipment except for maybe a refugium and 2 part dosing containers - and that's it.
I figure leave enough alone, if it's doing fine just leave it alone.
I might tinker with misc things like fan position, ATO, dosing mix, water flow, light coral position but thats about the extent of my upgrading.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7877&page=3

 

[gforce6]

Better equipment = Less work

I started with 30G without sump and tried to keep it as minimum cost.
Now, I see there are two tanks in my house with whole bunch of stuff, I even moved my place to put 120G.

 

[spykes]

heh guys im never happy, i just got myself a 220 gallon with stand. this is gonna be fun. last winter got myself a chiller and a bubble king. Tell me about happyness.

 

[Reefer420]

i think its all about the tinkering and playing around in the tank for most of us...and getting new corals and messing w/ new equipment setups.

my 16g tank is fine as is - I really couldn't do too much more to it other than take it apart, drill it and put a sump somewhere. It proabaly could run on its own for quite a few years...but man, am I getting bored that I can't really do anything to it! I love looking at it but I can't play around w/ it much anymore!!!

...which is why I am upgrading to a 37g that will have to tide me over until I move into a much larger place!

I think the larger the tank, the more room for improvements, corals, etc - so the longer it takes to get tired of it!

 

[scarf_ace1981]

I think the larger the tank, the more room for improvements, corals, etc - so the longer it takes to get tired of it!

yup...yup..yup. the smaller a tank the faster you will stock it

 

[ShaunW]

heh guys im never happy, i just got myself a 220 gallon with stand. this is gonna be fun. last winter got myself a chiller and a bubble king. Tell me about happyness.

I thought the electricity bill was a problem? :scratch:

 

[cali_reef]

I thought the electricity bill was a problem? :scratch:

He will figure out a way to run it with 200W of electricity.

This is a hobby, and hobbies is meant to take up your spare time and $$$. You can't call it a hobby if you stop dumping money into it, at that point people usually sell all their stuff and do something else.

 

[bad coffee]

I did LOTS of research for my 20 gallon. For what I have in my tank (lps and softies) I have everything I need. The only thing I would possibly upgrade would be the light (it's a 150de now) But for everything I have, it's enough light.

Having a smaller tank has made me very choosy about what I use to set my tank up. Both from the 'space inside the stand' and the 'best bang for the buck' aspects. SO I ended up with my current setup.

Now I'm setting up a bigger tank, I've got SO many more options that I have the OPTION to upgrade! (as a matter of fact, I can't even decide on a tank size!) SO I may be on the road to upgrade-ville. But I think with the research, I'm not going to be constantly upgrading. I think that if you do your homework before buying, you shouldn't have to buy things twice. (only when something new and better comes out-and is PROVEN better)

I'd personally rather spend my money on pretty livestock (zebra maxima, or a helfrichi pair) myself. . .

B

 

[cali_reef]

BTW, I am planning another upgrade .

 

[masterswimmer]

My tank is a little over two years old now. The ONLY piece of equipment I added, and it was within the first year, was a MRC fluidized media chamber for carbon. I was running it passively in the sump. The FMC is much more efficient.

I have never upgraded my lights, skimmer, sump, fuge, etc.

I also don't dose anything. I replenish my trace elements by doing 2 water changes a week.

I have learned a bit about my lighting over the course of two years. I was very fearful at first of keeping anything requiring high light. Wow, was this a mistake. I kept my T5's about 2" above the tank. I added a derasa, crocea, lots of various sps and all have done ok. The reason I've found that they've only done ok is because I've begun to raise my lights higher away from the water surface. I'm now about 8" above the tank and the corals are all starting to color up even better.

Apparently T-5's put out more useable light than I thought and my corals were being slowly fried. The colors now look so much better. I've also shortened my photoperiod.

So as you can see, I haven't made much of a change in my setup since day one.

Hope this wasn't too fftopic:

Russ

 

[spykes]

I thought the electricity bill was a problem? :scratch:

does mean im gonna use it anytime soon. it's just a must have!

 

[jhale]

BTW, I am planning another upgrade .

what your moving to a bigger house so you can have more tanks? :scratchch

 

[jnfallon]

This is a hobby, and hobbies is meant to take up your spare time and $$$. You can't call it a hobby if you stop dumping money into it, at that point people usually sell all their stuff and do something else.

Yep, thats it exactly. If we weren't researching or moving or setting up or taking down or fixing or downgrading or upgrading what would we do? Watch sticks grow 1" per month?

I like the tinkering, and when that gets old, I'm sure I'll get rid of all the tanks and switch to something else.

 

[DRZL]

I think we as reefers take the saying "there is always room
for improvement" to a different level..

Whos constantly upgrading?

I think another one of the reasons we are constantly upgrading, is because we are constantly trying to cut corners, especially at the beginning, which we pay for later.

yes, there are plenty of equipment junky's on the board.

how many skimmers has cali-reef tried out? and sting has upgraded/changed his lighting and skimmers more times than I can count

for my part I just got a ca reactor and now I'm thinking of dosing 2 part, which sypkes, jackson, and herman are doing, also kedd (using b-ionic), who was the first person I saw having great sucess with it. spykes took the diy approach and is using a modified randy 2 part formula.

BTW J dont fret on the CR haters :p, if you can't personally understand the reason to do so, (as if there is a difference in the kind of target substances we are trying to add) dont switch from a CR. There are many great SPS tanks on CR and personally I think a CR which melts coral skeletons (which means exactly what corals uptook at some time along w/ many more trace elements than a 2 part) is more logical. Another thing I notice is that many reefers dont use their reactor effectively by adding dolomite, which is your magnesium, then they find themselves supplementing and find its purpose defeating and start questioning the CR prematurely.

Everyone has there own thing of course, and some people would be hardpressed to change, while others are willing to try what hardpressed guy is doing.

I just dont see the logic, so I dont exercise it.