Stuck in the past?

[WhoDey]

I am sure this topic is around about once a week, so sorry for the repeats (I did try to read most FAQ topics and search the forum!)

So after a twelve year hiatus I am finally getting back into the reef tank scene. College & a career move 1500 miles across the country saw that I leave my 75g setup back home. The logistics were just not in place to move the livestock, so off it went to the LFS that I worked at in the past, though I did take some of my hardware (which I just removed about 1" of dust from this weekend past :lol: ). My worry is that my knowledge and equipment is now 12 years out of date as well...

Flashback to 1996-1997....

-Dual 150 Hamilton tech Halide pendants 6500k, 10k was just becoming established and I had not made the switch yet.
-Red Sea Berlin XL skimmer, was a bear to get to foam properly but was tops for my budget at the time
-BareBones sump, just a place to house your pumps and other equipment back in the day, well at least for me. Return was powered by a quiet one pump. I can remember the 1995ish Macna with Julian Sprung growing mangroves in his sump, a real wtf moment for me and the first I had seen of it (as well as most people if I recall).
-BareBottom tank, but converted to a sand bed shortly before the move with a anaerobic void space created under the sand bed, now it seems that has gone by the wayside.
-Trace and supplements were dosed weekly
-Kalk was dosed daily on an IV drip.
-Rea Sea wave generator provided the current

Flashforward to 2009

I want to preserve everything equipment wise but the lighting, dropping down to a 40gallon main tank with a 10g sump.

I see that Rea Sea has redesigned the Berlin Skimmer, but there has to be somebody with one of the old models still running, any long term problems with them?

Are the new sumps with baffles and reverse timed lighting purely for the CO2 benefit? Has this proven to stabilize the system over the long term? I remember taking the bioballs out of my first wet-dry sump when I converted the system over to a pure Berlin Method reef, but it seems like the modern thought moves the bioload back to the sump, only in a different form... Can somebody explain the thinking behind the modern sump to me?

The sandbed now seems to be straight on the glass, no man-made voids built, I assume that it was found an anaerobic layer naturally sets up in the deeper sand, but what depth is industry standard now on the bed, and what substrate?

I have made the decision to move away from the Halides due to the heat, its already hot enough here in south Florida but the ability to dive for your own specimens makes up for it (following all state laws and licenses before anyone thinks otherwise!). In the past I would have went with VHO's but the newer T5's have really caught my eye. I pulled the trigger on this setup: https://rc.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~ ... 01080.html I hope I did not get hosed!

Dosing and calcium additives could not have changed that much (I hope), but what are the most common supplements that are being used on the market today (used the Kent line before).

I guess I am just hoping that my years of knowledge from the distant past is somewhat relative today. But maybe somebody can point out the major changes I have missed in my absence. Thank you all, this is a great community that I have enjoyed lurking on for the past few months while reading away! :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

My knowledge base is at least as old as yours if not older. I say this, if it worked back then (your methods), it should work now. Fish have not evolved too much in the past twelve years, I think I can say that with some certainty. As for the equipment, I cannot answer your questions.

Some people are gluing sand to the bottoms of their tanks, now, there is a lot of debate about DSBs and I think most folks have moved away from a really deep bed to just enough to cover the glass, if that. There are others who should chime in and will probably be more helpful than I've been.

 

[Len]

:welcome:

Your old gear/setup will still work just fine ... it's just there are some new toys these days that are more efficient, but work on the same principles.

The sumps you are thinking of have refugiums incorporated into them. Refugiums, as you probably know, are protected areas to allow microfauna/flora to grow and populate the main tank, and also where people usually put algae in to act as a natural nutrient sink. The reverse lighting is to stabilize pH levels (yep, it's CO2 related). If you have photosynthesis happening in the refugium while the tank is dark, you balance out the nighttime pH dip.

For sandbeds, there is no consensus. It keeps changing from no sandbed to deep sandbeds. Currently, people prefer to keep no sandbeds because they find it easier to maintain. I still keep a shallow sandbed. All these really work IME ... they each have pro's and con's.

T5s is a good buy, especially for your size tank. Halides are still the best for larger tanks.

For Ca, most popular is calcium reactors, kalkwasser (often by way of kalkreactors), and the classic two part solutions from B-ionic or C-balance. Individual additives (most of what Kent sells, though they have two part solutions too) are still used, but most people prefer to use complete additives now since they are balanced. Reactors are the most automated way, but they are more complicated and much more expensive for the initial setup.

In terms of husbandry, not much has changed compared to the berlin method. There's a LOT more toys to play with now, but the ideas are similar. There's more corals and fish available too. But you also need to worry about pests more too ... quarantining fish and corals is very important these days. 15 years ago, we didn't worry about flatworms (well, not as much), bugs, coral eating nudibranches, etc.

 

[Saltlick]

Fish have not evolved too much in the past twelve years, I think I can say that with some certainty.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Sorry to top another thread, but this is like my entire situation in a nutshell, including the flintstones skimmer.
Again, this is an old thread, and I am sure there are many opinions offered that I have yet to read, but reading
Seamaiden's comment just had me LOLing for REAL. It's sometimes just an expression, but I LOL'ed.
My Berlin skimmer is also getting the tubeworms knocked off of it and being put back into service, and I'll tell you
why. My first go'round, and I am sure with many people who bought this, they either had too small a pump
reccomended to them or ran too small a pump for financial reasons. WITH THE ADVANCES that you spoke of, or
the changing of the fads, alot more work is being done with sand and macro-algae, to the point where I feel like
a Berlin skimmer that old, properly pushed and periodically cleaned and tuned, is more than capable of skimming
gunk out of your water. Is it as efficient as something new you could buy for 600 bucks, nope. But is it going to
fundamentally affect your fish? Nah. And like I said, I am also getting out the old gear, AND ALSO firing up a 40
gallon tank, but with a 20 gallon sump. Putting the finishing touches on plumbing this weekend, and then the dead
rock is going in. But I will bookmark this thread and maybe shoot you a PM or two. Good luck.

 

[Soultwater]

Welcome back!

I also have been gone for about the same time…. I’m now plan my triumphant return!
I don’t think much has changed but if I can recommend anything If you haven’t already seen the GARF site then please take a look. http://www.garf.org/index.shtml
I won’t be back in the good old USA for a little while but I have already started making some rock and getting my lights.

 

[Saltlick]

Th only problem I have with GARF is the non-stop overuse of trademarked terms and
made up wonders. It wears on the nerves, lol.

I think they are awesome, they were one of the very first people to do the things they did
in propagation and experimentation, at least as far as I know.

But they also made me think that they advocate a little to hard to get people into reefing
and I think it leads to folks who may not be serious enough about husbandry to take a plunge
or convince themselves that there is a cheap way to do it. In the long run that is bad for
livestock, but it IS mitigated somewhat by their propagation emphasis. Maybe if people
who are not great at husbandry only get ahold of captive raised frags, what is the harm?
But they were my very first look inside the wonder of color and corals. They got the hook in
me plenty, and they caused me to create my own rock one year.