Shaun's 2000 Litre (530 USG) Living Reef & Red Sea Max S 650 LED Design & Build

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I've been thinking........no sniggering at the back please!

But are we making a fundamental mistake with our tanks? Hear me out. Different seas and oceans have different parameters. For example, the Red Sea has high salinity and higher average temperatures than other bodies of water. Is the Indian Ocean different to say, the Pacific, or the coast around Australia?
The fish we put into our tanks tend to come from different areas. Our Yellow Tangs come from Hawaii, and many other fish come from the Red Sea, yet we put these fish from different water climates into the tank and expect them to be happy with our 'general parameter' tanks.
Should we be spending more time and effort in making our tanks more area specific, for example a Red Sea tank with fish from the Red Sea and where the conditions in the tank are kept (in as close as possible) to the conditions found in the Red Sea?

By the way, I am not knocking anyone here. I'm just putting this out there for discussion.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
I've been thinking........no sniggering at the back please!

But are we making a fundamental mistake with our tanks? Hear me out. Different seas and oceans have different parameters. For example, the Red Sea has high salinity and higher average temperatures than other bodies of water. Is the Indian Ocean different to say, the Pacific, or the coast around Australia?
The fish we put into our tanks tend to come from different areas. Our Yellow Tangs come from Hawaii, and many other fish come from the Red Sea, yet we put these fish from different water climates into the tank and expect them to be happy with our 'general parameter' tanks.
Should we be spending more time and effort in making our tanks more area specific, for example a Red Sea tank with fish from the Red Sea and where the conditions in the tank are kept (in as close as possible) to the conditions found in the Red Sea?

By the way, I am not knocking anyone here. I'm just putting this out there for discussion.

Your absolutely correct and It’s the same with corals

We put them in a glass box because they are what ‘we’ want to look at irrespective of we’re they come from or their specific requirements. Maybe that’s why there are compatibility problems sometimes

Anyway I’ve got a ‘Red Sea’ tank, and that’s as far as I’m going!
 

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
I've been thinking........no sniggering at the back please!

But are we making a fundamental mistake with our tanks? Hear me out. Different seas and oceans have different parameters. For example, the Red Sea has high salinity and higher average temperatures than other bodies of water. Is the Indian Ocean different to say, the Pacific, or the coast around Australia?
The fish we put into our tanks tend to come from different areas. Our Yellow Tangs come from Hawaii, and many other fish come from the Red Sea, yet we put these fish from different water climates into the tank and expect them to be happy with our 'general parameter' tanks.
Should we be spending more time and effort in making our tanks more area specific, for example a Red Sea tank with fish from the Red Sea and where the conditions in the tank are kept (in as close as possible) to the conditions found in the Red Sea?

By the way, I am not knocking anyone here. I'm just putting this out there for discussion.
Unfortunately yes, we place tank inhabitants from Australia, Fiji, Philippines, Red Sea, Carib Sea, etc. together and then expect everything to be fine, that is not how it works in nature and I guess that is the reason why we are having problems to grow some specific corals or to keep certain fish in our tanks. As certain species will be dominant or some inhabitants will not go well with our “average parameters”.

I thought a lot about it when I re-started my nano in 2013, but it would be hard to put only fish, inverts and corals for an specific area, you cannot even say Indian Ocean or Pacific, you would have to be much more specific like Indonesia or Fiji, we may try to imitate the water parameters but the sand, rocks, inverts, etc....!!!! it went too much for me.... I prefer my sanity.


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Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
My apologies Shaun. I should have put my thoughts on the tanks in my thread. I obviously made a mistake there.

So, when are you off to the Limbo Dancing World Championships?
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
My apologies Shaun. I should have put my thoughts on the tanks in my thread. I obviously made a mistake there.

So, when are you off to the Limbo Dancing World Championships?
That’s fine my build thread is clearly more philosophical than yours, it’s a natural mistake to make! Lol

Limbo starts in about 2 weeks!
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
Myself, She Who Casts No Shadow and Mini Me MKII are off to the Dominican Republic in April. I'll be looking to you for some Limbo tips.

Are you leaving the tank completely untended, or are your parents going to do their thing?
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Myself, She Who Casts No Shadow and Mini Me MKII are off to the Dominican Republic in April. I'll be looking to you for some Limbo tips.

Are you leaving the tank completely untended, or are your parents going to do their thing?
Yes unattended, for half the time, but they only change the filter socks that's all anyway so ill just put some extra filter floss in the left hand sump to collect it all.

The best way to Limbo is to drink vodka first, it lubricates the necessary parts!
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Its been just over 5 weeks since I last did a water change and Ive been on a monthly schedule of around 18% for about the last year or so. So I filled my 120 litre salt mixing station (home brew bucket!) and turned on the heaters and powerheads ready to add the salt at some point in the next few days. Then I started thinking and just turned it all off.

I was looking at the water last night and it was absolutely crystal clear, all my parameters are good as confirmed by the recent Triton test, and I'm thinking do I really need to do water changes.

With modern protein skimmers to remove nutrients etc., it really makes me wonder if this is really necessary when a system is mature. I can see the benefits with new systems potentially, but older systems it really makes me wonder with the equipment available these days.

I see and read about more and more systems running perfectly fine with zero changes

Without getting into a lengthy debate about the benefits and need for water changes, I'm just wondering what you guys do these days and how often if at all ?
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I stopped doing water changes in January last year. The only time I've done one was after adding Chemiclean to fight the Cyano outbreak.
So for me, water changes only after using a medicine or something like Chemiclean. Otherwise, I never bother.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
I stopped doing water changes in January last year. The only time I've done one was after adding Chemiclean to fight the Cyano outbreak.
So for me, water changes only after using a medicine or something like Chemiclean. Otherwise, I never bother.
Have you noticed any difference ?
 

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
Its been just over 5 weeks since I last did a water change and Ive been on a monthly schedule of around 18% for about the last year or so. So I filled my 120 litre salt mixing station (home brew bucket!) and turned on the heaters and powerheads ready to add the salt at some point in the next few days. Then I started thinking and just turned it all off.

I was looking at the water last night and it was absolutely crystal clear, all my parameters are good as confirmed by the recent Triton test, and I'm thinking do I really need to do water changes.

With modern protein skimmers to remove nutrients etc., it really makes me wonder if this is really necessary when a system is mature. I can see the benefits with new systems potentially, but older systems it really makes me wonder with the equipment available these days.

I see and read about more and more systems running perfectly fine with zero changes

Without getting into a lengthy debate about the benefits and need for water changes, I'm just wondering what you guys do these days and how often if at all ?
In my case I do 20% every 5 weeks, I started with the changes every 3 weeks and have been separating them as the time pass by but I am not planning to stop them. I am not saying this is the only way to go but if it is working why change it?


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SPR

Well-Known Member
In my case I do 20% every 5 weeks, I started with the changes every 3 weeks and have been separating them as the time pass by but I am not planning to stop them. I am not saying this is the only way to go but if it is working why change it?


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I agree and think I will continue doing them, but maybe further and further apart.

I used to do it every week, they every 2 weeks then every 4 weeks and I haven’t noticed any difference whatsoever

And the ICP test was clear apart from M..... something!
 
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