9 unpopular opinions

[Slocke]

Weird how much I agree and disagree.
One thing I strongly agree with is how "difficulty" somehow equals "beauty". I maintain that a firefish is more beautiful than almost anything in this hobby including copper band butterflies and moorish idols. Same with acropora which is not the most beautiful coral IMO (not that its ugly but there are many easy corals that are prettier/more interesting). Though I get the wonder of someone being able to keep what most can't.

Still mandarins are strange aliens but very very beautiful strange aliens.

 

[ZoWhat]

MY TOP 10 UNPOPULAR OPINIONs
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10.... all point to the fact that waterchanges are a necessary action to maintain good healthy cirals giving them the best chance to maximize their color and growth.

Unless the WC was completely botched in a careless manner, I've yet to read in 15yrs where someone posted their coral all died directly bc of a WC

Let's get real... the driving force behind NOT doing WCs is bc its a PITA time consuming project that costs you money with expensive salt mixes.

I do 30g WCs on a 220ish total water volume every 1st and 15th of the month. Its nothing but positive effects I see.

Some say, if I export my no3 and po4 AND replace my trace elements, I don't needa WC.

IMO... bonk. A WC gives the system what it needs that no basement biochemical reefer need can thumb up with beakers and drip systems.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Xenia is still the coolest coral in the hobby

 

[Nikorad]

Tell me you can’t grow sps, without actually telling me

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Tell me you can’t grow sps, without actually telling me

Exactly

 

[MnFish1]

MY TOP 10 UNPOPULAR OPINIONs
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10.... all point to the fact that waterchanges are a necessary action to maintain good healthy cirals giving them the best chance to maximize their color and growth.

Unless the WC was completely botched in a careless manner, I've yet to read in 15yrs where someone posted their coral all died directly bc of a WC

Let's get real... the driving force behind NOT doing WCs is bc its a PITA time consuming project that costs you money with expensive salt mixes.

I do 30g WCs on a 220ish total water volume every 1st and 15th of the month. Its nothing but positive effects I see.

Some say, if I export my no3 and po4 AND replace my trace elements, I don't needa WC.

IMO... bonk. A WC gives the system what it needs that no basement biochemical reefer need can thumb up with beakers and drip systems.

I wish there was a double love for this. These 'methods' - no offense to R2R - including Triton - are pretending that everyone has the same bioload in a tank. The problem is no one does - LOTS of people have a reef tank - with a small bioload and lots of SPS - Many have an SPS tank with more etc etc. In general - the more fish - the less well SPS do. NOW - I know - that many people with huge filters - skimmers, etc - have excellent results - but the average Joe does not - likewise with soft coral - (leather) - and LPS vs SPS. The triton method IMHO - is a way to sell ICP tests - now DOC tests and various chemicals - no more no less - which is all good. Many people are successful with them.

 

[Karen00]

Mandarins are one of the most beautiful fish and what makes them so beautiful is that they weren't made or designed by humans. Their strange alien look is courtesy of Mother Nature who has pulled off the greatest experiment in the largest tank in existence which is collectively known as our waterways whether that be salt, brackish or fresh. I am in awe of every creature out there.

 

[MnFish1]

Tell me you can’t grow sps, without actually telling me

It might be best - just so everyone understands what youre talking about - and I dont mean to be the mod here - but - what are you talking about - which post - I would suggest - use the quote feature of the site - its really helpful

 

[Miami Reef]

or actually get a single microbe of creativity

This made me laugh.

Nice read lol.

 

[MnFish1]

#10.... all point to the fact that waterchanges are a necessary action to maintain good healthy cirals giving them the best chance to maximize their color and growth.

Unless the WC was completely botched in a careless manner, I've yet to read in 15yrs where someone posted their coral all died directly bc of a WC

This is in fact true - Though - you can spend a ton of money buying individual trace elements and adding them daily - IMHO - the truth is - Though water changes are not 'necessary' - they accomplish everything the rest of the ICP/DOC/EtC testing does. IN fact though - there have been several posts on R2R where a water change botched things up - in general the reason was a mistake - to my recollection.

 

[MnFish1]

Mandarins are one of the most beautiful fish and what makes them so beautiful is that they weren't made or designed by humans. Their strange alien look is courtesy of Mother Nature who has pulled off the greatest experiment in the largest tank in existence which is collectively known as our waterways whether that be salt, brackish or fresh. I am in awe of every creature out there.

Right - and contrary to popular wisdom - they do not need copepods - they will eat flake food. This is one of the problems IMHO here - mandarins need copepods. No - not true - yet I have seen these bottles of copepods being sold for a huge amount of money at my LFS. Which need to be replenished. IMHO - No

 

[Badfish405]

 

[Karen00]

Right - and contrary to popular wisdom - they do not need copepods - they will eat flake food. This is one of the problems IMHO here - mandarins need copepods. No - not true - yet I have seen these bottles of copepods being sold for a huge amount of money at my LFS. Which need to be replenished. IMHO - No

Mine loves bloodworms. Not sure if it's the red colour or what but it's funny to watch her suck them up like spaghetti. She also loves baby brine shrimp. I dump pods in periodically just because I think they're good for biodiversity and they're a micro clean up crew but it hasn't been necessary although I'm sure she appreciates it. I think she's captive bred so I'm not sure if that makes a difference but she's starting to get a little chunky. Haha. I call her my chunky monkey. LOL I'm also trying to get some white worms because I heard members say fish go nuts for those but they're hard to find where I am for some reason.

 

[MnFish1]

If you use the quote feature - everyone knows what you're responding to. Otherwise - no one does

 

[RosehipScapes]

Mandarins are one of the most beautiful fish and what makes them so beautiful is that they weren't made or designed by humans. Their strange alien look is courtesy of Mother Nature who has pulled off the greatest experiment in the largest tank in existence which is collectively known as our waterways whether that be salt, brackish or fresh. I am in awe of every creature out there.

Well, that’s convinced me to put them at the top of my “to acquire” list!

 

[Microcosm Reefer]

I stopped after '2: mandarinfish are ugly'
Heresy!

 

[Dburr1014]

What's the old expression of opinions an A's? Everyone has one and they both stink?

It's, everyone has one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks.

 

[Karen00]

Well, that’s convinced me to put them at the top of my “to acquire” list!

When I got mine she was so tiny. Not much bigger than my pinky fingernail. I was really concerned about feeding her so I fed a lot of live pods and baby brine shrimp as well as microworms and finely chopped up frozen bloodworms. I just wanted to make sure there was a bunch of food small enough to fit in her mouth. Now she's about four times the size and mostly eats frozen bloodworms and frozen mysis that I soak in vitamins as well as baby brine shrimp. I also add frozen chopped krill to the tank but I don't see her actively going for that. I haven't added pods in a long time. There could be some pods that have managed to survive and reproduce but I don't think there are many because I don't have a fuge or large tank for them to repopulate so I think the bulk of her diet is the frozen food and brine shrimp and she is getting chunky.

 

[Badfish405]

If you use the quote feature - everyone knows what you're responding to. Otherwise - no one does

I wasn't responding to anything. This whole thread just made me think of that.

 

[hart24601]

Thread really shows how lucky we are in the hobby to have so many options for livestock and husbandry techniques. Would be very boring if people only liked one type of coral or fish. Although I of course advocate for fish and captive animal healthy (not that anyone here isn’t).