Is this all that our hobby has to offer?

[Dark_Knightt]

I have often thought about my big tank build being a mermaid tank, but I don’t think my wife will let me.

#TangPolice

 

[X-37B]

A species only stonefish tank would be cool.

 

[Peace River]

I didn't see a shark tank on your list!!!

...another possibility for an unusual tank is a oyster reef.

 

[FishTruck]

You can manufacture a cuttlefish army!

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-10/feature/index.php

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

Hey reefers,
Sometime after owning a reef tank for a year or so I realised that I'm hungry for more but I don't just want to expand my existing aquarium into a bigger one. I am looking for different progression paths this hobby has. I managed to compile the list of all these paths. What do you guys think? did i miss anything? Feel free to add. I'm thinking of putting it out there in podcast format for beginner and experienced reefers or anyone who is willing to expand their hobby skillset.

For coral enthusiasts

• Softies coral tank
• LPS coral tank
• Mixed coral tank
• Speciality tanks
  • Xenia Fuge,
  • Macro Algae tank,
  • Clownfish harem & Anemone tank
• SPS coral tank
• NPS coral tank

For Fish enthusiasts

• FOWLR - Fish Only With Live Rock
• Species only tank
  • Sea horses tank
  • Saltwater sting rays
• Predator tanks
  • Moray eel
  • Lionfish

Side gigs in this hobby

• Fragging and selling,
• Fish and corals breeding
• ULN (Ultra low nutrients)
• Moving to freshwater aquarium hobby.

Help is highly appreciated. I would also love some support for my podcast and Instagram channel.
If you resonate with the content I'm putting out there then I would love some support <3 <3

KeepReefin | Ali Shah Lakhani

The same thing happened to me so I've started lots of other things. Macro Algae is definitely my vote for you, theres so many different types out there that people don't see and its so awesome making a tank out of Macros. I've only got Dragon's Breath and Sargassum for now but I'm hooked! An NPS tank is also super awesome, I've got nps gorgs, seafans, and an Electric Flame Scallop and they've been a joy. You can ever mix both like me! I've got everything in the same tank, although you would want to shade some NPS so they don't grow algae like sponges and gorgs. Sun Corals and larger polyps should be good. Another interesting thing I'm doing is Jellyfish, there's A LOT more begging friendly species than just Moons and Upside Downs. Flame, Ice, Marble, Bay Nettles, etc are super great beginner species. I'm personally going with Ice Jellies because their adult form is GORGEOUS. My biggest tank I'm doing though is a Flashlight Fish tank, not easy to find but you can reach out to an LFS or someone like Adam from Ocean Devotion and they should be able to find some. I'm personally going with 5 One Fin Flashlight Fish (Photoblepharon Palpebratus) since after talking with Jay Hemdal they seem like the hardiest and brightest of the Flashlight Fish so thats another idea. Hope these give you some ideas!

 

[alishahlakhani]

Hey guys, just to update My podcast episode is released. You can hear your contribution on the episode <3 Thank you once again for helping document the paths <3

Levels of Progression in this hobby | KeepReefin

 

[MexiReefer]

Somehow I felt unconfortable preassure with the title of your podcast: Levels of Pregression... Made me wonder I should have a progression plan: I am actually getting to be a bette reefer? Am I increasing my reefing game? Am I pushing my reefing skills harde enough?

anyways...I found microscopic life of my tank to be quite interesting if that helps-

 

[N.Sreefer]

A coral greenhouse is an interesting next step setting up with aquaculture tanks and seeing what does better and worse with natural sunlight supplementation and natural moonlight for a spawning trigger. Not the most expensive thing in the world either Im 3000 in for the greenhouse looking at another 5 for the swede and conical bottom tanks and a sandfilter. Guess after livestock and lighting its not the cheapest but not out of reach for many people, something different to try anyway.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Ali: Way too late for a reply to this thread (I work in the medical industry - it's been crazy for the last year as I'm sure that you can understand). And this is a saltwater forum, so this is a bit off-topic, but I thought you might be personally interested in this niche.

Many of us -ahem- "mature" aquarists started off in freshwater, since it was very, very difficult to successfully keep any sort of saltwater aquarium back then if you didn't live right next to the ocean as Paul B does. Then we transitioned into reef keeping in the 90's with the considerable advances in equipment and technique.

My guess is that basic freshwater tanks might bore the heck out of some of the younger generation that started with saltwater tanks in general and reefs in particular. And there's justification for that - while there's zero wrong with a freshwater planted tank with a school of cardinal tetras, unless you're in it primarily for the horticulture aspect, the complexity of keeping such a tank is dramatically lower than keeping a reef.

However, just as in saltwater, there are some uncommon niches in freshwater that have their own fascinations, and they are far from easy and basic. One of them is freshwater stingrays from the Orinoco river in South America, though of course that requires a rather large tank that most of us don't have the room for. The specific one that I wanted to mention to you is a bit different, which is keeping and breeding tropical killifish. These fish are distributed worldwide, but the tropical species from South America and Africa are every bit as colorful as saltwater fish, and the annual species have a fascinating life-cycle: the adults exist for one rainy season, mate, lay eggs, and then die in the following dry season. The eggs, however, persist over the dry season in moist mud or peat, and hatch when the rains return.

Many of these species are extraordinarily rare - they come from a single small stream in equatorial Africa or South America. In some cases, they no longer exist in the wild because of human development, but are kept from going extinct by dedicated aquarists. From the perspective of the required tank size and complexity of equipment, these fish can be ideal for those of us with smaller homes as many of them will do very, very well in a 5 gallon tank with nothing other than a sponge filter.

If you have an interest in these fish, there is a society dedicated to their maintenance that's existed for some 50+ years (I was a member in the 70s and 80s): The American Killifish Association.

 

[alishahlakhani]

Somehow I felt unconfortable preassure with the title of your podcast: Levels of Pregression... Made me wonder I should have a progression plan: I am actually getting to be a bette reefer? Am I increasing my reefing game? Am I pushing my reefing skills harde enough?

anyways...I found microscopic life of my tank to be quite interesting if that helps-

Thanks @MexiReefer for sharing that feedback. Sorry you felt that way. I did realise that I could definitely improve the titles in future. Maybe a better title could be "What else does this hobby has to offer?". I think that would've made more sense but I'm thankful that you shared your feedback

I'm currently recording my next episode "Honest talk about reef tank stability" in which I'll share my experience as new reefer about what stability is in a reef and how did I stabilise(sort of) my reef. This would be my second episode in which I'll be sharing about my own experience rather than open ended exploration topics. Super stoked about this one... I hope newbies like me would learn from my mistake and understand what, why and how to achieve stability

If you like the content I talk about, please do subscribe/follow to my podcast. It really helps me to stay motivated and change things for the better.

A coral greenhouse is an interesting next step setting up with aquaculture tanks and seeing what does better and worse with natural sunlight supplementation and natural moonlight for a spawning trigger. Not the most expensive thing in the world either Im 3000 in for the greenhouse looking at another 5 for the swede and conical bottom tanks and a sandfilter. Guess after livestock and lighting its not the cheapest but not out of reach for many people, something different to try anyway.

@N.Sreefer This would've been interesting to talk about too. I know that many reefers are now into coral farming and taking on coral sustainability projects. Even tho I missed it. I've share the link to this thread in my podcast description so people can read and learn more... Hope this helps

Ali: Way too late for a reply to this thread (I work in the medical industry - it's been crazy for the last year as I'm sure that you can understand). And this is a saltwater forum, so this is a bit off-topic, but I thought you might be personally interested in this niche.

Many of us -ahem- "mature" aquarists started off in freshwater, since it was very, very difficult to successfully keep any sort of saltwater aquarium back then if you didn't live right next to the ocean as Paul B does. Then we transitioned into reef keeping in the 90's with the considerable advances in equipment and technique.

My guess is that basic freshwater tanks might bore the heck out of some of the younger generation that started with saltwater tanks in general and reefs in particular. And there's justification for that - while there's zero wrong with a freshwater planted tank with a school of cardinal tetras, unless you're in it primarily for the horticulture aspect, the complexity of keeping such a tank is dramatically lower than keeping a reef.

However, just as in saltwater, there are some uncommon niches in freshwater that have their own fascinations, and they are far from easy and basic. One of them is freshwater stingrays from the Orinoco river in South America, though of course that requires a rather large tank that most of us don't have the room for. The specific one that I wanted to mention to you is a bit different, which is keeping and breeding tropical killifish. These fish are distributed worldwide, but the tropical species from South America and Africa are every bit as colorful as saltwater fish, and the annual species have a fascinating life-cycle: the adults exist for one rainy season, mate, lay eggs, and then die in the following dry season. The eggs, however, persist over the dry season in moist mud or peat, and hatch when the rains return.

Many of these species are extraordinarily rare - they come from a single small stream in equatorial Africa or South America. In some cases, they no longer exist in the wild because of human development, but are kept from going extinct by dedicated aquarists. From the perspective of the required tank size and complexity of equipment, these fish can be ideal for those of us with smaller homes as many of them will do very, very well in a 5 gallon tank with nothing other than a sponge filter.

If you have an interest in these fish, there is a society dedicated to their maintenance that's existed for some 50+ years (I was a member in the 70s and 80s): The American Killifish Association.

Thanks @Dkeller_nc. Firstly, Thank you for being the frontliner and saving the world from horrific pandemic. Secondly, I am so fascinated by the breadth of this hobby. Even after I went live with that episode there are tons and tons of things I missed. This hobby never fails to amaze me. Thank you for sharing about Killifish. I'll read more about it and most probably share about this post in future episodes if I can. Thank you for your contribution <3

 

[alishahlakhani]

Somehow I felt unconfortable preassure with the title of your podcast: Levels of Pregression... Made me wonder I should have a progression plan: I am actually getting to be a bette reefer? Am I increasing my reefing game? Am I pushing my reefing skills harde enough?

anyways...I found microscopic life of my tank to be quite interesting if that helps-

Also I think if someone is into macro photography, this type of tank would be best for them; I'm imagining macro shots of starfishes and copepods or macro world of ocean. That would be so dang cool no?

 

[Ishai Thatcher]

How about trying to breed harder species like mandarins and cleaner shrimp? Also I feel simply the culturing of copepod, rotifer and phyto is a cool extension of the hobby. And it can also open the door for all types of breeding.

 

[king aiptasia]

it has already been mentioned but growing animals to breed is always fun and cool

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

I'm actually planning on an outdoor pond type thing. Seems to be the way my sickness, I mean this hobby has steered me. Outdoors, plants, will have to solve for actual predators, and of course the 160 pound baby horse...