Reefbusters: Share your favorite reefing myths!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Then that would be a false assumption, I make no such claim.

People out there believe, and tell others, various myths such as

Do not put a sandbed in your new tank, it’s constant work to maintain it and keep it clean.

you need a fleece roller if you want your water to be clear

You need 4 radions, 2 kessils , and 2 led bars if you want to light that tank properly. Ok maybe extreme here but some of the lighting setups I’ve seen suggested are just ridiculous and unnecessary

Regardless, every myth I stated, is from things I’ve seen suggested or presented as fact, often to new members, when in reality, it’s not.

There are multiple paths to success. If the goal is to get to the other side of the mountain, one path may require multiple types of attire, climbing gear, etc. Another path might just need a car.

Know your goal, review your paths, and plan your trip appropriately. Just because you are on one path, does not mean that it’s the only one.

I’m not sure exactly what you are saying. I obviously agree with your myths as written, because there are written as must haves or things needed:

Here’s a myth. Skimmers are needed.

I’m just clarifying that the must have part not being correct is different than trying to claim that any of those things aren’t a benefit to most tanks.

 

[Reefering1]

Then that would be a false assumption, I make no such claim.

People out there believe, and tell others, various myths such as

Do not put a sandbed in your new tank, it’s constant work to maintain it and keep it clean.

you need a fleece roller if you want your water to be clear

You need 4 radions, 2 kessils , and 2 led bars if you want to light that tank properly. Ok maybe extreme here but some of the lighting setups I’ve seen suggested are just ridiculous and unnecessary

Regardless, every myth I stated, is from things I’ve seen suggested or presented as fact, often to new members, when in reality, it’s not.

There are multiple paths to success. If the goal is to get to the other side of the mountain, one path may require multiple types of attire, climbing gear, etc. Another path might just need a car.

Know your goal, review your paths, and plan your trip appropriately. Just because you are on one path, does not mean that it’s the only one.

I think you're miss understanding him. He is saying the myths you listed would be difficult to disprove is stated as the standard is "could benefit "

 

[VintageReefer]

I’m not sure exactly what you are saying. I obviously agree with your myths as written, because there are written as must haves or things needed:

Here’s a myth. Skimmers are needed.

I’m just clarifying that the must have part not being correct is different than trying to claim that any of those things aren’t a benefit to most tanks.

I think you're miss understanding him. He is saying the myths you listed would be difficult to disprove is stated as the standard is "could benefit "

My apologies

 

[OrionN]

I simply do not agree. I think the hobby is disserved by the constant drumbeat of a little ammonia being bad.

A modern reef tank packed with organisms can potentially take up all of the ammonia provided to it, which is why many reef tanks end up needing to dose ammonia or nitrate.

Yes, one has to get past the start up stages, and doing so with photosynthetic organisms instead of fish would likely work fine.

We I guess we agree on one thing, ammonia is bad, toxic for living thing above certain concentration that is easily produced by fish in our tank. The Ammonia needs to be process somehow. Bacterial, or Zooxanthellae in photosynthetic, or other organism. Nitrogen is only one of the nutrients used, there are others compounds I am sure that is why a healthy tank needs trace elements in addition to various macro nutrients.
Also IMO, a diverse fauna and flora is needed for a stable system. IMO surface area is needed both for the nitrogen cycle and for the fauna and flora in our tank.

 

[Cool tangs]

I don't think either point that you touched on is a "myth" by any means.

1 - "tang police" - for any species with regard to space there are lines that should not be crossed. While they may not be absolutes and indeed fuzzy and subjective (albeit grounded in objectivity), they are lines that many people unquestionably blow past.

2 - "QT" - serves an extremely valuable purpose. The less care that is taken the higher the risk of problems (form minor to catastrophic). Period. You are free to accept whatever level of risk fits your investment (time and money), morals, and/or expectations. There is no "myth" in QT, just outcomes based on input.

I think you took "tang police" out of context. It was more of a laugh in regards to the tang police don't exist.

I agree though that there is limits and that will be subjective to the person or people. Yes you do see some cases that are extreme you do see the other side as well. But this is most likely due to old outdated information still floating about.


I think I would argue more along the lines of people being adamant that QT is the only way. They try to push extreme levels of it. So I guess the myth is the fact that some people believe it's the only way. When in fact there are other methods. All I'm trying to put out is that reefers should find the happy ground of what works for them and limited time they might have. Morals is making sure your fish/corals are happy. Being in the hobby and having your pets health in your best interests. It's not about ripping people to pieces for making mistakes. The hobby is about learning and being open minded and sharing our own experiences. Not shoving an ideology down some ones throat.

Happy reefing

 

[Formulator]

A nem will crash a tank if it dies.

Hey, I was gonna say that!

 

[Formulator]

You need a chiller to run metal halides.

Used freshwater tanks should never be converted to a reef tank

Sumps need to be kept clean of detritus

Phosphate must be <0.1 ppm

 

[OrionN]

A nem will crash a tank if it dies.

Certain anemone, like Magnifica, Haddoni or Gigantea, when get puree by PH will release nematocysts that can wipe out all the fish other than clown fish. I don't think they will "nuke a tank" however.

 

[Dburr1014]

Certain anemone, like Magnifica, Haddoni or Gigantea, when get puree by PH will release nematocysts that can wipe out all the fish other than clown fish. I don't think they will "nuke a tank" however.

This is true. But most people talk about Bubble tips walking into powerheads and nuking a tank. Or just that they fade away and die and that will nuke a tank. I don't think the latter cases are true.

Thank you for posting this though, it does give light to certain nemes nuking a tank.

 

[OrionN]

You need a chiller to run metal halides.

Used freshwater tanks should never be converted to a reef tank

Sumps need to be kept clean of detritus

Phosphate must be <0.1 ppm

You need to keep an eye on the temperature of the tank. MH produce a lot of heat, if the tank gets overheat, you got to get a chiller or else it won't do well. I keep reef tank from Halogen, florescence (various sizes). MH and LED. MH produce the most heat by far.
When seeking advice, use your head and at least know why something is done, don't blindly follow some advices then call it myth.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Why?
With the exception of thermal stability, no one has been able to put forward an argument as to why that would be true.

Oh, it's true. Think in extremes. This is what I do with pretty much everything. Will a 5g pico tank be as stable as the ocean?

 

[Formulator]

You need to keep an eye on the temperature of the tank. MH produce a lot of heat, if the tank gets overheat, you got to get a chiller or else it won't do well. I keep reef tank from Halogen, florescence (various sizes). MH and LED. MH produce the most heat by far.
When seeking advice, use your head and at least know why something is done, don't blindly follow some advices then call it myth.

Fans do just fine for me. I should probably have said the myth is “fans are not enough cooling for MH tanks”. I don’t think many people realize how much cooling you can get out of a well placed fan, for a tiny fraction of the cost of a chiller.

 

[OrionN]

As an in depth science question, porosity always depends on how you define it. IE, what pores are large enough for what you want to accomplish.

GAC can have a huge surface area that is only accessible to tiny molecules, as opposed to bacteria.

Porosity and surface area we are talking about (at least I am talking about) are those with relation to organism level, since we are talking about bacterial, fauna and flora, not molecular level (as in Activated Carbon). In this context, porosity and surface area is the same.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Porosity and surface area we are talking about (at least I am talking about) are those with relation to organism level, since we are talking about bacterial, fauna and flora, not molecular level (as in Activated Carbon). In this context, porosity and surface area is the same.

Yes, I understand the context. We just disagree on the value of those bacteria. Think I’ll start calling nitrifiers the bad bacteria. lol

 

[OrionN]

Fans do just fine for me. I should probably have said the myth is “fans are not enough cooling for MH tanks”. I don’t think many people realize how much cooling you can get out of a well placed fan, for a tiny fraction of the cost of a chiller.

Fans, ventilated the heat source away from the tank area, keep air conditioner on and on the cooler side, remote ballast, evaporation fans across the surface, ventilated hood ect. If all else fail, then chiller of course. I even install a mini-split air conditioner unit for my fish room.
I don't have to have a chiller now either. I did when I used MH. Of course, I have an extremely high light required animals in Gigantea and Magnifica

 

[Doctorgori]

On the mandarin what have they eaten for you? I bought it pods but how often do I do that or will it learn to ear frozen foods?

I had mine in a seahorse tank that admittedly was very old/established so I think the mandarin was “monkey see/monkey do” as the seahorses fed on frozen mysis …

so I did not train the mandarin per se, I’m guessing it was just the normal fish curiosity when they see other fish feeding …

 

[OrionN]

In my QT tank, my Madarin eat pellets. However, in my DT, if I feed enough so there are enough pellets in the sand so my Mandarin can eat, I will cause all kinds of problem for the tank. These are wild caught Mandarins. No problem with getting them to eat pellets.
Fish are smart. You can train them to do a lot of things. It only takes me several days to train my baby Regal angel to eat pellets out of a clam shell, so I don't have to broadcast pellets. My baby Regal eat 99% of the pellets I put in place for him. I put enough to last several hours. I only feed him three times a day, but he is full all the time. Growing fast too.

 

[Sump Crab]

Dosing is essential

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Vibrant?
Prime?
Toxic nitrite?
Damaged buffer systems?
Kalk+2?
Polymers that bind phosphate


The list is sadly long.

lol Toxic Nitrite, sounds like a predatory reef fish metal band!!! Yeah, but this goes to 11. Don’t touch it. Don’t even look at it!!! Classic

 

[56longroof]

When I first started I was told this, then was advised to get emerald crab to take care of the problem. Hmmm, I thought, doesn't the crab eating the algae pop the algae, never made sense to me.

I've wondered the same about aptasia. If a predator is eating it wouldn't that stress it out and cause it to release babies? The claim that you have to glue them shut to prevent spreading goes against what happens when it's being eaten.