OP
OP
@SPS2020 This is great feedback. That's exactly what I do too with a 10gal ATO, except I'd like to automate the dispensing and mixing of salt (meaning I never touch it). I did consider the ESV brand but went with TM after the BRS investigates on salt mixes. It's almost there with the Apex system, however the salt has presented a challenge, both in volume and weight.
@Randy Holmes-Farley Thanks for the thoughts on the bio-polymers. I too would not want this. Perhaps there's a natural solution to be found?
I once had this awesome automated home-brewing machine for beer called a PicoBrew. They had a following for a long time before big beer killed them off through M&A. Their approach to Eco-friendly brewing was sugar cane pods or cartridges. I never touched anything but the finished product.
This is what had me thinking, if I automate everything, why not this aspect? Would more people enter the hobby if they didn't have to mess with salt?
From what I read, there's a decent amount of folks that don't automate any of these steps and then the others that are more of a "hands off" reef management. Either solution is fine I suppose, provided one does the water change and those remain consistent (to me, this is what matters the most). I hear from some in the hobby, that mixing salt and all the parameters that come with it are what keeps them out of reefing and why we have newer folks going freshwater more frequently. When I went to Aquashella, I saw more people coming out with driftwood and glo-fish stuff than coolers with corals, reef keeping items, etc.
@Randy Holmes-Farley Thanks for the thoughts on the bio-polymers. I too would not want this. Perhaps there's a natural solution to be found?
I once had this awesome automated home-brewing machine for beer called a PicoBrew. They had a following for a long time before big beer killed them off through M&A. Their approach to Eco-friendly brewing was sugar cane pods or cartridges. I never touched anything but the finished product.
This is what had me thinking, if I automate everything, why not this aspect? Would more people enter the hobby if they didn't have to mess with salt?From what I read, there's a decent amount of folks that don't automate any of these steps and then the others that are more of a "hands off" reef management. Either solution is fine I suppose, provided one does the water change and those remain consistent (to me, this is what matters the most). I hear from some in the hobby, that mixing salt and all the parameters that come with it are what keeps them out of reefing and why we have newer folks going freshwater more frequently. When I went to Aquashella, I saw more people coming out with driftwood and glo-fish stuff than coolers with corals, reef keeping items, etc.
