The History of Reefing, Please Share Your Experience

[Reefer Matt]

I’d like to ask a favor from our reefing vets about your experience in the earlier days of the reefing hobby.

I’ve been reading old books from the 80’s and 90’s trying to piece together the evolution of reefing. Reef aquariums seemed very different than they are today, and I’d like to understand more about the history of reefing. Thanks!

 

[fish farmer]

I believe they are only different on the understanding of the requirements of the animals.

Equipment is better, but much of it is still used currently and others is obsolete. I have a copy of Advanced Reef Keeping by Albert Thiel from 1989, reads much like a nuts and bolts guide to setting up a reef tank.

This page sums up what I see stated almost weekly about equipment needs, but currently we have more knowledge on the different pieces of equipment.


I remember old pics of reef tanks with lush macro algae growth, caulerpa mostly....now the algae gets grown remotely. ATS....yup was being used professionally around the same time at the Smithsonian.

 

[MrGisonni]

I think the first saltwater aquarium I had was with an undergravel filter with air stones. Then the transition was to use a small power head on top of the uplift tubes. Then for a while there was the thought of running that powerhead in reverse and pushing air up under the plate. The next step was having a sump with a wet/dry filter. At that point Florida live rock was readily available so the aquarium was filled with live rock and regular dry caco3 gravel. Protein skimmers came into the mix shortly after. Then I guess it was what was called the Berlin method which was live rock live sand and protein skimming only. Lighting went from regular fluorescent tubes, metal halides were soon added to the mix. Then it became power compact fluorescents and eventually T5's. After the live rock harvest ban aquaculture rock became the norm. That's my recollection of the last 30+ years.

 

[Serpentman2024]

In the really early days it felt like it was more like slowing death than actually growing. Unless you lived in close proximity to the ocean, just getting proper water was a challenge. Technology and a better understanding of requirements have made huge strides in not only keeping corals but also fish. I stepped out of the hobby for more than a decade and an amazed at the developments in breeding fish (as well as priced!). Still getting used to $500 yellow tangs.

 

[MrGisonni]

Fragging was in its infancy in the 90s. It was basically a hammer and screwdriver breaking up a colony that was dying back at the aquarium store.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

As somebody who has been working with reefs for over 30 years, I can say with some confidence that other than our understanding of the animals, the only thing that is unequivocally better now than then is our ability to move water around in the tank. Back then, we could only dream of the things we can easily do now.

Also the nutrition side is better now.

Now I think we just know too much. Too much knowledge is leading to too many interventions, which often prohibits a system from achieving balance.

At this point, reef keeper A will post pics of a beautiful reef using Method X. Reef keeper B posts pics of equally beautiful reef using Method Y. Reef keeper C posts pics of equally beautiful reef using Method Z. At that point, I would say that the method doesn’t really matter. All three are presumably managing and providing stability of a few critical abiotic factors, and that’s really all it takes. The layers and layers of stuff on top of that is just having stuff to play with.

All that old stuff will still produce stunning reefs.

 

[krollins]

Not my experience, but someone I know. He kept a reef in the 70s. He said it was like discovering something. One time, he got spined by one of his anthias. This was before people knew some anthias were venomous.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Advancements in methodology were more localised prior to widespread use of internet forums, advertising and ultimately social media. European reefers really forged ahead in the early 90’s and their breakthroughs in husbandry, equipment design and aesthetic set the bar for the remainder of the decade.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Most setups prior to mid 2000’s were DIY focused. Skimmers, reactors, ATO’s and lighting were expensive, usually available in one size only and difficult to source in some markets. Plug and play compatibility was not a thing.

Edit: On this point it’s arguable that the average reefer had a more thorough knowledge base. You simply had to be prepared to do some relatively intensive research if you wanted to DIY a Venturi skimmer or Nilsson reactor.

 

[dennis romano]

My first marine fish tank was in 1972. My first "reef" was around 1981. It consisted of a ten gallon tank, dolomite and your basic undergravel filter. Lighting was just a fluorescent strip. Livestock was a big piece of live rock that took most of the tank. The rock was covered in zoas, bivalves, and hard algae. All kinds of starfish and crustaceans came out of it. I fed the critters with liquid fry food, clam juice and brine shrimp. There was never any issues like today's hair algae or Aiptasia. It lived like that for a few years.

 

[ca1ore]

I think it depends a lot on where you lived. I had my first marine fish tank in the mid 1980’s followed by a softie reef in about 1990. The Germans were well ahead of us in the US. The two small books by Peter Wikens were my personal introduction to a better way. I also met Albert Thiel around that time. He was working for Dupla and set up a display tank at my LFS. Metal halide lights, wet/dry filtration, peristaltic pumps ….. wow. Skimmer had been around for a while.

I don’t recall much SPS being available, just softies and LPS.

I think it’s easy to have a somewhat rose colored memory and think that very little has changed, but I actually think a lot has changed. The thing that got me over the hump was understanding the need to maintain alkalinity/calcium levels. Wikens talks about kalk in his books, but for me it was the advent of the calcium reactor that made things much easier. MTC was my go to back then.

 

[OrionN]

My first marine tank was in 1980. Information was hard to come by. Even if books were available, they cannot be locate. they are rare and unusual book that not available at common libraries or bookstores. Mainly at the time, it was under gravel filter with dolomite. I used a reverse flow under gravel filter at that time, seeded the sand bed with bristle worms. I begged for a few worms from Fintique Tropical Fish in San Antonio . I also started to grow macro algae using Florescent light. I never heard of LR back then. I used some dead coral and Lava rock for structure and started to have beautiful macroalgae tank at the time. I also killed my first anemone and clown fish in 1980. After the anemone, I tried feather dusters, and Sea Urchin which promptly returned to LFS because it devastated my Caulebra forest overnight.
Then my professional live took over. I spend 80+ hours per week during residency. Did not restart reefing until 1996. At the time I subscribed to reefkeeping mailing list. The rest was history. By 1996, information are there for us to get if we look. The IT revolution really help the Reefkeeping come of age. Pioneer reefers readily share information. Knowledge advanced at a rapid pace since then.

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

I had a slew of freshwater tanks in the late 80s and was breeding Cory cats and fancy guppies for LFS. I had one saltwater tank. 55g , with a sump but had 3 hang on fliters on it with bio media in the sump. I struggled to keep coral alive, basic water parameters were ok. Lighting appears to have been the problem based on my knowledge now. The saltwater tank was a constant struggle, so I got out of saltwater tanks. The level of information available to us via the internet is awesome. Wish I had it then

 

[PharmrJohn]

OK. I'm embarrassed about this. Back in 91 I had my first saltwater tank. 29G. The guys at an LFS (corporate type) just told me to mix salt and throw fish in. Anything else, I asked? Nope. So I proceeded to put about 25 inches of fish in there with no LR, no sand and a HOB filtration system. They said nothing about cycling. And yes, fish died. Finally figured out through trial and error that 12 inches of fish worked. Inverts survived. But yeah, there was no real information from the LFS I went to beyond BUY MORE!

 

[OrionN]

Various treatments for conditions that uniform fatal earlier help with big advancement of keeping various animals

 

[mboley]

It was 1994 and I set up my first Saltwater fish only tank. Living in San Diego I visited Scripps Aquarium and immediately wanted to do a reef. While there I saw an advertisement for a free seminar on setting up a reef aquarium. Fernando N., the head aquarist there now was the instructor. I remember being amazed when he said to throw away your bio balls, that live rock was better.

 

[GARRIGA]

For me. True reefing started when live rock was introduced and in the 80s many a reef tank nothing but live rock, inverts and caulerpa. Some shops had softies. Was at a place that setup 21 75g reef only and saw my first hard coral which at the time along with Kenya trees or something like it not that appealing. I was fond of just live rocks, anemones, shrooms and inverts plus fish. Might end up going that route now that I have the time, space and money but seeking simplicity.

Funniest being wet dry called nitrate factory and the only true change was Berlin introduced a more efficient mechanical filter via skimming. First salt was with undergravel. Next build will incorporate that plus other old school ways with emphasis on as natural as possible. No way I'm smelling skimmate ever again

 

[Malum Argenteum]

old books from the 80’s and 90’s

Fourth edition 1976 (originally published in 1959), and 1976.