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440 Posts
Where did all these Rules come from". There were no rules when I started my tank.
These "rules" came about because of the internet. Now there are thousands of people with reefs and many of them are having problems. We all have problems in the beginning and it is not our fault or the fault of the fish. New un-established tanks have problems. Eventually "rules" came out of all the advice, both good and bad. Unfortunately many of these rules were originally rumors from people with little experience experiencing problems.
Someone would add a cleaner shrimp and the ich would go away so they figured the shrimp cured the fish, it diden't.
How many times we read someone put a snail or sea hare in a tank and the algae disappears so they think that 1/2" snail ate all the algae, it diden't.
The truth is that ich and algae often (usually) disappear overnight on their own.
Reverse UG filters were lost because of these rules. People don't know how to use them so they invented a rule that they don't work in a reef. Using NSW also became involved in rules because, in part, not many people have access to it and also because of all the negative presss the oceans have been getting from envirnmentalists. The US coastal seas are actually much cleaner now then they were in the seventees because of dumping regulations.
There are "rules" on what size tank you need for a tang". I had a hippo tang in a 40 gallon tank for years.
I add bacteria from the sea, there is a rule for that because it may add paracites. I have been waiting for those paracites since Nixon was President.
There is one that says that if you use copper in a tank, you can never use that tank or rocks again. How long is "never?" I have used copper for years in my tank. Still waiting for the crash.
Unfortunately this is not anexact science so rules have to be very flexable.
We look at our tanks and try to find problems but many of the problems are associated with bacteria. If we could see them, bacteria covers every grain of sand in our tanks. That bacteria is all that is keeping the animals alive.
There are thousands of types of bacteria and we all have different strains of them depending on where we collect our water or where we buy animals and where they were collected and how they were treated.
If we never added bacteria from the sea, our tanks are a desert when it comes to bacterial diversity. Thats where tank crashes, algae blooms and diseases come from. Thats alas why so many people have problems with nitrates which should be taken care of by the correct type and amounts of bacteria.
We need some rules but we have to understand that they are very flexable.
Have a great day,
paul
These "rules" came about because of the internet. Now there are thousands of people with reefs and many of them are having problems. We all have problems in the beginning and it is not our fault or the fault of the fish. New un-established tanks have problems. Eventually "rules" came out of all the advice, both good and bad. Unfortunately many of these rules were originally rumors from people with little experience experiencing problems.
Someone would add a cleaner shrimp and the ich would go away so they figured the shrimp cured the fish, it diden't.
How many times we read someone put a snail or sea hare in a tank and the algae disappears so they think that 1/2" snail ate all the algae, it diden't.
The truth is that ich and algae often (usually) disappear overnight on their own.
Reverse UG filters were lost because of these rules. People don't know how to use them so they invented a rule that they don't work in a reef. Using NSW also became involved in rules because, in part, not many people have access to it and also because of all the negative presss the oceans have been getting from envirnmentalists. The US coastal seas are actually much cleaner now then they were in the seventees because of dumping regulations.
There are "rules" on what size tank you need for a tang". I had a hippo tang in a 40 gallon tank for years.
I add bacteria from the sea, there is a rule for that because it may add paracites. I have been waiting for those paracites since Nixon was President.
There is one that says that if you use copper in a tank, you can never use that tank or rocks again. How long is "never?" I have used copper for years in my tank. Still waiting for the crash.
Unfortunately this is not anexact science so rules have to be very flexable.
We look at our tanks and try to find problems but many of the problems are associated with bacteria. If we could see them, bacteria covers every grain of sand in our tanks. That bacteria is all that is keeping the animals alive.
There are thousands of types of bacteria and we all have different strains of them depending on where we collect our water or where we buy animals and where they were collected and how they were treated.
If we never added bacteria from the sea, our tanks are a desert when it comes to bacterial diversity. Thats where tank crashes, algae blooms and diseases come from. Thats alas why so many people have problems with nitrates which should be taken care of by the correct type and amounts of bacteria.
We need some rules but we have to understand that they are very flexable.
Have a great day,
paul