Am I nuts?

[rykna]

In all the 24 years I have had fish I have never followed the "rules". I started my 90 gallon a year and a half ago. Since then I have broken all the rules. I do not use RO water, just tap treated. I stopped worrying about constant water changes and do a 25% water change once a month. Acclamating got thrown out the window when I bought a daisy and purple flower pot gonapora coral, dumped them into my tank as soon as I got home, that was a little over 3 months ago and both are flourishing.
I know we all have our own ways of caring for our aquariums, but the more I know and read the less credability the so called specialist have. Was just curious how many of you have had this similar experience.

 

[fishieness]

well many rules can be broken or severly bended depending on different situations. i dont aclimate many corals besides temp.... because it isnt really needed. but i do acclimate all fish and you really should do that.
as far as RO water, it depends entirely where you life. My friend 2 towns over is jsut using tap, which isnt even treated, and is keeping digis and acros. he used a tds meter on his tapwater and it was like 18.... which is lower than most RO water readings.
and as far as the gonioporas, they are probably flourishing because you dont do often water changes. They had to be fed a lot, and all that crap in your tank that you dont remove is feeding it.
so these things can vary from person to person, area to area, and most importantly, the type of livestock the person is keeping. like i have a good amount of sps, i woudl never htink of going a month without a water change not only because my nutrients would be very high, but because they use up so many trace elements like calcium and others that need to be replaced in percise amounts.

 

[fallinmor]

more power to u, i also break some rules but i'm afraid to realy mess with some stuff. but yeah keep it up u rebel u.

 

[markus1]

There is a thread out there somewhere about people "coming clean" on their methods of care, i.e. no qt tank, not acclimating, using tap water - things like that. Most of the people that wrote in said they were relieved to get things off their chest. I say this, if it ain't broke don't fix it. But in my case, I occasionally have a problem or two and I turn to this site to find out the best way to fix it. I try to do everything by the book, and if that dosen't work, then I try something different. Just my 2 cents.

 

[rykna]

thankyou. that is the first response I have gotten that hasn't been followed with a sales pitch for a skimmer, or sump tank. I have mainly soft corals in my tank. They do need a lot of nutrients to be healthy. I haven't tried sps coral because i have read that they don't get along well with soft corals.Is that true? I'm guessing that with only 90 gallons to play with I pushing my luck as is. I have two types of button polyps, several different types mushrooms, an orange tree sponge, star polyps, and the 2 gonaporas, plus 3 fish, 2 star fish,and a partridge in a pear tree I am probably pushing the animal load as is.
Thanks agian.

 

[reefrank]

Yes my friend I break rules all the time, and to be quite honest with you I believe many of the "rules" people rely on are to chemical for me. I rely on the nature of things. I get my water from the ocean. I acclimate my fish only. I skim, which I do believe in. But I don't worry to much about all the over testing that everyone seems to do. I watch my xenia, when it starts to lessen its pulsing, I know my water quality is down and I do a water change, usually he starts pulsing like mad again and voila no need to test anything.
I have had tanks for many many years, reef tanks for well over ten years. I haven't lost anything major yet, no crashes, no mass deaths etc..
But whatever works for the individual, and whatever makes them comfortable. I wouldn't rip anyone for there techniques and I do rely on people here for info.

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by Rykna
but the more I know and read the less credability the so called specialist have.
The credibility of the specialists is essential for new auquarists. Would you then advise someone new to all this to ignore the "rules"?
After 24 years, surely you realize that your experience lends a hand to how non-chalant you can be regarding your tank. It has to do with comfort levels and inexperienced folks don't come with high levels of comfort. The "rules" assure them that they stand a chance of succeeding.
As an added thought, your tank is probably just fine for the time being, but down the road a year or two, you may end up with some issues that IMO will directly relate to your choices. Not flaming. Just an honest opinion.

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by PonieGirl
As an added thought, your tank is probably just fine for the time being, but down the road a year or two, you may end up with some issues that IMO will directly relate to your choices. Not flaming. Just an honest opinion.
i actualy agree with this. although some rules are bendable, without being on top of everything, some thigns can go incredibly wrong. my club president had one of the nicest tanks ive ever seen. but he woudl never test anything. he ended up loosing all his sps and lps (the only things in his tank) because of ALK burn. and also had lost his fish in the crash.

 

[goulding.c]

I like the answer all things depend on your situation. My well water has a tds of 975, and my ro can get it to about 40 or so. I would really be worried about using that water in my tank.

 

[1journeyman]

That's kind of like playing Russian Roulette and saying "Am I nuts? I'm still alive". It only takes once....
Remember much of the care of a tank goes into providing for a quality of life for your pets, not just life. You don't QT corals? That could work for years; then all of a sudden you get a disease or parasite.... suddenly you just lost everything. You buy a hard to care for coral and it lives.. Congratulations, you have a beautiful coral. How many others will die though to provide for your abnormality? You use ocean water? That could work forever, or you could introduce a free swimming parasite tomorrow that would wipe out your tank.
Not flaming you at all, but many of the safe guards and "rules" are there to make his hobby as successful as possible. One mistake, one short cut can (and has in thousands of aquariums....) kill everything.
Is it really worth rolling the dice over?

 

[krishj39]

Rykna, you are very brave to admit it. I'd admit that I did a lot of the same things too, and actually found that some of the things I was supposed to do, my tank would suffer (like water changes). As long as everything is happy then keep doing it. I will say though that if anything does go wrong, be ready because you are going to get the crap kicked out of you by a lot of people on this forum for "breaking the rules." People around here love to be pretty legalistic about this hobby. But that's my only complaint and it's a small one. I love you guys!

 

[murph]

Sometimes the less "stress" you put into the tank the less "stress" you get out of the tank.
As far as a new hobbyist goes I often see them anguishing over the least little thing and this can sometimes be problematic.
But then again as the old code writers adage goes. Junk in junk out. Its a balancing act at best and sometimes we fall.
If you have ever stood on a bridge snook fishing in Florida and heard the continual "pop" of predation and lives being won and lost in the inter-coastal water way, you would soon understand that the fish in our enclosed system stand just as good a chance if not better than if they were left in the wild.
Mother natures a

[hr]
and she means business. :joy:

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by reefrank
Yes my friend I break rules all the time, and to be quite honest with you I believe many of the "rules" people rely on are to chemical for me. I rely on the nature of things. I get my water from the ocean. I acclimate my fish only. I skim, which I do believe in. But I don't worry to much about all the over testing that everyone seems to do. I watch my xenia, when it starts to lessen its pulsing, I know my water quality is down and I do a water change, usually he starts pulsing like mad again and voila no need to test anything.
I have had tanks for many many years, reef tanks for well over ten years. I haven't lost anything major yet, no crashes, no mass deaths etc..
But whatever works for the individual, and whatever makes them comfortable. I wouldn't rip anyone for there techniques and I do rely on people here for info.
Cool! I do the same thing. I keep an eye on my most sensative corals and if they are looking slightly wilted or unhappy I do a quick water change and continue therapy until they return to normal.

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by Rykna
Cool! I do the same thing. I keep an eye on my most sensative corals and if they are looking slightly wilted or unhappy I do a quick water change and continue therapy until they return to normal.
That just doesn't sound kind, to me..

 

[rcbruce]

Lawrd help us! This is the kind of thread that was just made for starting arguements. :scared:
Let's face it, anytime you get more than 2 ppl together in one place, your going to have different opinions. I know ppl that are bragging they have not done water changes in years, keep fish together that we know don't belong together, etc. etc. etc. :hilarious
Then you have the haves versus the have nots! By this I mean those aquariusts that have spent thousands of dollars on every piece of equipment ever made and have setups that rival commercial aquariums such as seaworld! Then the ppl (like myself) that can't afford an aquarium that costs more than my car. :cheer:
IMO..........if it works for you, not matter what IT is, keep on truckin'..........if it doesn't, back up 10 yards and punt!

 

[poniegirl]

Good point. I'll listen.

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by RCBruce
Lawrd help us! This is the kind of thread that was just made for starting arguements. :scared:
Let's face it, anytime you get more than 2 ppl together in one place, your going to have different opinions. I know ppl that are bragging they have not done water changes in years, keep fish together that we know don't belong together, etc. etc. etc. :hilarious
Then you have the haves versus the have nots! By this I mean those aquariusts that have spent thousands of dollars on every piece of equipment ever made and have setups that rival commercial aquariums such as seaworld! Then the ppl (like myself) that can't afford an aquarium that costs more than my car. :cheer:
IMO..........if it works for you, not matter what IT is, keep on truckin'..........if it doesn't, back up 10 yards and punt!

Amen brother. By no means did I mean to open pandora's box(although i a quite talented at sticking my foot in my mouth) I am very grateful to all of you for you honesty. I have finally gotten some feed back that wasn't laced or coated with sugar. Your ideas and comments have all been very helpful. Thanks again

 

[jmick]

Originally Posted by Rykna
In all the 24 years I have had fish I have never followed the "rules". I started my 90 gallon a year and a half ago. Since then I have broken all the rules. I do not use RO water, just tap treated. I stopped worrying about constant water changes and do a 25% water change once a month. Acclamating got thrown out the window when I bought a daisy and purple flower pot gonapora coral, dumped them into my tank as soon as I got home, that was a little over 3 months ago and both are flourishing.
I know we all have our own ways of caring for our aquariums, but the more I know and read the less credability the so called specialist have. Was just curious how many of you have had this similar experience.

So 3 months = success? Humm :notsure:

 

[rykna]

Playing with mother nature is a nasty business, and as we all know most of the time you get burnt. I guess my main frustration was finding nothing but candy coated advice. Success, as ponie put it, comes with years of experience. Ponie made a very good point, I would never recommend this choice of action to anyone new to the salt hobby. It would lead them to certain disaster. Since I was 16,(now 31) I have read and researched salt water tanks, however that doesn't make me a master by any means.
I am just happy to have found a group willing to share.

 

[jmick]

check out wetwebmedia.com
they sugar coat nothing and have the experience to back up what they say...hands down the best source of info!