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View Full Version : The stages in the life of a reef tank


Palting
01/18/2014, 06:32 PM
I've been pondering this the last several weeks, so I thought I'd post my thoughts. This is in no way a treatise with expertise, these are just thoughts from a hobbyist.

Stage 1: The planning. This is when the idea first gets to you and then takes hold of you. This is the start of the obsession. This is your last chance to avoid the calamity known as reef keeping. You look at reef tanks, look up equipment, research multiple topics, then make a budget. I'm telling you all right now, the budget is nothing but an illusion, the evil siren that calls you in, then devours you :).

Stage 2: The set-up. You've purchased the equipment, and now set things up. This involves mostly technical stuff, mechanics, carpentry, plumbing. All that planning finally being put to use. You want to rush, but know you shouldn't.
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/IMG_0060.jpg

Stage 3: The start. This is a very, busy, often chaotic stage. It involves the cycling and maturation of the tank. You seem to be juggling a million and one things all at the same time. Is the cycle done? Do I add more fish? What fish? What Coral? Will these darn blooms ever get done? What the heck is this? The rockscape sucks. Should I do something about ______ (insert favorite pet peeve)?
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/IMG_0135.jpg

Stage 4. The honeymoon. Finally, after several months, the tank settles down. You cannot seem to do anything wrong. All the fish are thriving, all the coral are growing, your parameters are all stable as a rock and unshakeable. The tank is invincible! If you are lucky, this stage can last a long while.
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/Aquarium2/IMG_1306s.jpg

Stage 5. The stage of entropy. Your tank is now older, your equipment is now older, the demands of the tank are increasing and changing. If anything can go wrong, it will. Pumps break down, skimmers quit skimming, light bulbs bust, heaters get stuck on, parameters go awry...........This stage can sneak up on you, what with that heavenly honeymoon period that preceded it. You are running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, never seeming to catch up to the endless things that are going wrong.
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/Aquarium2/IMG_1404cs.jpg

Stage 6. The long haul. At this point, you have settled into a routine. You can predict what can happen, and have a regular maintenance schedule that will avert any disasters. You have settled on dosing regimens, water changes, etc. Not quite as bulletproof as the honeymoon stage, but almost there with significantly more work and equipment. All the fish are mature and healthy and cannot add more fish. The coral all grown with no more space for new ones, and the reef is now more like a bonsai garden, where you keep trimming things down to satisfy an certain aesthetic look you are going for.
http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/Aquarium3/IMG_0314_zpsfa14c32c.jpg

Stage 7. ?? I'm not there yet, My tank is just reaching the 4 year old mark and in the long hail stage. Maybe some of the reefers here with older tanks can chime in.

Saltydrip
01/18/2014, 07:07 PM
Ahhhhh.... The meaning of reef life.

fishroomlady
01/18/2014, 07:16 PM
Ahhhh, well done sir :)

Saltydrip
01/18/2014, 07:23 PM
I think we need to call on PaulB for stage 7

Misled
01/18/2014, 08:05 PM
After doing this for a while, I've skipped stage 5 on the last couple tanks. The tank I have now is closest to a mixed reef, but as things start growing out of hand, like any gardener, you must start pruning. A lot will depend on the type of tank. Fragging can help drag things out a bit. Did that with my chalice tank a few years back. The biggest thing is the lack of change when things reach an overgrown point. One week you frag the birdsnest, next the orange cap, then the purple cap but before you know it you're back on the birdsnest. It becomes work.

Last year I had one RBTA about the size of a silver dollar. Now I have 4, each about 5 inches across. There are other things in the tank, but I can really see these guys taking over unless I start removing some. Don't know that I want to do that, but the tank sits here in what you call a stage 6 and has been that way for a couple years. The RBTA was the last real addition. I'm thinking of a new set up. I'm getting board with the tank it self. Haven't thought where I'll go next. I can be sure, it will be probably a year or two from now.

Palting
01/19/2014, 12:01 PM
Ah, thanks to Jesse, here is proposed next stage.

Stage 7. Temptation. The tank is now routine, humdrum, boring even. Evil thoughts start creeping in. I think I can take that large colony out from the corner, sell it and start anew, just in that little corner. Hmmmm. Why stop there? Just redo the whole rockscape, rearrange everything. Hmmmm. Nah, why mess with a good thing. I know!!! Start another tank!! Bigger this time. Yeah!, That's right, that's the ticket!! :)

Misled
01/19/2014, 12:28 PM
:lol: Yep, that's pretty much what I was thinking!!!

64Ivy
01/19/2014, 01:27 PM
If this is truly Stage 7, then it came in two parts for me. The first was almost exactly as described. The second however began several months later when growth seemed to accelerate to the point where fragging seemed almost pointless; ''hell, I just cut that one back last weekend! I don't have any free space for all this crap. I'm just gonna toss it. Nobody'll ever know.'

So I'll admit it, I have thrown away perfectly good (and what would've been fairly expensive) frags just to get rid of them quickly, and if you have reached this stage, I guarantee that you have too. After all, everything looks 'common' now, all the 'new' offerings look better, your equipment is more antiquated than stuff they give away at County Fairs, and any compliments you receive on your current display are answered by muttered derision. Stage 8 I imagine, is actually the act of finally tearing down the tank along with the accompanying marital fun and frolic.

But as I am...ahem... not alone right now, I'll let someone else take it from here.

Coral Dilema
01/19/2014, 01:34 PM
This seems to be following a familiar pattern so I propose the following:

Stage 8, the affair : Temptation gets the better of you and you set up a nano reef on the side leading to

stage 9, the divorce. Your original reef finds out about your new reef with the smaller tank and brighter lights. Everything goes to heck in a handbasket. Your old reef crashes because you have been spending too much time with the new reef and haven't been paying any attention to the old reef that has been faithful to you for years.
The old reef is fed up with your wicked ways and throws all your fish out on the carpet. You never loved it. The skimmer goes crazy and spews a foul toxin into the sump which causes everything to crash. The stench is so foul you have to pack your things and leave your home. You take your nano reef with you to live in a van down by the river. Your old reef hopes you are happy with your younger, smaller nano. It could never have enough room to hold all the corals your old tank has held for you for so many years. Your old tank is left heartbroken by your betrayal. Tears of saltwater drip through the shattered remains of its tank until there is nothing left but an empty shell of a tank and a rotted foundation.

Misled
01/19/2014, 02:24 PM
Just sitting here. There's OT going on between the Bruins and the Blackhawks. The lights on the tank aren't on yet. The Blackhawks just won, switching to the AFC game. My eye can still catch the RBTA's swaying in the current. They know the lights will be on soon. They are all gathered as they seem to like where they are. I just know one is gonna bust a move sooner or later. Thinking this could be a problem. Don't know which one or which way it will go. There's something in most directions. They've stung a few zoa colonies.

Ivy, I have a few yellow leathers in my sump that were removed because the big one kept dropping babies. Got rid of most of them. There're aren't any in the DT that I can see, (that really doesn't say much though). There's no light in my sump. Algae doesn't grow there. The leathers have been there for 6 or 7 months. They're still alive. WTH!!!!!

Palting
01/19/2014, 02:39 PM
LOL!! I think we can just lump the next stage into: Stage 8. Hilarity. Fun and funny stuff goings. :beer:

Rognin
01/19/2014, 05:01 PM
Great read. I'm in stage 4 with my 55gal and I'm going back to stage 1 for a 145gal.

maddmaxx
01/19/2014, 05:51 PM
Ah, thanks to Jesse, here is proposed next stage.

Stage 7. Temptation. The tank is now routine, humdrum, boring even. Evil thoughts start creeping in. I think I can take that large colony out from the corner, sell it and start anew, just in that little corner. Hmmmm. Why stop there? Just redo the whole rockscape, rearrange everything. Hmmmm. Nah, why mess with a good thing. I know!!! Start another tank!! Bigger this time. Yeah!, That's right, that's the ticket!! :)

hahahaha thats the ticket lol

Misled
01/19/2014, 07:52 PM
Let's keep this going. Another thing that's come to mind over the last few months. I have a corner tank that has both sides painted black. A little while back I got tired of cleaning them and just let the coraline cover them. As it has now begun to plate off, a mushroom and some zoas have made the coraline their home. Makes me wonder why people build rock walls. Just stop cleaning the glass and let them build themselves.

Coral Dilema
01/19/2014, 08:16 PM
I would say because of the random shape. An artificial rock wall looks more natural than a perfectly flat, perfectly vertical sheet of anything.

Rule #1 of a natural looking reef tank, Avoid straight lines as much as possible in your display tank.

Misled
01/19/2014, 08:22 PM
That can be handled. Wait till I get this new one started. See, I'm already talking about it!!! :lol:

Coral Dilema
01/19/2014, 08:23 PM
Do you really want to go live in a van down by the river? Don't do it man! It's just not worth it!

Palting
01/20/2014, 07:51 AM
That can be handled. Wait till I get this new one started. See, I'm already talking about it!!! :lol:

Talking about it. HAH!! I got you beat. I already have a list of tank and equipment hidden under my desktop. I check it under a flashlight once in a while. :o

Paul B
01/20/2014, 09:04 AM
I think we need to call on PaulB for stage 7



I don't know what stage I am in but I never got the stage where I take the tank down as it never crashed. I did lose many corals over the years and when one goes, generally something happened to kill most of them. That happened to me 3 times in 3 decades but if you keep a tank long enough, things happen. I never lost all of them but if these things didn't happen, I would have corals growing up the walls. They also happen in the sea.
I also didn't go through the stages you guys went through as there were no stages when I started. There was just freshwater and as soon as salt water things came into being and animals were available, I bought them. My reef evolved over many years so I never had to lay out thousands or even hundreds of dollars at the same time.

Palting
01/20/2014, 09:34 AM
C'mon, Paul. I know you went throught Stage 7. :) Somewhere in that entertaining thread of yours, you cleaned, ran diatomaceous filters, re-did the scape and coral..... I am still in awe that you did all of that in 1 weekend. :eek:

Paul B
01/20/2014, 09:51 AM
Yes, I do that all the time, but just to avert boredom or install some new rocks I built and take out others. This is not a stagnant hobby like stamp collecting, it is an ongoing adventure and not meant to sit there like a painting. I enjoy removing rocks, stirring up the gravel, breaking out the diatom filter, looking at all the bristle worms I find and sometimes locating a fish that I thought bit the dust months ago even if it means breaking some corals.

I think in the 42 years I removed all of the rocks 3 times and it was fun. I can't wait to do it again as I have some Ideas that will require me to do that. But I will put everything back in as it has never crashed. The reverse UG filter almost guarantees that it won't crash but I like to keep that a secret. :dance:

I love this

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Gobieggs004.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/Gobieggs004.jpg.html)

Misled
01/20/2014, 09:52 AM
Like Paul, my stuff has never been changed because of a crash. A couple times it was because of the WF, (wife factor). Others because I'm tired of what I see. I'm an engineer by trade. I live for the planning, designing, building. I like DIY and will go out of my way to do things most don't want to put time into. I spent two years planning and building what's here now. You can see that in my blog. Over the last 30 years I've probably had 6 or 7 different tanks and I built every stand and lighting set up. It's part of what makes it fun for me.

It's also time for a new design for the living roon. The set up matches what I have now. I did find the new tank. It scares me because GlassCages is the only place I've seen it. They call it a 95 3 wide rimless. It's 36x24x24. I also know how the new floating lights will look, and yes, I'll go LEDs.

Palting
01/20/2014, 03:56 PM
I don't think "Tank Crash" is a stage in the life of a reef tank. It certainly is not something anyone expects or looks forward to, it is something everyone hopes to avoid, and as Paul and Jesse have proven, it something that is NOT inevitable. (Sorry for the double negative)

Maybe we should rename stage 7.
Stage 7. The stage of options.
1. The PaulB option. Rebuild, rearrange, renew, just because it's fun.
2. The Jesse (Misled) option. Plan, design and construct a new tank system, then take down the good old one. Also just because it's fun.
3. The Palting option. Heck, I ain't messing with a good thing! I can dream of the next one, though, secretly. Shhhhhhhh....
:):p ;)
LOL!

Misled
01/20/2014, 04:19 PM
Paul, I sold my diatom filter a while back, but I think the tank hangers are still hanging on the cage in my shop!!!

Paul B
01/20/2014, 05:07 PM
I had 6 or 7 of them and the one I have now is made of parts from all of them.
It to is on it's last legs and I will have to build a new one from scratch soon as my tank depends on a diatom at least once a year.

Mr. Brooks
04/09/2015, 12:57 AM
This was a really fun read. Thanks guys!

tzylak
04/09/2015, 02:33 PM
Too funny!!
I am surprised that no one has suggested to turn this into a STICKY for the newcomers. All of the 9 stages of reefing (or otherwise) are true to life and most can relate to in one way or another.
It is a refreshing way of presenting the hobby as something more than collecting baseball cards and no less demanding than a relationship.
OK. I propose to make a STICKY out of this. . . . . As a counterpart to the "YOU WILL FAIL AT REEFKEEPING IF YOU DO THIS. . . . . " that was presented last week.

-Just my $.02

Sosee
04/09/2015, 03:31 PM
Stage 9: divorce stage. Results from the realization by my wife that the term "my precious" is not a term of endearment for her but rather it is now for my aquarium. [emoji14]

Mark426
04/09/2015, 03:34 PM
1. Anticipation
2. Satisfaction
3. Despair

Nano sapiens
04/09/2015, 04:56 PM
I've run mid sized reef tanks for decades (though not quite as long as Paul :) ). Getting the setup and composition right is a challenge, but after seeing the more-or-less static scene of a mature tank for a few years it can get a bit 'old', perhaps.

A bit tongue-and-cheek, it has been suggested to set up a nano tank to freshen up the reef keeping experience. That's actually a great idea and provides a different type of challenge since the attempt to keep one running optimally for many years is fulfilling in and of itself. The close-up perspective one gets of the marine life is quite different than the large panoramic view of a mid to large tank, that's for sure.

kkittredge
04/09/2015, 07:34 PM
Cash advance stage
Short term loan stage
Cash out refi stage
Bankruptcy stage