[slief]

Systems like those installed in the shows you see on TV have a history of high casualty rates. You just don’t hear about them because once the filming is done, it’s passed off to a service company who often inherits the issues that follow. There have been several stories about that. Remember though, it is a show and drama is added to make it more entertaining. While they use live sand and bacterial additions, they do deal with a cycle. As such, they make it look like everything is rushed when very often, it’s not rushed. Because it’s a show, they can edit out the time it takes to cycle the tank to keep it more dramatic. Now there are some cases where stuff is rushed. Especially temporary setups but that isn’t always the case. Even when they let a tank go through a cycle, there are still issues because they do load the tanks up heavily with fish in very short order instead of adding fish slowly to build up the bacterial populations. This ultimately becomes the service companies problem. Something you never see in a TV series. Personally, I find these shows entertaining but I do feel they set a poor example for new hobbyists who think they can run out to the store, buy a new tank, fill it with sand and water and add a ton of fish. As we all know, it doesn’t work that way but these shows will often lead the inexperienced to believe it’s perfectly fine.