It seems as though not a day goes by here on Reef Builders when you don’t hear about some new product, animal or technique that will help change the hobby forever. New things that promise to simplify and improve our hobby experience. Yet, for some reason, many of us in the hobby seem mired in the past, with a “more complicated must be better” philosophy. Not only do we typically attempt to recreate the entire reef in our systems with many layers of biological complexity, we equip our systems with tons of gadgetry to mimic this environment. Our equipment choices and husbandry techniques need to be broadly focused to match the goal of being all things to all creatures.
Rather than the shotgun approach, it would seem logical to design, equip, and manage our systems with a more precise focus. Why not zero in on the specific needs of the animals that we are keeping? Why not take a more focused approach to husbandry, emphasizing some degree of simplicity to get the job done? Equipping and managing systems to maintain the widest variety of organisms certainly has its merits – to some extent.
但是，我发现自己正在转向一种更为纪律，更具体的礁石保存方法。例如，我对Biotope海洋水族馆的热爱直接归因于学习并希望复制礁石的特定部分，而不是整个贫穷的事情！借助设备，饲养技术和水上搭配以匹配我试图复制的生物群，这是我认为管理礁石坦克的一种很好的方法。您是否曾经想过，为什么我们整体似乎想让事情变得如此复杂？我将这种“并发症综合征”归因于一些可能的因素：
- 我们只是不喜欢让自己变得容易。“社区坦克”的哲学从未在业余爱好中离开我们的集体心理。If you’re keeping a huge array of organisms from all different parts of the reef, multi-stage zeolite reactors, additive dosing regimens, two-chambered calcium reactors, automatic top-off/water change systems, and eight-way water return devices all have their place, right? We use the broadest brush to cover the most canvas — all the possible scenarios. Technologically complex systems and approaches seem to have become a necessity.
- 我们喜欢购买东西并互相打动。嘿，谁能与之争论？炫耀那种性感，昂贵的蛋白质撇油器或Uber-High-End LED照明系统感觉很好……不是吗？In all seriousness, I’m sure few hobbyists really set up a system costing thousands of dollars simply to “one up” their buddies, but after reading some tank build threads on hobby forums, I just can’t help but wonder about this sometimes. I think we’re deeper than this, but it warrants consideration.
- Because that’s how it has always been done!好吧，这有一些优点。我们倾向于遵循久经考验和真实。正如我们在以前的文章中所讨论的那样，过去的发现有助于影响未来的突破。如果有些事情有效，我们倾向于坚持下去，也许会在这里和那里进行一些调整。然而，想一想摆脱我们的塑料过滤器媒体或实际喂养珊瑚礁坦克的天气如何回来！范式转变涉及一定程度的风险，也许我们在这个现代在线时代中对风险或批评变得不利。
- If something is more complicated, it MUST be better and safer!Blasting your reef with tons of misapplied lighting (no- I’m NOT bashing halides here- just generalizing about our use of lighting in general….so back away from the keyboard haters), massive amounts of chaotic flow, and banks of water purification technology perhaps gives us the security that we’re doing all that we can to keep our animals healthy. The end goal is noble, but the approach seems to me to be costly, inefficient, needlessly complicated, and often unnecessary.
我并不是在用大量酷炫的小工具和异国饲养协议击败每个人的礁石系统。我正在做的是质疑这种复杂性的需求。当然，我将第一个告诉您水质管理对礁石业余爱好的成功至关重要。但是，我也将成为第一个告诉您每周或更频繁地捡到Siphon House的人，这是水质管理的最终表达。如果您没有基本原理，世界上所有的技术都不会节省您的系统。
谢天谢地，我们正在共同开始重新考虑一些长期以来的爱好信念并简化我们的方法，以使我们的动物和您的皮夹受益！一个很好的例子是我们传统上在系统中应用水运动的绝妙方式。如果您需要创建强烈的流动模式，长期以来一直认为您需要一个泵，挡板，闭环，动力头和其他流动增强设备来完成这项工作。虽然所有这些设备都有自己的位置，但事实是，您可以通过以周到的方式使用一些非常适度的动力头来创造出色的水运动。
The gyre flow theory that you often hear about really makes a lot of sense. Intelligent flow, if you will, can far exceed the benefits derived by the over-application of numerous water movement devices. Yet, for some reason, we hobbyists LOVE to make things more complicated, more expensive, and more challenging by stubbornly clinging to the unnecessary practice of deploying tons of powerheads into one tank, when a mere few applied intelligently will do the job. Let’s keep it simple here, for our own sanity and budgets!
I think we make things awfully intimidating for the new hobbyists with some approaches. Advising the newbie to equip his or her small reef tank with every conceivable technological prop for success perpetuates the myth that marine systems are more complicated than any other aquarium that you can maintain. Yes, there are some minimum equipment requirements that you have in order to outfit a reef tank. However, I can’t help but wonder if equipping the neophyte reefer with one more bag of salt mix and a siphon hose and the admonition to use both regularly and frequently would benefit him/her far more than any electronic controller would.
Again, don’t get me wrong. All of the cool technology and equipment has its place. However, in this new era of the reef hobby, I think that it’s important to step back once in a while and re-evaluate what we’re trying to accomplish, why we are doing what we’re doing, and what really works. I’ll hazard a guess that we can simplify things and still enjoy great success.
看着那（这 ”EcoReef“杰克正在实验的纳米系统。这些很小的系统取得了巨大的成功，因为大量的思想和能量专门针对珊瑚及其需求。是的，岩石，沙子，倒转等令人着迷，但是据认为“生态”方法可以使珊瑚保持健康，并且技术，能量和设备都集中在他们的需求上。简化的设备选择和专注的饲养技术，以最有效，最具成本效益的方式完成特定的工作。
开创性的业余爱好者每天都使用类似的重点方法，这些爱好者正在繁殖海洋鱼类和传播珊瑚。他们的系统，饲养技术和方法基于特定的需求 - 鱼类和珊瑚繁殖，这种集中方法的结果每天都证明了它的美德。这里的更大了解是，更集中的方法的应用可以（并且一直在）带来巨大的爱好进步。总而言之，我不会告诉您放弃社区坦克或多元化礁花园的乐趣。我鼓励您不时地退后一步，将精力引导到特定目的，并与爱好分享您的技术和哲学。在不远的未来的一天，野生礁生物的进口可能受到严格的限制，甚至不存在，因此开发着关注和繁殖海洋生物的方法可能对业余爱好的生存绝对至关重要。
Until next time…Stay Focused — and Stay Wet
Scott Fellman
facebook.com/scott.fellman
