Where are the experts?

+1 on all above.
-Experiment with different reefkeeping methods to know the pros and cons.
-Learn what to look for in corals and fish to indicate potential issues even before your tests indicate it.
-Checkout as many tanks as you can, I used to think my old lighting was too intense, well till I saw a 250MH over a 35 G cube and how intense that lightign was and how the coral colors popped.
-Read, Read, Read and then read some more.
-The worst pat is that you see a lot of 6 months old tanks that look amazing, don't jump to conclusions and think that the owner must be really knowledgeable. Give it 2-3 years so the methodology followed passes the test of time.
-Nothing is guaranteed in this hobby and no 2 tanks are the same. when my old tank started a very slow and painful crash, it took all my knowledge in addition to local reefer friends, experts on forums and LFS owners and tank maintainers advice in the states and Europe, whatever can be tried you name it and I'll tell you I tried it and the losses never stopped till the tank was taken down for a move and upgrade...

I think it is important to understand how the system is supposed to work. You can be an expert in a specific area and test your theory in a measurable process. However, an expert understands the difference from experiment to experimenting, without a baseline of what you expect the results to prove, it is just reckless acts. An expert seeks knowledge and accepts input but researches such input before putting any practice in motion. This hobby has guidelines as standards but every brand of water, chemistry, food, tank setup makes every system different, so understanding how the system is supposed to work is the baseline that every expert builds upon. I am amazed that in spite of how little we know or understand we are able to sustain life in a box of water. You are the best expert with your system, the rest of us are just advisors. The first step is to be that expert with your system then share that success with others as an advisor, knowing you don't have "the answer" just the history of success that bestows upon you the title of expert.

Originally Posted by maroun.c

-The worst pat is that you see a lot of 6 months old tanks that look amazing, don't jump to conclusions and think that the owner must be really knowledgeable. Give it 2-3 years so the methodology followed passes the test of time.

Agree 300% percent to that. I've seen experts show beautiful tanks which they take down and restart after 6 months.... that's not enough time to declare any type of success... Success is long term, 5, 10 years... when the infamous "Old Tank Syndrome" has never appeared.

Originally Posted by RED

I think it is important to understand how the system is supposed to work. You can be an expert in a specific area and test your theory in a measurable process. However, an expert understands the difference from experiment to experimenting, without a baseline of what you expect the results to prove, it is just reckless acts. An expert seeks knowledge and accepts input but researches such input before putting any practice in motion.

RED, you nailed down what I was thinking as I read this article.

IMHO the reef aquatirum hobby lacks people who have experimented, with scientific methods, why things work or not. Making a hypothesis, setting up 4 identical tanks in parallel, then testing the hypothesis over 3 or 6 or 12 months time, with two tanks at baseline and two with the change one wants to prove in the hypothesis.

With so many reefers in the US and Europe, some of them scientists, I'm surprised to never have seen that kind of experiment going on. Maybe the cost of doing it is what keeps it from being done.... but it could lead to some definite discoveries.

I don't think there are true experts in this hobby, just experimented reefers, each with his own story and results which may not be possible to be replicated by other reefers even if they diligently follow the instructions of the "expert". There is a lot of unknown and unproved out there.

I think it is very important to understand who you are listening to or taking advice from. Be careful when you read to understand the experience of the writer, as anyone with a few thousand dollars could put together a fantastic tank last Tuesday. Virtually everything I have ever submitted to a magazine has been published as fact. I am a retired electrician and could be making this stuff u as I go along. Check out the system of the author and the longevity of the system s there are no fact checkers and anyone can publish anything as fact.

How about reading a book? there are some good ones out there. the Reef Aquarium trilogy by Delbeck and Sprung are among the best and there are many others.

I wrote an article about this but I am not sure if I can link it here. If not, delete it.
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/seaso...-success-2966/

Nice write up, Paul.