Almost everyone has a different answer to this, which seems to indicate very well rounded information and more of an
individual preference rather than a particular problem. I will perform another set of averages as submissions come in.
|
Here are the averages of 95 + tanks.
| Average tank size is:
84 gallons. With a sump of 16 gallons. The is a sump to tank ratio of 5.3% Containing 97 lbs. of live rock, or 1.25 lbs. per gallon. |
| First Choice of Information
27 Books 20 Internet 18 Newsgroup (Usenet) 10 Dealers 8 Webpages 6 Magazines 2 Friends 2 Aquarium Societies |
Second Choice of Information
25 Books 11 Internet 10 Newsgroup (Usenet) 8 Dealers 7 Magazines 6 Webpages 4 Friends 3 Other hobbyists |
Third Choice of Information
23 Books 22 Internet 12 Dealers 9 Webpages 7 Magazines 3 From MIstakes 3 Newsgroups (Usenet) |
Lighting
Skimmers vary, most being venturi followed
by CPR and ETS
| The preferred salt mix is Instant Ocean 53 / Coralife 12 / Kent 6 / Reef Crystals 6 /Red Sea 3 / Tropic Marin 5 / Red Sea 3 / Local seawater 2 |
| 14 hobbyists out of 95 do not use tap water purification. Spectrapure being the most popular |
| Average thickness is 1.4"
with 14 tanks having less than 1" 11 do not use substrate 10 use .25” 4 use .5” 1 uses .75” 15 use 1” 19 use between 1.5” – 2” 13 use 2” 8 use 2” – 3” 5 use 3” 2 use 3.5” 4 use 4” 2 use 5” 6 hobbyists use an actual plenum system. 21 use aragonite 7 use CaribSea 12 crushed coral 18 livesand 18 some type of reef sand 17 unknown |
20% every 3 months ~ 5% twice a month ~ 20%
every few months/changing to 5 gal. a week ~ 35gallons every other month
~ 20% every 3-4months ~ 15%monthly ~ 10% every 2 months ~ 15 gallons once
a month ~ 5% every 2 weeks ~ 30% every 2months ~ 10 gallons every 2-3 months
~ 10 - 20% per month ~15% once per month ~ 10% every 2 weeks ~ 5% every
month ~ 1gal per week ~ 10 - 15% once per month ~ 10% weekly ~ 5% bi weekly
~ 20% a month ~ 10% every 1 - 2 months ~ 10% every 1- 2 months ~ 10% every
1 - 2 months ~ every 4 - 6 months ~ 10% every 2 months ~ 10% weekly ~ 8
gallons every 6 weeks ~ 15 gallons every 2 weeks ~ 10% per month ~ 10%
every 2 weeks ~ 10% every 3-4 Months ~10% monthly ~ 20% monthly ~ 15% every
2 weeks ~ none ~ 25% weekly ~ 20 gallons every 3 weeks ~ 7 gal per week
~ 1-2 gal per day ~ 30% 3-4 months ~ 20% monthly ~ 15 - 20%monthly ~ 15
gallons 1 x per Mon. ~ Every 2-3 weeks. 75 or 100litres ~ 2 years since
last ~ 2 gal 1 X per Mon. ~ 20% a month ~ 15% bi-weekly ~ 5 gal every other
month ~ 10 - 15% every 8 weeks 8 - 16 gall per wk.
| Spending hundreds of hours doing
research
Keeping overflow clear maintaining water conditions finding time to enjoy the tank Getting corals to grow fast and consistently long term costs Maintaining proper water quality and chemical balance Setting up equipment to work properly Nothing its pretty easy vacuuming detritus weekly Setting up and keeping everything healthy Mimicking Natural salt water Maintaining constant conditions, cause and effect Keeping the temp down Algae Aquascaping Understanding concepts planning Understanding water chemistry Planning maintenance, evaporation Understanding the chemistry for a stable tank Properly placing corals Maintaining low nutrient levels Algae wife Sexual reproduction of corals Finding healthy animals cleaning coraline from acrylic keeping temp down Maintaining the fine balance of water chemistry Getting up to date information keeping my shrimp alive money Getting un-bias information duplicating a natural environment Patience having livestock flourish water quality learning everything I can Unknown Not looking at it as a challenge Control of fish diseases Dealing with the LFS keeping water conditions stable Getting the tank balanced algae blooms understanding the requirements and compatibility Common names Patience Ignoring bad advise Finding quality corals keeping corals alive and growing keeping stable water parameters |
|
96gallons.
1 tank is under $500 and yes, its the 10 gallon. |
photo period 11.28
hours per day
|
| Substrate:
Average thickness
1.6"
|
| The preferred salt mix is Instant Ocean
30 / Coralife 6 / Kent 4 / Reef Crystals 4 /Red Sea 4 / Tropic Marin 3
/ Red Sea 3 /
Local seawater 3 and least expensive 1 |
| The preferred means of information Books
33 / Internet 25 / Newsgroup 20 / LFS 16 / Magazines 16 / Aqua Society
8
/Aquarium Frontiers 6 / Friends 6 |
| Skimmers vary, most being venturi followed
by CPR and ETS.
10 hobbyists out of 53 do not use tap water purification. Spectrapure being the most popular |
| Average tank size is 87gallons. With a
sump of 19 gallons. Containing 104 lbs of live rock, or 1.24 lbs per gallon.
This
"averaged" 87 gallon tank would cost aprox $2600 or $30 per gallon. The averaged wattage is 5.3 watts per gallon, photo period of 11 hours per day. The largest tank is a 200 gallon smallest a 10 gallon. 8 tanks are in the $5000 range and this amount is the ceiling price for this survey. 1 tank is under $500 and yes, its the 10 gallon. The preferred salt mix is Instant Ocean 23 / Coralife 4 / Kent 4 / Reef Crystals 2 / Tropic Marin 2 / Red Sea 1 / Local seawater 1 and least expensive 1 |
Lighting <photo period 11hours per
day 5.3 watts per gallon>
11 use MHandNO 7 use MHandVHO 5 use NO 4 use Power compacts 3 use MH 3 use VHO 2 use MHandPCandNO 1 uses VHOandHO 1 uses HO |
| The preferred means of information
Books 23 / Internet 23 / Newsgroup 15 / LFS 14 / Magazines 13 / Aquarium Frontiers 6 / Aqua Society 5 Friends 5 |
| Substrate: Average thickness 1.5" with
10 tanks having less than 1" and 4 hobbyists having an actual plenum system.
Most of the substrate seems to be carib sea aragonite, followed by oolithic sand, with 6 people having actual live sand |
| Skimmers vary, most being venturi followed
by CPR and ETS.
10 hobbyists out of 39 do not use tap water purification. Spectrapure being the most popular |
24 Tanks Survey Results from 8/3/97
24 Tanks entered Largest 200 gallon Smallest 10 gallon
Average tank size 79 gallon Average amount of live rock 1.48 lb per gallon
Most popular salt mix almost unanimous - Instant Ocean followed by Coralife and others
Most popular lighting sources in sequence- Metal Halideand Normal output / VHO / Power compacts
Average watts per gallon 5.12 Average hours per day 10.85
Average cost per gallon $38.35 Average cost per tank $3029
Where these people get their information in priority
15 votes for books
13 votes for
internet web pages, archived info, searches ect
8 votes for the
reef news group
8 votes for magazines
7 votes for dealers
2 votes for aquarium
societies
One of the most interesting comparisons
for me is the "what do you feel is the most challenging aspect of keeping
a reef tank".
Almost everyone has a different answer
to this, which seems to indicate very well rounded information and more
of an
individual preference rather than a particular
problem. I will perform another set of averages as submissions come in.