Old School -vs- New?

Snkebyte

Hi - i'm new to the forum - so firstly - thank you all for showing the kind of dedication to your hobby that the rest of us can learn from - it's made a huge difference.

Here's my question

I haven't had a fishtank in 10-15 years - I used to keep a marine tank.
Undergravel filter
Magnum 350
Pair of beefy powerheads.

No sumps, no chillers - no nothing.
I kept live rocks and some inverts and a few clowns and damsels..
I did water changes every 4-6 months -
I ran a python through the gravel and rinsed, but seldom changed the Magnum filter stuff.
I mixed some instant ocean in a bucket - and if the salinity was good after an hour - i dumped it in.

I lost 2 fish in 4 years - and all in all - life was grand.

So now I come back and suddenly - it's $1800 to set up the same tank. I need special lights and sumps and some refrugiruim thing that I can't spell unless i'm looking at it.

So now - i'm torn - and i'm concerned and nervous. I've always operated under the premise of "if i can't do it right...don't do it at all."

And now that I see how much the hobby has changed - I fear doing it the way i used to - even though it worked just fine.

Any thoughts? Any advice? I appreciate it.
By the way - i'm in Maryland - say HI if you're local.
-Scooper

Monkey Man Zero

The one think I can say I have learned for sure in this hobby is; there is no one way to do things. What works for some will not work for others.

I would say if you're comfortable and it has worked in the past, go for it!

One thing to consider though, many of the advances made have to do with water quality, although some fish can tolerate poorer quality, it is not a good life for them. If the old school works, the one new thing I would rely on for sure is a good testing kit. If you can't provide good water, then I would think about changing methods.

CBRrider

Hows it going scooper.. Monkey Man Zero gave you good advice.. Myself, Ive always only used the berlin method as filtration.. Which consists of Live rock, Live Sand and a big protein skimmer. Its a bit more expensive but IMO worth it. Here's a link with more information.---->CBR
http://www.athiel.com/lib2/liverock.html