Krish
RF STAFF
So what is this 80/20 Rule?
Dr. Joseph Juran recognized a universal principle called "The vital few and trivial many" which stemmed off of a mathematical equation Pareto came up which is known as "Pareto's Principle" which simply put is that 20% of something always is responsible for 80% of the results.
Put in simple terms, in basically anything we do, whether it be reefkeeping or some other hobby or whatever in life, only a few (20% of anything) is vital/important and the other 80% of anything is basically trivial/non important. In Pareto's study/case, he came up with equation that yielded that 20% of the world owned 80% of the wealth. Juran on the otherhand, using this same principle figured out that 20% of the defects cause 80% of the problems. This principle as explained can be applied to anything. Here's an example taken from a write up about the 80/20 rule
So how does this relate to this hobby?
Simply put, focus on the 20% that matters about the hobby and not the 80% that doesn't matter as that little 20%, according to the this theory, will yield 80% of your results. I'd say that some of the 20% of the things that do matter are:
- Patience. Nothing comes quickly or happens quickly in this hobby so take your time. You will be happy you did.
- Research all you can about the hobby and learn as much as you can as knowledge is power and realize that there is no perfect way to go about keeping an aquarium. That idea does not exist as there are many ways to "skin a cat".
- Plan ahead. Don't just think about today, but think about what will be the result of this action down the road. Many times people will add corals or fish to their aquariums that eventually they realize they just can't keep in their aquarium (just as an example).
- Understand and know your tank and it's needs. Some require more maintenance than others while some can be left on their own to basically take care of themselves for the most part. As mentioned, many ways to do things and not all tanks are the same so do what works best for you.
The 80% of things that really are trivial and don't really matter IMO are:
- Is hurting your head over if an external return pump or skimmer is better than an internal one.
- Should I run my lights for 7 hours a day or 8?
- Should I point my powerheads at each other or the glass?
- What's better...Shallow sand bed, deep sand bed or bare bottom? A better option would be to learn all you can about them all and make a decision as to what suits you best as we have many people in the hobby that have kept successful reef aquariums that ran a ssb, a dsb or a bb tank.
- Should I add 1 or 2 lbs of rock per gal? Or how many watts per gal should I have over my tank? Or better yet, How many fish can I have per gal? So many factors come in to play here with rock density, type of lighting and corals going to be kept as well as the depth of tank and type of lighting being used and then type of fish as some require more space than others and grow bigger so it all goes back to researching things which make up the 20% of things that really matter.
And so on (just to name a few). These 80% of trivial things make very little difference in the overall scheme of things and so it's better to focus on the things that really do matter. But how do we know that this rule applies to saltwater reefkeeping? Well, take a look around at the different systems you see your fellow hobbyist have up and running. Some run sumps and others don't. Some run skimmers and others don't. Then there are refugiums that some make use of to grow a marco algae while others see no need for it. I run bare bottom tanks as an example which at one point, I had over 105x turnover rate and kept a healthy reef tank while there are others that run a deep sand bed with a lot less flow but still yielding the same results. So in a nut shell, alot of the things we all do, is done differently right down to equipment (the 80% of the things that really don't matter). However, there are a few things that do matter that is universal across the board like not using tap water unless your water has been tested perfect for aquarium use otherwise ro/di water it is. Allowing your tank to cycle first before adding in livestock (just to name a few) that include the 20% of things that do matter.
Conclusion
With that said, research everything about the hobby as best you can asking whatever questions come to mind and don't sweat the simple things that really don't matter much at all in the grand scheme of things. Using a Magdrive pump over an Eheim won't be the fall of your aquarium. Many ways to skin a cat and be successful which has been proven many times in this hobby so learn all you can and apply it and you will see nothing but great results.
(These are all my personal views. Please feel free to discuss, comment or add to what I've posted. Might make for a great discussion).
Dr. Joseph Juran recognized a universal principle called "The vital few and trivial many" which stemmed off of a mathematical equation Pareto came up which is known as "Pareto's Principle" which simply put is that 20% of something always is responsible for 80% of the results.
Put in simple terms, in basically anything we do, whether it be reefkeeping or some other hobby or whatever in life, only a few (20% of anything) is vital/important and the other 80% of anything is basically trivial/non important. In Pareto's study/case, he came up with equation that yielded that 20% of the world owned 80% of the wealth. Juran on the otherhand, using this same principle figured out that 20% of the defects cause 80% of the problems. This principle as explained can be applied to anything. Here's an example taken from a write up about the 80/20 rule
So how does this relate to this hobby?
Simply put, focus on the 20% that matters about the hobby and not the 80% that doesn't matter as that little 20%, according to the this theory, will yield 80% of your results. I'd say that some of the 20% of the things that do matter are:
- Patience. Nothing comes quickly or happens quickly in this hobby so take your time. You will be happy you did.
- Research all you can about the hobby and learn as much as you can as knowledge is power and realize that there is no perfect way to go about keeping an aquarium. That idea does not exist as there are many ways to "skin a cat".
- Plan ahead. Don't just think about today, but think about what will be the result of this action down the road. Many times people will add corals or fish to their aquariums that eventually they realize they just can't keep in their aquarium (just as an example).
- Understand and know your tank and it's needs. Some require more maintenance than others while some can be left on their own to basically take care of themselves for the most part. As mentioned, many ways to do things and not all tanks are the same so do what works best for you.
The 80% of things that really are trivial and don't really matter IMO are:
- Is hurting your head over if an external return pump or skimmer is better than an internal one.
- Should I run my lights for 7 hours a day or 8?
- Should I point my powerheads at each other or the glass?
- What's better...Shallow sand bed, deep sand bed or bare bottom? A better option would be to learn all you can about them all and make a decision as to what suits you best as we have many people in the hobby that have kept successful reef aquariums that ran a ssb, a dsb or a bb tank.
- Should I add 1 or 2 lbs of rock per gal? Or how many watts per gal should I have over my tank? Or better yet, How many fish can I have per gal? So many factors come in to play here with rock density, type of lighting and corals going to be kept as well as the depth of tank and type of lighting being used and then type of fish as some require more space than others and grow bigger so it all goes back to researching things which make up the 20% of things that really matter.
And so on (just to name a few). These 80% of trivial things make very little difference in the overall scheme of things and so it's better to focus on the things that really do matter. But how do we know that this rule applies to saltwater reefkeeping? Well, take a look around at the different systems you see your fellow hobbyist have up and running. Some run sumps and others don't. Some run skimmers and others don't. Then there are refugiums that some make use of to grow a marco algae while others see no need for it. I run bare bottom tanks as an example which at one point, I had over 105x turnover rate and kept a healthy reef tank while there are others that run a deep sand bed with a lot less flow but still yielding the same results. So in a nut shell, alot of the things we all do, is done differently right down to equipment (the 80% of the things that really don't matter). However, there are a few things that do matter that is universal across the board like not using tap water unless your water has been tested perfect for aquarium use otherwise ro/di water it is. Allowing your tank to cycle first before adding in livestock (just to name a few) that include the 20% of things that do matter.
Conclusion
With that said, research everything about the hobby as best you can asking whatever questions come to mind and don't sweat the simple things that really don't matter much at all in the grand scheme of things. Using a Magdrive pump over an Eheim won't be the fall of your aquarium. Many ways to skin a cat and be successful which has been proven many times in this hobby so learn all you can and apply it and you will see nothing but great results.
(These are all my personal views. Please feel free to discuss, comment or add to what I've posted. Might make for a great discussion).
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