- Joined
- Nov 23, 2006
- Messages
- 13,377
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- 11,088
- Location
- Los Angeles
- What state or country do you live in
- California
Well, it's a typical summer...Everyone is running around enjoying themselves, we're occupying our days with projects around the warehouse, reef tanks are getting benignly neglected by hobbyists eager to enjoy the benefits of everyone's favorite time of year, before the crisp chill of Fall once again returns...And of course, it has been a perfect time for yours truly to recharge himself as well...I'm once again easing back into "writing season" with some new stuff for you to digest..
As you know, I've sort of developed an almost "Tony Robins-esque" (eww) personality of being everyone's reefing confidant. I know a lot of you turn to me for advice, discussion...a shoulder to cry on...and for coral, too (well, that's a good thing!). Like Mary Poppins, most of my advice is dispensed with a "spoonful of sugar", and it goes down fairly easily, if not, on occasion, controversially.
Lately, however, I've taken a somewhat more "realistic" approach to the hobby, realizing that sugar-coating our own follies and giving the typical warm fuzzy isn't always what you need. I realized, both in my personal practice, and in the "advice" I've been dispensing to fellow reefers of late, that I've had to take a more pragmatic approach to really do everyone some good.
So the tone of this piece might be a bit more ahem, "blunt" than what you're used to from me. On the other hand, it's formulated to be helpful, not patronizing, and that means we sometimes all have to get some "tough love" in order to progress in the hobby. It's a distillation of advice sifted from a whole lot of emails and phone calls I've received over the past few months, peppered with a sprinkling of recent personal experience and practice.
I think it might help some of us. It might tick off some of us, too. It might be typical easily digested "Fellman-Fluff", and that's good, also! So here is some of my better advice, and I think much of it is worth at least pondering"
If a coral is dying- get it out of the tank…Yeah- that sounds bad, and it almost sounds like im endorsing a "euthenasia" of sorts.. All from the guy who just concluded a contest for who has the ugliest coral...Well, "ugly" is different than "unhealthy!" In the coral farming game, if you have a struggling frag that might have flatworms, red bugs, or some other pest or disease, you cant risk letting it take down other frags. This can occur in nature, too...Wide-scale disease events can affect populations across a local reef...And its really the same in a display aquarium, too- IMHO. Sometimes, you have to make the tough call and not play Florence Nightingale to a struggling coral (at least, not while it's in the tank). The risks to the rest of the community are too great, IMHO. ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one…” (OMG did I just quote Mr. Spock from Star Trek? Yeah, I did. Where’s Marc Levenson…Marc! MARC!!)
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..or the one..."
Keep some “negative space” in the rock work your tank. Not just for aquascaping…I mean, yes, you should have some open space not covered by corals. Why? For several reasons. One, it gives you existing corals a chance to spread out and grow. Second, it DOES have a good aesthetic thing going for it…We all like to allow our eyes a place to rest from the busy “fruit-stand” appearance of a typical reef aquarium. And finally, having some extra space gives you room to…expand your collection! To be a bit impulsive (after due consideration for the merits of the coral you're considering, of course). Yeah, that’s right..I said it! You can have some room for future impulse buys! A salute to consumerism (and of course, a tip of the hat to my fellow coral vendors!
Gorgeous..but packed. No room for impulse buys here!
Ditch really bad ideas…quickly. Yup, kind of like the Facebook corporate mantra of “move fast and break things”, I think it’s time we let stuff go that doesn’t work. Life it too short. I am not saying to disregard patience (Lord knows, I’ve written a ton about that over the past few years right in this forum). All I’m saying is that you need to let go of ideas that simply aren’t working out, taxing time, energy, money, space, and “mind power.” Better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all…but better to let something that was failing die a quick death than to have it function as a “black hole” of your hobby energy (and budget!). Harsh words coming from me, but they’re true. If it doesn’t work- Kill it. KILL IT!
It didn't work. Move on. Next...
Seek advice and counsel from row hobbyists, but don’t talk anyone’s word as THE ultimate. Because the reality is, there is plenty to learn in this hobby from a lot of people. And from yourself, as well! There are people out there in Reef Keeping Land doing stuff you never even heard of, and maybe they are having great results. Does that mean you should listen to everything they say and try to replicate their efforts to the last detail, or embrace all of their philosophies? Of course not. No way. Take everything- from everyone in this hobby- with a grain of salt. Learn to evaluate reefkeeping strategies in the context of “Will this work for ME?” Far better than to just blindly follow ANYONE.
"There is only one way..glorious conformity to MY way..." (Remember the classic Apple "1984" commercial? Yeah.)
If you want something on your tank done right…do it…the right way? Yeah. Doesn’t matter if you’re the guy/gal doing it, or if you hire someone else. Just make sure it’s done correctly. I’ve seen so many people put time and effort into reef projects that were not only doomed to fail, but they simply couldn’t work by virtue of design, function, or even budget. And they lingered on and on in the reefer's system, like a slow-growing cancer. This sort of dovetails with my third point about killing bad ideas…Okay, it’s an addendum, really: If you’re not going to do something the right way, just don’t bother. Really. It sounds negative, I know- but you’ll be much happier in the long run, trust me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard reefers tell me that “(Insert product here) doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. It sucks.” Upon further investigation, it turns out that the reefer was using the product, but either not in the correct manner, or only part of it. You hear that with regimens like ZeoVit, Coral Color, Triton, carbon dosing, two-part solutions, etc. If you’re using a regimen or system that needs to have multiple components or systems working together, use them! Don't edit, for goodness sake.! At least not until you've tested and verified effectiveness for a long time. You can’t expect a complete result out of a partial effort.
Some things you just shouldn't do yourself. But you need things done correctly regardless of who does them!
Yikes, it was much quieter and less annoying when Fellman was on his writing sabbatical, huh?
Today’s _____ slap of cold reality, courtesy of your local reef keeping enfant terrible.!
Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday, have some fun…and above all-
Stay Wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
As you know, I've sort of developed an almost "Tony Robins-esque" (eww) personality of being everyone's reefing confidant. I know a lot of you turn to me for advice, discussion...a shoulder to cry on...and for coral, too (well, that's a good thing!). Like Mary Poppins, most of my advice is dispensed with a "spoonful of sugar", and it goes down fairly easily, if not, on occasion, controversially.
Lately, however, I've taken a somewhat more "realistic" approach to the hobby, realizing that sugar-coating our own follies and giving the typical warm fuzzy isn't always what you need. I realized, both in my personal practice, and in the "advice" I've been dispensing to fellow reefers of late, that I've had to take a more pragmatic approach to really do everyone some good.
So the tone of this piece might be a bit more ahem, "blunt" than what you're used to from me. On the other hand, it's formulated to be helpful, not patronizing, and that means we sometimes all have to get some "tough love" in order to progress in the hobby. It's a distillation of advice sifted from a whole lot of emails and phone calls I've received over the past few months, peppered with a sprinkling of recent personal experience and practice.
I think it might help some of us. It might tick off some of us, too. It might be typical easily digested "Fellman-Fluff", and that's good, also! So here is some of my better advice, and I think much of it is worth at least pondering"
If a coral is dying- get it out of the tank…Yeah- that sounds bad, and it almost sounds like im endorsing a "euthenasia" of sorts.. All from the guy who just concluded a contest for who has the ugliest coral...Well, "ugly" is different than "unhealthy!" In the coral farming game, if you have a struggling frag that might have flatworms, red bugs, or some other pest or disease, you cant risk letting it take down other frags. This can occur in nature, too...Wide-scale disease events can affect populations across a local reef...And its really the same in a display aquarium, too- IMHO. Sometimes, you have to make the tough call and not play Florence Nightingale to a struggling coral (at least, not while it's in the tank). The risks to the rest of the community are too great, IMHO. ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one…” (OMG did I just quote Mr. Spock from Star Trek? Yeah, I did. Where’s Marc Levenson…Marc! MARC!!)
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..or the one..."
Keep some “negative space” in the rock work your tank. Not just for aquascaping…I mean, yes, you should have some open space not covered by corals. Why? For several reasons. One, it gives you existing corals a chance to spread out and grow. Second, it DOES have a good aesthetic thing going for it…We all like to allow our eyes a place to rest from the busy “fruit-stand” appearance of a typical reef aquarium. And finally, having some extra space gives you room to…expand your collection! To be a bit impulsive (after due consideration for the merits of the coral you're considering, of course). Yeah, that’s right..I said it! You can have some room for future impulse buys! A salute to consumerism (and of course, a tip of the hat to my fellow coral vendors!
Gorgeous..but packed. No room for impulse buys here!
Ditch really bad ideas…quickly. Yup, kind of like the Facebook corporate mantra of “move fast and break things”, I think it’s time we let stuff go that doesn’t work. Life it too short. I am not saying to disregard patience (Lord knows, I’ve written a ton about that over the past few years right in this forum). All I’m saying is that you need to let go of ideas that simply aren’t working out, taxing time, energy, money, space, and “mind power.” Better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all…but better to let something that was failing die a quick death than to have it function as a “black hole” of your hobby energy (and budget!). Harsh words coming from me, but they’re true. If it doesn’t work- Kill it. KILL IT!
It didn't work. Move on. Next...
Seek advice and counsel from row hobbyists, but don’t talk anyone’s word as THE ultimate. Because the reality is, there is plenty to learn in this hobby from a lot of people. And from yourself, as well! There are people out there in Reef Keeping Land doing stuff you never even heard of, and maybe they are having great results. Does that mean you should listen to everything they say and try to replicate their efforts to the last detail, or embrace all of their philosophies? Of course not. No way. Take everything- from everyone in this hobby- with a grain of salt. Learn to evaluate reefkeeping strategies in the context of “Will this work for ME?” Far better than to just blindly follow ANYONE.
"There is only one way..glorious conformity to MY way..." (Remember the classic Apple "1984" commercial? Yeah.)
If you want something on your tank done right…do it…the right way? Yeah. Doesn’t matter if you’re the guy/gal doing it, or if you hire someone else. Just make sure it’s done correctly. I’ve seen so many people put time and effort into reef projects that were not only doomed to fail, but they simply couldn’t work by virtue of design, function, or even budget. And they lingered on and on in the reefer's system, like a slow-growing cancer. This sort of dovetails with my third point about killing bad ideas…Okay, it’s an addendum, really: If you’re not going to do something the right way, just don’t bother. Really. It sounds negative, I know- but you’ll be much happier in the long run, trust me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard reefers tell me that “(Insert product here) doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. It sucks.” Upon further investigation, it turns out that the reefer was using the product, but either not in the correct manner, or only part of it. You hear that with regimens like ZeoVit, Coral Color, Triton, carbon dosing, two-part solutions, etc. If you’re using a regimen or system that needs to have multiple components or systems working together, use them! Don't edit, for goodness sake.! At least not until you've tested and verified effectiveness for a long time. You can’t expect a complete result out of a partial effort.
Some things you just shouldn't do yourself. But you need things done correctly regardless of who does them!
Yikes, it was much quieter and less annoying when Fellman was on his writing sabbatical, huh?
Today’s _____ slap of cold reality, courtesy of your local reef keeping enfant terrible.!
Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday, have some fun…and above all-
Stay Wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
