Funk SNAPPED! That’s all it takes!

[saltyhog]

I've never had a loss of passion but a couple of times I've gone in to a funk because of what was happening to my tank. The first was when I lost a couple of prized fish to freak accidents...but ones that could have been prevented if I thought it through better. The other is just now starting to break.....an almost year long battle with dinos in not one but both of my tanks. Thankfully one (my nano) seems to be completely recovered and the 6' tank seems to be getting back to normal. I missed watching my corals grow and color up.

I think when I can confidently add some new SPS in to the big tank the funk will be snapped!

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Can you repeat that question in English please?

 

[ectoaesthetics]

The worst part is reefing funk usually comes with less effort being put into the tank and thus makes it a long process to dig out to feel better again... So it can take weeks to gain the motivation back. But most of us in this hobby enjoy it because it is a hard road that takes time and are a bit more flexible in this area... but it is still rough to put in the effort to weeks later find your groove again!!

 

[eanelson2]

Helping others learn and be successful works for me. Also the magic of fry is also a powerful encouragement for me to keep at it.

New to the hobby, what does "fry" mean??

 

[Peace River]

New to the hobby, what does "fry" mean??

fry = baby fish!

...and welcome to R2R!

 

[Cment]

I just try to simplify the reef and the overall work that goes into it as much as possible and take a step back to remember why I got into the hobby in the first place.

 

[andrewkw]

The only time I was ever really down on reef keeping was after a series of crashes. I lost a ton of expensive corals, then a ton of expensive wrasses - all of this stuff costs way more now but 10 years or so ago it was a lot of money. What I did was focus on other marine creatures. I started keeping cuttlefish, then after a few rounds of them I had octopus, eventually I got garden eels. During all of this I still kept up with reefing but if my reef wasn't looking great or having some issues I had other tanks with cool stuff going on in them. While it certainly was a pain (and expensive) to import live mysid shrimp every other week, and hatch baby brine shimp to feed the food it was mostly just costly and labor intensive vs having mystery problems killing sps for instance or brown jelly which was the big one for me. You can go crazy trying to figure out what the cause of some things are.

I also started a pico tank which I maintained for 7 years. I loved having it and in a lot of ways it became my most successful tank. Since I had lots a ton of coral in my main reef but still had lots of nice things, I quickly filled up my little 8x6x8 2 gallon with existing corals and got them to fill up the tank real quick. There was no danger of losing everything since it was just a satellite tank so I experimented with various things like trying led lights when they were still scary and some of the pico corals grew so well they ended up back in bigger tanks. Still have some of them today.

I have of course had other bad stuff happen since, but I've never really lost any interest like I did then. I guess now I'm just in too deep it's reef keeping for life.

 

[eanelson2]

fry = baby fish!

...and welcome to R2R!

thanks

 

[clm65]

When I start losing interest or get down, I look at other people’s awesome tanks and it helps reinvigorate me. It gives me a goal and reminds me what is possible.

 

[C-Reefer]

Be honest did you add new sand? Lol!

What does “deep cleaning” consist of?

Nope no new sand! Good idea though ;Woot

For me... my tank had become very overrun with cualerpa with some gha mixed in. I completely vacuumed every bit of the sandbed, pulled out a lot of rock and scrubbed it clean along with picking out any cualerpa or gha on rocks that I couldn;t get out of the tank. Cleaned all my equipment along with a 80% water change and the tank was super happy the next day!

 

[lapin]

Its a hobby for most of us. Not a job where our income and well being relies on it being perfect. Going in with some unreal expectations is why people drop out. My blood boils a bit when stuff goes arwy, but not for long. Life's too short to worry about everything. Stuff happens. Some of it we can control and some we cant. If my tank wants to grow algae, maybe I can control it or maybe I can live with it. Im not getting stressed over it. So some corals die off. Rather than getting my knickers in a knot, I just try to understand why and maybe try to prevent it from happening again. If it does happen again, so be it. It's in the hands of the salt water gods. Thats good enough for me.

 

[Cassian]

Rev,,,,,,,, Its great hearing from You and MdBannister.
The tanks are actually my own. I cleaned the dosers on all three tanks ( 50 gal Drop off, 93 cube and my new 660G . Then came the filter socks and the skimmers and the 660 of course has the larger model skimmer with sensors, so takes some time.
Then was the glass in which two of the tanks are acrylic, so you go a little slower as not to catch sand and/or scratch the surfaces. The 660 is 10" length so it is by no means a quick swipe. . LOL.
Then I refilled all the AFS auto feeders and then mixed and filled dosers and the ATO resevoirs.
Other than cleaning the glass, most everything I did last 2-3 weeks.

If you havent had a chance, see my 660g build thread. Tank is running 7 weeks tomorrow and coming along nicely.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-newest-tank-660g-acrylic.560588/

Hey, I just upgraded to an acrylic tank. How do you clean yours? Dry side and wet side. I’m always so worried about scratching it

 

[lapin]

Hey, I just upgraded to an acrylic tank. How do you clean yours? Dry side and wet side. I’m always so worried about scratching it

I got the self cleaning acrylic. You need to trade that back in.

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[Jay Z]

When my depression kicks in I honestly have days where I would rather just empty the tanks and throw them out, but not enough energy to follow through. So I tell my self your in a bad mood again, just let it be, going to last a week or 2. Let the automation handle most of it and at least feed the fish once a day. After I feel back to normal I do a full clean.

 

[rodney]

Hey, I just upgraded to an acrylic tank. How do you clean yours? Dry side and wet side. I’m always so worried about scratching it

I use this it is awesome!

 

[Reefer Reboot]

I'll just correct my "opportunities for improvement", then just count all the things that are growing strong and going right.

 

[Auquanut]

About the only thing that puts me into a funk is when the real world encroaches on the time I think I need/want to spend on my tanks. Sometime I wonder. Am I just being selfish? Do I really have the time it takes to keep 6 tanks?

What brings me out of it is probably three things:

1. Just getting one day every week or two to spend on the tanks. Playing my music and enjoying a few cold beers. Very relaxing. Kinda like meditation.

2. Making a change. Adding/changing equipment, giving the planted tanks a haircut, placing a new coral in just the right spot etc...

3. Probably the biggest funk breaker is my wife. She knows me and when I'm feeling frustrated. She also knows just the right time to fawn over the tanks. She knows exactly when to be supportive.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Losing fish is the worst for me!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Can you repeat that question in English please?

Sure. What does it take to get you excited about your tank?

 

[Cassian]

I use this it is awesome!

thanks! ill check that out!