There are tons of things to prioritize in a home reef: setup, chemistry, nutrition, and the list goes on and on.
If we're talking livestock, what are you prioritizing? And by "prioritizing," I mean:
What takes up the most time?
What keeps you up at night?
What are you most invested in?
What is your "baby"?
Who is the most important member(s) of your home reef?
Your
fish, your
coral, or your
inverts? I'm curious!
Photo credit:
@Andreas' Reef
Currently, in my home reef my two chinchillas are taking up the majority of my time.
Time is the limiting factor in life, and reefing is the measure of enjoyment one can have thinking about the ocean. I have a job, a wife, a home, a garden, Birds, Fish, and a reef. All of these things I have (or that have me?) require attention and make demands upon my time.
Right now I am at my job, but as you can see I have found a way to multitask at that which increases the value of my time greatly while I am working.
With the passing of our eldest Chin, it became apparent that Eddie, the survivor was beside himself not having a buddy to fight with all night. We spent last Saturday traveling to a shelter that had many Chins and they had just taken in a new one who was beside himself in the cage where he was listing. I spoke briefly with him and it was clear that he wanted to get the heck out of the smelly, dirty shelter and get back to his people. I explained to him that I had no idea who his people were, but that it was my understanding that they were not coming back for him. I spent about 20 minutes in a pen on the floor with the guy, he crawled all over me, clearly imprinted upon another human and happy enough to be petted by me, a stranger so I decided that we would adopt this guy. The lady at the shelter was filled with knowledge. She explained the "bonding" process between two males, and how they would fight to establish dominance at first and how to make the process as smooth as possible.
I will jump ahead to say that I have been spending all extra hours at home supervising fence-through socialization of Eddie and the new (still unnamed) male who has the instincts of Mike Tyson and has already managed to injury Eddies left eye with either a bite or a paw jab that has caused the eye to close slightly. I was considering letting them meet without wire later today but the have decided that I want the eye injury to heal completely and for the aggression to subside a bit more before I risk the health of these animals to a brawl that will eventually take place, but I am hoping to have established dominance among the tribe first so the submales can compete only for a second or third role, not a first in the house.
Once I get them squared away I will return to focusing on the reef rehabilitation project that is on going. NO fish in the reef currently, just a few coral and peppermint shrimp, snails, and a lot of bacteria mixed from the Caribbean, Australia, and- with a little Microbacter and Dr. Tims tossed in among mostly Pacific coral species.
