Did you develop a "stocking plan" for your most recent reef?
I think we have lofty plans to stock our new reef exactly how we want. We get really excited, start adding all of the fishes and corals we planned on...and then, before we realize it...we're full. No more room for new fishes. No more frags. None.
What do you do then?
The simple answer. Get another tank! Because a good stocking plan will simply set you up for frustration! Why? Because, quite simply, you can't have it all.
Doesn't matter if you created a 5-gallon aquarium, or a 500-gallon aquarium. It hits you just the same.
Yup.
Think about it. We spend a lot of time researching all of the fishes and corals we're going to add to our new aquarium, develop sequences for whom is added when- and so forth. And, for the most part, we execute on our plans pretty well. In fact, probably too well.
Because what inevitably happens is we look ago our newly-stocked tank, brimming with life, and we're enamored...To the point where we wish we added that one more fish or coral...Wouldn't that new wrasse be so cool? Ohh, can't do it- you opted for a group of Tangs instead....Oh, and those cool Faviids you saw at the LFS yesterday would be so cool..but this is a Tropical Western Atlantic-themed tank, and they're from the Pacific...It would look... weird...with your Chalk Basses and Royal Grammas and Atlantic Blue Tangs...and you're a hardcore biotope geek, Right?
So, from the minute we "finish"- or for that matter-start- a new aquarium, we're actually working on the next one! Because everything that we couldn't include in this one, we have to add to the next one. It's not that we don't enjoy or appreciate what we already have. Ot's just that there are so many possibilities out there, right? Some new coral or fish- some new concept- will capture your attention.
Thats what being a fish geek is.
And, of course, that's is the crux of what we call "Multiple Tank Syndrome."
It's simply not possible for a serious fish geek to have just one tank. Or, if he or she is stuck with one tank, there is almost certainly a lot of scheming going on, and changes in the setup might happen sooner, rather than later. In other words, we cope.
Far be it from me to look on this phenomenon with anything but awe. It infects every fish geek, regardless of the original intentions, budgetary restrictions, space, or impact on spousal relations.
It's how 30 tank fish rooms get built.
Multiple Yank Syndrome. Very real. Very challenging.
And very cool.
If you have this- consider yourself blessed.
Your a genuine, 100% fish geek.
Simple as that.
How have you "coped" or "overcome" this issue? What is a fish geek to do? How do you attend a frag swap when your tank is "full?" Is a reef ever really "full?"
Revel in the title of "geek." Relish the affliction. Stay obsessed. Keep scheming. Keep dreaming. Keep building. Get another tank...
And stay wet.
Scott Fellman
I think we have lofty plans to stock our new reef exactly how we want. We get really excited, start adding all of the fishes and corals we planned on...and then, before we realize it...we're full. No more room for new fishes. No more frags. None.
What do you do then?
The simple answer. Get another tank! Because a good stocking plan will simply set you up for frustration! Why? Because, quite simply, you can't have it all.
Doesn't matter if you created a 5-gallon aquarium, or a 500-gallon aquarium. It hits you just the same.
Yup.
Think about it. We spend a lot of time researching all of the fishes and corals we're going to add to our new aquarium, develop sequences for whom is added when- and so forth. And, for the most part, we execute on our plans pretty well. In fact, probably too well.
Because what inevitably happens is we look ago our newly-stocked tank, brimming with life, and we're enamored...To the point where we wish we added that one more fish or coral...Wouldn't that new wrasse be so cool? Ohh, can't do it- you opted for a group of Tangs instead....Oh, and those cool Faviids you saw at the LFS yesterday would be so cool..but this is a Tropical Western Atlantic-themed tank, and they're from the Pacific...It would look... weird...with your Chalk Basses and Royal Grammas and Atlantic Blue Tangs...and you're a hardcore biotope geek, Right?
So, from the minute we "finish"- or for that matter-start- a new aquarium, we're actually working on the next one! Because everything that we couldn't include in this one, we have to add to the next one. It's not that we don't enjoy or appreciate what we already have. Ot's just that there are so many possibilities out there, right? Some new coral or fish- some new concept- will capture your attention.
Thats what being a fish geek is.
And, of course, that's is the crux of what we call "Multiple Tank Syndrome."
It's simply not possible for a serious fish geek to have just one tank. Or, if he or she is stuck with one tank, there is almost certainly a lot of scheming going on, and changes in the setup might happen sooner, rather than later. In other words, we cope.
Far be it from me to look on this phenomenon with anything but awe. It infects every fish geek, regardless of the original intentions, budgetary restrictions, space, or impact on spousal relations.
It's how 30 tank fish rooms get built.
Multiple Yank Syndrome. Very real. Very challenging.
And very cool.
If you have this- consider yourself blessed.
Your a genuine, 100% fish geek.
Simple as that.
How have you "coped" or "overcome" this issue? What is a fish geek to do? How do you attend a frag swap when your tank is "full?" Is a reef ever really "full?"
Revel in the title of "geek." Relish the affliction. Stay obsessed. Keep scheming. Keep dreaming. Keep building. Get another tank...
And stay wet.
Scott Fellman
Errrr ummm, 3... always forget about the QT!!!
