Unexpected Pleasures

ReefJCB · Mar 29, 2019

Something I’ve been thinking about lately is how much I enjoy parts of the hobby I never would have believed possible before getting in.

For instance, the whole equipment side is never something I thought I would enjoy. But I really do love researching pumps, lights, heaters, etc. Upgrading a new piece of equipment has become equally as exciting as getting new livestock.

What are some of your unexpected pleasures in the hobby?

BestMomEver · Mar 29, 2019

Automation.... when we began in this hobby in 2002, there weren’t any controllers we could find that would do what we wanted. Now days, there are quite a few. I love my Apex and like spending time researching and dreaming about add on equipment. I also like researching fish species and planning the next upgrade I have in mind!

d2mini · Mar 29, 2019

The initial build is definitely one of my favorite parts of the hobby.

harthag12 · Mar 29, 2019

On my old tank I expected the fish / corals to be my biggest interest, turned out the cleanup crew / little creatures I didn't add to my tank were my favorite thing in it. It was a nice discovery.

Lloyd Williams · Mar 29, 2019

harthag12 said:
On my old tank I expected the fish / corals to be my biggest interest, turned out the cleanup crew / little creatures I didn't add to my tank were my favorite thing in it. It was a nice discovery.

Free gifts lol

cracker · Mar 29, 2019

I enjoy the build part also . I also enjoy watching the fish interact with each other. I have large female clown & her husband is real small she will take food to him cause the flow higher up, blows him around.

Sorcha2 · Mar 29, 2019

How fun the worms are. I have one rock that is just totally covered in filter feeding worms and those filter feeding snails nobody else likes. It always makes me happy to feed the tank and see them all extend out and grab stuff.

seastar · Mar 29, 2019

something about that initial build... especially when things have changed over the years. I love a clean well though out sump area almost as much as I like a world class display.

ReefJCB · Mar 29, 2019

I hate myself for not thinking out my sump, plumbing, and controllers more. That is something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and will definitely be my next project!

Tiger Brown · Mar 29, 2019

This is more than a little embarrassing, but since the question is about unexpected pleasures I will admit that after I do a water change or change my filter or take out and clean a piece of equipment I get a sense of satisfaction of doing something I know will keep those that rely on me for a good life healthy. Of course, I've always gotten warm and fuzzy feelings looking at my car after I detail it too so there is a possibility I have a problem.

Mastiffsrule · Mar 29, 2019

Every day I look at my tanks and enjoy seeing everything happy and healthy. Feel like I am giving a good home to my pets.

ccombs · Mar 29, 2019

2 Things-

1) Initial build. Taking the time to get things right and putting in extra hours so it is perfect it a lot of fun. I love designing systems.

2) The clean up crew. I LOVE watching my shrimps and crabs!

Hemmdog · Mar 29, 2019

Scraping coraline off my glass with my scraper. The few days afterwards look so nice... and wiping down the skimmer neck, so it functions better, that makes me feel like I actually “did” something beneficial.

fish farmer · Mar 29, 2019

I bough a 20 gallon high today, have a baffle kit ordered, going to redesign the sump. It is time, one of the dividers has blown out and is held with a magnet. I added a mini reactor and modded my ASM skimmer this weekend.

The most exciting thing from the weekend tinkering was I got my chaeto to spin. I wasn't trying to do it but it tumbled for a few days.

cracker · Mar 29, 2019

@fish farmer , I also have an ASM that I modified the drain pipe. What did You do?

fish farmer · Mar 30, 2019

cracker said:
@fish farmer , I also have an ASM that I modified the drain pipe. What did You do?

It's the mod where you redo the drain pipe by adding a tee and a gate valve, so "you don't have to get your hands wet" when adjusting the height, at least that was one of the reasons, more fine tuning of height and redirecting outflow to minimize bubbles going into the display.

They didn't have a gate valve at my hardware store so I'm using a ball valve for now.