What did reefing teach you?

[flyfisher2]

It's teaching me to be patient, to apply what I'm learning and already know. To control my wants and able to prioritize. To deal with frustration and failures. To rejoice in triumphs, but be prepared for the next challenge. To balance this hobby with other responsibilities. Truly a challenge and ongoing project.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Never give up! I had a jar in which I put a little goby months ago. It disappeared shortly after that, and I just let the build go, with no water charges or light source. I decided to do a massive water change yesterday for the one surviving snail that I saw clinging to the glass, and, lo and behold, the goby came out. I really have no idea what it's been eating, as I hadn't put food in the tank since February.

 

[KQuillan]

When you think you're doing something right, then you're not. Then panic so you don't lose everything. You are always learning!

 

[steveschuerger]

Patience. I rushed things at first. Crashed the tank. Did a complete restart and even with ups and downs I’ve enjoyed the experience immensely. Biggest thing I found is that you can take only so much from freshwater experience and apply it.

 

[Nathan Peel]

Having a reef aquarium has taught me a lot. It actually allowed me to get a writing job for AlgaeBarn which I love.
It all started when I saw a little Mandarin at my LFS. I was gravitated to that little fish from across the room. I stared at it's beauty in awe and amazement. It's a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life. It's that moment that sent me down this journey. That moment got me my writing position at AlgaeBarn. From that, I've learned how such small seemingly unimportant moments can become incredibly important, potentially life changing moments.
What else? Well, like a lot of other people have said, I've learned patience and that nothing good comes fast. We all learn this from reefing, but it's such an important and beautiful thing.
I also have to agree that reefing teaches you how to work for something. Reefing is easy in my opinion. It is easy as long as you put in the necessary work. It's not like playing violin (which I do), in that playing violin often requires you to learn very technical physical things. There's a lot of coordination. With reefing, it's about what you know and putting in the work to apply it. They are similar in that they both take work to get something out of them. Once you understand the basics of Reefing, seeing a decline in the tank is usually just causes by laziness.
I've been very lazy with my aquarium at times. Now, I put in the necessary work. It's night and day.
The last thing I want to talk about is balance. I kind of have this obsession with the idea of balance. I tend to notice that bad things in the world result in some sort of unbalance and good things are the cause of having balance. The same is true for a reef aquarium. Like many other aspects of life, balance is key. Having a stable aquarium is one of the most important parts of this hobby in my opinion.
That's just what I've learned.

 

[atoll]

Rome wasn't built in a day and more can mean more is better with some things.

 

[Uriken]

It taught me that if I'm paid on Wednesday than I'll be broke on Thursday.

 

[BlackGoldReefs]

Allow me to start; reefing taught us all patience and that nothing good comes quickly.
Reefing also taught me that in order to reach and maintain your goal you need to keep working, every time I look at my tank and say oh wow it looks perfect and I think I reached my goal. I would encounter some sort of algael bloom or a parameter swing that would set me weeks or months back, simply because I thought that I am just too good.
I have a clown that would keep drawing blood out of my hands in my nano, once I upgraded the tank and moved him to the larger tank. He faced someone "of his own size"; my purple tang which would keep bullying him. This taught me to treat people the same way I would like them to treat me, because whatever you do to them good or bad someone, someday will do it to you.
I learnt to never compare my tank to others, every tank is unique, and to be grateful for what I have because the blessings that I have, others might not have them.
so what did reefing teach you?

I have recently learned even a two year old tank can have a green Cyanobacteria explosion. I also learned you can’t when with water changes either, or use bio pellets with nitrifying bacterias in the battle. I even tried dosing nitrate and phosphates, which made it worse. I hated using chemicals, but chemiclean did the trick!

 

[FMF0331]

Reefin did'ent teef me eneythin, it humilleate it me by shoing how dum i am .. itz still laughin at me

Reefing didn't teach me anything, it humiliated me by showing how dumb I am .. it's still laughing at me.

 

[Timfish]

Patience. Biochemistry. Social skills. Plumbing. Woodworking. Acrylic work. Lighting design.

Oooops! Forgot Patience. Zoology. Psychology (vertebrate and invertebrate). Interior design. Improved executive function. Air conditioning, Electronics, Hydrodynamics, Microbiology. And most importantly, enriching my cats environment.

 

[SlugSnorter]

a newfound hatred of protists

 

[Nano New]

Reefing has taught me how much about marine life I didn't know. I've learned so much in the last year about our oceans and reefs. I have learned how corals have personalities, even among their own kind. I've learned that reefing is as much about the gut feeling as it is about the knowledge base and to trust my instincts regardless of what the 'facts' say. I've learned to love the ocean even more than I did before because I'm more aware of the life within it at every level. I've learned that corals aren't the static things we see in pictures but unique vibrant beings that amaze me every single day. And also that I'm a horrible clumsy giant in their world that they somehow manage to tolerate, rather than a benevolent keeper who gives them a safe place to exist!

 

[DJF]

You don’t need to have a god complex to be successful in reefing but it will reveal what type of god you would be.

I’ve learned countless things from my reef keeping and it never ends; I’m constantly humbled

 

[Arego]

Proportionate & consistent feeding of your fish. Until I actually took this serious my tank was a one legged man in an a++ kicking contest with nutrients.

Once your system catches up to whatever the input load is you can explore new options to reduce them if necessary or simply reduce the food a bit and check again.. Most problems I've seen in person is due to eradicate feeding proportions each time combined with buying new gear while still feeding too much and then you turn to az NO3 and dosing for problems that wouldn't even exist if you simply fed a bit less and kept those amounts dialed in.

</rant>

 

[JumboShrimp]

How to strategize my way over, under, around, or through a problem. (Because there WILL be problems.)

 

[gibec]

reefing is like cocaine.
Addicting.. Expensive.. It has its ups and downs...

Me <====== Never done cocaine before.

 

[Gary67]

i thought it was a beautiful hobby colored fish nice white sand lightts just angled correctly corals flourishing feed a couple of times a day great start up cost which i knew was not cheap but now just about 2 years into it it is a very big work in progress now i have a ammonia problem changed out around 25g of water this is now just don't know how many problems that i went threw or over but its endless must say i take my hat off to most of you it's been a struggle but i will carry on you guys and woman are so helpful on here just by reading different problems thank you

 

[ReefRondo]

This is the hobby to fill your time. I’ve never known a hobby to be so dynamic. So what have I learned? I’m always learning.

 

[Gary67]

i thought it was a beautiful hobby colored fish nice white sand lightts just angled correctly corals flourishing feed a couple of times a day great start up cost which i knew was not cheap but now just about 2 years into it it is a very big work in progress now i have a ammonia problem changed out around 25g of water this is now just don't know how many problems that i went threw or over but its endless must say i take my hat off to most of you it's been a struggle but i will carry on you guys and woman are so helpful on here just by reading different problems thank you

i thought it was a beautiful hobby colored fish nice white sand lightts just angled correctly corals flourishing feed a couple of times a day great start up cost which i knew was not cheap but now just about 2 years into it it is a very big work in progress now i have a ammonia problem changed out around 25g of water this is now just don't know how many problems that i went threw or over but its endless must say i take my hat off to most of you it's been a struggle but i will carry on you guys and woman are so helpful on here just by reading different problems thank you

it taught me time takes time Rome was not built over night corals don't grow 1 inch a month it still very relaxing still just looking at a clean tank which i change around 10g 2x a week for a 75g tankk

 

[Gary67]

This is the hobby to fill your time. I’ve never known a hobby to be so dynamic. So what have I learned? I’m always learning.

i learned that time takes time can't have coral grow 1 inch a month i do enjoy it evan though there is so much more to learn i do enjoy a very clean tank