What is success in this hobby

[Paxthemax]

Everybody has their own way of determining success, whether its keeping a specific coral, fish, etc or having a dream tank build.

For me I knew I had achieved something when I had 2 things. #1 keeping a tang, any tang for longer than a week and a half and #2 just having a mandarin, I know they are nothing special to most but to me it's a cool fish.

It seems that I have hit success.

I have a nice purple tang that's been ruling the roost for about a year and I've had a baby blue hippo for 3 weeks, its eating everything and doing well.

I have also had a female mandarin for about a year. She is fat and happy. About 2-3 weeks ago I got a large Male. Every other night for the last 2ish weeks they have been doing the mating dance and I couldn't be happier.

That's my version of success in this hobby. It's not much to some and its goals for others. But the support on here has been great.

So what has been your measure of success in this hobby? Have you made it or still working on it?

 

[justmee]

Success = having my entire tank automated and fine tuned to the point where all my corals and my fishes are happy, and me spending as little time maintaining it!!

And conquering ich on tangs...

 

[ca1ore]

My definition of success with any fish or coral is that it survives under my care for at least a year.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

The main embodiment of "success" for me will be to first have coral spawning in my tank, and then to figure out a way to get viable offspring from said spawn. I hope to accomplish this not only for some bragging rights, but I think it would be a great way to expand aquaculture of corals in the hobby, and eventually help lead to less corals being collected from the ocean.

 

[ngoodermuth]

If I get the last couple of fish I want from QT into my tank, and all of my current fish and corals are still around this time next year, I’ll consider this tank a glowing success

 

[dylana407]

I can keep anemones, I have a few acros that are growing. My bounce is growing. If I can keep euphillia alive and growing for more than a year, then it's success. Once I had a hammer that was doing well for almost a year. One day, it just retract and died by the end of the week. I had no idea why.

 

[Paxthemax]

I like the responses.

Success = having my entire tank automated and fine tuned to the point where all my corals and my fishes are happy, and me spending as little time maintaining it!!

And conquering ich on tangs...

Ich has been a big issue for me too. I've lost several tanks to it.

The main embodiment of "success" for me will be to first have coral spawning in my tank, and then to figure out a way to get viable offspring from said spawn. I hope to accomplish this not only for some bragging rights, but I think it would be a great way to expand aquaculture of corals in the hobby, and eventually help lead to less corals being collected from the ocean.

I hope this happens more and drops the price of corals and we can start adding more back to the wild to help rebuild the reefs.

I can keep anemones, I have a few acros that are growing. My bounce is growing. If I can keep euphillia alive and growing for more than a year, then it's success. Once I had a hammer that was doing well for almost a year. One day, it just retract and died by the end of the week. I had no idea why.

I had this exactly what happened with a Duncan. It grew from 3 heads to 16 in 9ish months then it just started receding with no other change. It's sad and frustrating.


It seems the underlying theme is keeping everything alive for at least a year. This good for everyone and the environment too.

It's also nice to see people that have been doing this for a while looking at advanced topics and constantly striving for more.

This a great discussion, let's keep it up.

 

[FGourdin]

For me success was procuring a Moorish Idol and enticing him to eat. Started out taking only clam minced on the half shell. Then progressed to live black worms. Now going on 6 years he eats everything including pellets and flake foods.

 

[dylana407]

For me success was procuring a Moorish Idol and enticing him to eat. Started out taking only clam minced on the half shell. Then progressed to live black worms. Now going on 6 years he eats everything including pellets and flake foods.

Picture?

 

[WVNed]

Success = being happy with my tank.
I am.

 

[ubasu]

I dont think there is success in reef keeping. There are failures for sure. But everything can be improved on. (More growth, better color, less algae) I think this is part of the appeal to me.

Idk could be wrong. But theres no points system.... yet. =)

 

[madweazl]

Success = my fish and corals are growing [without abnormalities...].

 

[Auquanut]

As a newish reefer, each step is a milestone. When I replaced my wet dry filter for a sump/fuge and the system did well instead of crashing: SUCCESS! When I started autodosing two part and didn't completely screw it up: SUCCESS! I've recently started adding acros and they seem to be doing well: SUCCESS! I don't know if I will ever consider my tanks a complete success, but the milestones are awesome. Next step is to incorporate an auto water change system.

 

[Falreef]

Success = you can never have too many tanks. Each with a different style. Next best thing to Scuba diving.

 

[Paul B]

For me success is buying fish very young and having them die of old age. If they die sooner, the fish may not think that was successful.

Success = being happy with my tank.

I am.

But this is the most important aspect of this and every other hobby.

 

[Bossman]

I dont think there is success in reef keeping. There are failures for sure. But everything can be improved on. (More growth, better color, less algae) I think this is part of the appeal to me.

Idk could be wrong. But theres no points system.... yet. =)

I've come to the conclusion that "Reefing" for me will always be a Work in Progress. As long as I'm happy with where I am and where my tanks are at a given time, I've achieved success. However, there will never be a point where I can say, I've reached my goal as there will always be another. And that's part of the allure of this reefing thing to me. It keeps me engaged and of course, I care for all of the tanks inhabitants like I'm sure you all do too. I want them to live and flourish in the system I've designed for them.

I was a competitive bodybuilder for over 10 years and recently gave that up (getting too old!). In the same way, I was never finished or complete. No matter what contest I won or goal I achieved, there was always another around the corner. A perpetual work in progress.

This hobby is awesome! And consuming....

 

[ks2509]

IMO tank success is, in no particular order, the tank that when people come over they say wow and can’t look away. Something I can look at and love everyday but not a lot of baby sitting. Fish, inverts, and coral that are happy and healthy.

 

[Nokiaec11]

Having fish that start out as juveniles and grow to the beautiful adult stage and last longer than than the equipment eventually needing a new home...sounds like kids ;Yawn

 

[C-Reefer]

Honestly success is just a milestone. As someone else said, starting dosing, upgrading tank sizes, finally buying and growing that notoriously hard coral, they're always changing. Nobody will ever be happy with what they've got , we always want it better. For me, my dream was always to have a big tank, a Tang, and a Mandarin. Well, I just upgraded to a 75, I didn't crash anything and I have two tangs in QT and am dosing homegrown phyto and pods. So that's my goal I'm working towards right now. But when I fill that, it'll be something else.

 

[Rich Klein]

Watching my corals grow and split = success for me.