When is your tank finished?

[WVNed]

You get the the point where something new causes something old to die or dies itself. Sometimes the niche you thought was still open isn't.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

2nd one. the operator error is virtually constant. i feel like if you get to the bare necessites it can be somewhat removed, but if you dump a whole can of fish food in your tank, no matter what you do, you're screwed (unless you have like a 10000 gallon tank and you feed a can of fish food on a daily basis)

Ok very good - just confirming. Love this question and these answers!

 

[WallyB]

It depends on what your goal was.

For me, I thrive on challenges and problem-solving. Luckily trying to figure out SPS has taken a decade so kept me busy. There were many moments of disappointment. Every setback, even the full restarts was exciting. . Adding DIY automation to keep things stable was a hobby in itself.

Now for about a year, I'm no longer trying to keep frags from vaporizing overnight. Tank is filling in with SPS colonies and space is running since I packed things to overcome losses. Getting close to the finish line on the SPS tank. I have to admit achieving success is kind of boring since basic maintenance isn't the same as putting out fires.

 

[427HISS]

Never, just like hot rods or muscle cars, theirs always things to change or up-grade. Like when I built my Ford 427 Shelby Cobra I did not have unlimited funds to create it to my dream Cobra, but through the year's I have made upgrades to almost, my dream. I'm almost done with my new engine, a Ford 460/527. It's not a 427 side oiler, but their way,...to expensive to build, especially the cost per HP. It will be around 725-750 HP/Torque. (if anyone wants pics here, let me know. I don't mind showing off )

But anyway, you're never finished with your hobby, weather it's our tanks, cars to landscaping.

 

[Timfish]

Never. There's always change, there's always somebody growing and trying to do in it's neighbors for space and it may not be noticable fo rweeks or munths but there's always fluctuations in the microbial stuff to worrry about.

 

[Piscans]

Never, just like hot rods or muscle cars, theirs always things to change or up-grade. Like when I built my Ford 427 Shelby Cobra I did not have unlimited funds to create it to my dream Cobra, but through the year's I have made upgrades to almost, my dream. I'm almost done with my new engine, a Ford 460/527. It's not a 427 side oiler, but their way,...to expensive to build, especially the cost per HP. It will be around 725-750 HP/Torque. (if anyone wants pics here, let me know. I don't mind showing off )

But anyway, you're never finished with your hobby, weather it's our tanks, cars to landscaping.

i dont mean finished with a hobby, i mean like stopping adding stuff and feeling satisfied with the results of your tank. it might just be a phase but it could be a long term thing

 

[427HISS]

i dont mean finished with a hobby, i mean like stopping adding stuff and feeling satisfied with the results of your tank. it might just be a phase but it could be a long term thing

I don't mean finished a hobby for life, just that you're always improving and making changes, so your never finished.

 

[Dburr1014]

Never, just like hot rods or muscle cars, theirs always things to change or up-grade. Like when I built my Ford 427 Shelby Cobra I did not have unlimited funds to create it to my dream Cobra, but through the year's I have made upgrades to almost, my dream. I'm almost done with my new engine, a Ford 460/527. It's not a 427 side oiler, but their way,...to expensive to build, especially the cost per HP. It will be around 725-750 HP/Torque. (if anyone wants pics here, let me know. I don't mind showing off )

But anyway, you're never finished with your hobby, weather it's our tanks, cars to landscaping.

Yes please, pics!

 

[Labridaedicted]

When I'm dead? I'll probably never be 100% satisfied with it, much to the chagrin of my wife.

 

[sfin52]

when you are maintaining a reef tank? at what point is it "finished" this dosent necessarily mean moving on, starting a new tank, but when you're satisfied with the fish and corals you have & you just let them flourish & grow. i feel like ive reached that point with my tank. i have a lot of kenya tree & zoanthids, & my mollies are breeding. i want to add some other kind of toothcarp & some more female mollies, but otherwise i feel like my tank is complete.

It's a choice to be satisfied or not. We are e constantly pushed to want more bigger and better. In the end it's never enough. Satisfaction and contentment is a choice one has to make daily.

 

[CRD23]

Just when I start thinking that I am about to get there, I see one more cool video of someone else' s tank. And I start thinking I need to get that in my tank. And the cycle starts all over again....

 

[427HISS]

Yes please, pics!

 

[427HISS]

Lol, ok.
The engine in the car was my last 428FE. The new one on the bench is the 460/527 stroker.

 

[427HISS]

SORRY guys, did not mean for both the posts. I'll see if I can fix this.

 

[Auquanut]

i dont mean finished with a hobby, i mean like stopping adding stuff and feeling satisfied with the results of your tank. it might just be a phase but it could be a long term thing

When you keep a reef long term, it will get to the point where you can say "Yeah. this looks awesome! This is what I was trying for. I have succeeded! Yay me!!"

Then those darned corals will keep growing. Growing into each other despite your best efforts, and making you think "This looked a lot better before the kenya trees, zoas, monti caps, etc... started taking over".

Then the focus will shift from being able to grow coral to being able to manage coral. It is absolutely an evolution and an ongoing process. It's just as challenging and just as much fun managing a reef is it is establishing one.

It's been said before in this thread that you're never done. That is exactly right. The evolution of our tanks keeps us challenged and keeps us interested. It never gets dull.

 

[Dburr1014]

Oh, she is a beauty! Thank you!

 

[427HISS]

Oh, she is a beauty! Thank you!

Thank you. I wish I could have built a 427 side oiler, but the originals are almost gone, after drag racers blew them up, sitting outside and rusted. There are two company's make new blocks in Iron or aluminum but their $4500-$6000 and Shelby has a aluminum FE but are $7000. The Shelby and BBM are works of arts ! Even the 428FE's (which every street cars came with) are getting rare and the prices have gone out of control. With the bores, you can get around 550 HP for apx. $13,000-$15,000. With my 460, I stroked it out to 527cu. and will be around 725-750 (maybe more) with my stack injection and them amazing Kaase SR-71 heads for $11,000, without the EFI. I'd rather have a aluminum side oiler, but their about $19,000 (a friend has one in his Cobra) with 600 HP or the Shelby FE $25,000 and about 650 HP. That's I went with the 460, and their bullet proof ! A guy I know drag races his and stroked it to 630cu. Mechanical roller cam, dual carbs, 14:1 compression, 114 octane fuel etc, dynode at 963 HP, built it himself for $16,000. He has over 28 races on it, but he's freshining it this winter.

 

[Dburr1014]

Thank you. I wish I could have built a 427 side oiler, but the originals are almost gone, after drag racers blew them up, sitting outside and rusted. There are two company's make new blocks in Iron or aluminum but their $4500-$6000 and Shelby has a aluminum FE but are $7000. The Shelby and BBM are works of arts ! Even the 428FE's (which every street cars came with) are getting rare and the prices have gone out of control. With the bores, you can get around 550 HP for apx. $13,000-$15,000. With my 460, I stroked it out to 527cu. and will be around 725-750 (maybe more) with my stack injection and them amazing Kaase SR-71 heads for $11,000, without the EFI. I'd rather have a aluminum side oiler, but their about $19,000 (a friend has one in his Cobra) with 600 HP or the Shelby FE $25,000 and about 650 HP. That's I went with the 460, and their bullet proof ! A guy I know drag races his and stroked it to 630cu. Mechanical roller cam, dual carbs, 14:1 compression, 114 octane fuel etc, dynode at 963 HP, built it himself for $16,000. He has over 28 races on it, but he's freshining it this winter.

Back 20 years ago, in my CT reef club, we had an older gentleman who had an original ac cobra. It needed a light restoration, ie, paint was faded, ect.
He would drive it occasionally to the monthly meetings. Still was a beautiful car.
Don't make cars like that anymore. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Rp8]

It’s never completed

 

[427HISS]

Back 20 years ago, in my CT reef club, we had an older gentleman who had an original ac cobra. It needed a light restoration, ie, paint was faded, ect.
He would drive it occasionally to the monthly meetings. Still was a beautiful car.
Don't make cars like that anymore. Thanks for sharing!

Yeah, the originals have gotten so expensive that you really can't drive them much. And they don't make them like that anymore, is so true. If you're a car person, anybody can see a A/C Cobra from a mile away, you can't say that about todays cars from a 100'.