Why do reefers HATE maintenance?

[ZoWhat]

Reefing keeping to me as a hobby has just as much to do as enjoying the work/maintenance....as it is enjoying watching things grow.

Much like a Gardener likes to dig and toil in the mud to eventually see beautiful things grow....

or a Car Enthusiast always under their car with a socket set to make their car perform better.....

.....as a Reefer, I like all the work/maintenance of a reef bc I get to see my work (husbandry) pay off in coral growth and color.

My family knows to LEAVE ME ALONE when I'm working on the tank. I'll listen to the radio or just listen to silence and enjoy TIME TO MYSELF working.

I dont understand a reefer who just wants to sit in front of the tank 15min a day and think everything else is a flipping chore.

The only thing I HATE is equipment failures...and personal failures when things die bc it was my fault.

Your thoughts......plz


.

 

[glb]

I don’t like water changes but the rest is a way to take a close look at the tank. It feels great when everything’s done!

 

[Potatohead]

If it’s something I have planned out, I don’t mind it, even enjoy it. Unexpected stuff bugs me but that’s true of most things in life lol. I would rather clean my tank 100 times over than vacuum or clean bathrooms or something, just don’t tell my wife I don’t mind the tank maintenance or the gig might be up!

 

[WV Reefer]

Reefing keeping to me as a hobby has just as much to do as enjoying the work/maintenance....as it is enjoying watching things grow.

Much like a gardener likes to dig and toil in the mud to eventually see beautiful things grow.... I like all the work/maintenance of a reef bc I get to see my work (husbandry) pay off in coral growth and color.

My family knows to LEAVE ME ALONE when I'm working on the tank. I'll listen to the radio or just listen to silence and enjoy TIMD TO MYSELF working.

I dont understand a reefer who just wants to sit in front of the tank 15min a day and think everything else is a chore.

The only thing I HATE is equipment failures

Your thoughts......plz


.

I feel the same......To me it’s all part of the package.



I do it all. I am the creator! lol

 

[Kremis]

Love taking care of the tanks, only thing I hate is when stuff dies (doesnt happen too much anymore)

 

[xellos88]

I dont understand a reefer who just wants to sit in front of the tank 15min a day and think everything else is a flipping chore.

I dunno...

Enjoying a warm cup of coffee while watching your reef tank with freshly baked Belgian chocolate chip cookies on a nice rainy day.

-- vs --

In an awkward position cleaning out the detritus behind your rockwork, getting stung by your nem, scraping your forearm on vermetid snail spikes, while your clownfish bites on your arm and draws blood every few mins.

 

[marinesnow]

I hate it when it’s unnecessary. That’s why I stopped doing water changes. Rather than doing that, I’d rather spend my free time: taking photos of the tank, fragging corals, researching, or posting on reef2reef haha. And reduce maintenance even further, next I’ll be adding a constant alkalinity monitor, with a doser controller, so I don’t have to test alk, or adjust my doser as often.

 

[Uhohhotdog]

I just hate cleaning. I’ll change water all day. Just don’t want to clean it.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I don’t like water changes but the rest is a way to take a close look at the tank. It feels great when everything’s done!

Setting up automatic water changes with my Apex was the best thing I've ever done! I have it changing 1.5 gallons every day. I haven't had to carry a bucket or drag a hose into the house since first filling the tank.

 

[TangingOut]

It's all tedious to me and don't enjoy it one bit. I'll do it because I know it helps to keep a thriving reef.

To me reef keeping is the challenge to grow corals and keep my fishes happy. For the corals, after I put in the work to keep stable parameters, find the right flow, and light settings, I want to be able to sit back and watch them grow while my beautiful fishes swim around them.

 

[glb]

Setting up automatic water changes with my Apex was the best thing I've ever done! I have it changing 1.5 gallons every day. I haven't had to carry a bucket or drag a hose into the house since first filling the tank.

How did you do it?

 

[Pntbll687]

I don't like maintenance, but I do it.

I used to like toning with the tank and changing things around, but now it's do as little as possible to make things run. I've added an auto feeder, and expanded the size of my ATO. Now, as long as there is no repent failures, it can be 2-3 weeks before I need to do anything besides clean the glass.

 

[User]

Setting up automatic water changes with my Apex was the best thing I've ever done! I have it changing 1.5 gallons every day. I haven't had to carry a bucket or drag a hose into the house since first filling the tank.

Genesis renew, apex DOS or DIY?

 

[harthag12]

I like the end result of my lawn looking great & my pool being crystal clear but I don't enjoy that work either. I'd rather just sit back & look at the tank rather than having to lug buckets around & worry about RODI overflowing my bucket being made.

 

[andrewkw]

I like doing maintenance, probably more then in the past. Most of the reason for that is I really look at my display tank as a display tank, it's in the dinning room. It's not a collection of corals in the basement where I go and hang out. It's up front and center enjoyed as an entire reef. I'd also rather remove some detritus weekly rather then in 1 year or even 2 or 3 have problems with nutrient issues. I actually probably could make my water changes a lot easier but I'd rather still do them manually as it gives me a chance once a week to examine the tank with all the pumps off and from the top down which I normally don't do on a daily basis since I have a hood and a lot of flow at the surface.

While it's not fun cleaning the skimmer weekly it sure performs better then bi-weekly or longer. It's not fun scraping the back glass and knocking over or breaking corals in my narrow 18" wide tank, but I still do it every week because I'm happy with how it looks after. Of course I'm not a busy person trying to fit a reef into my life, my reef keeps me busy and I enjoy spending time on it. Some people just have too much going on to enjoy little aspects.

 

[cracker]

depends on the task at hand . I love blasting the gunk off the rock work. that,s fun !
Now vacuuming sand ? Nope , no fun at all !

 

[SuncrestReef]

Genesis renew, apex DOS or DIY?

I'm using DOS for water changes. Works great.

 

[DarkSky]

I really enjoy it, but as a hobby it takes a back seat to things breaking in the house, or mowing the lawn.

 

[Greybeard]

Like many hobbyists, I like to do things when I want to do them... not when I must.

Water changes are a PITA, no doubt about it. Keeping a regular schedule on water changes is even more so.

It's worth it.

Other maintenance tasks, I don't usually mind. Cleaning the skimmer cup, mixing up a bucket of kalkwasser, keeping an eye on probe values, PO4 and NO3 testing (which are the only tests I run regularly)... none of that bothers me. Feeding? I enjoy that one.

Cleaning socks? Hated it bad enough that I don't use them anymore, and probably never will. Ugh.

It's not just reefing... there's usually something about any hobby that you might not care for. My other hobby is shooting, and I don't mind cleaning guns, reloading (which might count as a hobby all on it's own!), etc. But. When it comes to picking up brass, I'd almost rather let it lay, and buy new. I go as far as avoiding semi-auto firearms as much as I can... revolvers and bolt guns don't throw brass everywhere.

Looking at the OP's alternate hobbies... cars. Wrenching on what amounts to an expensive toy as a hobby == fun. Working on your primary driver because it won't start? Not so much. Gardening? I can appreciate a nice looking flower bed, and I'm always happy to eat the produce of a well tended vegetable garden, but me? Digging up weeds on the weekend? Don't count on it!

 

[ReefWithCare]

I have enough things to do around the home so I hate maintenance. I would pay someone to maintain it (or just get a robot to do it - what happened to the robot algae magnets [emoji848]) if I trusted them just so I can enjoy looking at the tank and frag [emoji106].

I also hate QT’ing every single thing because I can’t trust any source - especially the LFS. I would pay up the butt for Pre-QT’ed stuff. For now, Divers Den & WWC are the best to go and then do your own QT. I absolutely dread having more than one tank lol. That’s right - I ONLY want one tank. No fish dungeon for me [emoji16].

The main thing I would happily invest in once the tech matures in an alk controller. I hate dosing and just want it done automatically and precise and monitored 24-7 like my Tunze Oz. I’ll give it a couple of years before I feel comfortable with the tech.