You never thought you would fail did you?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

“Looks easy on paper”

Have those words ever been uttered by someone starting out in this hobby? There seems to be a preconceived notion that salt water is hard. We can explore that idea to the nth degree. But clearly there has to be some fable to that notion, otherwise you/I/we wouldn’t have ever started down the path, nor would we have stuck with it. What made you overlook the idea that you were going to fail before you got started?

There’s no doubt that there is a learning curve but once we’ve established a good understanding of our tanks and have fallen into a routine, is it really as easy as it looks on paper?

Thank you Jimmy @Sisterlimonpot for today's QOTD topic!

 

[725196]

My first tank...NO. I was a fresh water guy that bought a used 55 gallon saltwater tank from a co-worker. Under-gravel filter, whisper filter, crushed coral, lion fish and all. I had the thing up for 4 months before the lion fish died. I was too green to understand why. Now I know it was the ammonia levels, or the tap water I mixed the salt with, or that I was told to feed the lion fish only krill... Well I guess I still don't know.

Fast forward to my latest tank some 25 years later. Failure was on my mind, but experience and knowledge were on my side. The first year I faced some unexpected issues. (you can read all about it in my build thread) but it is going great now and looks awesome.

Advice to newbies. 1. Read, read, read. 2. Don't believe everything you read and are told, test the info. 3. Impatience is the most expensive thing in this hobby.

Enjoy the hobby.

Build Thread - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/w...u_5bagST7WzrpLq-M20rUbu-bPFNg8kM#post-7732522

 

[New&no clue]

I'm new.. little over a year.. and No, I didn't go into this thinking I would fail, however, I didn't go into this thinking I would succeed either. I started this thinking, it is something I've always wanted to do so I might as well try. I enjoy the successes and I accept the failures.

 

[dbowman5]

from freshwater i flirted with the idea of SW. before i retired i did not have the time to seriously consider it. Like a horse balking at a jump, i had concerns. i wanted to DIY the set up. Partially for the savings partly for the under-the-hood experience. I looked at the failure/stress points that i read about and the solutions to them. I give myself the latitude to make mistakes. and if failure happens it is a turning point not a dead end. i believe, yes i believe!

 

[homer1475]

Never thought I would fail, I knew I would at some point, and have many times through out the years.. Failing is how we learn. With all the failures, and learning my tank now is looking good.

 

[ErehwoN]

FWIW, I think a more refined definition of "Fail" is needed. If you look at the project as a whole, from setup to "done" (we're never really done) then no, I don't see myself as failing. However, I've had many "failures" along the way, from my nitrates pegging the tester at 160ppm to manhandling a coral to the point it is probably dead. I answered the question as "Yes, I thought I could fail" based on making mistakes along the way.

And, again FWIW, we learn so much more from our failures than our unchallenged successes.

Your mileage may vary.

Jim

 

[BeltedCoyote]

I’m aware of the possibility of failure. In fact it’s something I spend some time just contemplating the fact that sometimes it’s just inevitable. Thus losing PJ (Puffy James), my valentini, randomly during the lockdown despite feeding the proper diet, was terrible (I loved that little dude). But I didn’t want to give up. I just decided to learn all I can about husbandry, chemistry, etc so that perhaps in the future I can do better. Will I fail again? Undoubtedly. But it’s how a person picks themself up after a failure that counts. (At least in my mind)

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I think everyone fails at some point. It's what you learn from your failures which matters. Often people have a tank crash and they give up and sell everything. But stop to consider what you've learned from your crash, assuming you can pinpoint the cause. That knowledge will likely lead you to a much more successful reef tank.

IMO keeping a saltwater fish tank is easy, certainly not any more difficult than freshwater. It's when you get into corals, especially acros that the learning curves gets steep. Keeping acros is a bit of an art, learning what parameters your tank does best at, how many fish is not enough, how many is too much, what your corals show you when they're not happy. Test, test, test. It's all about stability!

 

[Michael Rossi]

Despite all the research, reading, videos, etc over the years, I always know at any moment things can go south. We are mimicking a reef ecosystem, which is delicate as is in the vast ocean, in our houses. Its amazing how far things have come in 15 years since I last had a reef tank, but its still a tall order when you really think about what we are trying to do here. Its actually amazing it can be done at all!

 

[waterskiguy]

As evolved a I got, from day one, I knew there would be some successes and some failures. As the difficulty of the animals that I've kept, over the years, increased, I grew in understanding and fell like my hobby has been more success than I had really anticipated, in the beginning.

 

[Pete Luna]

Fail? Not in my dictionary

 

[Bleigh]

Oh yeah. I have avoided salt my entire life because of the complexities. Finally got talked into trying it by my hubby because he kept picking out the salt water fish for the fresh water tank. Now here I am - addicted to a chess game you will eventually loss. ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[gray808]

"Reefs look easy on paper"... did anyone actually think that?
By the time I was on spreadsheet tab #30, I'd realized that this was way more complicated than, say, taking care of a puppy.

--Gray

 

[ikanspelwel]

"Setting up a saltwater aquarium did you think you could fail at it?"

The only thing I would consider as a "Fail" is if I give up and shelved everything. Going into this hobby, and I am still very new, failing/giving up is not an option. Of course there will be many failures and hurdles along the way but I feel as long as you keep trying you have not failed.

I did not go into this EXPENSIVE knowledge laden hobby thinking I would give up, so no I didn't/don't think I could fail at it!

Adam

 

[eleslie3]

“Looks easy on paper” - a bunch of hooey. Answered Other. Always wanted a saltwater tank for years. Found a 125/55 gallon systems from a retiring lawyer for a steal. While it sat around for a year, comb the forums, ghost fed the rocks for a summer/fall. Set the whole thing up in the winter. Setbacks (failures) quite a few, cyno, bubble algae, jumping fish, dying corals, rock tear down & black out. And yet, still at it and everything is looking stable a year and half latter. To the point of scoring a bunch of corals this weekend. Common theme - slow and steady, keep going forward, learn from the mistakes........

 

[DeniseAndy]

Well, I never thought about failing. Not to say I have not made big oops. Just never thought much about it. In my most desperate times of losing animals, I felt I failed them, not the hobby per say.

As yoda says:

• Do or do not. There is no try." ...
• "You must unlearn what you have learned." ...
• "The greatest teacher, failure is." ...
• "Pass on what you have learned

 

[VLR3]

Not only did I think I could fail, I expected to. But I guess that depends on your definition of “fail”. I still have my tank up and running and getting better at it all the time but there’s been a lot of failure along the way. Dead livestock, broken equipment, soaking my carpet. Luckily I grew up playing baseball where batting over .300 makes you a hall of famer! That all being said, after a couple years at it, I still check every morning first thing to make sure I didn’t kill anything today.

 

[stephen wyard]

failing for me not happening.Done this so long I can almost smell problems before they start.

 

[AKreefgirl]

I chose other, I accept that things will not go perfectly, fish and corals will die, algae will grow, chemistry will get out of whack . . . We are all still learning how to create the best micro habitat we can. I see these as learning opportunities and growth rather than failure overall. I do feel bad when a fish or coral gets sick or dies because I either missed catching a problem early or just can't figure out what to change to save them and prevent it from happening again. The only failure is not trying in the first place or ignoring a problem and not trying to fix it.

 

[MFoote]

I dont go into anything thinking I'm going to fail but I knew it wouldn't be easy either.

Only one person told me keeping a reef was easy and he is no longer in the hobby. I warned him of the challenges before he bought the tank. He did a great job at first but once his lack of maintenance started to catch up to him, he didn't have what it takes to figure out what was causing the problems and how to fix them. There was no easy fix and eventually he got frustrated and quit.

In my opinion he failed. I faced all the same challenges and problems he did (more) but I stuck with it and never gave up. I still have a long way to go and I'm always building evolving and learning, but that's what makes it fun. If it was easy, I probably would have gotten bored and quit years ago. Nothing worth while is easy.