You never thought you would fail did you?

[Thunderrap]

I guess this would come down to what you consider failing. As @ikanspelwel said is tearing down and packing up the failure or is a full tank crash a failure? I am new to this hobby and my tank has only been up for about 4 months. I've made the mistakes of not buying the right equipment so I had to upgrade early. So many things that I thought I researched but come to find out I didn't research right. I'm worried about failing every day that my tank is running but I don't let that stop me. I keep reading, asking questions, learning, and doing the best I can for the animals that I have chosen to take care of.

 

[Rogued_Reefer]

When I got in the hobby I thought it would be easier... a lot easier but also thought I could fail that’s why after I jumped in my brain never stopped learning and researching. This hobby is always evolving and changing. We are dealing with live creatures so we can’t ever rule out failure.

 

[Casket_Case]

I knew I’d fail so I just prayed really hard and I’m pretty sure God is the only reason my reef tank is still going

 

[ZoWhat]

@revhtree

Sorta embarrassed to say this but first 10secs I lay my eyes on my tank for the first time that day, I look for anything that has died...if nothing...then I enjoy my tank

I'm a Realist living in a Broken World....so....
A N Y T H I N G in life can fail for any reason at any time.

* I could come home to my house burning to the ground

* I could start my car and one of the pistons punch a hole thru the engine sidewall

* I could have been named Employee Of The Year last week out of 10,000 coworkers...yet get laid off tomorrow

* I could come home with my wife and her Divorce Lawyer waiting for me on the couch

* I could wake up to an email from my Financial guy saying I lost 90% of my Retirement overnight

Absolutely NOTHING is for certain... except the old saying, " You can always count on paying Taxes and someday you will die"


.

 

[Silverfish]

In the End I thought I would b successful. Success of course is in the eye of the beholder. I was not sure what the end result would b or high the bar would b.

 

[Auquanut]

I have kept fresh water tanks for about... ever. I had wanted a reef tank for years, but hesitated just because of the fear of failure. In the end, my wife convinced me to start my 1st reef tank even though I already had 5 FW tanks. God I LOVE that woman!
Since then there have been triumphs and failures. So far I've been fortunate enough not to experience a whole tank failure/crash. As I plan to keep reefs for the rest of my natural life, I'm realistic enough to expect that the chances of a complete failure sometime in the future are high. As long as I can accept this possibility, I think my chances of being able to pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep on reefing are equally high.
Failure is a part of life. The only way to ensure you never fail is to never attempt anything at all. Then again, I guess I would consider that a complete failure.

 

[Casket_Case]

@revhtree

Sorta embarrassed to say this but first 10secs I lay my eyes on my tank for the first time that day, I look for anything that has died...if nothing...then I enjoy my tank

I'm a Realist living in a Broken World....so....
A N Y T H I N G in life can fail for any reason at any time.

* I could come home to my house burning to the ground

* I could start my car and one of the pistons punch a hole thru the engine sidewall

* I could have been named Employee Of The Year last week out of 10,000 coworkers...yet get laid off tomorrow

* I could come home with my wife and her Divorce Lawyer waiting for me on the couch

* I could wake up to an email from my Financial guy saying I lost 90% of my Retirement overnight

Absolutely NOTHING is for certain... except the old saying, " You can always count on paying Taxes and someday you will die"


.

“You can always count on paying taxes and someday you will die.”
I love stability in my life

 

[Biglew11]

I knew going in after lots of research that failure could happen. but i was determined to have a reef tank, complete failure not an option. i knew there would be problems, but i like to solve problems. i get some enjoyment from solving problems thinking to myself, (yes i did it)

 

[Indytraveler83]

Honestly I got into this with very, very low expectations. My first saltwater experience was 20ish years ago and was an utter disaster.

This time around I started with very low expectations (and all the wrong equipment), hoping to keep some chromis and maybe GSP alive.

I think there is a giant learning curve, because there's dozens, if not hundreds of ways to make this work, and until you know your own system, you are prone to trying to implement all the advice given from everyone, regardless of method.

To be honest, this hobby is way easier than it is on paper. It feels like you have to learn almost every way to do it before you know your way. (Sorta like learning to drive a car, a semi, a motorcycle, a race car and a dump truck all at the same time, then picking just one) Once you've got that, it's straightforward.

 

[fish farmer]

I never thought I would fail, but at the time (2000), things were different in the reefing world.

I had a lot of anxiety when I was planning a 38 gallon tank, I had done SW but never corals. Some of the anxiety was based on the money spent and how to manage the tank when away. It started as a hobby, not a research paper for me, get the basics, lights, skimmer, good rock and add from there. Try some easy softies, never thought SPS at the time. My bar was set low. Two years in my mixed reef, I had growing softies, branching LPS and even a rescue porites frag growing well. I was a success.

I had my upgraded 55 die during a heatwave. I never shut it down and rebuild, moved, downgraded, let husbandry slide. Now I'm back at a similar state when I started and have having things go my way.

 

[Scorpius]

I knew I would fail, but the admitting I failed and fixing the problem was the real issue.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I researched and dove in.
Of course there were some hurdles. As DeniseAndy stated, failure is the greatest teacher EXCEPT when you go to an LFS with your failure and they further misguide you with wrong info, getting you past discouragement.I believe many of us have recognized that IMPATIENCE is our biggest enemy.
Jumping from freshwater rules and utilizing them as saltwater rules stocking to 8 fish in 2 weeks and a tank of coral in a month while relying on cheap test kits for accuracy and blaming a store or shipper for loss when indeed, the rules of patience, testing and stocking are ignored.
To further impatience is when we start chasing numbers to have the perfect readings when simply allowing a value to stabilize and let the fish and coral tell you if they're unhappy.
When salt is high, alk is high, even temperature is high, allow it to come down gradually.. . . . Not Instantly. Gradual is 36-48 hours unless it is an emergency that will result in death of livestock.
Acclimation is other downfall whereas we dont float the bag and then plop and drop as we did with freshwater. Acclimation accounts for a lot of loss, yet many will blame poor health as a cause of loss or disease.

It is as easy as it was on Paper Provided we discipline ourselves with the known rules of marine aquaria and spending the money required for success. . . Not to get by.

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I entered into this hobby with an open mind knowing that there was going to be ups and downs,I was fortunate to have an older brother with a very successful tank and 10+ years of experience To help me along the way there were times when some may have said I failed and my tank was on the downside but I did research and consulted my brother and learned from the mistakes and improved now 18 years later I have an amazing 125 gallon reef tank fully stocked with a wide spread of corals, fish, etc. The biggest advice I can give to a new comer is to be patient take your time good things come to those who wait.

 

[Jmasonreef]

From my experience yes it is super easy once you realize 90% of the gear is not needed. Excessive gear and control seems to kill about 95% of tanks.

 

[TommyGo]

I'm still failing and still learning.

 

[sp1187]

failure is when you quit.

 

[quaker]

I guess this would come down to what you consider failing. As @ikanspelwel said is tearing down and packing up the failure or is a full tank crash a failure? I am new to this hobby and my tank has only been up for about 4 months. I've made the mistakes of not buying the right equipment so I had to upgrade early. So many things that I thought I researched but come to find out I didn't research right. I'm worried about failing every day that my tank is running but I don't let that stop me. I keep reading, asking questions, learning, and doing the best I can for the animals that I have chosen to take care of.

Thought I could fail but didn't believe that I would. And so far, I am hanging in there at 4 years.

 

[RYcube2951]

I lost all my beautiful coral after a move. But, in time my tank is doing well again with new cofal frags.

 

[Crashnt24]

I was over confident and figured that I could climb any mountain... Well I eventually did succeed after many tribulations. I even struggle to this day. Every day is a new learning process.

 

[4tanks]

Like many coming from fw and still running fw I didn’t think I would fail but I knew there would be hiccups and learning curves which is the part of any hobby suppose that’s what makes them fun is the learning and overcoming any problems