Got a nice compliment today and got me thinking

[mvallee]

Seems lately I have been doing more complaining about my tank than enjoying, latest posts have been about why I can't keep SPS, Hair Algae, Cyano Outbreak (that is still out of control) and trapping some trouble fish but I do have lots of good stuff going on too, sometimes I get caught up too much in the negative and maybe this applies to others as well so thought I would share an experience I had today.

I had an accountant over to the house to tie up our taxes and made a joke about using my reef tank as a deduction, at the end of the visit he asked if he could see the tank and when he saw it he was awestruck, saying he had seen tanks before but nothing like this and short of going to aquariums had never seen such an amazing setup. I know there are way nicer setups than mine out there and on this forum but hearing him say that and realizing when I started 13 months ago I would probably have felt the same as he did put it all in perspective for me, for a little while anyways.

Here is my latest video with Cyano and SPS skeletons but I have to admit it still looks pretty good
[video]https://youtu.be/x1DZZQeGSLw[/video]

 

[s_kelley]

Looks good to me! I think we, especially me, get caught up in the testing and levels of this and that, most of the time the things that drive us nuts others don't even notice. Gotta step back sometimes and enjoy all the time and money we put into our tanks. For me, work keeps me too busy to let my tank ocd kick in too much, but if I have a day off.....I'm all over it lol
Your not alone!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I'd spend hours watching that tank if it were mine...

 

[dakar652]

I'd spend hours trying to figure out why my PH swings so much and my salinity isn't as stable as I'd like it to be if that were my tank.

 

[mvallee]

Salinity stability has never been an issue for me and PH swings?? not really an issue other than dropping like everyone elses in the winter and once when I stopped dosing. all under control but thanks.

 

[Rone]

Looks good to me! I think we, especially me, get caught up in the testing and levels of this and that, most of the time the things that drive us nuts others don't even notice. Gotta step back sometimes and enjoy all the time and money we put into our tanks. For me, work keeps me too busy to let my tank ocd kick in too much, but if I have a day off.....I'm all over it lol
Your not alone!

Im with you there. I work different days 12 hours so when I have a day to check things out i spend hours doing it.
Tank looks good and see lots of room..

 

[reefstarter]

looks great !! love the bird wrasse I don't worry too much about PH swings , as long as they don't go out of 8.1-8.4 your good . if it rises above thet then something will need to be done

 

[mvallee]

The Bird Wrasse is mesmerizing in the big tank. I just added the pair this weekend, I had them in quarantine with some tangs and was planning to add everything at once in a few weeks to disperse aggression but they were such pigs I was having a hard time getting the juvenile Naso tang to eat. I was overfeeding the QT which is never good and the Naso was just getting skinnier and skinnier so after 3 weeks in QT with no signs of any parasites or diseases I added them. Took a day to come out of hiding but they are awesome, the coloration of the male and the way it swims is so cool, definitely the focus of the tank for now.

I still spend too many hours monitoring and maintaining the tank, with the Cyano outbreak been constant water changes and trying maximize export of excess nutrients it was really nice to sit back yesterday and enjoy the new additions to the tank.

 

[dakar652]

Salinity stability has never been an issue for me and PH swings?? not really an issue other than dropping like everyone elses in the winter and once when I stopped dosing. all under control but thanks.

was just saying, i do the exact same thing...concentrate on the negative stuff and miss the big picture often.

i spent my whole day yesterday trying to figure out why my total dissolved solids are so high coming out of my RODI, it was only after hours of curse words that i finally looked at my tank and got lost in the spectacle i helped create (with help from science, and BRS)

i wasn't commenting on your tank in particular, sorry about that.

 

[mvallee]

Thanks Dakar652, I did think you were talking about my tank but understand your intent now. I will try to make sure I have had my first coffee before replying to posts now.

my tank day is Saturday, the wife works so I do not have to deal with quizzical looks about all the buckets, the mess in the sink and inevitably spilled water. especially now with the 180 and a 90 gallon QT the past few Saturdays have been very busy with the tanks.

 

[dcforester1]

I realized the same thing when I was breaking my tank down. I sold 90% of my coral to one guy, and there was small pieces of coral on the rocks, and a lot of undesirable stuff. People would stop by to buy stuff, and comment on how great my tank looked. WHAT? I couldn't believe it what were they seeing? Once I stepped back and looked at it, it did look nice. NO it didnt have colorful pieces of coral everywhere, but it had a bunch of healthy fish swimming and I always kept it clean so I was starting to see how nice it looked myself. The last night I had my tank set up my wife and I sat and just enjoyed it one last time. Now with a pile of rock in a stock tank in my basement I still go down there and sit and enjoy it. I guess its always a grass is always greener type thing. LOL The stuff on my rocks now in my basement is growing and I am enjoying seeing that.

Derek

 

[QUIG]

I thought Bird Wrasse weren't reef safe or are they just not safe with inverts? I have a 125 now and have a 180 I'm upgrading to just never thought to add them to a reef.

 

[wpeterson]

It's a good looking tank with a lot of beautiful fish.

Reef tanks are a massive project and one that's never finished - which is what keeps me engaged with the hobby - there's always something new to learn and more to be done - it's never finished. So whenever I look at my tank it's hard not to see the problems I haven't solved or the work I have yet to do, but it's great when other people look at it and just see the beauty of the fish and the corals. We're always our own harshest critics.

There's a lot to be said for figuring out what level of husbandry and gear you can support and planning for a tank one level below that so you're not going to be behind the curve.

My worst habit is finding tiny things I want to tweak and then that turning into an epic project where I can't put things down until it's perfect. For example, re-doing the aquascape to move a rock and then not finding the perfect place for it - making myself crazy because now it's worse looking than it was before I got my hands wet.

 

[mvallee]

although everywhere states not reef safe seems to be coral safe, it's the inverts and small fish that you have to worry about. I really hope it works out and hopefully I'll remember to post updates but feel free to ask if you are ever wondering.

I am a tweaker too and usually cause more grief for myself, like this weekend moving around my ATO to better route the plumbing and dropped the power supply in the sump, did not really need to be done and now I have to order another and do manual top offs until it comes in.

In the end though I think the amount of work is what has held my interest in the hobby for so long, my FW and cichlid tanks always became a burden and bored with them after 4-6 months, the joy was in the setup and acquiring, with SW it is never ending thus after 1 year still an active hobby and constantly learning new things, I am a little poorer but could be worse.

 

[jdeb101]

As a kid I loved model railroading. The process of building something and seeing the "final" product is very gratifying, and both hobbies provide me the same feeling. Though it's 99X less embarrassing showing ppl my reef than it would be my model train layout. LOL Hence why I stick with this hobby.