treesprite August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Any idea on this? How many folks on here consider themselves to be successful reef hobbyists? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 OCD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Long term discipline and patience? Not my strong suits, but my reef is helping me grow some of that. In 4-5 years I would call mine succesful, but not now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Anal retentiveness. Reading as much info about the subject and individual reefer's tanks that are successful. Eventually you will start to see a couple ways to set up successful systems, based on what you are trying to take care of. I personally think that the tried and true ways of doing things are the best and that there is no quick fix or short cut. There will always be new technology that each company and LFS is trying to push.......they are a companies.....they are trying to make money. Water quality is probably the most important. I still consider myself a beginner, even though I have has saltwater tanks on and off since 79'. That under gravel filter is not too popular anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 (edited) One who doesn't complain about everything. In 7 more years mine will be cycled enough that I can call myself successful. That under gravel filter is not too popular anymore I still use one, does that mean I am Bad? Edited August 19, 2014 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Always being willing to learn, IMO. When you think you know it all, you're no longer there. I think there will be different units of measurement for success for everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnevo August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Patience and persistence. Small incremental changes. OCD helps too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 (edited) Some things have to be learned through experience cause you can't learn everything you need to know from reading articles and blogs. Edited August 19, 2014 by sen5241b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 The ability to keeps 95% of stuff alive over at least 6 months, LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 One who doesn't complain about everything. In 7 more years mine will be cycled enough that I can call myself successful. I still use one, does that mean I am Bad? Paul-notice I said undergravel filter....NOT reverse undergravel filter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Being able to diagnose and fix the results of your mistakes. Most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 (edited) Paul-notice I said undergravel filter....NOT reverse undergravel filter I did notice that but a reverse UG filter is still a UG filter. After all, It is under the gravel Edited August 19, 2014 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I did notice that but a reverse UG filter is still a UG filter. After all, It is under the gravel You are correct and I apologize.... But it is still not a popular option for most tanks. I wish I could remove the smiley face from my comment. Most people have not been running an under gravel filter since the Nixon administration.( I think you started in the early 70's...could be wrong) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Most people have not been running an under gravel filter since the Nixon administration That is of course true, it is also true that the majority of tanks that do "not" run an UG filter crash with in a few years. It's semantics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 That is of course true, it is also true that the majority of tanks that do "not" run an UG filter crash with in a few years. It's semantics Since I do not run one, and was not planning on running one on my new tank, why do you think the tanks crash? Is it the build up of detritus over time? If so, which I think may be the case, would a good stirring of the sand every month or so be a good way of prevent any quick release of nitrates or ammonia? You know, a good hurricane every now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I feel like a "successful" reefer when I'm able to sneak that new and expensive item into the house and into the tank without my wife seeing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I feel like a "successful" reefer when I'm able to sneak that new and expensive item into the house and into the tank without my wife seeing it. That is a good answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 (edited) I feel like a "successful" reefer when I'm able to sneak that new and expensive item into the house and into the tank without my wife seeing it I think that's more like a successful marriage. If you have been married long enough you can get anything in the house you want including a Supermodel and your wife will just say, Oh look, another Supermodel. You just kind of accept whatever it is. , why do you think the tanks crash? I am not sure but most new tanks are loaded with problems from ich to cyano, to expense, to hair algae, to bryopsis, etc. These things do not happen in older tanks so maybe new tanks crash just because they are new and many people just don't have patience. Edited August 19, 2014 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridetheducati August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I can claim success when I can use 3D printing to manage my reef. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I feel like a "successful" reefer when I'm able to sneak that new and expensive item into the house and into the tank without my wife seeing it. +1 cash baby! cash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I think that's more like a successful marriage. If you have been married long enough you can get anything in the house you want including a Supermodel and your wife will just say, Oh look, another Supermodel. You just kind of accept whatever it is. I want to know why my wife insists we have a pool boy when we don't have a pool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I want to know why my wife insists we have a pool boy when we don't have a pool. So how long have you had this pool boy?........I think it is time for a talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 I wrote an article about success in this hobby and I figured I would put it here. If you don't want to read it, I think there is a re run of an Oprah show where she gives away Cadillac's to homeless cats. Success in this hobby.With some hobbies such as stamp or coin collecting, writing poetry, painting, model building etc. it is not easy to tell if you are successful as those hobbies are subjective and as long as you like what you are doing, you are successful at it. Marine fish keeping is different and it is relatively easy to tell if you are successful. All we have to know is the normal lifespan of an animal to know if it is living long enough in our care. Keeping cold blooded fish and invertebrates is not the same as keeping a dog or cat. Dogs and cats can live a very long time even if they have some sort of malady or disease, most aquatic creatures can't. It has to do with their immune system which has to work better than a land animal because the liquid a fish is living in is actually an extension of it's circulatory system and everything that is in the water, is in the fish. A fishes immune system is directly regulated by how well that fish eats, unlike us who can sit in front of a TV for decades eating nothing but chips while drinking beer, and our immune system will still protect us. We will probably die from a heart attack, damaged liver or our spouse hitting us over the head with a bowling pin but our immune system will still function. Fish are not designed like that which is the reason so many people have problems with ich and other maladies. Fish in the sea, eating their normal diet of live fish, fresh seaweed and plankton are practically immune from those things. So if we can keep a fish such as a tang for five years and it dies, we may think that is great. But it is as if a human dies at 15 years old. If there was a town and all the inhabitants died as teenagers, I would not want to live there as something is very wrong. That is the way a lot of tanks function and those tanks are not successful. But if all your fish live long enough to die of old age, then we are successful. It is easy to tell if your fish is dying from old age even though we sometimes don't know how old the fish is when we buy it. Of course if it is a small specimen, it is probably a year or so old as fish grow fast.I have had many fish die from old age and they all exhibited the same symptoms and oddly enough I have a stripped cardinal now who is dying of old age.Many small cardinals only live for 4 or 5 years and if you get one as an adult, it may be near it's end. They will stop eating over a period of a week or so, show no signs of disease and may just hang out in a corner not really interested in doing anything like looking for food or chasing away it's favorite enemy. It will lose it's fear and in a few days it will start to have deteriorating fins and fish will start to nip at it. The last stages it will lay on the bottom, breathing normally just wasting away. We also die of old age in a similar fashion.So if you have a small cardinal and it lived five years, that is a success.But if you have a clownfish and it dies in 5 or 10 years, that is not a success as clownfish commonly live over 20 years. I have a 20 year old fireclown now and he is still spawning.Spawning is another indicator of success as only the healthiest fish will spawn. Spawning is a huge burden for a fish as the eggs may be a third of the weight of the Mother fish and most of those eggs are composed of oil. So the fish not only has to take in enough food to live and stay healthy, but they have to produce all those eggs, and fish spawn constantly.I have a pair of clown gobies and they spawn about every week and a half and have been for over a year. I also have a pair of mandarins that spawn about once a month. That is a success as all fish spawn all the time. Healthy female fish in the sea are always pregnant and in a tank they should also be pregnant. Egg scatters such as angels and tangs will not spawn in a tank as they need much more water to feel secure enough to spawn but all damsels including clownfish will, and should spawn in a tank. All gobies, cardinals, mandarins, seahorses and pipefish will spawn in a tank. If you have a pair of such fish and they are not spawning, there is something wrong and they are not as healthy as they should be.That is success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 (edited) ... spouse hitting us over the head with a bowling pin ... Better that than my tank I knew some guy who was undergoing an ugly divorce. His Ex dumped a gallon of bleach in in his BC 29. This guy was a cop that patrolled some of the meanest streets in Chicago but when he saw his tank destroyed he broke down and cried. (no joke) Edited August 19, 2014 by sen5241b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnevo August 19, 2014 Share August 19, 2014 Ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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