Can we all agree that there is no perfect tank..

[ca1ore]

I thought I was the only one that says that!
Picked up that saying waaaaaaaay back in the day from an old movie. (Remo Williams).
Guess i'm showing my age.

Rats .... I thought I made it up LOL.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Well... mine was perfect for a while.


...then I put water in it.

 

[ca1ore]

How about Il meglio è l'inimico del bene". Voltaire, a long time ago. Essentially don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

 

[ScottR]

I never strive for perfection but happiness rather. There are things I’m unhappy about: aiptasia, fish bullies, parameter adjustment but it’s all part of it. I get home, check my tank. All looks ok... then I say hi to my wife and kids.

 

[Paul B]

I agree totally with Fishybizzness, My tank is perfect "TO ME". I don't lose fish to disease but I do occasionally lose corals. I barely notice because it may take a year for one to die, usually by being covered by sponge, another coral or just slowly shrinking until it is gone.

I have some algae, cyano, diatoms, bristleworms, flatworms etc. but I find those things fascinating. If we didn't have those things this would be as exciting as stamp collecting.

I also don't "battle" anything. If I find myself "battling" anything I know where the dumpster it because I don't need to spend money battling. If I wanted to battle, I would tell my wife she looked fat in those shorts. ;Blackeye

The sea is far from perfect and if you do any diving you will see that. This was off a small Island in Hawaii. Probably Lanai. Most of the corals were dead and many of the live ones were being killed by serpent stars. Hair algae was the predominant greenery and most fish were moorish Idols that live on dying seaweed and other things most fish don't eat.





Mostly urchins


This was the Caribbean. The Island of Mustique. Those corals that they are trying to grow there are covered in algae and not doing very well.


This is also the Caribbean, not very healthy looking and I think my reef looks much better.



Most of our reefs look better than much of the ocean so I think many of us are doing pretty good.

 

[stanleo]

I am curious as to what you would find to be a "perfect tank?" One in which no fish or inverts ever dies and all corals thrive and there are zero issues with algae or pests? That CANNOT exist because that doesn't exist in nature. My tank has zero algae problems and has been that way for a while now but that wasn't always the case and I doubt it will stay that way. All the corals I currently have are thriving but there are some I have tried in this tank that did very poorly and I can't keep clams for nothing. All the fish I have are healthy and happy and I haven't had anything die in months but I did buy a flame angel that only lasted a couple days a few months back.

I think it comes down to your expectations going in. Are you going to have a pristine reef environment your first time out of the gate? Never but you will have something that takes work and I think you have to love it or it becomes too much work.

 

[Kongar]

Been a tough realization for me as a new reefer. You see all these gorgeous pictures and you go "I want that." Then the reality sets in. The worst for me is doing your best, and it not being good enough. Then watching a coral or fish die. Makes me feel like a bad pet owner.

 

[MexiReefer]

" I'll have the occasional parasite, algae, sick fish, dead coral, etc." <-- I thought this was the fun part of the hobby.

It seems that social media noise can reach anything, from reef to...well, everything... turn off your Insta.

 

[alicel]

I've found myself disappointed a lot in the last 4-5 years of my reef keeping where I nearly threw in the towel quite a few times. One time I even called around and sent pictures to local fish stores to see what I could get for all my equipment and live stock. All this because I'll have the occasional parasite, algae, sick fish, dead coral, etc. Granted I've learned a lot and have minimized many potential problems, but I often see YouTube videos, Instagram posts, and so on with beautiful tanks that look just perfect...

I've come to the point that I don't believe there isn't more than meets the eye. No tank is perfect. These 2,000 gallon tanks in homes with hundreds of fish and coral undoubtedly have sick fish, algae problems, or dying corals. I just had this conversation over the weekend at my LFS with a veteran reefer.

What I want to say is- stop being disappointed, do your best, and don't compare what you are going through to what seems perfect.

"Comparison is the thief of joy"- Theodore Roosevelt

Happy reefing, everyone!

If anyone has any examples or input, please contribute...

This is just what I needed to see today

 

[fishybizzness]

At the end of the day only my opinion of my aquarium matters. I'm the one taking care of, cleaning, doing water changes etc. I honestly feel that my life is better because of my aquarium. For most of my younger life when me and my wife would go snorkeling i always had a speargun in tow. While she would be close to shore trying to show me all the little interesting creatures she was observing, i would be more interested in looking for dinner! After setting up my first tank with live rock i would spend countless hours staring at the tank every night amazed by all the "new" creatures i was discovering! Every time i would call her over to see something new she would always make it be known that if i had been paying attention on all those snorkeling trips i would have seen all this stuff years ago. Shes a good wife! My aquarium has given me a renewed interest in the ocean that surrounds me and a renewed love for all its inhabitants, not just the bigger tasty ones! lol I now enjoy going snorkeling every chance i get and i honestly don't remember the last time i took out my speargun!

 

[RoboRabbit89]

It is definitely all about learning to enjoy the process. Works for every thing....including folding laundry!

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Carpay diam! Sieze the carp. What? Lol
When i quit and closed the door. I took everything to the lfs and they gave me in store credit the value of 10%
I left the hobby with $268 in store credit.
Lol so my livestock was valued over $2k at the time. Well i would said $800.
I agree prefection is in the eye of the beholder. We as reefers might see flaws here and their but the average person who only sees fw petco and petsmart tanks sees an amazing reef tank.
D

 

[DinoMagnet]

100% agree people only show their tanks at their best. Kinda like Instagram everyone shares this beautiful happy go lucky life. When In reality they are battling demons inside.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Sometimes i think man that must cost a small fortune
Or add up over time. Lol
D

 

[whassupjake]

I look at it kind of like the game of golf or a cross country runner. Those sports are so difficult because there is no team...it's just you. You have to find the mental fortitude to keep going, get better, and improve. For the most part our hobby is pretty friendly and cordial but 90% of the time it's just you and your tank. Enjoy the journey of learning and growing. And find the humor in the absurdity! For example, I'm an extremely experienced hobbyist...but I can not get green star polyps to grow in my tank for the life of me!

 

[Paul B]

100% agree people only show their tanks at their best. Kinda like Instagram everyone shares this beautiful happy go lucky life.

I like to show my tank even when it looks lousy. I don't know what I was doing or experimenting on here but this is probably 20 years ago and I think I was trying to grow produce in my tank.

 

[davidcalgary29]

You are all wrong! Because of the pandemic and associated travel bans, I have devoted my time to recreating perfect travelscapes of exotic lands. Behold my latest treasure, the UNESCO nominated “Karst Landscapes of Guilin”! (aka: “two months of dosing vibrant”). I’m proud, and so are my fish.

 

[Revnobody]

Remember, social media is another person's highlight reel. It doesn't show the struggle behind the scenes. This goes for reef tanks as well as most other aspects of life.

 

[Joe's Coral Reef]

I think that is what keeps me in the hobby is its so unknown at times, nothing is perfected and we are still learning so much.