FOR FUN: Novice Nemo, Coralline Crusader to a Reefing Guru, which one are you?

[tbrown]

Gotta start somewhere!

 

[Nano_Man]

went for a nose job yesterday it failed so that’s a 0 for me . And where is @Sleeping Giant on this thread

 

[Reefer Matt]

"Master @mattdg," has a nice ring to it. You have correctly identified a significan milestone in reef aquarium enjoyment and the challenge to all of us to find this success is probably an unstated goal that us reefers have when we set out in the hobby to try our hand at growing corals and fish and other parts of the ocean ecosystem in our tiny indoor containments. There have got to be a few other milestones if we think about it, but at the moment I'm too bothered by personal life events to pull anymore out of my currently empty hat.

What I did notice about this poll posted here by @revhtree is that (currently, and earlier) the bias that is appearing in selections isn't pegging @10 (Reefing Guru) which is unusual in general for polls where all kinds of participant skill levels are asked to provide an evaluation of their own skills. I forget what the phenomena is called, but the typical response is more often for folks to self idetify at the upper end of the measurements, as people who are newer to the ranks with minimal success are so happy that they have achieved that level they believe that they are actually operating at the higher level because their own understanding of the entire subject blinds them to the many, many other aspects that can only be acquired with time at task. Somebody will recall the name of this bias, my recall for many subjects is abjectly low and getting worse with age and I can't hide it like I used to. But that aside;

I was amazed that the poll has reefers identifying strongly with the lower levels, meaning perhaps that reef keeping, with all of the challenges and trials and difficulities that come with attempting to keep a wild oceanic reef inside of our tiny home tanks teaches us fairly early that what god did when he set up his tank isn't easily mimicked in the confines of our homes. With knowledge, equipment, and effort and the driving determination to enjoy a successful tank we do accomplish small miracles when keeping or tanks thriving, or just striving as it often is, and clearly our hobby helps us to better evaluate ourselves and our expertise level than many other jobs or tasks or hobbies that people engage in.

I have always suspected this to be a valuable hobby for personal improvement but now we have data that shines the light on just how balanced and fair minded the reefing community is.

An Invertebrate Inspired-Frag Fanatic who hopes someday to finally achieve the self identification of a Reefing Guru, but I'm ok if I just can keep on reefing without too many STN/RTN incidents as I go, and zero henceforth would be fantastic but probably not realistic based upon my historical knowledge of my reef own keeping results.

I believe the phenomenon you are referring to is called the Dunning-Krueger Effect. Humility has a lot to do with it as experience is gained, imo. After you get knocked down a few times, you learn how to recover, but realize where your knowledge actually is.

 

[Reefer Matt]

(Double posted by mistake)

 

[Derrick0580]

Well I consider myself a novice still but I was told by my lfs manager that I’m advanced by and far compared to most people that come into the store….so I dunno!

 

[Timfish]

Having been keeping reef systems for 4 decades and having many systems 1, 2 and even 3 decades old along with fish and corals dating back to the 90s I'll label myself as a Master Aquarist.

 

[Degenerate]

I have a small tank "and dreams of creating a reef" so I might not be a 1 yet. maybe 0.5. Once I get water in the tank I will upgrade my level to 0.75. So close!

 

[Andreas' Reef]

You should add one that says Fish Fiend or Piscis pioneer

 

[Barncat]

Definitely a Novice Nemo; my first ever reef tank is still in its waterless infancy. I'm researching hard though because I want to set myself up for success and give my future livestock the very best home possible! I'm hoping to get it started in August. It's a very theraputic diversion already and I can't wait until I can start adopting fish.