QUESTION OF THE DAY Here you are, still reefing, still reading this post, still cleaning the glass and feeding the fish. WHY?

[revhtree]

In this hobby there are UPS and there are DOWNS! Times when you want to throw in the towel. Times when you wonder if it is all worth it! But here you are, still reefing, still reading this post, still cleaning the glass ans feeding the fish.

There is something that keeps you going, something that keeps you driving forward in this hobby. What is it?

What would you tell someone who is on the verge of giving up?

image via @ChristopherKriens

 

[Bob Weigant]

I’ve been threw so many ups and down over the years. It’s nice reach a point where corals are colorful and growing

 

[SDK]

I've been in the hobby for 47 years now because I have been fascinated with marine life and the ocean since my earliest childhood memories. It started watching Cousteau and "Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom"

As an adult I went through a few decades of being a serious scuba diver. It's the best hobby for someone in a corporate career. When I'm underwater nobody can call, email or otherwise speak to me

Nothing on earth relaxes and resets me like being underwater, or watching my fish tanks. Except during physical moves, I have had some sort of aquarium up and running since about 1972, and it will stay that way until they bury me...

 

[Why-Me]

I voted other, I keep mine up for therapy.
It helps me stay physically active after all my surgeries and also helps me feel better mentally having my mini piece of ocean to stare at in my living room.
Also have formed great friendships that keep me engaged in reefing as well.

 

[Dorinda]

In this hobby there are UPS and there are DOWNS! Times when you want to throw in the towel. Times when you wonder if it is all worth it! But here you are, still reefing, still reading this post, still cleaning the glass ans feeding the fish.

There is something that keeps you going, something that keeps you driving forward in this hobby. What is it?

What would you tell someone who is on the verge of giving up?

image via @ChristopherKriens

Its the challenge and the beauty of the hobby for me.

 

[LA Reef Addict]

B,D and E.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

There are so many reasons honestly. I have made some really cool friends, tank success, and it grew into a business for us.

 

[Mark Gray]

Love trying to beat failure.

 

[[email protected]]

I think that the fact that I’m able to keep creatures from the ocean alive is amazing. I’ve always loved the water and it’s inhabitants, there is just so much diversity. Every day I look at my tank and see that it’s happy, or someone molted, or that coral that I’ve had that won’t behave is open and fluffed up, i feel like I’m on top of the world!
My two cents is that if you give up, all you will be able to say is that you tried and weren’t satisfied. This hobby is revolutionary, twenty years ago you couldn’t keep a sea apple or acropora alive. Today people keep monster tanks stuffed to the gills with “impossible” animals. There is just so much to discover and do, I’d go crazy not having a fish tank to remind me of what we hold so dear on this planet.
The ocean is a delicate but extremely powerful force to be reckoned with. If we do our best to protect it, and try to understand it. We can notice things that most don’t think are possible!!!

 

[Russell Giambrone]

I love keeping fish - Been doing it since I'm 10 (46 now) - I was much more successful with freshwater - made the switch 3 years ago.. I am pretty bad it salt water - But I cant quit now!! - Not in my nature to quit!

 

[Russell Giambrone]

Love trying to beat failure.

Amen!!

 

[ikiwi]

In this hobby there are UPS and there are DOWNS! Times when you want to throw in the towel. Times when you wonder if it is all worth it! But here you are, still reefing, still reading this post, still cleaning the glass ans feeding the fish.

There is something that keeps you going, something that keeps you driving forward in this hobby. What is it?

What would you tell someone who is on the verge of giving up?

image via @ChristopherKriens

I love the challenge of establishing and maintaining a thriving reef. Plus, it's therapeutic...

 

[Seanislav]

For me, it's a way that I can focus after being pulled in myriad directions. The colors, the movement, the interactions and relationships help to keep me grounded, and reefs have also helped my kiddos chill out.

 

[solitude127]

for all those that say reefkeeping is therapeutic, do you feel the same way when things in your reef are not going the way you'd like?

 

[EmilyXLC]

Friendships & my job, lol.

 

[jeffchapok]

Masochism

 

[whasmack]

It's the challenge - probably the most difficult hobby to master - something new always crops up.

 

[ceruleanspiral]

In this hobby there are UPS and there are DOWNS! Times when you want to throw in the towel. Times when you wonder if it is all worth it! But here you are, still reefing, still reading this post, still cleaning the glass ans feeding the fish.

There is something that keeps you going, something that keeps you driving forward in this hobby. What is it?

What would you tell someone who is on the verge of giving up?

image via @ChristopherKriens

I'm in a big down at the moment, but still hopeful because I love my critters. I'm implementing the last 2 things I have to try to fix my issues. I don't know what I will do if it doesn't work.

 

[Squidward]

I've always been a Fish guy more so than a coral guy. So I've went through a velvet wipeout of my fish losing hundreds. The feeling was quite depressing. This was before I really knew much about or cared about the practice of Qurantining. I eventually started QT with copper but I was still a noob and never fully QT to the exact dosage or length of time... I was frustrated. Then I had my beautiful blonde naso male jump that I've had over 5 years. That also devastated me. Downgraded from a 150g to a 35g with just clowns and anemone. Eventually I saw someone post their tank on facebook and it was so stunning with so many Tangs and he had mentioned his tank was ich free and how he used the Tank Transfer Method to achieve it. Wish I could remember his name. That gave me inspiration that I needed to know I won't have to deal with copper and I also can achieve an Ich free tank full of beautiful Tangs and thriving fish. Here I am back in the hobby, upgraded to a 300g and have 6 beautiful Tangs for me to enjoy this journey going forward.

 

[muzikalmatt]

I answered Tank Success, but honestly I enjoy the challenge and intricacies of keeping a reef tank. Obviously it has to start with a love of the animals you're trying to keep, but I think to have long-term success in this hobby you probably need to enjoy some of the husbandry as well. Learning how to dial in the water chemistry parameters and keep them stable has been a fascinating process for me. I also feel like no matter how much you learn or how long you've been doing it there's still so much more to learn and explore. It's very similar to music in that respect. You could do both your entire life and still not learn everything there is to know. There is no end destination, just a constant journey.