OP
OP
Im sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. I know its highly annoying. My only excitement is seeing my fish and coral thrive.
Reef Exhaustion?
- Thread starter Elira_6301
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OP
OP
Wrong post. My bad.
OP
OP
Im not laughing at your algae. It was me imagining you saying this.
littlefoxx
10K Club member
I upgraded before I did that. But I am thinking of firing up my IM 15 and getting a pair of clowns and trying my hand at a nem again now that i understand them moreI could possible consolidate 1, but that might overcrowd my tank..
ReefQuestCorals
Well-Known Member
What I do to help me stay on track is set alarms that remind me of maintenance on a set schedule lol
This way when I dont want to, forget, or slacking the alarm makes me think about it until I complete whatever task it is. But the corals/fish keep me going, yea at times we slack but I want to see them thriving and happy. Back when I had reefing buddies it helped a lot as well, but most of them have left the hobby so I only have all of you here on r2r now :)
This way when I dont want to, forget, or slacking the alarm makes me think about it until I complete whatever task it is. But the corals/fish keep me going, yea at times we slack but I want to see them thriving and happy. Back when I had reefing buddies it helped a lot as well, but most of them have left the hobby so I only have all of you here on r2r now :)
OP
OP
We love you too!! Im glad you have us.
ReefQuestCorals
Well-Known Member
Dont get me blushing
Rusty_L_Shackleford
Well-Known Member
I have a 34g red sea that's sps and lps, a 32 biocube mixed reef, a 34g red sea that's just starting to get a few corals and houses my prize clownfish pair, a 9g mushroom tank, a 5g deskmate zoa garden, and a 29g fw planted tank. All tanks have ATOs, inkbirds and timers for the lights. The 2 main reefs have an auto doser that supplies all for reef, the rest don't get dosed anything. The fw planted tank has an auto feeder so I don't have to do anything to it. The 9g mushroom tank i also don't have to do hardly anything to. The clown fish tank doesn't really need any thing besides the occasional water change and feeding the fish. It took time to get things stabilized and dialed in but once the tanks were able to run on cruise control things for a lot easier. I tried really had to design and set up my tanks so thay they could run without intervention for awhile. It also helps that my wife fell in love with the hobby too, so she can do basic stuff if I can't get to it. But **** happens, it's just part of the hobby. Recently an ato magnet disintegrated in the biocube which led to a lot of coral deaths and a hair algae outbreak. Even though that tank had been having issues, my other tanks are looking amazing.
OP
OP
That's fantastic!! Well done mate.
Besieged
Active Member
I've got 3.5 fresh and 1.5 salts...
The salt doesn't even have anything in it but copepods, but still occupies all my attention.
Kind of for the better, it keeps me from messing around the the fresh too much in a fit of pique. As it is I probably pay far too much attention to my daphnia cultures.
But I'm just getting back into salt after a 17 year absence. I remember fighting crashes way back when, but, boy was I determined.
Now I'm even more so, and to do it right. I'm sure the burn will hit eventually, but... I'm an animal person. I've worked with them professionally. I used to go into work first thing and hose out aviaries and clean up food scraps. I've lost dogs to rabies (via coyote), fish to ich (and even worse, IMO, though was losing a koi to a too-large water change
♂), and even a Saker x Gyr hybrid falcon to a *&^*&%%%! opossum, of all things. Among other things. Ugh. For that matter the neighbor's hen that had taken to crowing like a rooster gave up when we picked up a crested kookaburra who decided crowing at the sunrise was a competition he had to win. Unfortunately for me Kooky's aviary was right outside my window.
So, maybe I can't say I know the burn with the salt, but... with animals? Yeah. You just gotta remember the joy they bring outside those times they frustrate us. And if the one doesn't outweigh the other... well then you've got a decision to make.
But, for me? The salt is my zen. I know it will frustrate me at times... but there's all those other times when I just stare mesmerized at it and lose huge chunks of time in a near meditative trance. I need that, and it's worth it.
Sometimes I feel like it is taboo to talk about burn out but it is real. I think of talk I did with Than where he said “ I’ve been an avid reefer for decades but that hasn’t always meant that I had a personal tank.” That was the permission to breath that I needed.
I would now tell you stepping away is what recharges the battery’s so you can take the next leap :)
I would now tell you stepping away is what recharges the battery’s so you can take the next leap :)
OP
OP
Are you in Australia?I've got 3.5 fresh and 1.5 salts...
The salt doesn't even have anything in it but copepods, but still occupies all my attention.
Kind of for the better, it keeps me from messing around the the fresh too much in a fit of pique. As it is I probably pay far too much attention to my daphnia cultures.
But I'm just getting back into salt after a 17 year absence. I remember fighting crashes way back when, but, boy was I determined.
Now I'm even more so, and to do it right. I'm sure the burn will hit eventually, but... I'm an animal person. I've worked with them professionally. I used to go into work first thing and hose out aviaries and clean up food scraps. I've lost dogs to rabies (via coyote), fish to ich (and even worse, IMO, though was losing a koi to a too-large water change
Ugh. For that matter the neighbor's hen that had taken to crowing like a rooster gave up when we picked up a crested kookaburra who decided crowing at the sunrise was a competition he had to win. Unfortunately for me Kooky's aviary was right outside my window.
So, maybe I can't say I know the burn with the salt, but... with animals? Yeah. You just gotta remember the joy they bring outside those times they frustrate us. And if the one doesn't outweigh the other... well then you've got a decision to make.
But, for me? The salt is my zen. I know it will frustrate me at times... but there's all those other times when I just stare mesmerized at it and lose huge chunks of time in a near meditative trance. I need that, and it's worth it.
I love my salt and fresh equally. I wish the salt was as easy as the fresh. They keep me from having anxiety, while also creating a different kind of anxiety.
The work isn't horrible, but does get quite tiring. Its the worry. Ive lost so many fish for unknown reasons, except my watchman goby who committed suicide by jumping out of the tank in the middle of the night. Some disappeared into thin water. Always get paranoid if I see a flashing fish or white dot on one. Watching for any strange behaviors. Listening to my tanks at night worried about tank leaks. It wakes me up constantly.
They are a joy though. Sometimes I just want to give up and relax for a few weeks.
Besieged
Active Member
I admit I had to re-read through my post to figure out why you wondered if I was in Aus.
Lol, no, I did a lot of animal rehab work when I was working professionally as a falconer, and we wound up getting quite a few birds from Disney that they couldn't or didn't want to handle or display any more.
One of them was a bald eagle by the name of Gloria who had lost her left wing to a poacher with a rifle, and another was Kooky the Crested Kookaburra, who was the bird that made all the monkey noises in the original animated Lion King movie.
And let me tell you, he LOVED to show off his skills. Our African Grey parrot, DJ, absolutely could not stand him, but the Macaws were totally unbothered.
But yeah, I get you. That's part of the reason I'm a former falconer. I've got a disabled spouse and two kids, I work evening (and am nocturnal anyway), and the notion of getting up before the sun rises on a saturday to load up gear, bird and dog, then drive 30m - 2 hours to find a good, safe place to let the bird hunt... ugh, it's just too much work any more. I enjoy the birds, but I just don't have it in me any more. I've seen it, I've done it... maybe after a few more years and my kids are older, I'll get another owl or a Harris' hawk, but... it's just too much right now.
I spent much of my oldest's birthday dinner paranoid that I didn't have a camera on my system, and that maybe I still hadn't sorted out the plumbing on my fuge, worried it was going to wind up pouring water on my office floor again - I totally understand the worry.
So, maybe it's time to see what you can do to minimize, simplify, and/or automate. See what can be done to fix the parts that are stressing you, and concentrate on the parts that don't?
OP
OP
You are absolutely right. I may work to move my 30g to my octo tank today. They will have tons of room in there. And less work for me as that tank barely needs maintenence ever.
You have done some amazing things in life! Im really impressed! And you are still busy. Well done mate!
Matt L
10K Club member
Lol, no prob, I didn’t offer you anything useful and apologize for that. For me, I know bad things are going to happen, it’s guaranteed in reefing. However I’m still human, and subject to the depression, anxiety, and exhaustion that occurs with each disappointment. My only escape from that is talking with other reefers and getting my motivation (or mojo, lol!) back. Sometimes that’s hard for me because I don’t really have any reefing friends anymore. So getting out of the funk can take a while sometimes.
OP
OP
Reefing friends outside of the forum?
OP
OP
Im seeing a lot of us do this for the same reasons. Mine helps keep me busy enough to not think about my depression or anxiety. But it went from therapy to a full time job. And thats my bad. Because when I start something, I get crazy in a short time. And start more and more of the same thing. Then im like...holy ****, what did I do? I created a bigger issue for myself. Well done Bridgette.
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