That feeling you get when your system is dialed in and you know it!

[Battlecorals]

Honestly, I think it's just straight dopamine. Your brain is rewarding you for your accomplishment. Experiencing the thrill of success when your reef tanks dialed in and looking great is one of the best feelings we can get from our tanks. No doubt about it. But there's two sides to this coin for sure.

Are you the kind of person that revels in the glory of a healthy tank, or is it impossible for you not for you to worry about impending problems unforeseen no matter how good things look? In other words optimist or pessimist? OIr maybe a little of both.

I personally feel like I'm pretty emotionally attached to my systems well-being, Probably to an unhealthy level actually. When things are doing good though, I'm riding the high wave man, life is good.

 

[StatelineReefer]

I don't let my victories go too long without finding something else that needs correction, my tank is in a state of constant improvement. This isn't a bad thing, it just means I find 'good enough' just isn't good enough...

I think we've had that conversation a couple times.

 

[Minifoot77]

I'll call my system good when my acros stop beating me up ‍ I want to order a battle box but every time I'm close I have another problem or an acro that I currently have smokes out

 

[SpSDrew]

I’ve had a recent positive run for the past few months. My trick is to stop changing stuff, keeping hands out of the tank, getting the tank as stable as possible.

Went back to no filter sock, halides, kalk dosing, higher nutrients, and I’m growing acros like weeds compared to previously.

This is 2 months of growth on a Matt-v jellybean with two 1” frags removed in between. Not everything is sunshine and roses. My cc kombucha is teaching me patience with little growth in 6 months.

 

[d2mini]

That moment you realize your tank is dialed in so you order more BC...

That moment you look at your tank just before your BC box arrives...

 

[Jasonak]

Keeping Alk higher and stable and actually testing it on a regular basis is what changed things for me. I had not done testing for years. Just did water changes and things were doing OK I was a lazy reefer. This year I really got focused again changed some things and have been rewarded with amazing color and growth. I had a palleta yellow tip that was 8-9 years old ( last living coral from Adam) it was only size of a matchbook . Its now 5 times that size.

So im basking in the glory of it now, BUT anytime I come down stairs and see polyps retracted a little bit on a coral I grab my flipper magnifier and start looking at all the frags lol
So I do stress about it but now I feel way more comfortable that if something is going wrong I can fix it and bring things back in line.

 

[BetteMidler]

I always try to balance the light with the heavy.

 

[Battlecorals]

Keeping Alk higher and stable and actually testing it on a regular basis is what changed things for me. I had not done testing for years. Just did water changes and things were doing OK I was a lazy reefer. This year I really got focused again changed some things and have been rewarded with amazing color and growth. I had a palleta yellow tip that was 8-9 years old ( last living coral from Adam) it was only size of a matchbook . Its now 5 times that size.

So im basking in the glory of it now, BUT anytime I come down stairs and see polyps retracted a little bit on a coral I grab my flipper magnifier and start looking at all the frags lol
So I do stress about it but now I feel way more comfortable that if something is going wrong I can fix it and bring things back in line.

I can so relate to that feeling man. like whenever I’m going through a rough patch I always walk a little bit slower up the stairs just with this impending nervousness of what I might see when I get up there.

 

[Reefer Matt]

When all of my tanks are doing well, I get very nervous. I know something undesirable is about to happen. And it always does. But reefing would be very boring if everything went right all the time. I do like small victories though.

 

[Jasonak]

I should state that when I say I only have one living coral from Adam,,, I mean from the old days of when I killed everything

I have about 30 new ones from this year that are thriving !!

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I feel like I'm getting close to really getting stuff dialed in on my 130dd. My alk/mag/ca and dialed in. Now I'm working on getting my nitrate and phosphate dialed in, rhen run an icon to see where I'm at on trace. One variable at a time.

 

[Battlecorals]

I’ve had a recent positive run for the past few months. My trick is to stop changing stuff, keeping hands out of the tank, getting the tank as stable as possible.

Went back to no filter sock, halides, kalk dosing, higher nutrients, and I’m growing acros like weeds compared to previously.

This is 2 months of growth on a Matt-v jellybean with two 1” frags removed in between. Not everything is sunshine and roses. My cc kombucha is teaching me patience with little growth in 6 months.

thats good advice. glad to hear things are running well. There should be a big red sticker that says "if it ain't broke" on the front of every tank. lol well at least my tank.

 

[StatelineReefer]

thats good advice. glad to hear things are running well. There should be a big red sticker that says "if it ain't broke" on the front of every tank. lol well at least my tank.

We'd just fix the sticker to death.

 

[Battlecorals]

We'd just fix the sticker to death.

ugh. yeah your probably right. lol maybe an electrified fence around the sump?

 

[StatelineReefer]

ugh. yeah your probably right. lol maybe an electrified fence around the sump?

We'd up the voltage until WE got HLLE.

 

[Stang67]

As with everything in life I try to live by the adage "this too shall pass" good or bad. Enjoy the good times while you can.

 

[billyocean]

My tanks been in a good way for quite some time now. I'm not going to lie though..every day I get home from work I'm somewhat relieved that everything is still doing great..haha. Perhaps that's what keeps me on top of everything though. In the end, as bad as it would suck, if everything died I would have a blank canvass to start over. I just try to control what I can, put in the work and stay on schedule. If something happens thats out of my control, it is what it is.

 

[Velcro]

This is the stage right before I start messing with things and it all goes to **** lol. When will I learn.

 

[Battlecorals]

As with everything in life I try to live by the adage "this too shall pass" good or bad. Enjoy the good times while you can.

I honestly really needed to hear this today. Wisdom man. Thank you

 

[Battlecorals]

My tanks been in a good way for quite some time now. I'm not going to lie though..every day I get home from work I'm somewhat relieved that everything is still doing great..haha. Perhaps that's what keeps me on top of everything though. In the end, as bad as it would suck, if everything died I would have a blank canvass to start over. I just try to control what I can, put in the work and stay on schedule. If something happens thats out of my control, it is what it is.

Have you ever done the slow hunched over creep to the tank, teeth clenched a little, hoping all is fine, but expecting to see some clean and pure skeleton somewhere?