What's your favorite part of reefing? (poll)

[OriginalUserName]

The other day I was thinking about my favorite part of the hobby. (for me this applies to pretty much all my hobbies)

I honestly think my favorite part is the new build. For me, that's a reef tank, making beer, cars, etc. I figured I would post a poll to see what others thought. I know it can be tough to choose so you can select two answers.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I enjoy taking pictures of my corals, and then after a while going back and seeing how much they've grown since the last picture

 

[cracker]

I don't spend a lot of time watching my tanks for relaxation. I enjoy trying to get them running right.

 

[Finatik]

After the build, and getting everything dialed in just right, my ultimate joy comes from sitting or standing in front of my "small" little piece of the ocean and seeing all of the beautiful life forms that are represented there. It brings calmness, relaxation and peace into my home. I can watch and stare at it for hours. The fish are like my children ! I check on them several times a day to make sure that they are thriving, and that their environment is the best that it can be.

 

[tnc112105]

Lol, I want to know who voted for pests!

For me, I really love watching the corals grow. Echoing what crabs_mcjones said, it's really rewarding looking back on old photos of corals that are still in my tank and seeing how much they've grown. I have a blue-tipped stag in my tank that's at least 10"x10" that grew from a 2" frag. I came across that old picture a few months ago. It's absolutely remarkable and so rewarding that we can get these creatures to grow and thrive in these artificial environments. For me, that's the most rewarding part of the hobby.

 

[Mark Gray]

This one was hard for me but I think when it comes down to it in the end I like to just look and watch. I do love to build a new system and yeah I kind of like new gadgets too

 

[Amps Reef Life]

I'm all about the Fish and seeing the corals grow. In my next house, I will have a fish only tank and a reef tank lol.

 

[Twolabs443]

For me I find I have a "love triangle" between the equipment the coral and the fish. I love tinkering and building things and the engineering and thought process that goes into setting up a tank. Watching coral grow and thrive fulfills my green thumb and the fish each have their own personalities and traits that are interesting to watch and care for. It's a constant struggle trying to decide what to get next! Just reading through this forum and learning from and through others has been a great experience.

 

[JoshH]

For me, it's not on there but the best part of reefing is learning new things. Every day I scour the forums and I'm ALWAYS learning something new, from chemistry lessons to coding controllers. The science of water flow and head pressure, friction loss. Learning about lights, spectrums, intensities and how they affect our little reefs in such big ways. How different fish and inverts behave together, or don't behave. Seeing the food chain represented so clearly in a little box of water from the tiniest phytoplankton to the biggest tangs, even sharks for those of us that are blessed with the ability to have pools for systems. Learning about bacteria, good and bad algae, yes even learning about algae is pretty darn cool some days. And then on top of it all, after a good day of learning, getting to sit back and see everything in your reef thriving... there's nothing better IMO.

 

[NY_Caveman]

The planning and building is my favorite part. There is a ton of anticipation mixed with a dose of imagination. To me, the potential of a system is as appealing as the system itself. Specifically I love designing aquascapes and playing with the shapes and possibilities within the confines of a tank (I used to love Legos and Colorforms as a kid).

I also voted for the “complex system” option. As a live television engineer (Technical Director) I manage signal flow through a large system. It is what my mind really loves. Once the tank is setup, I love managing all of the moving parts, parameters and the input and output of various substances.

 

[revhtree]

Nice thread!

I love setting up new tanks, fish and watching coral grow!!!!

 

[Elegance Coral]

I chose "other".
My favorite part is helping others succeed in this hobby. I've been at this for well over 30 years. I became active online 11 years ago. I really enjoyed helping people succeed and seeing the results posted online. I liked it so much, I started helping out with customers questions at my LFS, when ever I went in to buy something. They even started calling me when they had customers with questions the LFS couldn't answer. Some LFS closed, others opened, then one offered me a position managing the shop. So...... I took a pay cut, gave up my weekends, and started helping locals achieve their dreams of having a beautiful reef tank, and getting paid for it. I love it when people come in with huge smiles on their faces, showing me pic's and videos of their tank. Especially when they first come to me and their tank is in shambles, and they're about to give up. Watching their tanks turn around, and their pets thriving, is awesome to me.

 

[oldfishman]

The anticipation of how it will turn out, my hope that I will have no problems, trying to be successful

 

[vetteguy53081]

I think the visual look of the system and the compliments from visitors who are in awe and amazed AND viewing us as Chemists at their best !

 

[DiZASTiX]

How is it that so few people enjoy tinkering? If there were no such thing as corals or fish, in an imaginary albeit sad world, I would still enjoy the hobby of water-keeping issuing all the techniques and tools afforded to me.

I find programming and re-programming Neptune to be very enjoyable. I only wish there were ways to embed more logic into Neptune code.

I also enjoy the aspect of solving design problems. How do we add another sump? How can we fit a ClearWater 100 Algae Scrubber into a what's left of a 2 x 2 ft footprint within the cabinet?

If someone did all these things for me, it just wouldn't be the same.

 

[sundog101]

Who are the 18 crazy people that love hauling buckets lol!

 

[JoshH]

Who are the 18 crazy people that love hauling buckets lol!

It's hard Labour, makes the results that much more rewarding

 

[Peng]

How is it that so few people enjoy tinkering? If there were no such thing as corals or fish, in an imaginary albeit sad world, I would still enjoy the hobby of water-keeping issuing all the techniques and tools afforded to me.

I find programming and re-programming Neptune to be very enjoyable. I only wish there were ways to embed more logic into Neptune code.

I also enjoy the aspect of solving design problems. How do we add another sump? How can we fit a ClearWater 100 Algae Scrubber into a what's left of a 2 x 2 ft footprint within the cabinet?

If someone did all these things for me, it just wouldn't be the same.

I’m the exact opposite. I hate everything that has to do with programming. I could barely handle Apex stuff.

 

[ScottB]

I chose "watching corals grow", but in terms of TIME invested I have to admit I tinker a lot. I am either tinkering or researching on my latest tweak idea.

Just enough experience now to know I must go SLOW, start small, and measure outcomes best I can.

 

[ca1ore]

I chose the tank build as my favorite part, though that does not mean that I don't also enjoy watching the corals grow and the fish swim. I am also a borderline obsessive tinkerer, so that's an important part of the hobby to me as well. Nothings more interesting to me though than planning out a tank and seeing it them come to fruition.