An Observation And A Revelation

[Darryl_V]

The kids are gone with the wife for a few hours and I'm tearing up and cleaning my system. It's bitter sweet. I'm going through over 9 years of built up and accumulated fish crap. It really makes me realize the crazyness in this hobby and the level of addiction it can have. To think about how much money, time, sweat and tears I've put in to this hobby is mind boggling. Yet I loved it. The sad part is I'm realizing that I may not have the time, resources and understanding wife to to it again... at least on the crazy level. And to be honest right now I don't feel like I would want to ...Although time can change things.

One thing is for sure, it takes a certain breed to be a reefer. Someone who is not afraid of a little work. Someone who can appreciate the nature, beauty and the challenge.

Anyway on to the observation. Cleaning the sand out of the display I was surprised that after 5 years the 3" of sugar sand on the bottom was really clean looking. The very bottom of my 4" sand bed looked like sand from a nice beach. I'm not sure what that means but I was expecting to find more black pockets of sulfide or what ever it is.

 

[Poseidon]

That is strange about the sand!
After 1-2 years of being setup
My last tank had lots of black sand / gunk at the bottom...

But i totally agree with everything else you said, it's not a hobby everyone can do.
And there is a high turn over rate of ppl who start and can't continue.

You'll
Be back, I'm sure of it... Maybe you should try something new, like sea horses , or nps, or even fowler

 

[Darryl_V]

I also found my previous sand beds dirty after a few years. I think it's the deep bed of sugar sand that made the difference even though sugar is a PITA.

FYI my sand bed was 3" of sugar and 1" of seafloor special grade and even some crushed coral on top.

 

[Darryl_V]

Does anyone want some sand before I throw it all out?

 

[scubasteve]

hmmmm i may have a use for it.... what kind of sand is it?

 

[Giglio324]

I agree with you saying reefers are a special breed. A few particular traits we all need to have to be successful are diligence, patience and perserverance. If we all gave up after losing 1 frag the hobby would be dead. Best of luck to you in the future we hope to see you back

 

[curiousphil]

I agree with you saying reefers are a special breed. A few particular traits we all need to have to be successful are diligence, patience and perserverance. If we all gave up after losing 1 frag the hobby would be dead. Best of luck to you in the future we hope to see you back

I might add "stubbornness" to that list! lol God only knows what I may have accomplished over these past few years if I had put my mind to something more productive than building a tank full of pretty colours.

I definitely hear you Darryl on possibly not having the time, resources and understanding wife to do it over. My plan from day 1 has always been: build a "small tank" to get my feet wet and learn the basics, then move to a big tank. I fear that the big tank may be a pipe dream that will never happen . As life goes on, priorities change... I started this journey when I had so much spare time I didn't know what to fill it with. Now I have so many things to do and not enough spare time with which to do them.

 

[Jewel]

I've often wondered just what is the addiction, Is it because of a sense of accomplishment, We all have a different perspective of perfection, In the past I've had trouble keeping SPS but this time with this tank everything seems possible. We've all experienced frustration in the hobby but sometimes things just click. Yes I've been around awhile and should know what works and what doesn't. I really think the difference is patience. And allowing a system to mature. Has that been the secret to your success Darryl?

We all tell newbies to go slow and take their time but do we? I mean in the past I have strived to make it perfect, tweeking and changing, upgrading. Again this time I went with a lot of high end equipment right from the start. The best water quality, best lights and pumps. One thing that has eluded me though is the best or should I say the most efficient skimmer. I have personally owned atleast 10 skimmers and haven't found one that really works. They all do the same thing but either they're noisy or they just don't create excellent skim mate. And there's so many out there. Give me my EuroReef CS100 with the cracked cup anyday LOL.