what keeps you going?

Dearth · #1 02-03-2013, 10:59 PM

In my short time of reef keeping I've run through the gamut of emotions with my tank made lots of mistakes unintentionally tried to kill a coral and had a partial tank crash which truly depressed me. I would like to upgrade but my 33 gallon is already a time sink and a bigger one might drive me batty.

On the other hand I can sit in front of my tank for hours and just watch the coral/fish/crab and snails interact and it calms me my cats will also sit there for hours on end and watch the smorgasbord of food swim around. My nieces love my tank and those that come over love it as well. The cost is minimal now that my tank is established and all those little idosyncratices keep me going take the good with the bad.

On a side note thank the maker that our only SW LFS is so crappy cause I could literally spend tons in a store. It's easier to control my urges since I have to order everything in tempers my spending a lot.

SanguinesDream · #2 02-05-2013, 06:57 PM

What keeps me going???

My health.

This is my therapy. My sanctuary. Sometimes the only thing that keep me going.

Instead of dreading trips to Vancouver or Edmonton, I just think of all the opportunities I will have to bring back new livestock.

I'd much rather read about each corals needs and how to achieve those requirement as opposed to the latest scholarly paper in gene therapy any day. Plus, I get to garden year round. Being so far north, our gardening season is so short and bittersweet. But with aquariums, particularly saltwater, I can "garden" year round.

But on the downside, there is the being gone from month to month that constantly worries me because of the failure to maintain them properly by the designate house sitters. Mind you, when I come back, getting my tanks back into shape keeps me going steady for at least two weeks, so I guess that can be construed as a blessing too?

Corlgurl, rediscover what ignited your passion and get over the momentum hump. It sounds like you are well on your way to getting back into the groove and with a supporting group like Canreef, you can't go wrong.

asylumdown · #3 02-06-2013, 07:11 PM

Figuring something out, and solving problems successfully keeps me going.

Watching SPS frags start to plate, change colour, and then start to grow keeps me going.

Looking at photos I've taken along the way and seeing how much things have advanced and matured keeps me going.

Turning a couple of empty glass boxes in to a fully functioning ecological system keeps me going

Watching how the dead, largely sterile, blindingly white marco rocks That formed the base of my system have been slowly brought to life over months of being in the same water with a relatively small amount of high quality live rock keeps me going.