does diving make your reef tank more or less exciting?

[rwb500]

I'm contemplating a move to miami. bringing my reef tank will be very difficult, and reef diving will be very accessible. do you all find that regularly diving makes your reef tank seem boring in comparison, or does it add to the excitement of reefkeeping? I do realize that diving in miami is not exactly the best diving in the world, and there are lots of things in my tank that i will not see in florida.

 

[OH GOD]

I don't dive, lease not yet but i would guess being able to see a reef first hand would give a better incite on what is needed to make your home reef better and more enjoyable.

 

[Fin Mike]

For those of us who dive regularly, it is painfully clear that our tanks will never look as good as the oceanic reefs. Furthermore, we put species in our tanks that would never see each other in nature and call it a "reef tank". I feel its somewhat necessary to separate the two and accept the limitations of our home bound reefs. Take live rock for instance. The LR in our tanks is quite sterile compared to fresh LR from the ocean. If you put a piece of LR that was picked out of the ocean and sent directly to you, you will see that there is about %70 die off of the original species, ie. bryozoans, sponges, tunicates (I'm not talking about die off from Fiji rock that sits in a warehouse for two weeks before it hits your tank). In our tanks, coralline algae encrusted rocks are considered the goal.
The other thing you notice when you are diving on the reefs is that there is very little available space for a new organism to establish itself. The rocks are totally covered with all kinds of life. In our tanks, we just wait for the "established" look where different species grow together.

If you do move to Miami, you can collect your own species (provided there the legal ones) and try your best to recreate the Atlantic reef! Its not going to be as pretty as a Pacific tank, but it will be your tank and you can have the satisfaction of knowing you collected all your inhabitants. Just a thought.

 

[Six line]

Definitely true about the die off Mike. I've gone through quite a bit of live rock and only once have I gotten a single piece that looks like it just came out of the ocean (feather dusters, multiple corals and corallines, Halimeda and bryozoans, etc.).

There are some pretty sweet corals in Florida, Ricordea florida of course being the first to come to mind.

 

[scubafreaky]

do you all find that regularly diving makes your reef tank seem boring in comparison, or does it add to the excitement of reefkeeping?

I've had a saltwater aquarium for 26 years, a reef tank for 15 years, and I've been diving for 14 years. I definitely think that regular diving adds to the excitement of reef keeping! For me one fuels the other and vice versa. I am a total SCUBA junkie and having a reef tank fills the void between dive trips. And watching my home reef grow and change helps me look at natural reefs in a different and now educated way.

I do realize that diving in miami is not exactly the best diving in the world, and there are lots of things in my tank that i will not see in florida.

But it is still diving!! You should totally take the plunge. I've been on 2 dive outings in West Palm which isn't too far from Miami and the diving was surprisingly awesome! It was tons better than the diving I've done in the Keys. I also found myself comparing West Palm to Cozumel. It's also totally okay if your home reef is different from what you will see in Floridian reefs. I think that's what makes our reefs special!

So definitely take the plunge and happy diving!

 

[r-balljunkie]

Take live rock for instance. The LR in our tanks is quite sterile compared to fresh LR from the ocean.

you cannot put into words the difference in live rock, collecting in person verses stuff you see in bins at the LFS.

i chuckle when i hear the term 'fresh' live rock

im blessed to have the opportunity to dive and collect everything for my tank, and this has been the best part, live rock. ive gotten several hitch hiker fish on my LR.

Back to OP question. i enjoy them both immensly. im able to collect corals and fish for my tank, and it makes it really enjoyable keeping a tank. ive been diving for a year and a half, and my tank is still not finished in my eyes.

i couldnt imagine not having a tank out here.....


Scubafreaky, where are you in seabrook. used to work at the blue dolphin marina in college, never want to do another bottom job again, LOL

 

[scubafreaky]

Scubafreaky, where are you in seabrook. used to work at the blue dolphin marina in college, never want to do another bottom job again, LOL

I'm technically in Passadena with a Seabrook mailing address, but very near NASA and El Lago.

Where are you in the South Pacific? I've been to Guam and Palau. I think I would go into diving and reef keeping overload if I had the access that you have. That's pretty dang awesome.

 

[r-balljunkie]

I'm technically in Passadena with a Seabrook mailing address, but very near NASA and El Lago.

Where are you in the South Pacific? I've been to Guam and Palau. I think I would go into diving and reef keeping overload if I had the access that you have. That's pretty dang awesome.

I think I know where you're at. Sure miss Tookies. In in the Marshall islands, Kwajalein atoll. If you took the continental island hopper flight to Palau, you might have stopped here.... Pilot said no picture taking

 

[Useful_Idiot]

Diving for me was incredible. I went to st Lucia a few months ago and did 6 dives. Reef tank aside you need to try it just because you have a saltwater interest. I like my tank just as much as before I dove. It was kind of an eye opener to feel the immediate 5+ temp swings and to be pushed into a rock cliff by currents I'd only read about. I can't imagine you'd at all regret it.

 

[snorvich]

Been diving since 1986 and that is what caused me to convert from fresh water to saltwater. I still like fresh water but salt is SOOOOO much better.

 

[thelizardkin]

in some ways my reef makes diving boring I've only been to cancun cabo and hawaii the fish are amazing but there's not much coral and when you do see coral it's kinda brownish

 

[yardboy]

I've dove since 1979 and reefed since 2000. Reefkkeeping definitely enhanced my diving experience. They feed each other. I make a yearly exodus to the Keys and dive with a comercial collector. Having something in my tank I collected myself really enhances the experience and gives me a greater vested interest in taking care of the livestock. Havng a Pacific tank then going to the Philippines is the greatest thrill. Seeing where mandarins and goby/shrimp pairs lived prompted me to modify my aquascaping to accomodate them. Seeing Pink clowns in a sebae and tomato's in rose
anemones

gave me a perspective on how they live. Only bad thing is seeing stuff that is difficult or impossible to grow in our tanks,

or to see something in the wild then hunt for years before I find it in the hobby (stunner chalice)

 

[Paul B]

Diving enhances the experience. I think I have dove with every animal I have ever kept and when I go to a dive location, I go specifically to find a certain animal. I recently dove in Tahiti and Bora Bora to study moorish Idols. Now I can keep them longer than most.
I don't do much tourist diving, I like to hire a guide and find a reef where hardly anyone goes to. I have my own boat and equipment for local New York dives so there is no limit to the fun and learning.
It's great to swim around with these guys then go home to check out the one in your tank

 

[snorvich]

I don't do much tourist diving, I like to hire a guide and find a reef where hardly anyone goes to.

Exactly. That is always what I do.

 

[catfish]

I got out of reef tanks before I started diving. Got back into the tanks about 10 years later. It makes me look the smaller things more closely when I dive, as that is what I have in my tank.

 

[UofTOrange]

Scuba absolutely enhances the reef keeping experience. I love looking at a tank in between dives

 

[Turbo snail]

Having kept a reef since before I ever dived, I have to say that I had a great time entertaining my friends by naming almost every fish and coral that they saw out on the reef without issue. Coming back to my tank I always think it's cool seeing a fish in captivity and knowing that I have swum with it in the past. Just kinda brings back memories of the dive and makes me smile

 

[Diverjohn]

I got into reeef tanks after diving for years, just so I could bring the reef to me. I now show friends in the Caribbean, pics of the corals from my tank and they are intersted in the corals from different parts of the world. I also enjoy being able to get fish from the caribbean to put in my tanks to remind me of the diving I have done. Seems I usually get attached to a species on a dive trip then come home and try and find it for home. Having a reef also gives me a better appreciation for what all goes on in the ocean.