Comedy Fish
New member
Years ago I walked into a pet shop with my Grandpa Joe. I was probably 8-years-old. Being so young has it's advantages and disadvantages. The first thing that comes to mind; Money wasn't a concern. Life is completely different when you don't see dollar signs. When you're a kid, you have a centrifugal imagination. You are inspired by the mundane. Every tadpole and every mosquito on a pond is interesting. You try to comprehend the universe we live in and everything about it. You try to understand animal relations with one another. Why do some animals love each other and need companionship? Why do some hate each other and fight with intense animosity? Why do some (**** Sapiens Sapiens) kill each other for no reason or fall in love? These are the questions I have been asking my whole life. Some are obviously surrounded by ambiguity, never to be answered. I'd like to think that Saltwater aquariums are also surrounded by ambiguity. If there is ONE thing that I have learned in this first 6-months of reef-keeping, it's that there are literally 1,000 ways to do 1 thing.
Recollecting the memories of the pet shop is nostalgic to me. My parents would drop me off with my grandpa every weekend and I would make him take me to see the creatures. I was fascinated. I could never get enough. I didn't care if my grandma nagged grandpa about taking me. In retrospect, I don't think that he cared either. We enjoyed spending time with each other. The fact that he was interested made it fun for me, too. It never mattered if we were looking at spiders, gerbils, or naked rats, I just had an excitement within me to see the exotic. The one thing that has always been there though, is how interesting I think fish are. I mean, I love them. I just do. I don't know why. I believe that it's possible because water is mysterious to me. You can't see into it. You can go to the ocean on a giant ship, but you can't see what's under you and it just dumbfounds me. It IS mystifying and eerie simultaneously. When my wife and I were on our cruise ship in the Central Caribbean, I would sit at night, hot-air filling my nostrils and lungs and let the world encompass my senses. She would leave me there on that lawn chair, to get a snack or what not, and I would just stare into the sea. I never wanted to leave and I can't wait to go back each time I leave it. I am drawn to it and I always will be. I always will be until I get to live next to it or find a way to visit it frequently. It is where I belong and why I am here.
Going on 25-years-old now, I can finally have some financial stability. I am finally getting to the point to be able to buy things for myself that I want. I am enjoying my money and I work hard for it. I am allowed to enjoy it. Being that I recognize this, why not use it to spend on something I have always wanted to do, take care of aquatic creatures of course! Now, it is not without saying that I expected to end up spending what I have so far. I didn't expect to want to make my tank better Every DAY. It is satisfying to get that new skimmer. It is satisfying to get that bucket-list fish. It is satisfying to come home from work and stare. I enjoy staring. I did it at the pet shop 17 years ago and I still enjoy it. Always will. My tank relaxes me and it provides beauty to my house. It gives me a conversation or multiple conversations with different people every day. It is REWARDING to me. So without further ado, here are the things I have learned after 6 months. The things I have learned after delving into the salty-side and taking the plunge. Do I regret it? Not for a moment. This had to happen.
1. Never trust anyone at your local fish store (LFS)
I am not saying that every local store is filled with unintelligent-morons, but for the most part, at least where I live, they are. A couple months ago, I walked into PETCO. A gentleman asked the aquatics employee to get him a Hawaiian Feather Duster (tube worm) for him. without hesitation she obliged and :sure, one second!: What happened next was just sad and I hate thinking about it. She reached into the tank, tried to pull the duster off the rock. It wasn't budging. She pulled. Nothing. Then she ripped it's body in-half. The man and myself stared at her, eyes wide, and she just walked away and didn't come back. It is not only incidents like this, but the fact that I have heard employees telling customers that a Hippo Tang would be fine in a 10g when asked by a family of 4, the fact that I saw an employee tell a newbie hobbyist that "It's not Ich on that Yellow Tang, it's just grains of sand that he stirred up sticking to him." The fact that at one LFS They were selling Jellyfish and when I walked to see them, there was a lonesome jelly, being sucked into the skimmer on the HOB filter in his tank, make it all add up to one simple thing. NEVER impulse buy. Do your research. Do your research and when you think you have got it down, don't be afraid to ask someone who's been in the game for a while what experiences they have had with such livestock. Many costly mistakes can be avoided this way guys and gals.
2. There are Good, humble people in this hobby and there are not.
I have met some great people since getting my tank. I have Also met some real....well...you know. Someone who charges you $30 for a pulsing Xenia frag is no longer cool, seeing as how it doubles in my tank every 2 weeks. I guess what I am trying to say here is quite simple: I am thankful for the friends that I have met. It seems like most people, especially club members would give you the shirt off their back. What strikes me as quite odd is how different everyone can be. Everyone seems to have their own opinion. Some people research Reef Central and some don't do research at all. They just try different things and don't even bother going online, talking to people. There are also the soft, LPS, and SPS guys. The diversity among these peronalities is incredible. If you have an SPS-dominant tank, you hate soft corals. If you have mostly softies, you don't even try to go the hard coral route because you don't even find it interesting. I love this and I get a kick out of it when people state where they stand. No matter where you stand, be good to your fellow reefers and dont' try to sell your equipment for what it is worth new. It's just not cool.
3. Mistakes will be made.
I have always felt that I learn from my mistakes. I hate back-tracking and so I tend to over-exemplify things when they go wrong so I don't do them the same way the next time. For one, making mistakes in this hobby can get very expensive, very quick. I have read threads where people haven't quarantined and complain about all their fish dying days later. What do you expect? You've taken an animal from it's native environment with a net, bagged it, shipped it across the country, released it into a LFS tank where it lives miserably for a couple days. It then gets bagged again and is sent to your house. Can you say stressful? Can you imagine this happening to you? Some giant net, swoops you from your Barka recliner and Roseanne reruns and suddenly, you're in a glass cage with 15 other inmates who don't want you on their turf. Oh did I mention, compared to Freshwater fish, Saltwater fish are all like ticking time-bombs when it comes to aggression? Not quarantining is like playing Russian-Roulette. I understand that not everyone has the space for a QT, but at the least, visually examine your fish before your purchase. Make sure it has no torn fins, it's breathing is normal, there are no visible signs of infections or pathogens, and that it doesn't have cloudy eyes. The one other thing that I can say is this: Buy the right equipment the first time around. It might be more expensive, but it will pay off in the long-run. When you go cheap, you will buy twice. I read that when I first started and went cheap. I've now bought 2 or 3 of everything I own now. Do I hate myself for it? A little. But that's how I have learned. I guess you could say that I am self- taught.
4. Last but not least, Enjoy your tank.
Too many times we get caught up in the the equipment side of things. We get caught up with dosing, the money, the everything except the one reason we are doing this. We enjoy it. We got into the hobby because we liked the fish and their coral-reef environment. I have found out that no one is going to encourage you after you have done a good job much like many other things in life, sadly. So you have to tell yourself you're doing a good job. You sit back in that aforementioned Barka recliner and relax. You enjoy the snails on the glass, the tangs eating Nori off the clip. Enjoy the torch corals and the Euphylia family. Enjoy your Anthias and his harem. This is their world and you created it. Enjoy your tanks and talk about them with a passion. And last but Certainly not least, take care of your fish and corals like they are not possessions, but living things. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 6 months and where it will take me. It's already taken me from a used 20 gallon aquarium to an aquarium breaching 200 gallons. -Dustin Hamilton
Recollecting the memories of the pet shop is nostalgic to me. My parents would drop me off with my grandpa every weekend and I would make him take me to see the creatures. I was fascinated. I could never get enough. I didn't care if my grandma nagged grandpa about taking me. In retrospect, I don't think that he cared either. We enjoyed spending time with each other. The fact that he was interested made it fun for me, too. It never mattered if we were looking at spiders, gerbils, or naked rats, I just had an excitement within me to see the exotic. The one thing that has always been there though, is how interesting I think fish are. I mean, I love them. I just do. I don't know why. I believe that it's possible because water is mysterious to me. You can't see into it. You can go to the ocean on a giant ship, but you can't see what's under you and it just dumbfounds me. It IS mystifying and eerie simultaneously. When my wife and I were on our cruise ship in the Central Caribbean, I would sit at night, hot-air filling my nostrils and lungs and let the world encompass my senses. She would leave me there on that lawn chair, to get a snack or what not, and I would just stare into the sea. I never wanted to leave and I can't wait to go back each time I leave it. I am drawn to it and I always will be. I always will be until I get to live next to it or find a way to visit it frequently. It is where I belong and why I am here.
Going on 25-years-old now, I can finally have some financial stability. I am finally getting to the point to be able to buy things for myself that I want. I am enjoying my money and I work hard for it. I am allowed to enjoy it. Being that I recognize this, why not use it to spend on something I have always wanted to do, take care of aquatic creatures of course! Now, it is not without saying that I expected to end up spending what I have so far. I didn't expect to want to make my tank better Every DAY. It is satisfying to get that new skimmer. It is satisfying to get that bucket-list fish. It is satisfying to come home from work and stare. I enjoy staring. I did it at the pet shop 17 years ago and I still enjoy it. Always will. My tank relaxes me and it provides beauty to my house. It gives me a conversation or multiple conversations with different people every day. It is REWARDING to me. So without further ado, here are the things I have learned after 6 months. The things I have learned after delving into the salty-side and taking the plunge. Do I regret it? Not for a moment. This had to happen.
1. Never trust anyone at your local fish store (LFS)
I am not saying that every local store is filled with unintelligent-morons, but for the most part, at least where I live, they are. A couple months ago, I walked into PETCO. A gentleman asked the aquatics employee to get him a Hawaiian Feather Duster (tube worm) for him. without hesitation she obliged and :sure, one second!: What happened next was just sad and I hate thinking about it. She reached into the tank, tried to pull the duster off the rock. It wasn't budging. She pulled. Nothing. Then she ripped it's body in-half. The man and myself stared at her, eyes wide, and she just walked away and didn't come back. It is not only incidents like this, but the fact that I have heard employees telling customers that a Hippo Tang would be fine in a 10g when asked by a family of 4, the fact that I saw an employee tell a newbie hobbyist that "It's not Ich on that Yellow Tang, it's just grains of sand that he stirred up sticking to him." The fact that at one LFS They were selling Jellyfish and when I walked to see them, there was a lonesome jelly, being sucked into the skimmer on the HOB filter in his tank, make it all add up to one simple thing. NEVER impulse buy. Do your research. Do your research and when you think you have got it down, don't be afraid to ask someone who's been in the game for a while what experiences they have had with such livestock. Many costly mistakes can be avoided this way guys and gals.
2. There are Good, humble people in this hobby and there are not.
I have met some great people since getting my tank. I have Also met some real....well...you know. Someone who charges you $30 for a pulsing Xenia frag is no longer cool, seeing as how it doubles in my tank every 2 weeks. I guess what I am trying to say here is quite simple: I am thankful for the friends that I have met. It seems like most people, especially club members would give you the shirt off their back. What strikes me as quite odd is how different everyone can be. Everyone seems to have their own opinion. Some people research Reef Central and some don't do research at all. They just try different things and don't even bother going online, talking to people. There are also the soft, LPS, and SPS guys. The diversity among these peronalities is incredible. If you have an SPS-dominant tank, you hate soft corals. If you have mostly softies, you don't even try to go the hard coral route because you don't even find it interesting. I love this and I get a kick out of it when people state where they stand. No matter where you stand, be good to your fellow reefers and dont' try to sell your equipment for what it is worth new. It's just not cool.
3. Mistakes will be made.
I have always felt that I learn from my mistakes. I hate back-tracking and so I tend to over-exemplify things when they go wrong so I don't do them the same way the next time. For one, making mistakes in this hobby can get very expensive, very quick. I have read threads where people haven't quarantined and complain about all their fish dying days later. What do you expect? You've taken an animal from it's native environment with a net, bagged it, shipped it across the country, released it into a LFS tank where it lives miserably for a couple days. It then gets bagged again and is sent to your house. Can you say stressful? Can you imagine this happening to you? Some giant net, swoops you from your Barka recliner and Roseanne reruns and suddenly, you're in a glass cage with 15 other inmates who don't want you on their turf. Oh did I mention, compared to Freshwater fish, Saltwater fish are all like ticking time-bombs when it comes to aggression? Not quarantining is like playing Russian-Roulette. I understand that not everyone has the space for a QT, but at the least, visually examine your fish before your purchase. Make sure it has no torn fins, it's breathing is normal, there are no visible signs of infections or pathogens, and that it doesn't have cloudy eyes. The one other thing that I can say is this: Buy the right equipment the first time around. It might be more expensive, but it will pay off in the long-run. When you go cheap, you will buy twice. I read that when I first started and went cheap. I've now bought 2 or 3 of everything I own now. Do I hate myself for it? A little. But that's how I have learned. I guess you could say that I am self- taught.
4. Last but not least, Enjoy your tank.
Too many times we get caught up in the the equipment side of things. We get caught up with dosing, the money, the everything except the one reason we are doing this. We enjoy it. We got into the hobby because we liked the fish and their coral-reef environment. I have found out that no one is going to encourage you after you have done a good job much like many other things in life, sadly. So you have to tell yourself you're doing a good job. You sit back in that aforementioned Barka recliner and relax. You enjoy the snails on the glass, the tangs eating Nori off the clip. Enjoy the torch corals and the Euphylia family. Enjoy your Anthias and his harem. This is their world and you created it. Enjoy your tanks and talk about them with a passion. And last but Certainly not least, take care of your fish and corals like they are not possessions, but living things. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 6 months and where it will take me. It's already taken me from a used 20 gallon aquarium to an aquarium breaching 200 gallons. -Dustin Hamilton
