What keeps you going?

[lotus02]

Here's a topic for the day.
Most of us have experienced tank crashes, HA , Red slime,Unknown death of livestock and equipment failure. What drives you to keep going?

A while back (over a year ago) we had a major alk problem lost most of our sps and clams. I was devastated. But kept going .
It was the drive to better and the challenge to succeed that kept us in. We all know the hobby is an addiction ,but after loosing so much $$$ in livestock why do we keep going?

 

[reef_research]

hope.

 

[GuidoReefer]

The fact that its harder to break down the entire tank, than to replace what was lost lol ....and maybe alittle hope that things will look great one day....

Went through my share of diasters as well, green tank sydrome for 2 months, red slime on and off, and DSP problems....but tank is thriving now and havent put my hands in there for 2 weeks and counting...lol..

 

[Houtz]

I enjoy it so much that the pleasures of the hobby outweigh the pains. I keep going because I love it! Each disaster is a lesson learned and each success is a great reward.

 

[archie1709]

Everytime you look at past pictures and realize how much more lush your corals are now than before. It makes you hope for what the corals will look like a year from now.

One thing about our hobby is that our pains, hardships, headaches, and stress, has a visible (sometimes, instantaneous) positive result (occassionally, negative).

Finally, you have your own mini-underwater show at home in the dead of winter.....that's priceless.

 

[Paintbug]

what keeps me going is learning something new every day. if not about my aquarium its about the ocean, or someone elses aquarium.

 

[WMac]

A.D.D. helps !!!
At least it helps me explain to myself how A 47 year old can sit and stare into a tank with the Wonder of a Child for hours on end.

Reefer Madness,
That mental state or disease that we all have that defies explanation.

And then a Six digit a year income helps as well.

 

[areze]

the tank of the month drives me. seeing what can be.

 

[Cosmo^Kramer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8210754#post8210754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paintbug
what keeps me going is learning something new every day. if not about my aquarium its about the ocean, or someone elses aquarium.

I'm with Paintbug on this one.My kids and me have learned so much from this hobby.It has my oldest reading about reefs and the danger they are in.My 5 year old daughter just walks around studying the tank for hours at a time and then tells me what the conch or a snail did for the past hour..LOL.Maybe one of them will become marine biologist

 

[Eric Max]

the only thing that i think keeps me going is te way my puffer smiles at me everytime i walk by the tank. im thinking he might be a long lost brother o mine.

 

[mr pink floyd]

knowing that i learn form all of my mistakes, so since im a teenage reefer when im older i will have plenty of expirence, and i must say, these past two years i haev built a tank i am extremly proud of, its algae free(except coraline) and the only thign i would change is adding more coral

 

[lazluvtoo]

The sense of well-being whenever I gaze at my tank and see all of the fishes swimming around the thriving corals. I am at my happiest when my tank is at it's cleanest. I also believe that it is the challenge involved in keeping live corals and fish that feeds the desire to keep on goin.

 

[dcombs44]

I've had my share of ups and downs like a lot of other people, and I'm not sure what keeps me going sometimes. I think that as my career and income develop, the dreams of having that "tank of the month" caliber tank becomes closer to a possibility, and knowing that I could have the slightest bit of influence on something that beautiful some day, won't allow me to give it up.

 

[Jamesurq]

Now that you've forced me to look at it - I'm not sure I know why... just habit I suppose...

 

[Marinemom]

I think I have had more than my share of things that go wrong in a reef in such a short amount of time. In a few days this reef will be nine months old and I still think that it needs to settle down some. It seems that every day brings a new challange with my reef and on some days I am not up for it. What keeps me going with my reef is I do not want to admit failure with this. I have done freshwater for more than ten years but this reef is a definite challange to say the least. The other things that keep me going with this reef is the money I have put into it already and continue to do but the most important reason is I know that in time this will be a truly amazing reef and well worth the effort.

Marinemom

 

[Orochimaru]

How much it costs to start again if I changed my mind later.

 

[stereomandan]

O.k., maybe I'm selfish, but a lot of it has to do with friends, family and kids saying WOW! I get a lot of satisfaction from that.
They see the tank, and stand there looking at everything for the next 10 minutes and asking all sorts of questions.

It's the challange as well; always trying to create the best environment for the livestock, while making the display as nice as possible.

It's something to do. It's a great winter hobby, when we don't have as much to do around here in Michigan during the winter.

Its fun trying new equipment, corals, and fish.

Its relaxing and beautiful to look at.

Dan

 

[lilprincess]

I would say the challenge, the learning experience, and knowing that I always have room to improve.

 

[MCary]

Many times the problems are what keep me going. As weird as that sounds, I need hobbies that challange me. Working to overcome all the problems or designing systems that don't experiance those problems is very rewarding. I thing a majority of frustrations in anything stems from unreal expectations. I expect problems and then overcome them.

Mike

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8210754#post8210754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paintbug
what keeps me going is learning something new every day. if not about my aquarium its about the ocean, or someone elses aquarium.

I completely agree. Then new challenges come up. For example, you have a typical reef and then your clownfish decide to start laying eggs. That's a door to a whole other world there.