What do you love about reefing?

[vision]

title!

 

what really satisfies everyone when it comes to keeping a reef tank?

 

what, deep down, is fulfilled for you?

 

for me... maybe silly to some of you, but reefing is very therapeutic for me. i get lost, for hours, staring at each and every piece of rock in the tank. reefing to me is the origin of the phrase, "there's more than one way to skin a cat." i love that! finding out what works best for you by making small adjustments to what works for others or totally creating a new way, whatever it may be!

 

my true interest in marine life started as a child for me but it wasn't till my adulthood that i got my feet wet with keeping aquariums.

 

honestly, i regret not starting younger.

 

so, what do you love about reefing?

 

[MainelyReefer]

What's not to love?!!

Waking up at 5 am, thawing some nasty frozen food making a stinky fish food slurry and pipetting that into some alien life forms tentacle mouth(acans, chalices, trumpets) that is honestly my favorite part.

The colors are incredible and get my wife involved too

But I think the icing on the cake is designing and being responsible for a mini ecosystem that should exist thousands of miles away in a place I will literally never go, plus who didn't want to be a marine biologist when they were 10?

[psycho1]

Thats right.

 

Also the fact that the tank( both of them) keeps my autistic sun of loosing it.

It is more beautiful than tv. We find ourselves looking more to the tank searching than doing other things.

Also the conract with fellow hobbyists ande exchanging frag or info.

[Groot]

I love that you are trying to make a world in a box. I can set in front of my tank for hours and just see what is thriving and feel good about it. I love the little things trying to replicate nature in my tank.

[Groot]

I don't love the expense. ☹️

[WV Reefer]

It is nature in a box......., that I create, cultivate and care for. My piece of the ocean.

 

It is living art.

[dandelion]

I took it up as a challenge. It feels good when you know it is not an easy feat but you still manage to keep it thriving. Not to mention it is really therapeutic to just stare at the tank!

 

Like groot said I don't like the expenses though.

[Clown79]

For me, aquatic life and animals have always been something i have loved.

 

After yrs of turtles and various FW, I wanted a reef.

 

I find it very therapeutic when getting lost watching my mini reef, I find it educational and challenging, even cleaning the tank, feeding the fish, watching corals grow, thats all very rewarding for me.

[brandon429]

the #1 best aspect of reefing is to break rules that book writers said couldn't be broken ( old rules were highly restrictive to convenient reefing )

[burtbollinger]

It is nature in a box......., that I create, cultivate and care for. My piece of the ocean.

 

It is living art.

this, and the sense of zoning out, yet full focused peacefulness that many of the activities around it bring....testing water, mixing water, feeding, cleaning, checking equipment.

 

the sound and movement of water.

 

water shimmer from LEDs, MH...

 

the motion of clownfish swimming.

 

the color of tank under blue moonlight.

 

the smell of the bubbles from a skimmer (not the nasty stuff)

 

also, you can pour all your life anxieties into a glass box instead....and the results of that worry often blossom into beauty.

[driftsaru]

all the symbiotic relationships!

 

its the main focus of my cadlights 34:

nems and clowns

nems and sexy shrimp

yasha goby and pistol shrimp!

[xilez]

Would agree on most points, but one of the biggest things for me is the uniqueness of owning a reef. No one my age has one. It's a true centerpiece in my home when I have guests. People are amazed at all the different pieces of the ocean that are on display next to my couch.

[ninjamyst]

great way to launder your money. never ending money sinkhole

[Eisernes]

I love it for the same reason I loved playing golf, I suck at it and I can never in a million years master it. It is a constant challenge. I read books and watch videos and give myself every advantage but when it comes to execution most of that goes out the window. Most of the time things are a terrible mess full of nasties or shots into the woods, but every now and then everything is in balance and vibrant or you get that lucky birdie shot and everything is right with the world.

[Tmr8188]

I hate it. Its frustrating. I always feel my tank is ugly and can be better. I am always thinking up builds only to buy half of it and abandon it. My clowns are assholes that bite me. But if it was easier I wouldn't be doing it.

[ajmckay]

Interesting thread topic - I'm sure I've posted in a similar thread a few time before but it's always good to re-affirm

 

For me, I saved up and bought my first aquarium when I was in 3rd grade. I can count on one hand the # of years I haven't had a tank since then. Reefing was a new world - something that I wanted to explore.

 

Anyways, the things I love about this hobby are:

- DIY. Almost everything about my builds is a DIY project. I can't help myself. I just bought a new magnet cleaner the other day and I've already taken it apart to make it better suited to my tank.

- Details. There are sooo many things that go into a reef tank. I like planning the details from the inhabitants and the scape to the types of materials & equipment, etc...

- Overcoming limitations & fixing problems. It's very satisfying to overcome a limitation yourself or see a biological process unfold before your eyes and see if results were like you had anticipated.

- Relaxation and enjoyment. I have been known to stare at my tank for an hour. I have magnifying glasses stashed all over the place. I like talking to guests about it also.

[HarryPotter]

Reefing makes life a little less miserable. A hobby in which you can always learn and improve.

[jtwisconsin]

The challenge is the most rewarding for me - especially for nano and pico reefs. There is always a little satisfaction knowing that these are probably the most challenging of all aquariums.

 

There is also so much to learn in this hobby, and I find that researching and learning to be very enjoyable.

[Droy008]

Im learning new things I love about my reef Every. Single. Day.

It's always changing!

One week I love my clowns and can't get enough of them, the next, I'm hanging them out the windows for the nearby hawks!

 

Also I may be alone here, but I am falling in love with dialing in each and every little parameter in my tank.

 

It's very rewarding to find a small thing that's out of wacky, and dialing it back in. Then watching the life inside your tank thrive, because order has been restored.

 

Then again, next week I might have to feed those hawks one of these bastard YWG's.

[GunslingerGirl]

I love the planning and thought that goes into it. I love the challenges and the uphill battles we have to overcome.

 

I love seeing the beauty in pests like majanos and (used to be super pests) mantis shrimp.

 

I get to incorporate so many facets of my life into my tanks, sometimes I realize I'm using something from a lecture in class and I go "Oh hey. That was a useful thing."

 

Also I get to mad scientist things.

[Shoob1e]

For myself aquatic life has always been a part for me, moving away from the beach for work it's my way of bringing a piece of the ocean back home. After a 72 hour shift it's very very therapeutic, even the simple things like feeding some corals, or a water change. I do enjoy the challenge factor also, it may beat my ass one day but after you beat it back you feel so accomplished. After my weekly cleaning I clean all the glass sit down drink a cup of Joe turn off all the house lights with my blues on and enjoy the ecosystem that I have created and how beautiful it is. Also who doesn't like to stare at underwater creatures and tell your friends about them all when they come over.

[gonebad395]

That knowing one day jaws will be my pet.

[Shoob1e]

I love it for the same reason I loved playing golf, I suck at it and I can never in a million years master it. It is a constant challenge. I read books and watch videos and give myself every advantage but when it comes to execution most of that goes out the window. Most of the time things are a terrible mess full of nasties or shots into the woods, but every now and then everything is in balance and vibrant or you get that lucky birdie shot and everything is right with the world.

 

That is a great way to put it I feel the exact same way about golf, as it gets the best of me too.

[Partially Submerged]

Chicks dig it.

[jestep]

It's a great hobby and is the only form of fish tank keeping that naturally develops a community around it. You can learn some great lessons, from the benefit of sharing to the problems with communal diseases...

 

But, right now, I'd have to say the forced patience that comes with keeping a successful reef tank. I feel this is becoming even more valuable as we get further into the instant gratification mindset that has come with the internet and a shrinking world. Sure, nobody sets out to find patience, but looking backwards it's definitely a benefit and as relevant as ever.

 

You simply can't significantly rush it in this hobby and there's very few shortcuts. It forces a person to do it right when they have certain goals in mind and many times the final product takes months to years to achieve. That's if the journey itself isn't the goal, but for many it is. There's very few other hobbies with that sort of ongoing challenge and ongoing reward.