This hobby is so frustrating, any words of Wisdom?

[Joshsmit56001]

I am so frustrated with this hobby right now. When it seems like you have everything going right for you, everything falls apart. I just needed to let loose some built up frustration and see if anyone else has had an all time low like I have. If anyone has any words of wisdom out there please let us all hear them from you. I was so close to just giving up and selling everything when I thought I never give up on anything so I am not gonna give up. Please let us hobbiest that are at our all time low get some words of wisdom from some people who have beenm through everything and seen everything because we all sure need something to lift our spirits!

 

[Brisc0]

Just as important as words of wisdom, which I doubt I ever have, what happened to you to cause all this frustration? If nothing else your bad experience could help someone else dodge a problem. I guess those are my words of wisdom, the best instrument we have is to learn from eachother...

 

[quarryshark]

Yes, been there, felt that. Beat the odds and enjoying the rewards. Ask a lot of questions and share with us your good times and especially the bad. We all care and will help you through.

 

[BillyZ]

Please let us hobbiest that are at our all time low get some words of wisdom from some people who have beenm through everything and seen everything because we all sure need something to lift our spirits!

I've certainly not even come close to having been through and seen everything but I'll give you what I think has been my saving grace in this hobby.

Patience.

Plain and simple, you have to be patient. Know that everything you do to your system causes change. Sometimes that change can take days or even months to develop into something that we can observe. The aquarium's we're trying to establish are a delicate balance of life from the microscopic bacteria in the sand and rock that process the waste; to the tiny copepods that keep our sand beds lose and our LR clean of detritus; and up to the "Big fellas" that swim in our open water column. Each of them plays a vital roll in the contained eco-system. It's taken nature millenia to perfect this balance.(my apologies to creationists, i'm mixed in my beliefs ) It is my humble opinion, that if you want a healthy and beautiful aquarium, you must keep this balance in mind and you have to consider each creatures impact on that balance. I've had my 55 gallon tank for just over 2 years now. In the first year, I made a lot of the common mistakes that we see from beginers. Simple ignorance, is all (and listening to the LFS :| ). In the months since i decided to do a plethera of research and found this site I have learned a great deal and have learned, most importantly, to take it slowly. I make "a" change to my system, and give it time to adjust and see how it has affected my tank. I currently have 1 yellow tang, 2 blue chromies and a colony of mushrooms in a two year old tank. Not everyone goes as slow as I do, but this is just my approach to reef keeping. I have a 55 gallon tank, no sump, no fuge, no skimmer, no chillers... just a tank w/ power-heads and a hob for the occasional GAC if need be.

All new tanks go through growing pains. You'll have algae blooms, water parameter fluctuations and things will generally be, frustrating . Just give it time, be diligent and observant and your tank will balance.


JMO

 

[scuba_steve]

dont try ssooooooooo hard !! let nature do its thing !! my bro was always dosing meds everytime he seen a spot which caused more issues than it did good !! once i got him to relax and let thing settle down everything cleared up !! also if people could show half the self control as billyz we all be better off !! 3 fish in a 55 for 2 years is a good thing but id say 99% of us dont have that kind of control

 

[fishfreek]

Research and Reference. Couple that with the wisdom of those above and you will go along way. What I mean by research and reference is to continually strive to learn more about the hobby, about its background, its history, learn about those simple hobbists that thru their own research and refernence became inovators in the hobby.

You cant have to many books either. I would be willing to bet just about anyone who has a sucessful tank has at least 2 saltwater books in their home library. I cant tell you how many I have. (of course having them is only part of the key. I still gotta work on reading them

In all seriousness if you take your time things will work out for you. When you look at our tanks inthe gallery remember that 99% of them where not like that from the outset. Personally I am just now getting to a point where I think my tanks look nice.

 

[Boxster]

Agree....Patience.....Don't try to achieve perfection, it will not.
Hang in there, the rewards is coming sooner than you thought.

 

[Atari]

Some excellent words have been said already so I'm just gonna add this... Do other things!! There's a lot more to life than stressing out over a hobby.. if it starts feeling like a burden then that means you are putting way too much into it mentally. Take a breather and go for a walk, read a book, watch tv... anything else that you enjoy doing. Always remember that we have hobbies to relieve stress not create it!

 

[Brisc0]

Atari and scuba steve nailed it, at least in my case. I don't know if its a common problem, but I brood over keeping my tank healthy so much that I find I spend hardly any time just looking at it. This is something I have been working to change over the last few weeks.

 

[Joshsmit56001]

Thanks a lot guys. It it is really great that all of you can share your wisdom from this hobby. It is a beautiful and fragile thing but I will keep striving to succeed at what I do. Thanks to everyone for there quick responses!

Thanks A Bunch,
Josh

 

[Hara]

one other thing to add.....sometimes, no matter how hard you try, how much effort you put forth, sometimes stuff JUST HAPPENS in this hobby. It is not always your fault. We are trying to build little worlds in little glass boxes and if things go wrong in the big blue ball we call this planet, we can certainly EXPECT them to go wrong from time to time in our own little created environments.

 

[Ayesha97]

Take a visit to the local aquarium or if you can go scuba diving, watch the discovery channel- take the time to appreciate what you are trying to achieve in your tank. Enjoy seeing the beauty of the ocean and its many creatures.

Like BillyZ said, nature has taken millions of years to get it right. Just take a deep breath and look at the bigger picture.

Later when things are going your way: STOP and enjoy it! I can't tell you how happy I am to have my clowns! They are the main reason I decided to go with salt water. I get such a silly grin on my face watching them swim around and scramble over their supper. I'm just in awe of what I have created. (and as silly as this sounds, my cats have noticed that there's something new going on in my tank because they get VERY jealous when I sit in front of my tank)

 

[BillyZ]

as little as I have in my tank... i still just sit there in front of it, my wife and I both do. We simply marvel at the amount of life that is in the tank that I DIDN'T put there! I find new things all the time.