ARE YOU SUCCESSFUL???

[JoshH]

One could argue that to keep one single coral alive, would constitute total success

This for me... As mentioned above, a measure of success is definitely more related to a reefers experience and goals. Maintaining consistant parameters and finally defeating the algae in my tank was my first measure of success. For me right now, watching my first few corals thrive is being successful. Down the road, maintaining large colonies might be my new measurement of success. So I would say where you are in your reefing journey will dictate what you feel is being successful which will be different for everyone.

 

[c2l2parker]

Success for me is when the joy of viewing my tank each day outweighs the angst of some animal dying for an unknown reason during the night. It took a while but fortunately I have reached that level for the last 3-4 years.

 

[Tautog]

Great read Adam! Funny Question?
Success is only achieved with TIME !
In the reef hobby, success happens and can be measured by how well the caretaker notices, reacts, and ultimately cures the issue. Success can be measured in growth, reproduction, and extension. So successful reef communities would be considered totally successful when their self maintained. Unfortunately, in a closed system the caretaker becomes the variable, and the human error destroys its own success!!!

 

[dankreef]

Successful means a lot of blood sweat and tears. Starting not knowing and learning how the hobby works. Find out about QT, dinos, HA, rtn and then start over with a bigger tank, followed up by avoiding all of the previous problems and growing out frags to colonies in a big fresh tank round2. Being able to avoid or fix quickly any issues.

 

[HolisticBear]

Wowsers...a provocative question with lots of provocative answers.
In my modest (if not somewhat jaded) opinion, a reefer is really just the embodiment of Sisyphus. For most of us, something, often beyond our control or perception, will eventually trash our reef. It happens to the best of us and the worst of us (though not necessarily with the same frequency). In my opinion, it’s a perpetual cycle - a function of time; or, as the poet Steve Earle once said: “hey hey hey...the balance comes due some day”. So, I try to remember that I voluntarily engage in this hobby because it makes me happy. Success to me is finding that happiness in the process. Tending the garden, so to speak, is the reward even more so than the harvest. Regardless of where my tank is at a given time, success is me continuing to grow, participate, and keep deriving enjoyment from the hobby. Or maybe I just tell myself that, so when something goes wrong, I don’t snap and burn the house down. Ha!
In any case, we all know that true success in this hobby is managing to keep both the reef and the spouse happy simultaneously.

+1 Really liked this

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Reminds me of Scott Felman's musings here. For me, reefing success is having healthy fish with good body weight. exhibiting natural behaviors and showing no signs of stress. Having healthy corals with colors appropriate for their color morph or strain. Lastly, maintaining excellent water quality within acceptable parameters.

 

[Battlecorals]

Great read Adam! Funny Question?
Success is only achieved with TIME !
In the reef hobby, success happens and can be measured by how well the caretaker notices, reacts, and ultimately cures the issue. Success can be measured in growth, reproduction, and extension. So successful reef communities would be considered totally successful when their self maintained. Unfortunately, in a closed system the caretaker becomes the variable, and the human error destroys its own success!!!

That's a really good point. I too think that the ability to recognize and address issued before they happen, or become bigger issues is defiantly a measure of success.

 

[NS Mike D]

In this lifetime you don't need to prove anything to anybody, except yourself .....




IMO, meaningful success, is self-defined. The winner of a marathon is greeted to loud cheers and congratulations, as well is the final runner to finish. I was/am always intrigued by that. Certainly the winner has achieved success through hard work, training, pain, set backs etc. But why do we cheer the final runner?

I think because, in many ways, the last runner has achieved the same success through hard work, training, pain, set backs etc. and on some level more since he/she knows he/she would not win, but rather set out for no other reason but for the personal glory of setting a high goal and doing it.

My favorite passage by Teddy Roosevelt

The Man in the Arena

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs,
who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst,
if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.




Success is elusive and fleeting. Enjoy the triumphs and may your losses be while daring greatly.

 

[Battlecorals]

In this lifetime you don't need to prove anything to anybody, except yourself .....




IMO, meaningful success, is self-defined. The winner of a marathon is greeted to loud cheers and congratulations, as well is the final runner to finish. I was/am always intrigued by that. Certainly the winner has achieved success through hard work, training, pain, set backs etc. But why do we cheer the final runner?

I think because, in many ways, the last runner has achieved the same success through hard work, training, pain, set backs etc. and on some level more since he/she knows he/she would not win, but rather set out for no other reason but for the personal glory of setting a high goal and doing it.

My favorite passage by Teddy Roosevelt

The Man in the Arena

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs,
who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst,
if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.




Success is elusive and fleeting. Enjoy the triumphs and may your losses be while daring greatly.

Man I cany believe how long it took me to circle back on this one lol

I love the post. Well-spoken. Long over due and belated thank you

 

[Battlecorals]

Sometimes it really is ok to just page through old write ups and give them a bump!

 

[Tonycass12]

Ongoing sign of success for me is seeing every month that I need to keep increasing my alk and Calcium dosing because the corals are taking up more and more as they continue to grow larger.

 

[Ghostbuster]

Personally, success is having healthy coral without much fuss… with having two reef systems, I’ve had success with one but the other has been a tough challenge. The successful tank for me is a softie 90 gallon cube because it’s very little work to maintain but looks beautiful. So, the visual aspect is another aspect of success. I have a really inexpensive light fixture over it that’s doing a fantastic job; I manually add RO water every few days, and sometimes add several mls of 2-pt whenever I feel like it. Hardly ever test water parameters. So, the third aspect of success is ease of care. I’ve attached a few photos for your reference here. Now, I have plenty of fancy reef lights; and someday, I plan on putting one of them over this cube tank, but my priority is my predominantly acropora reef tank. I’m currently in the process of transferring from a regular 120 gallon tank, to a 200 gallon tank with a more appealing dimensional aspect ratio.
So, success in keeping acropora for me, like most acro lovers, is the perfect tank dimensions, among many other parameters. But to sum it up, I don’t think I will be successful until I know how to grow acropora like the pro’s. I see several people having an amazing acro tank, explosive growth, etc…, and, I wonder why I’m not achieving these results. Success is imitating other folk’s success I guess is the forth aspect. Can that ever be achieved? Haha… likely not.
The last photo of someone’s acro tank from way back when is my definition of ultimate success!

 

[Ashish Patel]

Growth, Color, PE, and increase uptake in ALK are my signs of success. Once I have a successful formula I stick with it!

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

For me, why celebrate success without failure. I feel a lot more satisfaction when I’ve had to overcome obstacles versus everything just being perfect from go.

 

[Ghostbuster]

For me, why celebrate success without failure. I feel a lot more satisfaction when I’ve had to overcome obstacles versus everything just being perfect from go.

Agreed… The ongoing challenge is a certain aspect of success for me as well

 

[Battlecorals]

Agreed… The ongoing challenge is a certain aspect of success for me as well

well said! reviving this one, as it came up in a conversation I was having yesterday

 

[Reefer Matt]

well said! reviving this one, as it came up in a conversation I was having yesterday

My definition of success is doing something on purpose and having the expected results. But that doesn’t mean perfection all the time.

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

As a man?,
God no!
As a reefer with only 16 month practical experience I'm pretty happy.
My acro frags have turned into colonies & my ludicrously expensive torchs have trebled head count in 12 months.
Could be luck(I did make some schoolboy errors early on) such as salinity spikes, temp spikes & SPS death-defying alk swings but overall I'm happy.
I had kept Asian & wild discus for sometime before so I was used to finicky things that could die at any moment to be fair

 

[Troylee]

Ya know… reflecting over the years I used to think I was successful then I got my current tank… I always kept sticks alive and they grew and I thought thrived till now! After a long 12 year break I’m here with a new tank and watching my corals thrive today I know I didn’t have it back then like I got it now! I really don’t know what the difference is from then till now because I still use my old skool ways cause that’s all I know! Only thing different is bacto balance instead of vodka and zeobak instead of mb7…. Still run halides and still use nothing but a skimmer and live rock for filtration… huh.. I believe today I’m successful lol.. time will tell!