- Joined
- Nov 23, 2006
- Messages
- 11,408
- Reaction score
- 9,112
- Review score
- +0 /0 /-0
- Location
- Los Angeles
I guess I was becoming a part of many of your daily rituals…very cool. I received a ton of emails and PM’s asking if I was okay, as I haven’t posted anything in a while…Thanks for the kind words! I assure you that I am most assuredly okay.
Once again, I decided to take a bit of a self imposed hiatus from writing. Why? Well, for one thing, I was just burnt out! I mean, waking up at 5:30 AM, thinking up and writing new and relevant topics every day for almost 8 months was getting tiresome…It wasn’t fun anymore!
I mean, it IS fun interacting with everyone here, drawing the ire of and attention from competitors’ and their forums, and generally raising a little stink now and then…It was just kind of getting…old for a while. And, I didn’t think I had anything really interesting to talk about at the time. So I took a little time off…Put a little more focus on other areas of my life and my business, which I found quite a bit more productive and gratifying.
That being said, I am in the mood to write again…I have a few speaking engagements coming up, so I guess I’m forced to the limelight again…ready to emerge and start hitting you with more stuff…I’ll start back slow at first, and get back up to speed soon…
Oh- side note. guess what it’s time for? The infamous Unique Corals “What Can Brown Do for You?†Contest (AKA the “Ugly Corals Contestâ€)! Keep an eye peeled, and start scouring your reef for that “golden†competitor!
In the mean time, let me ease back into a blog….
******
"Stay the course."
You hear that expression in lots of endeavors, ranging from sports to investing. It’s sound advice, a great philosophy.
"Staying the course" can take you to places you never imagined. Just ask the L.A. Kings.
This sort of thinking has been on my mind a lot over the past few weeks as I watched my favorite hockey team, the Los Angeles Kings, power through the NHL playoffs in pursuit of one of the sporting world’s most coveted prizes, the Stanley Cup. During their 6 week Cup “run†this team managed to come back from deficits, leads, and other twists and turns thrown at them from teams that, at least on paper, were supposedly much better. And, of course, they won the Stanley Cup.
How did they accomplish this? What is their secret weapon? Skill? Talent? Of course. Belief and will? Yeah, belief that they were as good as anyone, and the will to buy into a system, understand it, and stay the course regardless of challenges.
Think about it. Having a vision, then developing and executing a plan to achieve it is a powerful thing. And it’s totally applicable to the reef keeping hobby.
We all seem to want that beautiful, healthy reef system..In reef keeping, there are so many ways to get to the same place. We can embrace any number of philosophies, modified “Berlin†method, the “Ultra Low Nutrient†system, etc., etc., etc. As a reefer, when you are setting out to create a reef aquarium, you have so many choices in equipment, livestock, technique, etc. that it’s almost overwhelming, ins’t it?
The most important thing, in my opinion, is to have a goal. And not only to have a goal…but to have a commitment to that goal. Not to waiver when things go wrong, or when others question your techniques and methods.
In sports, they call it “mental toughness.â€
"Gorgonians are too difficult to keep in reefs..."
In this hobby, you are constantly “reminded†by well-intended armchair “experts†that what you’re doing isn’t the right way, or that you’re embarking on an exercise in futility…You know, the whole naysayer thing.
Why is this?
I thought that there might be at least two possibilities:
Perhaps people are jealous, because you’re displaying the courage to try doing things a bit differently. Or, maybe it’s just that some of these detractors need to feel better about the dogmatic way that they run their reefs- or their lives, for that matter.
Or, maybe they WANT to see you fail, because your idea CAN’T be right. After all, THEY didin’t think about it…Are hobbyists really this mean spirited and negative? I should hope not. But I must tell you, I have experienced a bit of this from hobbyists in the past. Hobbyists that, for whatever reason, just felt that it was their obligation to dissuade you from following your plan.
What?
“Mental toughness†is surprisingly important in reef keeping…Not only to keep the naysayers at bay, but to keep focused. It’s so darned easy to be detracted in this hobby. So easy to “drink the Koolade†and buy into the collective mindset because “that’s how it’s done.â€
We heard it at Unique all the time when we started: “You can’t put up WYSIWYG corals every single day. It’s a waste of time; you can’t sustain the pace, it will drain your resources….!†Or, “You can’t have a carte blanche guarantee policy that favors the consumer- they’ll abuse it and you’ll just bleed money…â€
Stuff like that.
WYSIWYG...Every day.
As a reefer, you just can’t let yourself buy into that sort of thinking. It will not only hold YOU back- it will hold the hobby in general back, because if you’re beaten into submission any time you dare think against the prevailing “normsâ€, you’ll never take that next step that can push the hobby ahead in some manner.
Also, at the risk of beating a very well-flogged horse (at least in this forum), I hate to see you feel that you need to keep “such and such†a coral in your tank because it’s “hot†right now. I talk to dozens of reefers every week, and there are always a few that feel compelled to keep some coral or another because it’s trending on the forums. It’s almost like they feel that the’r reef is not “relevantâ€, “coolâ€, or otherwise successful because they don’t keep that trendy Acro or stupidly-named Acan.
This month's "flavor of the month"...
In my opinion, this is exactly what we should NOT be doing as reefers. For goodness’ sake, just keep the corals that YOU like. Build your system the way that you want to. As long as you’re not doing something dangerous or downright cruel and reckless, responsible experimentatin is a good thing. You’re not keeping a reef to pander to the masses or win a “tank of the week/month/year†award. If you are, there is something else wrong with you.
Think contrarian. Be creative, bold, and innovative. Be yourself.
Until next time..
Stay Wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
Once again, I decided to take a bit of a self imposed hiatus from writing. Why? Well, for one thing, I was just burnt out! I mean, waking up at 5:30 AM, thinking up and writing new and relevant topics every day for almost 8 months was getting tiresome…It wasn’t fun anymore!
I mean, it IS fun interacting with everyone here, drawing the ire of and attention from competitors’ and their forums, and generally raising a little stink now and then…It was just kind of getting…old for a while. And, I didn’t think I had anything really interesting to talk about at the time. So I took a little time off…Put a little more focus on other areas of my life and my business, which I found quite a bit more productive and gratifying.
That being said, I am in the mood to write again…I have a few speaking engagements coming up, so I guess I’m forced to the limelight again…ready to emerge and start hitting you with more stuff…I’ll start back slow at first, and get back up to speed soon…
Oh- side note. guess what it’s time for? The infamous Unique Corals “What Can Brown Do for You?†Contest (AKA the “Ugly Corals Contestâ€)! Keep an eye peeled, and start scouring your reef for that “golden†competitor!
In the mean time, let me ease back into a blog….
******
"Stay the course."
You hear that expression in lots of endeavors, ranging from sports to investing. It’s sound advice, a great philosophy.
"Staying the course" can take you to places you never imagined. Just ask the L.A. Kings.
This sort of thinking has been on my mind a lot over the past few weeks as I watched my favorite hockey team, the Los Angeles Kings, power through the NHL playoffs in pursuit of one of the sporting world’s most coveted prizes, the Stanley Cup. During their 6 week Cup “run†this team managed to come back from deficits, leads, and other twists and turns thrown at them from teams that, at least on paper, were supposedly much better. And, of course, they won the Stanley Cup.
How did they accomplish this? What is their secret weapon? Skill? Talent? Of course. Belief and will? Yeah, belief that they were as good as anyone, and the will to buy into a system, understand it, and stay the course regardless of challenges.
Think about it. Having a vision, then developing and executing a plan to achieve it is a powerful thing. And it’s totally applicable to the reef keeping hobby.
We all seem to want that beautiful, healthy reef system..In reef keeping, there are so many ways to get to the same place. We can embrace any number of philosophies, modified “Berlin†method, the “Ultra Low Nutrient†system, etc., etc., etc. As a reefer, when you are setting out to create a reef aquarium, you have so many choices in equipment, livestock, technique, etc. that it’s almost overwhelming, ins’t it?
The most important thing, in my opinion, is to have a goal. And not only to have a goal…but to have a commitment to that goal. Not to waiver when things go wrong, or when others question your techniques and methods.
In sports, they call it “mental toughness.â€
"Gorgonians are too difficult to keep in reefs..."
In this hobby, you are constantly “reminded†by well-intended armchair “experts†that what you’re doing isn’t the right way, or that you’re embarking on an exercise in futility…You know, the whole naysayer thing.
Why is this?
I thought that there might be at least two possibilities:
Perhaps people are jealous, because you’re displaying the courage to try doing things a bit differently. Or, maybe it’s just that some of these detractors need to feel better about the dogmatic way that they run their reefs- or their lives, for that matter.
Or, maybe they WANT to see you fail, because your idea CAN’T be right. After all, THEY didin’t think about it…Are hobbyists really this mean spirited and negative? I should hope not. But I must tell you, I have experienced a bit of this from hobbyists in the past. Hobbyists that, for whatever reason, just felt that it was their obligation to dissuade you from following your plan.
What?
“Mental toughness†is surprisingly important in reef keeping…Not only to keep the naysayers at bay, but to keep focused. It’s so darned easy to be detracted in this hobby. So easy to “drink the Koolade†and buy into the collective mindset because “that’s how it’s done.â€
We heard it at Unique all the time when we started: “You can’t put up WYSIWYG corals every single day. It’s a waste of time; you can’t sustain the pace, it will drain your resources….!†Or, “You can’t have a carte blanche guarantee policy that favors the consumer- they’ll abuse it and you’ll just bleed money…â€
Stuff like that.
WYSIWYG...Every day.
As a reefer, you just can’t let yourself buy into that sort of thinking. It will not only hold YOU back- it will hold the hobby in general back, because if you’re beaten into submission any time you dare think against the prevailing “normsâ€, you’ll never take that next step that can push the hobby ahead in some manner.
Also, at the risk of beating a very well-flogged horse (at least in this forum), I hate to see you feel that you need to keep “such and such†a coral in your tank because it’s “hot†right now. I talk to dozens of reefers every week, and there are always a few that feel compelled to keep some coral or another because it’s trending on the forums. It’s almost like they feel that the’r reef is not “relevantâ€, “coolâ€, or otherwise successful because they don’t keep that trendy Acro or stupidly-named Acan.
This month's "flavor of the month"...
In my opinion, this is exactly what we should NOT be doing as reefers. For goodness’ sake, just keep the corals that YOU like. Build your system the way that you want to. As long as you’re not doing something dangerous or downright cruel and reckless, responsible experimentatin is a good thing. You’re not keeping a reef to pander to the masses or win a “tank of the week/month/year†award. If you are, there is something else wrong with you.
Think contrarian. Be creative, bold, and innovative. Be yourself.
Until next time..
Stay Wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
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