Weekly Discussion: Successful?

[Geoff]

Why are there so many different ways to run a successful reef tank? what is considered successful?

G~

[EndlessSummer]

Just recently a lot of my corals are splitting and growing. I have to say, with being in this hobby just under a year and starting out knowing nothing, its a welcome sight to see. That and never losing a fish.

[fox2589]

well when i first started i would say completing a water change without a casualty would be successful!now its just maintaining my system for the last year and a half and watching it grow!I would say stability and growth in this hobby is successful!-drew

[Geoff]

why is it that some people swear by fuges, and others feel they are useless? why are some able to run without skimmers and others need them? why is it possible to keep things running with so many variables that seem to go against each other?

G~

[Jnicho]

I think "successful" is in the eye of the beholder!

I see tanks that I think don't look so hot and need some attention...but the tank owner seems to be happy with it...so I assume they consider it a success. Conversely, on occasion I see the opposite too...where a tank look great and healthy, but the owner thinks it could be better.

[jenglish]

Success = my wife not reading the credit card statement

I think success depends highly on goals. You can meet the goals of having a highly stocked tank that is very impressive but others will say it is not "natural" because those species don't live togethor etc etc. Others may have a microcosym of a real biotope.... but only a marine biologist would know to be impressed by the native algaes I think if you are meeting your personal goals it is a success.

I think there are some basics of nutrient math (+ & -) that allows for a wide variety of different techniques. Some are purely algae driven, or purely bacterial, etc etc. But for the most part they are all different ways to do the same thing. Well, at least similar things.

[gouch]

i agree success is all based on the person. first you must consider your goals and the time frame you set for them. then gauge your success based on that.

i just got through my first cycle on my first tank and i havent leaked, spilled, or broke anything on the tank......success!!!

then i set up my first skimmer and pulled a bunch of junk.....success!!

have i ran a tank for a lenth of time to frag corals and grow all different types of lps, sps, and so on and so forth?........noooooo

but im happy at my pace so far!!!!!

[three90s&125sump]

Success... Success can be defined very differently from one person to the next and the idea of it can be very distorted based on past experience.

An in vestor can make $2,000,000 in a year and say it was a very unsuccessful year based on what was previously concidered a successful year. IE: $8,000,000 in a single year. While 99 percent of the poulation may believe an income of $2,000,000 to be an astronomical income that is just a dream. And converse of the same being that a child brought up in (true) poverty would believe that earning $5 would be an extreme success.

Success can only be defined by the individual defining it. While most people strive to expand their threashold of success many people can be satisfied with little if any based upon their definition of success.

I like to allow the individuals idea of success to evolve (as mine always does) by introducing them to new and greater levels of success.

As far as differing methodologies to reach acceptable levels of success goes... All we are trying to do is provide an environment that (based on our personal idea of success) meets the criteria of the animals we are trying to keep alive. No matter what the method is, as long as the path leads to our idea of success (with in reason), there is no right or wrong way to get there.

The chemical composition of the ASW that is in our system has to be a fairly specific combonation of compounds. IE: calcium 400. How you get these compunds to be what they are is up to you, the catch is, for example, if you raise your calcium solely by adding calcium cloride are you taking the proper steps to remove the cloride from the system? This is just 1 of the hundreds of compounds that make their way into our systems but its a fairly common issue that gets over looked in what might be concidered a successful system.

We really only try to be successful (based on past experiences) in what we do, trying to be perfect is a sure fire way for failure.

[gouch]

Originally Posted by three90s&125sump

Success... Success can be defined very differently from one person to the next and the idea of it can be very distorted based on past experience.

An in vestor can make $2,000,000 in a year and say it was a very unsuccessful year based on what was previously concidered a successful year. IE: $8,000,000 in a single year. While 99 percent of the poulation may believe an income of $2,000,000 to be an astronomical income that is just a dream. And converse of the same being that a child brought up in (true) poverty would believe that earning $5 would be an extreme success.

Success can only be defined by the individual defining it. While most people strive to expand their threashold of success many people can be satisfied with little if any based upon their definition of success.

I like to allow the individuals idea of success to evolve (as mine always does) by introducing them to new and greater levels of success.

As far as differing methodologies to reach acceptable levels of success goes... All we are trying to do is provide an environment that (based on our personal idea of success) meets the criteria of the animals we are trying to keep alive. No matter what the method is, as long as the path leads to our idea of success (with in reason), there is no right or wrong way to get there.

The chemical composition of the ASW that is in our system has to be a fairly specific combonation of compounds. IE: calcium 400. How you get these compunds to be what they are is up to you, the catch is, for example, if you raise your calcium solely by adding calcium cloride are you taking the proper steps to remove the cloride from the system? This is just 1 of the hundreds of compounds that make their way into our systems but its a fairly common issue that gets over looked in what might be concidered a successful system.

We really only try to be successful (based on past experiences) in what we do, trying to be perfect is a sure fire way for failure.

whooooaaaa that was deep. but again i do concure

[fihsboy]

Originally Posted by three90s&125sump

Success... Success can be defined very differently from one person to the next and the idea of it can be very distorted based on past experience.

An in vestor can make $2,000,000 in a year and say it was a very unsuccessful year based on what was previously concidered a successful year. IE: $8,000,000 in a single year. While 99 percent of the poulation may believe an income of $2,000,000 to be an astronomical income that is just a dream. And converse of the same being that a child brought up in (true) poverty would believe that earning $5 would be an extreme success.

Success can only be defined by the individual defining it. While most people strive to expand their threashold of success many people can be satisfied with little if any based upon their definition of success.

I like to allow the individuals idea of success to evolve (as mine always does) by introducing them to new and greater levels of success.

As far as differing methodologies to reach acceptable levels of success goes... All we are trying to do is provide an environment that (based on our personal idea of success) meets the criteria of the animals we are trying to keep alive. No matter what the method is, as long as the path leads to our idea of success (with in reason), there is no right or wrong way to get there.

The chemical composition of the ASW that is in our system has to be a fairly specific combonation of compounds. IE: calcium 400. How you get these compunds to be what they are is up to you, the catch is, for example, if you raise your calcium solely by adding calcium cloride are you taking the proper steps to remove the cloride from the system? This is just 1 of the hundreds of compounds that make their way into our systems but its a fairly common issue that gets over looked in what might be concidered a successful system.

We really only try to be successful (based on past experiences) in what we do, trying to be perfect is a sure fire way for failure.

I have to agree, I feel I am successful in life........and im only a full time student with a part time job.On average, when people are asked how much money they would need to consider themselves successful, the average was 20% more than they currently owned. If it was a millionaire he wanted 20% more........if it was me........20% more. My reef tank isnt the prettiest, but it makes me happy. Theres always something that needs to be done......always......Just enjoy what you have in life and feel successful.

[Salty O'Shen]

Originally Posted by Geoff

why is it that some people swear by fuges, and others feel they are useless? why are some able to run without skimmers and others need them? why is it possible to keep things running with so many variables that seem to go against each other?

G~

i think it is a testament to the power of mother nature...we can set up so many variables and life continues on....just imagine, we pull these animals out of a world where it is an ideal environment...box them up and ship them half way around the world in total darkness...open them up, putting them through the stress of new surroundings....then we box them up again ship them all across the country to a LFS....then give them new surroundings again....then bag them up and put them into these little tanks filled with unnatural filtration and lighting and they do well enough to create new life by spawning, splitting & fragging them...pretty amazing to me...i'm more impressed by mother nature than humans...

[gouch]

Originally Posted by Geoff

why is it that some people swear by fuges, and others feel they are useless? why are some able to run without skimmers and others need them? why is it possible to keep things running with so many variables that seem to go against each other?

G~

i think there are so many types of enviroments in the natural setting. when we plan for our systems and add skimmers or plan to keep them out, or refugiums or whatever it may be; we will almost always mimic something in nature. it really is amazing like salty said.

[Geoff]

are you sure we are mimicking nature? remember we are dealing with controlled systems.

G~

[gouch]

Originally Posted by Geoff

are you sure we are mimicking nature? remember we are dealing with controlled systems.

G~

I dont claim to know a lot about this hobby but it seems.....from all the reading i do here on trt, that the words "controlled systems" should be used more loosely than it is. somewhere in the huge ocean we are trying to recreate in our tank there is an area that is high in nutrients and plagued with hair algae, just like you read about in some threads here.
i think to say we control our system totally would be a little much.......although we can control most things we have no way of telling animals and corals what to do. another good example would be how you always read about people trying to remove fish from their systems because they are wreaking havoc.

IMO we can control some things, but not everything.

even if you where to make the arguement that we can fully control our systems, I believe there will still be a biotype somewhere in the vast ocean that we would be mimicing. no?

[scoop]

I agree w/ fishboy that in many ways, success would equal what makes you happy w/ your tank. For some people this is very easy, for many other 'reef enthusiasts' this is very elusive. I think the reason many of us are on here is that we are all looking for ways to make our reefs 'better'. However, that said, I am very happy w/ my tank, but don't think I've necessarily achieved 'success' yet. Does that make any sense?