My journey into reefing actually began almost 35 years ago, when I was young, and when I was flush! I didn’t do anything but feed the fish. I let the LFS of the time tell me what I needed and they did everything…I just handed them my credit card. Sadly for my tank and its inhabitants when things went wrong, they really went wrong and I just gave up.
Fast forward to late last summer and I am told I am not in remission and need to go back on chemo. As my heart sank and my life seemed so fleeting, I remembered the pace and calm that always came over me when I sat in front of my tank and just relaxed staring at the pure, unadulterated beauty.
The next day I went to my local LFS and decided to try again. This time very small and very slowly…this time I would learn and grow with the tank before I invested time, energy and money in a big tank. While I later learned small is not really the best at dealing with all the variables that go on, I think for me it has made me more eager and more hungry to learn from experts and fellow reefers how to do it right and how to handle things when they go south.
Like cancer and its treatments, the yoyo experience of one day it’s good and one day it’s bad, reefing is a journey for me. I’m grateful to have this small tank and ask the little frags and critters and fish to help me when I just feel like I want to give up on my own health. With the help and care from my LFS (I feel we are a team) I am enjoying being part of an ecosystem that is full of biodiversity and teeming with life.
I am a life long learner and as I put down on paper what might be my next build based on what I am learning now, I once again cherish the time I can spend just soaking in peace and calm as I power through these treatments (once again).
My tank is a 32.5 Fluval AIO with a protein skimmer, heater, power head (variable),UV sterilizer, fish, CUC, and softie/LPS corals.
PH: 8.3
Alk: 10.9
Calcium: 470
Magnesium: 1440
Salinity: 1.024
Phosphates: .5
Nitrates: 25
Here are some pics I took at night (some of my corals are already closing down for the night). I’m not the greatest photographer so sorry for some of the blurriness!
All this to say, thank you to everyone on this forum who posts their experiences because it helps newbies like me to learn and grow and have better husbandry overall!
Fast forward to late last summer and I am told I am not in remission and need to go back on chemo. As my heart sank and my life seemed so fleeting, I remembered the pace and calm that always came over me when I sat in front of my tank and just relaxed staring at the pure, unadulterated beauty.
The next day I went to my local LFS and decided to try again. This time very small and very slowly…this time I would learn and grow with the tank before I invested time, energy and money in a big tank. While I later learned small is not really the best at dealing with all the variables that go on, I think for me it has made me more eager and more hungry to learn from experts and fellow reefers how to do it right and how to handle things when they go south.
Like cancer and its treatments, the yoyo experience of one day it’s good and one day it’s bad, reefing is a journey for me. I’m grateful to have this small tank and ask the little frags and critters and fish to help me when I just feel like I want to give up on my own health. With the help and care from my LFS (I feel we are a team) I am enjoying being part of an ecosystem that is full of biodiversity and teeming with life.
I am a life long learner and as I put down on paper what might be my next build based on what I am learning now, I once again cherish the time I can spend just soaking in peace and calm as I power through these treatments (once again).
My tank is a 32.5 Fluval AIO with a protein skimmer, heater, power head (variable),UV sterilizer, fish, CUC, and softie/LPS corals.
PH: 8.3
Alk: 10.9
Calcium: 470
Magnesium: 1440
Salinity: 1.024
Phosphates: .5
Nitrates: 25
Here are some pics I took at night (some of my corals are already closing down for the night). I’m not the greatest photographer so sorry for some of the blurriness!
All this to say, thank you to everyone on this forum who posts their experiences because it helps newbies like me to learn and grow and have better husbandry overall!
