Does anybody just get sick of the hassle?

[Xphixer2]

I was wondering if I am alone on this feeling. I have had a salt water tank since 93 and a reef tank since 99 and I have seen it do great and do poorly. I am envious of other peoples tanks, but when it comes to mine I sometimes feel like taking a hammer to the glass and being done with it..... anybody else? just wondering.
Rich

 

[sawcjack00]

Nope.

 

[kevjtomy]

I'm sure everyone gets frusterated at times. I just wish that "I knew then what I know now". I think that would help me..

 

[eddi]

I think most of us go through phases. I have both fresh and salt tanks and my interests very from one to the other. I don't think I have ever wanted to take a hammer to it though!


Don't give up, this is too good of a hobby to let go.


Eddi

 

[Modo]

I'm somewhat the same way. I go through reef obsessive compulsion and can't think or do anything but reef. Then I sometimes get focused on other things and just maintane my tank for a while. During some tight times I can't blow $200 bucks on some animals which takes a little of the excitement out of it.

I think it is good for my tank just to sit and grow though which is sometimes exciting enough.

 

[randy holmes-farley]

Plenty of people feel that way, and many leave the hobby. I've seen many, many posts over the years from people who have kept tanks for a year to several years, and simply decide that they have better things to do with their lives.

Things change; kids, jobs, economics.....

 

[Roach]

A few years back I was trying to do a relly nice Dutch Planted Aquarium. That was easily one of the worst times I ever had while doing this hobby. I could not get rid of the hair algae for the life of me. I must of tossed out $300 in plants over that period of time. Anyway I moved onto reefing and have been much more pleased with the time I have put into things. I think if you sit back and really look at what you are doing then it is very satisfying. Too me taking a little slice of the ocean and having it in my living room is unbelievable. I don't know, I can't rally say enough good things about this hobby. Sorry if you are frusterated but stick with and someday you will be rewarded.

 

[Katspaw]

I have to agree with Roach, I have several hobbies that I attend to, ponds, freshwater and saltwater tanks just to name a few. Sometimes, I get very dpressed over nothing. Just having five minutes to sit and watch my tank is such a wonder to me. The work that it requires is not what I call work. It's my Chocolate. I hope you find out what is within yourself to make you happy in whatever you do.

Tracey

 

[delphinus]

I think a lot of people go through manic phases.

Like with many things there can't be highs without lows.

I know there are times, I think, sheesh, my devotion to these hobbies (I too, have too many ...

) is a mental illness, and I should get out of some, in the guise that whatever I do decide to stay in, will be better, because I'll have that much more time/resources to devote to it. But then I think about what I'd be missing, and suddenly there just isn't an option anymore.

It's a journey, not a destination...

Good luck!

 

[Xphixer2]

Yep, it's just a phase..... thx for the replies

 

[esmithiii]

Yes, at times.

My wife, all the time.

E

 

[bowser]

After having freshwater tanks for so long, the problems I experienced with the salt tank were daunting to say the least. There were times when I wanted to chuck the whole thing, but they passed pretty quickly. Now I wouldn't give it up for anything. Even though my tanks don't look as nice as some I have seen, (aquascaping) everything in them are doing tremendously well. Since I will be upgrading both salt tanks soon, well, I'll work on the aquascaping too!!

 

[newkie]

I can see where you're coming from. I mean, over the course of a decade or two I often wonder will I be in to it. Priorities change over the years and a reef tank can be a lot of maintenance even when its running well. Just today I woke up to a rattling pump, something that will eat away a day of the weekend to fix. So yeah, I think about it when I think of myself down the road in 5 or 10 years. Hobbies are often the most fun/exciting in the beginning, but are more rewarding over time. Sort of like dating, its fun to date a new woman every month and get that "rush". Some people get bored and move on to the next rush. Just like how some people spend an insane amount of time and money over the years trying photography, painting, kung fu, all kinds of hobbies only to give them all up. So the real question is are you ready for the next rush or are you hitched, taking the bad along with the good? Well, best of luck.

[ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: greenbud ]</p>

 

[Jan-Dman]

just have your wife or gf take care of it for you.

that's what girls are for

 

[mariner]

I go through phases as well. I have a whole other handful of hobbies. My current one is getting my flying license and hopefully in the next couple of years buying a cezna or piper airplane or a robinson r22 helicopter. But, I always come back to my tank. So, I guess i'm a longhauler. One thing that is very characteristic of me is that my hobbies are always the most expensive ones.

 

[Xphixer2]

I think perhaps if I put together a new tank, maybe something bigger and better.... more expensive.....then.. maybe....

On a serious note I am definitely not giving it up, but for the last 6 months it has just been a chore. I guess I somehow find it comforting that a lot of others lose the "rush" as well..I'm sure I will get hooked (excuse the pun) again. (as long as I don't let golf, snowboarding and ATV's take too much time)
thanks Rich

 

[jerryreef]

There is nothing wrong in feeling frustrated, and it would seem that when you feel there is no recourse, that frustration turns to anger.

It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.

Don't be too hard on yourself, would help you change your attitude on the events of life.

Jerry
=====

Success is failure turned inside out, as experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.

 

[Carpentersreef]

It's a daunting task, maintaining a reef aquarium. My personal preference is to be PRO active, not RE active.
MACO 3 is a good example. Take in ALL the information available to you.
The implications that learning things from this hobby allows is INVALUABLE for the further understanding of what the future of this hobby can teach you about what may lay ahead for our planets' destiny.

Do I get sick of the hassle? Absolutely NOT! !! It's a "dont lose sight of the forest for the trees" type of thing. There is a lot going on in the aquarium, and not understanding and being unable to control it when things go wrong can be frustrating.
Forget about about the marketing, forget about miracle or instant cures. I think that that is a large source of frustration. The animals that we have purchased have come from totally innocent and accomodating environments. We have chosen to place them in an environment that WE totally control. Our corals and fish cannot "fix it" to suit themselves. To write an animal off to death as dying for no good reason can be frustrating, too, and they were doing just fine before we took them out of their natural environment. It's OUR fault, NOT theirs, that they died. Maybe that can bring on guilt and frustration.
Hang in there, learn from it.


Mitch

[ November 10, 2001: Message edited by: Carpentersreef ]</p>

 

[Anonymous]

I've definitely cut back, by at least a factor of two, the time I put into my tanks. The funny thing is they seem to be thriving on my less interventionist approach. I do water changes when I feel like it. I feed them when I have time. If a skimmer intake clogs or something like that I deal with it, but I am no longer nearly as pro-active. This is in part because everything has been stable for a couple of years, so I kind of suspect that there will be no big, sudden surprises. About 6 or 8 months ago I had a suspected food poisoning incident. Other than that everything has been fine. (The food poisoning thing happened before I scaled back on my time commitment, which coincided with some developmental problems with my kid that demand lots of time).

 

[Daniel Licari]

Every time my salt-water tanks get me frustrated, it just makes me all the more determined to fix the problem. I look at everything (both good and bad) as part of a learning curve.