Weekly Discussion - How do you justify your reef?

[MarkO1]

In many ways it's comparable to a drug habbit.
It's expensive,
It consumes me,
It's on my mind when I'm away from it,
I always want more, more, more,
My wife thinks I spend more time with it than her (not true babe... really),
and not to mention, I'm known as a reefer.

I guess the only difference is I can sell it and get a fraction of the money I put into it.
_________________
Toyota Cars

 

[Anonymous]

I have not had a problem with the expense until recently.

I used to pull in about $300 a month selling xenia to the LFS, but then I moved and lost that cash cow.

Now, I just have to budget.

Good thing is, both me and my husband are reef keepers, so if we do something crazy (like taking out a loan to buy a new 155g full set up) we both get to benefit.

 

[fishfanatic2]

It's fun, it's challenging, it's conservation (kind of, since you find out more about fishes/inverts), and I LOVE FISH!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

I justify it becasue I want it. I think it rapes the planet out of selfishness, but I am ok with that.

 

[fishfarmer]

A drug habit would cost less, but reef colors are better.

 

[bdelaney]

I can't live near the ocean right now, so I thought I'd move a small piece of the ocean into my house. Now I'm hooked...

 

[baseman]

What's to justify? My tank is in the dining room, there is an extra chair facing the tank. My wife will sit in the chair and watch the tank. We call it watching TV. I have my own shelf in the freezer for frozen food. The downstairs shower stores the RO/DI water containers and a few other things.
I don't have to hide receipts for what I buy. Believe me, it was a lot easier than justifying 2 bass guitars, 3 amps, an acoustic 6 string and a digital piano. 8)

 

[vmiller]

How do you justify your reef?

By looking at it

 

[Anonymous]

what, exactly, do you mean by justify? :twisted:

i have some selfish reasons for keeping a reef tank, and an equal number of 'justifications'

or rationalizations :wink:

some of which aren't selfish at all-though they may be the result of, rather than the reasons, initially, for getting into this amazing 'hobby'

for me, aquatic life in general instills upon me a fascination and awe, has since the age of 7-it's no longer really a hobby, and hasn't been for awhile now :wink:

it's late, i have a long day ahead- but i'll expound further later :wink:

 

[anna]

It is the ultimate hobby for an obsessive compulsive engineer type.

Plus I get great delight when my 14 month old daughter stares at the tank pointing and shouting "ish! ish!"

 

[Gary_T]

Can't really justify it, other than it makes me happy. I can sit down on the couch, and look at the mini-reef and forget about everything else.

 

[Anonymous]

hmmm..

i learn from all my tanks-about animal behavior, biology, ecology, chemistry,physics, fluid dynamics, to name but a few :wink:

and i am always in the presence of the wondrous beauty and majesty that is nature-in a form that many others don't have the amazingly good fortune to experience

i also use this hobby/profession to turn other people on to the same thing-through teaching them how to do it, and pointing out to them all the neat and complex things that are going on all the time in their tanks :wink:

and-i don't think the 'raping the ocean' thing holds any water(sorry for the bad pun-'twas unintended)

conservation begins with appreciation :wink:

more justification isn't needed, methinks, and the return, so far, has more than repaid any and all investments ever made into this 'way of life'

watching life develop,grow, and interact to become a self enclosed microcosm from something as simple as an energy input into a glass box blows my mind, as a concept 8) 8) 8)

what a great deal

 

[Joey French]

Studying marine sciences....

 

[Anonymous]

well said Vitz.

b

 

[Anonymous]

It's my aquatic zen garden. Prior to moving to Texas I always had lived near or on the Atlantic. Being semi landlocked my reef gives me the window into the undersea world and has made me a lot more conscious of ecological issues concerning the world's oceans and coral reefs in particular - and makes me proselytize to anyone who will listen how fragile and precious this resource is.

 

[Anonymous]

As a former smoker,

I need something to obsess on.

Plus,

I am happier with it than I was without.

Bryan