I wanted to post again about something that I've talked about before, and that's pests and balance. It's a funny thing, but at the same time my tank is both at the best I've ever known it, and it's also plagued by planaria, red bugs, green bubble algae and cyano. I know I feed generously, I didn't dip corals when I got them, and, well, I have no idea where I picked up the bubble algae. I look at my tank and I lose sight of the "forest" for the pests sometimes.
But then I post pics (and I don't hide the pests), and I get such wonderful positive feedback, and it reminds me to look at the whole picture, to realize that our systems exist in a balance of sorts, and that my system has come to a very pleasing balance. Not only are the pests thriving, but so are the fish, inverts and corals, and in truth, I worry that if and when I wipe out a pest, perhaps I will tweak the balance negatively and other things will fail as well.
For example, a whole population in my tank was recently wiped out when I added the copperband butterfly. He ate all the aptaisa, feather dusters and hydroids. That entire class of filter feeders is gone. How this will impact my tank is yet to be seen, but I can tell you that the smell and volume of the skimmate has changed. I probably have to dial down on the oyster feast and phyto.
And for any of you who are still taking the time to read this, I realized something today that I wanted to share. My mother gardened when I was a kid, and she still does. When I think back to summer vacations, I remember riding my bike or rollerskates on the sidewalk in front of my house while my mom was sitting in the garden, totally lost among her flowers, her vegetables and plants. In the winter time, she was equally lost in her kitchen widow garden, which was about 5 feet long and 5 feet high. I do not have a garden like she did and still does, but today I realized that I have my own coral garden, and I am as dedicated to it as she still is to hers. As mother's day is coming, I feel so blessed to have realized that part of my dedication to this hobby comes from her dedication to keeping living things.
(on a side note, both she and I are mildly to violently allergic to our beloved hobbies, and still we keep at it... just keep bringing on longer and stronger gloves, please
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