what keeps you going?
 

just wondering what keeps you going with your tanks? ive been so unmotivated lately to the point of shuttng down both and getting out. fish dying, corals dying, tanks look crappy. i know i should test to see whats going on but i am not motivated to do so. ive procrastinated posting this as i ws hoping once i got back from our trip, things would change. ii still have to do a water change tonight, but got home late from work and just taking a minute to unwind. does anyone else ever go through this? ive onnly been doing this for 2 years, but sometimes i fell like i just dont get it....maybe a break is all thats needed....

Dont quit. I did, I regret it. I had lots of bad things happening in tank and in life but in the end I really miss sitting back and just watching the tank. Even if it wasnt perfect there was lots of really neat things always going on.

With my first tank I got bored, which lead to poor maintenance, which led to deaths and no growth, which lead to more deaths and the tank falling apart which lead to me rethinking this hobby. Now that I really get involved with photos and automation and really watching things grow and then fragging them and redesigning, I am staying way more interested. And I have done a weekly water change for a year now which I think has helped a lot, along with the big three on the tests and dosing. (Ca, Alk, Mg)

The biggest thing for me also is staying active on the forum and talking with people. They keep me interested.

This hobby seems to have a lot more highs and lows than most. We all feel it at one point or another.. Hopefully you find your groove. Maybe you just need to change things around a bit.

I struggled with corals dying and not growing for a long time. i loved all the pics of zoas id find on forums but every frag i added melted away for a long time. I started experimenting and found out that biopellets pulled the nutrients too low in my tank. long story short, i wanted to push the reset button sooooooo many times. or take a break. but im so glad i didnt. what keeps me going, seeing something hilarious like a clownfish go after a laser pointer just like my dog =P sitting back watching the tank and having a beer. even after all the things ive gone through and am going through (massive outbreak of ich in my DT) i couldnt imagine not having a tank going.

dont give up. youll figure it out

I think everyone gets to this point sometimes. I find setting up a new tank and getting everything to thrive is the most exciting part of the hobby, so I end up shutting down and restarting tanks every year or 2. Mind you most of my tanks are overly large either. I just recently shut down a medium sized tank to go back to a 29g. I had a 29g for 2 years set up before and it has always been my favorite so I went back to this size. I sold just about everything and bought completly different equipment to try out. So far so good. Of course my wife hates this because I have about a dozen hobbies that I jump back and forth to and she thinks I have a problem but I just crave change. It's not my fault!

You know what keeps me going. Seeing other people's tanks. New setups, great setups, or even failing setups.
Seeing other reefers tanks keeps me going.
I love helping reefers out.

Thanks for the encouragement! I don't want to give up, I love my fish, they make me smile. I love this forum and the people here are awesome. I just need to find my groove again! I know any time I've thought about selling stuff off, I can't actually post it. Deep breath and go.....

What keeps me going? Good question. I do enjoy looking at my tank and even more the peoples reaction and questions about it when they see it. Its not TOTM material but to the inexperienced eyes of freinds and family it impresses. Fish drive me crazy and crabs are disposed of ASAP and shrimp are not allowed lol. Some snails I tolerate".... Corals fascinate me, no SPS just LPS. Coral warfare moving about etc. still in awe when I see a fully inflated plate wanting to move or a torch stinger tentacle waaaaay out there ....Go back to the basics and see where that takes you.

You can't quit...maybe you need to help newbies like me find the path.