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I’m gonna try not to sound like I’m crying too much but no promises.
My grandmother told me about 25 years ago that everything in life you learn, you will learn the hard way. How I wish this wasn’t true but it’s never even been close to wrong.
I’ve met lots of you and I hope to think that I’ve left a positive impression on all of you. I try to be above all else nice to everyone unless they prove themselves a person that does not deserve to be nice to. I’ve got friends (every friend I have) that I will do and actually do anything and everything I possibly can for. I never ask for a thing and 99.9% of the time I’m smiling while I do it. Believe me, I don’t have much time at my disposal. I work 6 days a week so I can be a provider for my daughter. I only recently (November) starting getting any help from her mom even though we make about the same, and I asked for $240 a month to cover school lunch and after school program. To me it hurts even asking for so little help even knowing I paid several times that when I didn’t have custody without a second thought.
Obviously, I have picked the wrong hobby because if nothing else this one requires time. I do the best I can but I’m handed blow after blow every time I try to do better. For those of you who don’t know the intimate details I will elaborate. I got (with the help of a friend) a fish I really wanted about a year ago. We will just say not a cheap one but it was a dream fish so I got it. I had said fish for 3 weeks and everything was great, I bought another fish that only lived a couple days and going by symptoms was a cyanide fish. Well dream fish gets same symptoms 2 days later and dies. Followed by almost every fish in the system. I buy second dream fish a few months later as well as some other nice ones and some staples (eg. Achilles, emperor etc). Things are great a couple months goes by and family comes to stay with me for Christmas to help watch child and visit. Family has beginning stages (very early) of dementia combined with OCD and decided to clean house with excessive amounts of pinesol and windex (purchased by them not in house) while I’m at work and 2k lost in 1 day due to ridiculous ammonia spike. Somewhere in between there is a sps and 50% LPS tank crash that I still have no idea about and probably another few K in the trash.
At this time a few of my closer friends (reefers) keep me from just walking away. I get the new system up and running get fish in it and running more through QT because I’m trying to do the ich-less system. In QT I lose 2 large regals one mine and one replacement from a friend. Then this week in qt I lose blue jaw and yellow tang. I’m sad but as always I take my licks and keep going. Then there is today. I came home to find my 40 gallon qt system lost 3-4 gallons of water to evaporation in one day resulting in copper levels at almost .8. Well 2 yellow tangs, the female blue jaw and a black tang all died today combined with a mystery wrasse that wanted a better look outside the tank yesterday.
At what point do we call it quits? I’m like John Hammond from Jurassic park I get the best equipment I can but in the end it’s the same result. I’ve put 10k in the trash can in the last year and have come to the realization that I can’t have anything nice. So where do I go from here? Chromis and Rastas? Do I hang it up just go to bed at a normal hour instead?
I really really hate to be that guy but is this it? I’ve always lived my life on the golden rule and the belief that you get what you put in, but I assure you that’s not what’s happening.
If this is inappropriate or in the wrong place please move it, delete it I don’t even care anymore I just wanted to know if I’m the only one the reef life gods hate
My grandmother told me about 25 years ago that everything in life you learn, you will learn the hard way. How I wish this wasn’t true but it’s never even been close to wrong.
I’ve met lots of you and I hope to think that I’ve left a positive impression on all of you. I try to be above all else nice to everyone unless they prove themselves a person that does not deserve to be nice to. I’ve got friends (every friend I have) that I will do and actually do anything and everything I possibly can for. I never ask for a thing and 99.9% of the time I’m smiling while I do it. Believe me, I don’t have much time at my disposal. I work 6 days a week so I can be a provider for my daughter. I only recently (November) starting getting any help from her mom even though we make about the same, and I asked for $240 a month to cover school lunch and after school program. To me it hurts even asking for so little help even knowing I paid several times that when I didn’t have custody without a second thought.
Obviously, I have picked the wrong hobby because if nothing else this one requires time. I do the best I can but I’m handed blow after blow every time I try to do better. For those of you who don’t know the intimate details I will elaborate. I got (with the help of a friend) a fish I really wanted about a year ago. We will just say not a cheap one but it was a dream fish so I got it. I had said fish for 3 weeks and everything was great, I bought another fish that only lived a couple days and going by symptoms was a cyanide fish. Well dream fish gets same symptoms 2 days later and dies. Followed by almost every fish in the system. I buy second dream fish a few months later as well as some other nice ones and some staples (eg. Achilles, emperor etc). Things are great a couple months goes by and family comes to stay with me for Christmas to help watch child and visit. Family has beginning stages (very early) of dementia combined with OCD and decided to clean house with excessive amounts of pinesol and windex (purchased by them not in house) while I’m at work and 2k lost in 1 day due to ridiculous ammonia spike. Somewhere in between there is a sps and 50% LPS tank crash that I still have no idea about and probably another few K in the trash.
At this time a few of my closer friends (reefers) keep me from just walking away. I get the new system up and running get fish in it and running more through QT because I’m trying to do the ich-less system. In QT I lose 2 large regals one mine and one replacement from a friend. Then this week in qt I lose blue jaw and yellow tang. I’m sad but as always I take my licks and keep going. Then there is today. I came home to find my 40 gallon qt system lost 3-4 gallons of water to evaporation in one day resulting in copper levels at almost .8. Well 2 yellow tangs, the female blue jaw and a black tang all died today combined with a mystery wrasse that wanted a better look outside the tank yesterday.
At what point do we call it quits? I’m like John Hammond from Jurassic park I get the best equipment I can but in the end it’s the same result. I’ve put 10k in the trash can in the last year and have come to the realization that I can’t have anything nice. So where do I go from here? Chromis and Rastas? Do I hang it up just go to bed at a normal hour instead?
I really really hate to be that guy but is this it? I’ve always lived my life on the golden rule and the belief that you get what you put in, but I assure you that’s not what’s happening.
If this is inappropriate or in the wrong place please move it, delete it I don’t even care anymore I just wanted to know if I’m the only one the reef life gods hate
. So yah the reef gods hate me too... Just when things are going great, something else pops up. I've gotten to the point that I've name my tank MF as in "MF what's wrong with you now?"... Through it all though... we persevere... as its an addiction and a way of life and so much more to me than a simple hobby. I keep going... because I believe that you only fail at something if you quit. I'm no quitter and I know you aren't either.
