Times Are Tough

My wife has always loved saltwater fish and reefs. So I weighed the pros/cons of this hobby vs. driving 5 hours with today's and tomorrow's gas prices, getting a hotel room, and sometimes taking off from work, to drive to Atlanta, or Charleston to take her to the Aquarium so she could "get her fix". I did TONS of research, and still am doing TONS MORE research as I am beginning. And the first thing I read on every message board, or hear at every LFS is this, simply put:

"This is a VERY expensive hobby."

That is not to say, financial troubles will not come, or go, but no one needs to jump into this hobby head first, and that should be the advice all newbies receive. If they go running away from the hobby, then it wasn't for them. But, an adage that I have come to truly believe, is this:

You get what you pay for.

 

Does this mean you have a nice sump for me : lol

 

no,cause i would almost do anything for a ro unit,but you did notice i said ALMOST!;D

 

I would like to thank everyone for your comments. I will not be giving up salt like i was recomended too. And to that one who recomended it just to let you know I do have a 55 gal fresh water tank, a 29 gal salt with a 20 gal refugium that I did make and works fine. I also am involved in other hobbies witch are exspensive and I know how it is to save to have what you want. I am not taking anything personal, I just wanted to know how everyone felt about the advise they give and so many take. Who Knows maybe this will help new members and vistors relax and realize that there are a lot of people here who know what they are doing and love to help fellow aquariests get threw eachothers problems. Great comments and thanks for playing along!

 

Whomever recommended you stop doing salt was out of line.

Good discussion.

M

 

TRUE!

There has been many times where I thought to my self, SELL EVERYTHING AND SCREW IT. Many times I tell you. But I am very glad that I did not. Is it expensive? YES! Is it worth it? YES again!

Glad I did not sell everything.

 

i agree, come on guys play nice or dont play at all.

 

Let me take this another direction....

The relationship between fact/variance and opinion/experience. We got into this topic a lot after the Columbia Accident at NASA.

FACTS are usually backed up by numbers, are repeatable, observable, etc. FACT,if you raise the temperature of water to 212 degrees F, it will boil. That is an observable fact.... but... altitude, ambient pressure, adding salt, etc can all impact that fact. Water can be made to boil at other temperatures by varying other other parameters. So even FACTS aren't always true.

FACT the Orbiter had been hit by foam numerous times and it was never a safety issue. Variance... it had never been hit by a piece that big, moving that fast on the leading edge of the wing.

OPINIONS are based on someone perception of facts and their experience. We saw the foam strike on STS-107. But our perception of that fact was that it wasn't dangerous. We didn't recognize it for what it was based on our experiences. The point is that there WAS one guy in the Structures Division at JSC that saw the foam strike and said "Oh my God".... immediately. He knew because he had different experiences and a different perception of the facts that we were in a bad situation.

So.... here's the deal.... HE TRIED TO QUESTION.... HE TRIED TO TELL PEOPLE THERE WAS A PROBLEM. There was a combination of he was imtimidated to press the issue because others "told him to quit" and he might have pushed harder.

Here is how this story relates.... someone told you to quit because they didn't agree with your opinion and your perception of the facts.

Maybe you were the ONLY one who was right and everyone else was wrong!

Just a note to everyone to be careful when putting down other's opinions. Sometimes good friends of yours can die because of situations like that. It is better to instead discuss the FACTS and the variance around those facts and why in your experience you might feel differently.


Sorry for preaching. I just don't like people being "cut off" or told to quit. Pushes a button in me based on my past experiences. Thanks for reading my two cents.

M

 

I'd agree nobody should tell other people what to do. Only offer their view.

Just bc I enjoyed reading Mc's post, I have to wonder... Did anyone tell him to quit or is that his misinterpretation of something else that was said?

I ask because it was a response on a thread to a recommendation that I don't see anyone made... If that was done privately, leave it there.

 

Are we referring to this post ?