A Few Thoughts

I've been enjoying marine aquarium keeping for fifteen years as of 2009, and I've seen the hobby progress and change a great deal; but the simple pleasure of observing the "simple" organisms in my aquariums hasn't changed for me.  I know all about 'fad' corals, and am constantly bombarded with the "must-have" acans and zoo and acros, but that isn't what keeps my love for the hobby alive, or even what I spend most of my time observing.  For all of the beautiful corals available, I derive the most enjoyment and have spent the most time watching the more "lowly" animals in my aquarium, especially gastropods and copepods. 

I remember being twelve and being completely fascinated by a limpet that had hitchhiked on a piece of live rock I bought from Petco.  I would spend hours at night watching this limpet via flashlight, as it slowly grazed across the rockwork in it's twenty-gallon 'ocean'.  As I am writing this after spending the last hour dividing my attention between observing snails and watching generations of copepods crawling on the glass (and wishing I could find my magnifying glass to better see the youngest of them) I realize that a lot of that twelve year old is still in me. 

The fascination and appreciation for the miracle that is life has never tarnished for me, even if the reality of it has left me more of a cynic than I was then.  Let the appreciation for life, (and not how much it cost, or how rare a color variation it has) and the perspectives our aquariums allow be the point of my late-night ramblings. 

What are your unusual but much-loved fascinations with our hobby?  Feel free to comment!

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