What happens when you lose your edge as a reefer? CAN you lose your edge?
I’ve been an unabashed aquarium geek pretty much since I could walk. Like many of you, I’ve bred dozens of varieties of fishes, had planted tanks, set up my first saltwater tank when I was 12, and my first true reef tank in 1986…I’ve had an aquarium in one form or another most of my life without much interruption. I’ve made tons of mistakes, and had many great successes…I even get paid to travel around the world and talk to fellow geeks about reef aquariums and all of the insanity of the culture that goes with it all.
When we launched Unique Corals in 2012, I was at the top of my game, from a hobby perspective…I had accomplished many of the things I wanted to accomplish, and was itching for a different challenge. And with the birth of the UC brand and world, came a chance to exercise not only the skills I’d learned as a hobbyist- but more important- the skills honed in college as a Marketing major, and in the business world in general…Putting it all together and adding some energy and a slightly different view. It was magic…Joe, myself, and the growing crew at UC worked our collective butts off in pursuit of a dream, never losing site of our values and our goal of creating a great company.
Fast forward three years and we have a successful company, great customers, a large “fan following”, and an amazing team. Every day is sort of “living the dream” as they say…I get to do stuff I used to dream of as a kid…and it’s pretty amazing. As Unique has grown to a pretty serious company, with 9 employees and all of the complexity that goes with it, I’ve taken a bit more of a “big picture” leadership role, and less of a “get-your-hands-wet” reefer role. In the process, I’ve gotten really good at some things, and, regrettably, a bit worse at others.
Sure, I can still build up a cool reef tank, select some killer coral and fishes, and mix it up with the big boys, but I sometimes find myself searching Google for some of the latest corals and such..it might take me a bit longer to figure out exactly what the $%^%$^&%^ Acro is, or why this pump is better than that one, but hey- no one is perfect, right? This stuff changes so often that unless you’re trolling the web 24/7, specializing in a few things, it becomes darned near impossible to know it all. On the other hand, you don’t need to.
You just need to have an appreciation for where you are as a reefer, and what got you there.
The other day was one of those moments when I was able to just appreciate this…the sheer joy of being a reefer. I was working on some behind the scenes website thing when Jake (Adams) popped his head in and said, “C’mon man, there’s an Acro with your name on it out there…” ( Jake’s way of saying, “get out into the warehouse and get those hands wet..”).
As we spent a while just walking the raceways, looking at the amazing variety of stuff that’s growing out…the best part of my job, really.-we’d stop to admire an amazing frag coming up, or a mother colony that’s ready to frag again…whatever. Just loving the coral.
And having a guy like Jake around every day to give you his insights, ideas, and share his vast coral knowledge is amazing. He absolutely loves coral. Loves them. He’ll point out little stuff about why this-and-that Acro is doing so much better because it was oriented differently, or because we are adding just a bit more of this-or-that to the water. Subtle things. It’s very cool. And as a result, everyone here at UC is falling in love with our corals even more…Including this guy who spends most of his day staring at a computer and talking on the phone.
As we were walking, I paused by a particularly nice Acropora I’ve been keeping tabs on for weeks. It was looking amazing. A beautiful maricultured teal A. insignis from Bali, I believe. I couldn’t help but say something like, “Man, people would love this coral; we should make some frags of it…” And Jake’s response was, “Dude, maybe YOU should make some frags of it! You love that coral.”
So guess what I did? Reached in there, grabbed the coral, took it to the fragging table and made a dozen beautiful little frags. Of course, everyone who works in the warehouse had a great time with it: “Oh ———-, Fellman’s on the saw, look out!” Or, “Wait a minute, you feeling okay?”
Sure, I was a little scared, actually- I mean, I’m a fairly well-known reefer and owner of what is arguably one of the more well-regarded coral vendors in the U.S.. Here I am, hitting the fragging table on a Friday afternoon., unsure of wether or not I still “had it.” What would my employees think if I shredded this poor coral or broke the saw with my incompetence?
The reality was, it was an energizing boost for everyone for me to be out there, laughing it up with the crew and doing what a reefer is supposed to do. It gave me an appreciation for what really matters in reef keeping: Having fun with the hobby, the art…the “wetness” of it all.
It was amazing. I haven’t made a coral frag myself for UC in almost two years. TWO YEARS! Wow, could I really have been that disconnected from the physical process of coral propagation? Maybe. Were the very skills and interests that got me to where I am today still intact? Were my fragging skills there? Well, my cuts were a bit rusty, but my gluing was spot on…I guess it’s like riding a bike- you just don’t lose all of those skills.
I’m going to get up from behind the desk more often.
The lesson here? Don’t become detached from what you love…What got you to where you are now. Don’t ever lose those core skills. Do something that keeps it all in perspective. Frag some corals. Put together an overflow. Take apart a pump. Set up a freshwater tank…Whatever.
I have learned that the cool thing about being a bit farther away from the “day-to-day, get-your-hands-wet” part of this is that you can bring in a different perspective, and help provide solutions for problems that the people right in the middle of things may not see. Being further away from the actual work at times, but closer in touch with the operation. Am Awesome place to be!
Thanks, Jake.
And to all of you out there…I mean it when I say with great gusto- Stay Wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
**************
P.S.- Sorry for lack of pics...Love the new format, but can't figure out how to post pics...I mean, where do you get a URL from for each pic? Our pics are in kept in Dropbox, so how do I get a URL to post them here? I'm sure it's simple, but does anyone have some tips? Would appreciate it...Thanks!
I’ve been an unabashed aquarium geek pretty much since I could walk. Like many of you, I’ve bred dozens of varieties of fishes, had planted tanks, set up my first saltwater tank when I was 12, and my first true reef tank in 1986…I’ve had an aquarium in one form or another most of my life without much interruption. I’ve made tons of mistakes, and had many great successes…I even get paid to travel around the world and talk to fellow geeks about reef aquariums and all of the insanity of the culture that goes with it all.
When we launched Unique Corals in 2012, I was at the top of my game, from a hobby perspective…I had accomplished many of the things I wanted to accomplish, and was itching for a different challenge. And with the birth of the UC brand and world, came a chance to exercise not only the skills I’d learned as a hobbyist- but more important- the skills honed in college as a Marketing major, and in the business world in general…Putting it all together and adding some energy and a slightly different view. It was magic…Joe, myself, and the growing crew at UC worked our collective butts off in pursuit of a dream, never losing site of our values and our goal of creating a great company.
Fast forward three years and we have a successful company, great customers, a large “fan following”, and an amazing team. Every day is sort of “living the dream” as they say…I get to do stuff I used to dream of as a kid…and it’s pretty amazing. As Unique has grown to a pretty serious company, with 9 employees and all of the complexity that goes with it, I’ve taken a bit more of a “big picture” leadership role, and less of a “get-your-hands-wet” reefer role. In the process, I’ve gotten really good at some things, and, regrettably, a bit worse at others.
Sure, I can still build up a cool reef tank, select some killer coral and fishes, and mix it up with the big boys, but I sometimes find myself searching Google for some of the latest corals and such..it might take me a bit longer to figure out exactly what the $%^%$^&%^ Acro is, or why this pump is better than that one, but hey- no one is perfect, right? This stuff changes so often that unless you’re trolling the web 24/7, specializing in a few things, it becomes darned near impossible to know it all. On the other hand, you don’t need to.
You just need to have an appreciation for where you are as a reefer, and what got you there.
The other day was one of those moments when I was able to just appreciate this…the sheer joy of being a reefer. I was working on some behind the scenes website thing when Jake (Adams) popped his head in and said, “C’mon man, there’s an Acro with your name on it out there…” ( Jake’s way of saying, “get out into the warehouse and get those hands wet..”).
As we spent a while just walking the raceways, looking at the amazing variety of stuff that’s growing out…the best part of my job, really.-we’d stop to admire an amazing frag coming up, or a mother colony that’s ready to frag again…whatever. Just loving the coral.
And having a guy like Jake around every day to give you his insights, ideas, and share his vast coral knowledge is amazing. He absolutely loves coral. Loves them. He’ll point out little stuff about why this-and-that Acro is doing so much better because it was oriented differently, or because we are adding just a bit more of this-or-that to the water. Subtle things. It’s very cool. And as a result, everyone here at UC is falling in love with our corals even more…Including this guy who spends most of his day staring at a computer and talking on the phone.
As we were walking, I paused by a particularly nice Acropora I’ve been keeping tabs on for weeks. It was looking amazing. A beautiful maricultured teal A. insignis from Bali, I believe. I couldn’t help but say something like, “Man, people would love this coral; we should make some frags of it…” And Jake’s response was, “Dude, maybe YOU should make some frags of it! You love that coral.”
So guess what I did? Reached in there, grabbed the coral, took it to the fragging table and made a dozen beautiful little frags. Of course, everyone who works in the warehouse had a great time with it: “Oh ———-, Fellman’s on the saw, look out!” Or, “Wait a minute, you feeling okay?”
Sure, I was a little scared, actually- I mean, I’m a fairly well-known reefer and owner of what is arguably one of the more well-regarded coral vendors in the U.S.. Here I am, hitting the fragging table on a Friday afternoon., unsure of wether or not I still “had it.” What would my employees think if I shredded this poor coral or broke the saw with my incompetence?
The reality was, it was an energizing boost for everyone for me to be out there, laughing it up with the crew and doing what a reefer is supposed to do. It gave me an appreciation for what really matters in reef keeping: Having fun with the hobby, the art…the “wetness” of it all.
It was amazing. I haven’t made a coral frag myself for UC in almost two years. TWO YEARS! Wow, could I really have been that disconnected from the physical process of coral propagation? Maybe. Were the very skills and interests that got me to where I am today still intact? Were my fragging skills there? Well, my cuts were a bit rusty, but my gluing was spot on…I guess it’s like riding a bike- you just don’t lose all of those skills.
I’m going to get up from behind the desk more often.
The lesson here? Don’t become detached from what you love…What got you to where you are now. Don’t ever lose those core skills. Do something that keeps it all in perspective. Frag some corals. Put together an overflow. Take apart a pump. Set up a freshwater tank…Whatever.
I have learned that the cool thing about being a bit farther away from the “day-to-day, get-your-hands-wet” part of this is that you can bring in a different perspective, and help provide solutions for problems that the people right in the middle of things may not see. Being further away from the actual work at times, but closer in touch with the operation. Am Awesome place to be!
Thanks, Jake.
And to all of you out there…I mean it when I say with great gusto- Stay Wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
**************
P.S.- Sorry for lack of pics...Love the new format, but can't figure out how to post pics...I mean, where do you get a URL from for each pic? Our pics are in kept in Dropbox, so how do I get a URL to post them here? I'm sure it's simple, but does anyone have some tips? Would appreciate it...Thanks!
