Why I Don’t DIY

Someone asked me to do a Mr. Saltwater Tank TV show on do it yourself (DIY) stuff. To be 100% honest, you’ll probably never see me do a show on DIY.

Why?

Because DIY projects either:

#1: Never get started

I mean actually get started. Stuff gets cut/glued/etc. Thinking about a DIY project, is NOT starting it.

For 95% of the hobbyists I know and I’ve talked to out there, they all have at least one DIY project that they’ve been talking about for at least 3 months and have done NOTHING to get it started. They’ve got some really great ideas, but aren’t doing anything to get the projects off the ground.

Most of them have several projects that they’ve thought about, but then get stuck because they can’t decide on which project to start! Starting on one of them would be an accomplishment!

#2: Never get finished

It has also been my experience that the small percentage of DIY projects that actually get started, a very large percentage never get finished. While the projects are getting “worked on” over the course of months, or years, people’s tanks are suffering because that DIY build for the tank isn’t getting done.

Take for example my friend Clint. He built his own canopy for his tank. It took him 5 years to do it because he worked on it off/on. In his case, his tank wasn’t suffering, it never even got filled up with water! He could have easily bought a fixture for his tank while his canopy was getting done, giving him 5 great years in the hobby.

I’ll admit the canopy looked very nice, but waiting 5 years to fill your tank up just to have a “nice” canopy?!

#3: Might get completed, but don’t work as good as a manufactured item that you can go buy today, finished, tested and ready to go.

I’ve seen lots of DIY projects that look like a hodgepodge of mismatched parts, glue drips and rusty screws. Often times, the DIY item breaks often and causes more headaches than it is worth. In the end, the tank owner abandons the DIY item and goes and buys an off the shelf version and then starts actually enjoying their tank.

Returning to my friend Clint, When he did get his canopy done, it held too much heat so his tank ran hot (83 degrees plus) and after 6 months, he took it off and put it in storage. He then got a fixture and solved his heat issues and now his tank is taking off.

So, I’m not a DYI fan.

If you do feel like starting down the DYI road, I suggest you take these steps:

#1: Give yourself a start and stop date – and make someone hold you to it. Tell your spouse/friend/mother-in-law/etc that you are going to start the project on X date, and end it on X date. Heck, give them regular updates along the way. And give them some consequences if you don’t start/finish it. For example: no lights on in the tank for 3 days. Or, no coral purchases for a month. Then GO GET STARTED!

#2: Buy a working manufactured item in the meantime. That way your tank won’t suffer while you are “working on it” or “thinking about it”. You can sell used stuff for about 50% of its value so you’ll be able to recover some money when your project is done, and enjoy your tank in the meantime.

I’m not knocking DIY projects. At some point, every manufactured item was a DIY project. I’d just like to see more DIY projects actually get out of the “idea” stage.

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