Debating leaving the hobby. Thoughts and experiences? Pics..

[Guttersnipe]

MH?

Metal halide

 

[Daniel92481]

Bacon 505, that tank looks amazing. WOW!

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I would agree about going back to the basics. What I would do is no fish in DT, just simple corals and inverts for the first few months. During that time I would setup a QT and get something like a kole tang. Buy a fish and QT for a month. Slowly introduce to your DT, then just watch it for another month or so.

For me, there is nothing more demoralizing than death. Seeing some success may reinvigorate you.

 

[hart24601]

I started having anxiety when I looked at my 120 and it just wasn't fun. Now I have a 10" cube pico tank, can do 100% waterchanges weekly and it was a great choice. I am still involved in the hobby, but it's relaxed, not crazy money or time commitment. I have been growing maxima clam and sps without any issues. And it's kinda fun to show off acros and clam in a pico when so many struggle to keep them at all. (our secret is that it's easier in a pico!)

 

[Tommy's Reef]

Hope this will give you some encouragement to continue. Everything gone within few hours. Then all 22 fishes that i had for over 3 years

bacon how did it crash?

 

[FiveGallonSea]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. For now I'm going to keep it and see how things go. Maybe follow the suggestions of some of you and not make many changes, just work on what I have. I really wanted to replace my Potter's that I just lost, but I think I'll hold off.

Once I feel like things are back to normal maybe I'll consider fish and more complex corals again. I might even let go a couple fish that I have now. Kind of disappointing because I feel like I'm going to get bored that way, but it's probably best.

 

[FiveGallonSea]

Hope this will give you some encouragement to continue. Everything gone within few hours. Then all 22 fishes that i had for over 3 years

Wow man. That is devastating. What happened?

 

[Dilan Patel]

Nothing in this hobby happens quickly. I had crashed my 55gallon reef 3 times...each time losing fish and coral. I then took a step back to address my issues and keep everything down to the basics. Each time changing the rockwork upgrading to better/more reliable equipment and so on. I took each failure and saw what went wrong and tried to correct it. It had since been looking great until I upgraded now it is time to start from scratch. Just keep swimming lol.

 

[Genomecop]

Are you quarantining your fish?

 

[Dilan Patel]

I actually don't quarentine. I still to this day have no idea what I did wrong for it to crash that often. But once I got out of that large hump it was a relief. I still to this day don't quarentine. In my opinion I just don't believe in it. But this is a different topic than the OP. I don't want to derail his thread Again GL man just kepe a positive mindset. And remember we are all here to help!

 

[Dom]

That is a beautiful setup.

I've been in the hobby 10 years, but it has only been in the last 3 or 4 years where things have really clicked for me and my tanks not only survive but thrive.

Prior to that, the effort I put in, didn't yield the results I wanted. But I kept at it and now, it is the source of countless hours of enjoyment.

"A couple of years". Thats vague. Is it 2 years... 3... 4?

I believe that the longer you hang in with this hobby, the better you do.

 

[Joe G]

I was in your same position two years ago. My tank started feeling a like a huge anchor weighing my life down with maintenance and testing. After a few unforeseen casualties and a busy life schedule I had to call it quits.
I sold everything and felt so relived for a short while, but as time passed I missed the hobby and knew I had to get wet again.
In retrospect I wish I would have just sold my live stock and kept my gear because now I’m back buying all the gear I once owned for a second time and that hurts the pockets.
I promised myself with my new tank I will keep things simple and just try to enjoy some of the more cheaper Hardy corals and not stress out over losing a two hundred dollar frag.

Best of luck with your decision .

 

[Dr.HarlemTutu]

You have a wonderful start. I agree with many here. Start with just fish for a while... then move to coral after you have things really dialed in, plus you’ll need to do something to maintain calcium and alk...which I don’t see. Lighting... this is where the argument starts with a lot of people. Led is great looking and awesome technology, however, difficult to use as so many variables are at play. What you have isn’t enough for that tank for sure. That being said you may consider t5 or even metal halide as they are set and forget and they just work out of the box. T5 will give you a sleek look over the tank pretty easily and the option to change combos of bulbs. You can add an led strip for that pop of color you may want. Halides are still the gold standard of lighting with some obvious draw backs depending on where you live.

That all being said, if you like the challenge and enjoy the journey keep it up... if you are stressed and it always sucks take a break. This is a hobby and you should enjoy it yea?!? Everyone runs tanks a little differently within the chemistry needed. Find what works for you and your family...

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Please don't leave this wonderful hobby, yes it can be a pain and heartbreaking at times and as your tank and set up look so pristine it looks like it's a brand new set up. Are the pictures the state the tank is now? If so it sort of looks too clean ( no offence) but to get everything looking that clean it must be like a chore, and that you would have to keep going into the tank/sump to clean every little thing off. I feel keeping hands out if the tank does wonders. Instead you could just put some food in and sit back and enjoying the tank.
Can i ask how old is the tank, how many things did you put in at a time fish wise. While fish were falling ill/ passing on were you constantly trying to change things, and adding different foods trying to get certain fish to eat to keep them alive? Like said above the fish you have are quite hard to keep.
In your post you said that your parameters hadn't changed. What were the parameters?
Sorry for the long post it's just you said you had lost alot of fish and corals and you haven't given the people on here the info for them to help you try and find out what your issue/issues may be.
But please don't be discouraged and hastily leave we're here to try and help.

 

[Pntbll687]

You can always drain the tank and start over. I did, twice, before I got it right.

The hobby needs to be fun, not draining.

 

[jinmilw]

Hey reefers,

Been in the reef hobby a couple years. Freshwater lifelong. Started reefing with a nano and soon after planned for many months an upgrade. An unimaginable amount of money later had a Red Sea Reefer 350 running with all mid level-high end equipment up and running. Then came the fish, then came the coral. I think I had beginners luck. My coral were doing amazing and so were my fish. Despite maintenance it's almost like this tank thrived effortlessly.

Over the past 5-6 months there's been so many downs that it's taken everything I had in me. I still keep up with maintenance and my tank is always showroom clean, but because of all the heartbreak I'm looking at the hobby as more of a chore than anything else. Here's a list of things I've dealt with...

-Unexplainable demise of all my euphyllia despite no change in parameters.
-Unexplainable deaths from fish who looked perfectly healthy one morning and were dead in the evening including 2 Potter's Angels, 1 Flame Angel, 1 Blue Mandarin, several Green Chromis and some inverts.
- A beautiful newly acquired Naso Tang that just never acclimated well and starved to death despite all my efforts.
-Recent hair algae on one rock that I fought for one month and looks like I got under control.
-HLLE appearing on my Blue Tang that I raised as a baby the size of a quarter despite always providing nori, spirulina, with a mix of meaty foods with garlic and vitamins.
-I suspect my Flame Angel is getting ill.
-And I feel like I can do water changes every single day and I cannot lower my nitrates lower than 20 when I NEVER had nitrate issues.

My corals never grow, they all start out great for weeks/months and no matter what shrink back and die.

I'm at a loss and I'm getting to the point that I look at my tank with disgust. It gives me anxiety and makes me mentally sick. I love everything about this hobby, but I feel I'm losing the ability to cope with these losses any longer. Reefapalooza is this weekend and I've been excited all year to go. I'm even debating not going.

What do you vets think. Is this means to throw in the towel? Will I get passed this?

Any advice, please.

i would add more live rock to it to be honest....my nitrates are next to zero and i have about 10 fish and a full cleaner crew in my 120...i also have about 120lbs of live rock plus another 5 lbs in my sump

 

[jinmilw]

i would go with about 1lb of live rock per gallon in your tank and put a few lbs in your sump with some media pure and use chemi pure elite in the sump....i have a 120 with 120 lbs of live rock and a full bio load and i have next to zero nitrates and i havnt done a water change in almost 2 months

 

[dshots]

What happened to your tank?

 

[dshots]

Hope this will give you some encouragement to continue. Everything gone within few hours. Then all 22 fishes that i had for over 3 years

What happened to your tank

 

[dshots]

Five gallon sea, if you love the hobby which it sounds like you do you will just buy back in later. I got out and it lasted 6 months. Debating buying an apex tonight.