I want to leave reefkeeping

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

You can't order things online in aus?
D

 

[Kmst80]

Hi guys,

I’ve had a marine aquarium for about 9 months now. I bought a pair of clowns in July, a torch coral around the same time. Also bought a cleanup crew, then a soft coral and cleaner shrimp in November. Lastly i bought a collector urchin in January. In September i lost the pair of clownfish to ammonia poisoning in a hospital tank. Very sad that day and haven’t had fish since. This week my urchin lost a bunch of his spines and realised he was starving- he’s making a good recovery thankfully. Now my torch coral that i’ve had for so long is dying. i was thinking recently to upgrade the aquarium to a larger one, with a skimmer, refugium and dosing pump. But that’s a whole $4k . Even then it seems reefers with these great setups still have issues or corals dying or fish dying, then what is the point? i don’t want to shut my tank down but i’m tempted to. i did so much research but still have these problems.

Hey annah,
fellow aussie here.
I started my Tank 6 month ago and while the first 3 month were going pretty sweet i hit a bit of a bump in the road myself. I lost a torch and a firetail goby, the goby just disappeared one day, the torch was just not happy in my tank( i reckon torches aren't easy corals). It's tough but you gotta move on and learn. Atm i battle a caulerpa invasion , so i introduced a bristletooth tang(i didn't plan on tangs originaly) and bang i introduced ich to my tank, now i am fighting that too.Btw the tang doesn't even touch the caulerpa. Aftyer all were would be the fun without a little challenge.
Hope you stay in the hobby and find your tank mojo and get that reef going.

 

[AnnaG]

Hey annah,
fellow aussie here.
I started my Tank 6 month ago and while the first 3 month were going pretty sweet i hit a bit of a bump in the road myself. I lost a torch and a firetail goby, the goby just disappeared one day, the torch was just not happy in my tank( i reckon torches aren't easy corals). It's tough but you gotta move on and learn. Atm i battle a caulerpa invasion , so i introduced a bristletooth tang(i didn't plan on tangs originaly) and bang i introduced ich to my tank, now i am fighting that too.Btw the tang doesn't even touch the caulerpa. Aftyer all were would be the fun without a little challenge.
Hope you stay in the hobby and find your tank mojo and get that reef going.

i know - sometimes it’s like a new problem every week. sick fish, dino (that was a pain in the ***) high nutrients, low nutrients, coral death, GHA, hitchhikers, parameters etc. totally nuts but lots of fun

 

[AnnaG]

You can't order things online in aus?
D

I can, but for equipment, they have US plugs i need AUS plugs. BRS only ships to canada and US, so yeah i’m limited.

 

[Kmst80]

i know - sometimes it’s like a new problem every week. sick fish, dino (that was a pain in the ***) high nutrients, low nutrients, coral death, GHA, hitchhikers, parameters etc. totally nuts but lots of fun

Absolutely spot on, but sitting in front of the tank and not knowing where to look first coz it's just so beautiful outweighs all the pain.

 

[Kmst80]

If you're looking for equipment, check out the tech den, they have the best(expensive aussie) prices and stock a big variety.

 

[AnnaG]

If you're looking for equipment, check out the tech den, they have the best(expensive aussie) prices and stock a big variety.

Yes love tech den - reef secrets probably my favourite though. They stock loads of, I guess, knock off equipment and there's quite a large range too.I can see your in Ipswich while I'm in Melbourne - which there's still a few good and very helpful fish stores but wow does QLD have great stores. Oooo Gee Marine I like too.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Oooohhhhh got those UK plugs.
I got ya.
D

 

[Kmst80]

Yes love tech den - reef secrets probably my favourite though. They stock loads of, I guess, knock off equipment and there's quite a large range too.I can see your in Ipswich while I'm in Melbourne - which there's still a few good and very helpful fish stores but wow does QLD have great stores. Oooo Gee Marine I like too.

Yeah i just discovered Gee marine, still have to go there one day. I think i'll go crazy in there though...lol...
Check out Reef underground, little one man band coral store, awesome stock but.
I am following reef haven, have you dealt with them yet?
I need to check out reef secrets.

 

[AnnaG]

Yeah i just discovered Gee marine, still have to go there one day. I think i'll go crazy in there though...lol...
Check out Reef underground, little one man band coral store, awesome stock but.
I am following reef haven, have you dealt with them yet?
I need to check out reef secrets.

Haven't heard of reef underground - will have to take a look at them. Haven't bought from Reef Haven but have seen they have nice corals. Reef Galleria Aquarium in South Melbourne is the best I have been to. They have stunning aquariums on display but best for fish as they do TTM, treating for infections, worming etc. so you dont need to quarantine them. I think they ship livestock interstate but best to call or send them a message via messenger to organise. My mistake was buying one clownfish from them, and another clown from a different store. Maybe had I bought both from RGA then they wouldn't have died also great range of fish - even got to see some impossible to keep moorish idols.

 

[AnnaG]

Actually @Kmst80 id love to know what you feed your fish and where you course it from. you'd have the same access as me to Aussie fish foods. Eg, live worm cultures or frozen foods by ocean nutrition etc.

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Hi guys,

I’ve had a marine aquarium for about 9 months now. I bought a pair of clowns in July, a torch coral around the same time. Also bought a cleanup crew, then a soft coral and cleaner shrimp in November. Lastly i bought a collector urchin in January. In September i lost the pair of clownfish to ammonia poisoning in a hospital tank. Very sad that day and haven’t had fish since. This week my urchin lost a bunch of his spines and realised he was starving- he’s making a good recovery thankfully. Now my torch coral that i’ve had for so long is dying. i was thinking recently to upgrade the aquarium to a larger one, with a skimmer, refugium and dosing pump. But that’s a whole $4k . Even then it seems reefers with these great setups still have issues or corals dying or fish dying, then what is the point? i don’t want to shut my tank down but i’m tempted to. i did so much research but still have these problems.

I was there recently due to Bryopsis, bubble algae, turf algae take over which I couldn’t get rid of for my life.

I ended up moving my pair of clowns , CUC, and remaining corals into a 10 gallon tank from a 20 gallon.

I was tempted to quit the hobby for a while since I am in college and practicing financial habits.

After a while I began to realize how much my pair of clowns and my tank has made me a happier person.

I truly believe being able to keep a reef is a great gift and talent to have !!

yes it is costly , however I am now going to run up a new 10 gallon Euphyllia tank with new approaches ! Now I have set up a Coral QT tank to prevent any stubborn algaes and pest in my DT !

I have also learned load about testing habits, scheduling, et. This has helped me understand how to truly get to know my reef tank and I am now practicing on my QT coral tank and things are looking great !!

yes this hobby is a pain, but I have realized that as I encounter more and more problems, I begin to have less as I know understand how to prevent and grow my knowledge out !!

I truly believe now that when I get my nano tank set up, I will have little to no struggle making it a show tank !!!

 

[AnnaG]

I was there recently due to Bryopsis, bubble algae, turf algae take over which I couldn’t get rid of for my life.

I ended up moving my pair of clowns , CUC, and remaining corals into a 10 gallon tank from a 20 gallon.

I was tempted to quit the hobby for a while since I am in college and practicing financial habits.

After a while I began to realize how much my pair of clowns and my tank has made me a happier person.

I truly believe being able to keep a reef is a great gift and talent to have !!

yes it is costly , however I am now going to run up a new 10 gallon Euphyllia tank with new approaches ! Now I have set up a Coral QT tank to prevent any stubborn algaes and pest in my DT !

I have also learned load about testing habits, scheduling, et. This has helped me understand how to truly get to know my reef tank and I am now practicing on my QT coral tank and things are looking great !!

yes this hobby is a pain, but I have realized that as I encounter more and more problems, I begin to have less as I know understand how to prevent and grow my knowledge out !!

I truly believe now that when I get my nano tank set up, I will have little to no struggle making it a show tank !!!

Its pretty cool to learn about this hobby. Like a whole separate study lol. Yeah im also in a similar situation, studying at university and have to be cautious with money, but I agree, its such a gift to have a reef aquarium.

 

[Kmst80]

Actually @Kmst80 id love to know what you feed your fish and where you course it from. you'd have the same access as me to Aussie fish foods. Eg, live worm cultures or frozen foods by ocean nutrition etc.

I feed live food and frozen. I have a blackworm culture, i raise once a week brine shrimp, i have a white worm culture( rather less successful, and i have two tubs setup with copepods in them.
Also i got phytoplankton cultures going.
So i feed the live food and supplement with frozen mysis/brine shrimp.My bristletooth gets dried seaweed as well.
I would recommend you to read Paul B's Book " The Avant Garde Marine Aquarist."
Some good information in a very funny written book from a 60+ year veteran.

 

[AnnaG]

I feed live food and frozen. I have a blackworm culture, i raise once a week brine shrimp, i have a white worm culture( rather less successful, and i have two tubs setup with copepods in them.
Also i got phytoplankton cultures going.
So i feed the live food and supplement with frozen mysis/brine shrimp.My bristletooth gets dried seaweed as well.
I would recommend you to read Paul B's Book " The Avant Garde Marine Aquarist."
Some good information in a very funny written book from a 60+ year veteran.

Thank you ! Will be on the lookout for that book

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

....

 

[Duncan62]

Have you been feeding the torch since your fish came out? In that small a tank the soft coral could be poisoning it, what kind is it? A leather?

Agreed. Hard corals seem to hate leathers.

 

[Quicklynx]

Thank you ! Will be on the lookout for that book

I've read Paul's Book, and it is very informative from a personal experience perspective, which is important.

One of the tips I appreciated is when searching for a fish at your LFS don't buy the one all happy to see you and follows your finger. Buy the one behind it that is more concerned with eating what is on the rocks.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I've read Paul's Book, and it is very informative from a personal experience perspective, which is important.

One of the tips I appreciated is when searching for a fish at your LFS don't buy the one all happy to see you and follows your finger. Buy the one behind it that is more concerned with eating what is on the rocks.

Maybe but most lfs don't have rocks in their tanks i prefer one that has no visual damage or red gills, cloudy eyes, health issues mainly, and eating food. One that follows your finger and excited is probably more likely to be in better shape and eating.

I look for ones that are the alphas not cowardly hiding fish picking at random stuff in a lfs sale display tank. Not many fish pick at rocks so that could be suspicious activity in some fish, I haven't read the book but there are different perspectives on the subject, thats just mine, no other motives.

$$$ Reef it $$$

 

[Manny’s Reef]

I haven’t read through every comment on this thread but from what I have read I’ll say this: the beauty of you having posted your concerns is that the collective community came together to support you in two ways. First, helping you identify what your reef tank means to you. This is important because it can either convince you to tear down or remind you why you’re here. Second, the community has also shared what their reef tanks mean to them. Sharing this helps you identify what the hobby means to all of us, not just you. Knowing this tid bit can help give insight as to why we will love what we do so much, and perhaps give you the little nudge you need to just keep swimming. For me, I do this, despite the losses, because it helps me with my PTSD. I served 6 years active duty and I didn’t come back the same person. However, for the time I stand in front of my tank and watch the hidden life, nothing else matters. No wounds exist. Just sound serenity. This is why I reef.