Thinking about throwing in the towel

BrandonS · Feb 14, 2020

All I can say is in my experience most tanks don't settle in till after the 1 year mark and sometimes longer. Freshwater does not usually have that issue in my opinion.

Paul B · Feb 15, 2020

fishguy242 said:
hi would love to see pics ,incredible,been reefing 30yrs this year oldest tank running is 13 have a couple corals that are over 25 love to swap some pics

My reef pics are all over the place. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-birthday-47-years.55423/

But we should try to keep the OP in the hobby.

MThorne · Feb 15, 2020

hawk82 said:
It looks worse in person.

Do you have any sand sifting gobies

hawk82 said:
It looks worse in person.

Have you considered a sand sifting goby or diamond watchman goby. One would have that sand looking like new in a week...gonna make sand castles and dig holes but that's easy to move back

fishguy242 · Feb 15, 2020

Paul B said:
My reef pics are all over the place. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-birthday-47-years.55423/

But we should try to keep the OP in the hobby.

agree 100%

dank reefer · Feb 16, 2020

This video from @melev couldn't come out any sooner.

Don't give up for wanting a thriving tank!

Bruce Burnett · Feb 18, 2020

I am going to be a bit different than most people here. Like Paul B said let it be. While you are letting tank do its thing. Don't make changes and do lots of reading. It is not as hard as everyone makes you believe. Been doing this lots of years still screw up once in a while. But most people do get into it for the beauty and the challenges. It is definitely more expensive than fresh water.

glb · Feb 18, 2020

Hang in there! Everything you’re describing is normal for a new tank. I’ve had everything you’ve described and my tank has finally calmed down. Ask a lot of questions. We’re all here to help!!!

Paulie069 · Feb 18, 2020

glb said:
Hang in there! Everything you’re describing is normal for a new tank. I’ve had everything you’ve described and my tank has finally calmed down. Ask a lot of questions. We’re all here to help!!!

A true definition of what this website is all about, all these awesome people willing to help out a person in need of advice, or maybe a little pep talk to let em know it’s gonna be alright,, way to be R2R

damselindistress · Feb 19, 2020

I feel your pain, truly I do. It's not been many months ago that I was making a post very similar to yours! My tank is just at 2 yes old now and I'm finally beginning to enjoy the kind of stability and maturity that allows a reef to thrive. I'm not going to win any tank of the month contests - yet - but I can finally see the beauty beginning to emerge from my reef. Its definitely a process and a commitment that takes a great deal of care and cultivation before the rewards start to pay off. I hope you'll hang in a while longer, I think you'll feel differently 6 months from now - good luck to you!

svogun · Feb 19, 2020

I'm also a big proponent of letting the tank mature. In reefing we often times have to fight the urge to fast forward to the bright vibrant reef tanks we see out there. Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank. I've been taking care of fish since I was 6 (41 now) and have made every mistake out there. With a reef tank slow and steady wins the race. Take the time to allow the tank to go through its ugly phase. I don't think I had fish or lights running on my latest tank for at least 4 months. I took that time to seed my pod population, let the sand bed mature. Your patience in the beginning will pay huge dividends down the road. The algae blooms your seeing are normal. If you are losing fish take a look at your QT procedures, maybe an ICP test if everything shakes out. Hang in there. This hobby is worth it!

themcnertney · Feb 19, 2020

I've been in this hobby for 12 years. I have gone through many stages as all do in this hobby. I went from a beautiful reef to one of the worst tanks I've ever seen after having to relocate it to my basement. I will not give up and will figure out the problem and get back to where I was before. The same can be said for you. Be patient and the results will come.

PapaShrimp · Feb 20, 2020

@hawk82 hey, just wondered how your tank was getting on as just read your thread now?
Like yourself, I had run successful FW tanks for 20ish years and took the leap into the SW world a couple of years back due to my new partner having a small SW set up (I know, I was lucky with this one). Took over the maintenance of her small Nano and then as we moved house recently we invested in a 90gal in October last year so it is about 5 months in and I can honestly say I have experienced extreme frustration and many algae blooms during these months. Through reading hundreds of posts on this great forum and watching hundreds of hours of videos on YouTube (BRS 52 weeks of reefing is very helpful), I have fought off each stage and I’m now enjoying the delights of green hair algae which I hate to tell you but is probably the next battle you will face. As other reefers have stated, these are all normal stages that we almost need to go through to get to the enjoyable part of the hobby. Is it challenging - yes, can it be sole destroying - probably, is it an awesome hobby with so much to learn and enjoy outwith times of frustration - absolutely. Stick in there mate PS

hawk82 · Feb 20, 2020

Ive moved my rock and fish over to a 20 long for the time being, I emptied my 40 and washed all the sand, sand is back in and its full of water. Ive got some live rock coming next week from Salty Bottom, so I hope they will give me the jump I need. I think I messed up when I first started this tank last time. When I added the sand, I put in that stupid bio magnet stuff, and I think that was the issues of all the white things I had floating all around the tank. After washing the sand, and refilling with fresh rodi, Ive got the salt mixed and the tank is clear as can be.

Scorpius · Feb 20, 2020

This is an extremely difficult hobby for the perfectionist who is impatient. Raises hand.

Paulie069 · Feb 20, 2020

hawk82 said:
Ive moved my rock and fish over to a 20 long for the time being, I emptied my 40 and washed all the sand, sand is back in and its full of water. Ive got some live rock coming next week from Salty Bottom, so I hope they will give me the jump I need. I think I messed up when I first started this tank last time. When I added the sand, I put in that stupid bio magnet stuff, and I think that was the issues of all the white things I had floating all around the tank. After washing the sand, and refilling with fresh rodi, Ive got the salt mixed and the tank is clear as can be.

Clear for now but still has to cycle so b prepared for it to get ugly again. I found a UV light works wonders for me. Be patient and let it do it’s thing. Good luck