Well I think i'm getting out

[BHAMR6]

I'm so confused right now I dont know what to do !!!!!! Tonight has been the worst tank luck I have ever had out of 7yrs I have not screwed up this bad. To start out most of you know I have a 7yr old SPS tank that has always been my baby but with going back to school and another child added to my house I have lost interest in it . I have tossed up the idea of getting rid of it and taking a break using reason like not enough time right now and the tank could use some fresh silicone so if I have to drain it I might as well sell it and start over later.
Well tonight I really messed up I had been noticing that the 3 top rocks that had encrusted together as one that housed my ORA RED PLANET , GREEN SLIMER , MIAMI ORCHID , SOME KINDA PURPLE TIP SPS AND MY ORANGE PLATE ( Keep in mind all these were softball size and bigger and had grew all around each other over the last 4yrs) had been starting to lean to the front because of the weight and tonight it took the finale plunge forward . I was able to catch the rock from falling all the way to the bottom and doing the best I could I got it to sit back up there but as I leaned back and looked the whole 3 rocks now were sitting on top of my soccer ball size wall hammer. I took another shot and lifted the rocks back up and let the hammer fall to the bottom but as I was doing this I could feel all 3 rocks seperating in my hand as the encrusted coral started to break. by the time it was all said and done the whole right side had collapsed and as I put it back the left side went down too. Now is when I panicked and started pulling rocks out all of which are encrusted and started putting them in the floor my idea was to get them out and restacked the rock but guess what you cant do that because after yrs of growing one way it wont go back everything was mangled together.

So out of option to get it all to fit back in the tank and not die sitting in the floor I started breaking SPS off the rocks and laying on the tank bottom of half the tank. Several pcs broke but at least they were alive in the water I then stacked the rock on the other side of the tank all that would fit and the rocks with no coral on them went on the porch.

So now what do I do ??????

1) Try to sell it all and start over later since the tank silicone was going to need replaced in a yr or so ( maybe I would have more time then )
2) Get a tub for the coral to stay in for a while why I look for a tank upgrade maybe a 90g or 120g ( really dont have the room for a tub and would need to sell mine for the money for a new tank )

If I sell it all and get out I could have more time later , not make some of the mistakes I made starting this one, let the rock completly die out so the coral pest I kill every month wont be in there ( button polyps etc... )

Sorry for the long rant I just needed to vent before I broke down and screamed

 

[BHAMR6]

Just a old pic

 

[H@rry]

First step is to keep it all wet and warm. Sounds like you have already done most of that. Now, take a couple of deep breaths.

Next, decide if you really want to keep the reef or not. You mentioned that the time it takes to maintain a reef might have been a concern. Take a couple of days to make that decision. In the aftermath of the events that you related it would be easy to overreact. If you decide you don't really want to continue, let everybody here know that. I'm sure there are several people who will give you $$ for some nice big frags.

You mentioned the tank needing new silicone. Why is that? I've got one tank that is over 15 years old and the silicone is still just fine.

From the picture your tank is very successful. If you decide you want to keep it, look at this as an opportunity to start over and do a thing or two the way you wished you had done it the first time. Re-stack your rocks like you want them, keep the biggest pieces of coral (your real favorites) and place them where you want them. Let everybody know about all the leftovers and sell them for enough to finance whatever improvement you had been wanting. You might also be able to swap some of the leftovers for something else you have been looking for. Heck, I might even to that myself! :bigsmile:

 

[firefightered]

Great advise H@rry.... Just remember... If you quit now and don't save some of the important stuff now and you want to get back in the habby later, you will be out a bunch of $$$ later on. Sit back and think about it before making up your mind.

 

[joejoe1055]

if u don't feel like you u have the time for coral u could make it fish only

 

[gflat65]

Ditto on H@rry, Paul. Take a few breaths and talk it out with yourself. Those who say you're 'crazy' if you answer yourself are full of crap.

If it starting to suffer from lack of time to spend on it, you could reduce the focus a little. I'm an SPS nut, too, and not sure how I'd do without them (they are part of my morning mainline), but maybe you cut back on type of livestock. Sounds like they were doing well, though (problem initially being that they put on too much size and unbalanced the rock). If it's just the frustration of everything falling apart, I can sympathize. Raging bouts of tourettes has done wonders for me (no kids in the house). I function much better if I walk away and revisit later.

 

[venom107]

I had a big loss recently and thought about giving it up. Lost all of my fish, lucky the coral was untouched. I have let everything sit, doing minimal maintenance, till i could decide what to do. Well everything has been sitting for about 3 or 4 months and i came across a great deal on a 175 bow front. That made up my mind. Working on the stand and hood now. Hope to have it up and running in the next couple of weeks.

I guess the point I was going to make is, take your time and make sure what ever direction you go, it's the right decision for you. I was ready to give up, but after time I am going in deeper and will soon be getting rid of my 92 corner to make room. For the 175.

Good luck with your decision.
Chris