Quit or start over?

[Wildechild_01]

Okay, i haven't posted here much but have read tons. Have been keeping Marine Reef creatures for almost 3 years now, even completing a successful move from a 90G to a 120G last spring when i moved houses. this morning i woke up to find my Anemone had decided the VorTech was a good place to call home at some point last night. I am currently tossing all of my dead fish (oddly enough the clowns appear to be the sole survivors at this point) In the middle of massive water change and hoping i can salvage some of the coral. Im just gutted at the moment and almost ready to give up. Guessing that the mushrooms and the Zoa's will pull through, but the newly successful addition of SPS corals could prove to be a short lived expense... the one birdsnest at this point looks like i might make it but not holding my breath. The LPS look really angry and again figure all i can do is try and keep the water good and hope.

More than anything i guess this post is just me being frustrated and angry and needing to vent to people who understand what I'm dealing with, because lets face it, people who don't have marine tanks just don't get it.......

:cry:

[reefwars]

get some carbon running and change frequently , very large water change as well at this point.

remove any parts of the nem that are left and skim wet if you are running a skimmer.

not much else you can do but if quick you may save whats left.

im over at concept if theres anything i can do to help let me know and i will :)

good luck ive had it happen and im sure just about most have , its sad but at the same time is fixable.


call or pm me if you need more info 403-230-7831(concept aquariums)


cheers

denny

[straightrazorguy]

It sounds like you still have a fair number of corals and some fish left. I know it's a major setback, but don't get demoralized! It's a great hobby and you have a head start. Think of it as a chance to re-think everything in your tank and try the coral/fish you never could or had the opportunity to have....

[MitchM]

Sorry for your loss.
Lots of people have made the mistake of keeping anemones with open powerheads and have had the same thing happen.
It's a good reminder to everyone to make sure you have foam covers on your powerheads.

[Wildechild_01]

Yeah, i didn't loose everything which is good, did loose quite a bit, I have completely dismantled my rock (well as much as possible without further damaging corals) and still have a few Chromis bodies MIA, but will keep looking, Still working on what will be about a 90G water change,(had to leave enough to keep corals covered) limted by water mixing container volumes so taking some time. Am i correct in thinking that at this point everything i can do to get stuff in the water column and down to sump will be good? Im thinking turn the VorTech up and toss a couple extra power heads in for lots of extra flow, have the carbon reactor ready to go as soon as water level in tank is back up to I can use the sump level. Will probably need to go pick up some salt and more carbon at some point today. While moving rocks around found 2 bubble tip anemones, had 1 a few days ago so now on top of bad water quality for it i have 2 trying to heal from a split.... arrggggg.... haha.... fingers crossed... and any more advice from people who've been through it successfully is appreciated.

[Wildechild_01]

It sounds like you still have a fair number of corals and some fish left. I know it's a major setback, but don't get demoralized! It's a great hobby and you have a head start. Think of it as a chance to re-think everything in your tank and try the coral/fish you never could or had the opportunity to have....

I'm thinking...... 120G Coral Only with Live rock.... or maybe sea horses......

[sphelps]

I've come to accept these kinds of mishaps and/or crashes are part of this hobby and IMO if you're not willing to accept that yourself then you should quit because it's really just a matter of time. Wishful and unrealistic thinking to believe it can't and won't happen to you. That said the clean up does suck but the rebuild is worth it, starting over gives new opportunities :)

[Reef Pilot]

I agree, look at it as an opportunity to improve on what you have. If you truly enjoy the hobby, you will not quit. Crap happens, and all you can do is deal with it, and maybe learn something that will help you going forward. Good luck with the recovery.

[Marlin65]

I had this happen as well and feel your pain. I was able to save some pieces of the corals so just replaced what was lost and kept going.
Keep doing what you can and save as much as possible.Then decide later if you are going to quit.

[Dearth]

I agree, look at it as an opportunity to improve on what you have. If you truly enjoy the hobby, you will not quit. Crap happens, and all you can do is deal with it, and maybe learn something that will help you going forward. Good luck with the recovery.

+1

Anybody who has been in the hobby experiences this at one point or another just view it as an opportunity to improve or re-aquascape your tank

[The Guy]

Oh that sucks :sad:, But if you truly love the hobby, learn from what has happened and move forward. yes it's an expensive loss, but it is what it is.
Vortech good quality yes, but the open front end of the wet side steered me away from using them. If you have to use sponge guards to keep the critters out you might as well go with an in tank pump IMO.
Stay with it you'll be glad you did.

[Wildechild_01]

Definitely not throwing in the towel, not the first tank crash I've experienced but definitely the most expensive one to date.... that said, with the water change completed and the lights and flow up and running again looking like i may be okay with the LPS, and lets be honest, if the zoa's don't make it I should probably go back to keeping freshwater Betta's. As i type this the LPS corals are starting to extend again and there is a little bit of extension on the birdsnest. Glad i caught it quick, there was about 8 hours between the last time i looked at the tank and when i found it this morning, just shows how quick things can go south. Skimmer is Skimming away, and i need to head to Calgary to pick up some salt and more carbon.... waterchange worked out around 90G on a 120G + 20G sump system will probably do another change this afternoon depending on readings. I am hoping that with the flow, skimmer, and amount of live rock things level out fairly quick... with 4 Clown fish in the tank its a pretty small Bio-load, the hermit crabs are super active all over the tank getting what i missed, will probably pick up more of them today as well...... oh well... Time to keep going and start planning the re-stock

[dudley moray]

I learned that lesson once too:( now the only nems I keep are bubble tips
I don't keep hawk fishes anymore either but that's another story !
Good luck brother stay positive

[Wildechild_01]

I learned that lesson once too:( now the only nems I keep are bubble tips
I don't keep hawk fishes anymore either but that's another story !
Good luck brother stay positive

I'm curious why no Hawk Fish.. I love Hawk Fish, but if they are a No No for my rebuild that would be good to know...

[mike31154]

My BTAs have split a number of times with the last episode being a quadruple split. They've all migrated from the area the original has been in for 6 years! 3 of them not too far, but one is now on another pile of rockwork, populated by some coral I'm not too keen on losing. Such is the hobby though & fortune is somewhat with me as I also have VorTechs. Luckily the clones didn't float away & get caught in any of them. I wouldn't be too quick to blame the VorTech itself, if a nem starts floating around the way yours probably did, any powerhead could end up sucking it into its intake. I had a lawnmower blenny get caught on the intake of an Aquaclear powerhead years ago. Put one of the large filter cylinders on that ph after the fact, too late for the blenny though.

If you're keen on keeping sps long term, it's probably best not to have anemones in the same tank. I like mine though & am prepared to take the chance with my coral. Only a few sps pieces, mostly soft & lps, so investment is not that high $ wise. Best of luck with your scenario, keep at it. Seems like you enjoy the hobby enough that if you did throw in the towel, you may regret that more.

[hfp75]

Super frustrating... its a real downer.....

what type of Nem and how long had it suffered from suicidal thoughts ?

:question:

[dudley moray]

I'm curious why no Hawk Fish.. I love Hawk Fish, but if they are a No No for my rebuild that would be good to know...

I had one once named 'im Hudson hawkefish chased all fish out (literarily out onto the floor) of the tank took him back to the lfs they ended up having to put him in with a couple black tip reef sharks cause he did the same to all their fish

[Llewos]

A lot of people have experienced the same thing! I have lost 2 BTA's and a really cool blue carpet anemone (and carpets usually don't move. It decided to puff up and float around the tank before getting sucked up!) I currently don't have anemones mostly for this reason but you will regret leaving the hobby! My advice, for what its worth, is try another coral that clowns like hosting that give the same motion, ie: elegance, torch, frogspawn, hammer, etc. These will all stay where you put them and most clowns eventually host them. Some prefer them, some wont touch them. Good luck!

[lastlight]

I've come to accept these kinds of mishaps and/or crashes are part of this hobby and IMO if you're not willing to accept that yourself then you should quit because it's really just a matter of time. Wishful and unrealistic thinking to believe it can't and won't happen to you. That said the clean up does suck but the rebuild is worth it, starting over gives new opportunities :)

this is so true. i felt like tossing in the towel late last year when i lost most of my sps and all of my rics. i never did pinpoint the issue and am calling it my first crash. did a 90% water change and just carried on. a couple months later and it seems the tank has hot a milestone in its maturity and my sps pieces which remain are encrusting back over the dead branches. it's really exciting to watch and overcoming these things can be more rewarding then simply having good luck and success without any hardships.

i vote start over (which you seem to be doing).

[spit.fire]

I had one once named 'im Hudson hawkefish chased all fish out (literarily out onto the floor) of the tank took him back to the lfs they ended up having to put him in with a couple black tip reef sharks cause he did the same to all their fish

Mine killed 2 peppermint shrimp, a mccoskers wrasse a cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp

It then proceeded to knock over every coral that wasn't glued down.

Funny thing is it is a model citizen now

Either way I wouldn't have gotten rid of it tho because I doubt I'll ever find another one (Japanese golden hawk fish)

[Wildechild_01]

I loved my hawkfish an he was pretty well behaved. But he was a late addition to the tank. Hardest was the psychedelic mandarin goby though. Almost 2 years in my care. But excited for the re build. Had a light crap out on me today to top it all off. So I probably won't go sps for a while at least other than the birdsnest which seems to be doing okay. I started a journal for the rebuild I guess I should get a link set up in my signature. Going to focus on building the reef for now (and maybe get into fragging my corals as well) then decide on fish down the road.


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