OCDP,
To keep on going, or NOT to keep on going.... that is the question (to paraphrase Shakespeare
).
Years ago, we set up a 180g planted FW tank - our dream tank. Bought the best substrate, tons of plants, a variety of fish, a CO2 setup, did water changes and other maintenance weekly, bought numerous test kits and added supplements. And that freaking tank was a disaster
Fish dying here and there for no apparent reason, nuisance algae that took over the tank, gads, you name it and we had a problem with it. Finally, we decided we'd had enough. Pulled out all the plants, put the CO2 stuff into storage and started again with three oscars and plastic plants. Loved those oscars and the tank was a joy again
Skip forward in time to two years ago when we set up a 72g after we moved to our present digs. Without doing much research, we added a variety of five angels to the tank. They all looked in good health at the lfs and the lfs guy said they would be okay together in our setup. Yes, stupid me, I believed the lfs guy
Did not think long term when all the fish would be adult size, but that never got to be a problem because they all started dying of velvet within a week
Well, I was mad at myself for trusting the lfs guy, buying fish from that particular lfs, and for not doing research first
Left the tank fallow for six weeks, maybe slightly longer, then began again. Had a few other fish die over the following months, but also had some that lived until the next major disaster, a few months after we upgraded the 72g to a 120g. Our two longest kept fish died and all of our new snails from J&L died in the disaster
And, while all of that was going on, every couple of days or so another dead snail was found in one area of the tank - dubbed the snail graveyard
One freaking thing after another!!!!!! Finally found out that we had a nocturnal predatory worm in an unknown rock feeding on some of the snails. Began to remove suspect worm rocks and quarantine them in 5g tanks each with a snail. Thought we might have found the worm in maybe two rocks, so both were put into yet another tank with RO water and aeration for 4-5 days, then recured the rocks. Snails kept dying in the 120g, but not as many, so we chalked up the dead snails as ones that did not flip over after falling down.
Then one morning, I found a small long and skinny snail feasting on a dead snail. Should have taken a pic of it, but was so disgusted at finding yet another possible snail predator that I flushed the #*@^%(@#
So, thinking we got the snail eating worm as well as that little snail, we put all the quarantined and re-cured rock back into the 120g. Two days later, there was another dead snail with the unmistakeable signs of the worm
Took an entire area of rock out of the 120g and placed it in yet another tank,a 20g with PC lighting, for a month to starve the worm. In the past month, only one snail has been found dead, and it was not the work of the worm, who leaves obvious signs of being the culprit.
Anyway, good dang thing we have all those tanks, heaters, powerheads, lights on hand, otherwise I'd have gone completely around the bend, if I haven't already
The month of starving the worm has just passed and this morning I put one rock each into the 5g tanks, each tank with a snail. Only time will tell which of the QTed rocks harbours the worm when we find a snail slimed and dead. Each rock will be in the 5g for at least a week, in case the worm hasn't been starved enough yet
Okay, those are the disasters we've had in one tank upgraded from a smaller one. We have two other tanks that have had other problems, but not as severe as we've had in the 120g. Plus, in the past few months, have discovered the total importance of testing for and adjusting alk, Ca and Mg, so have added a testing and supplementation regime for the three tanks
So back to the original question..... To keep on going, or NOT to keep on going. Well, I love everything about marine aquaria. The fish are colourful and full of personality. The corals are spectular, especially in our 120g with only PC and NO lighting. Not too crazy about weekly maintenance or all that water testing cr*p, but to me, all this turmoil is going to be worth it in the end. We WILL catch that freaking worm. We WILL get our 120g back together some day and have counter space back in our kitchen. Dang, I'm gonna hang in there, because at the end of the day, my tanks are rewarding, even with all the bad stuff we've had happen.
So, will you keep on keeping on, or get rid of your set up? Only you are going to be able to search your soul to find the answer. Sure hope you didn't get a headache reading this post
And remember, tomorrow is another day
