should I just pack it in???

[Snappy]

From a distance I think my tank looks not too bad, if I do say so myself, however up close and personal you can see several acro's are sick and are ready to die a slow RTN death. In the past 6 weeks or so I have lost about 7 colonies and several others are browning out on me. Due to my new job as of last fall I can't seem to keep up with the maintanence anymore and feel like I am fighting a loosing battle. I was going to build a bigger tank; fully automated, complete with a fish room, but don't know when I can get to that size of undertaking and then to move everything into the new tank will take weeks. I love the hobby but I am ready to give up. If I didn't have about $12K invested in the last 20 months it would be a no brainer. What should I do? Should I admit defeat? I need some advise or perhaps even a pep talk. I just know neither the tank or I are happy right now.
Below is a semi-recent photo (poor quality)of my 130 gal reef.

[Puff]

wow. your tank looks awesome man.

i love how full it is. looks great, altho if you say upclose things are dying...

IMO it looks awesome...


*tries to say "awesome" a couple more times*

[Willito]

Don't let a little RTNing discourage you Greg. Find out what's causing it and fix it. Obviously your maintanance has suffered, therefore your reef environment has changed too much too fast. The equilibrium is out of balance. It sounds like it could only get worst if you don't correct it. I have one suggestion that will help sustain your passion. Call it restructuring if you will. Evaluate all your healthy and sick corals. Frag and save what looks promising. Sell off half of your coral collection and save only your favorite ones. In doing so, your maintanance will ease up quite a bit and you will have much plentiful space for your truely favorite pieces. I thought about trying this myself. My oh My, where time has gone

[Johnny Reefer]

What about downsizing to, say, a 70g?
I've heard of this as being a positive solution that has worked for others.

And also, along the lines of what Willito suggests, downsizing the livestock per gallon ratio would be a plus too.

Cheers,

[Snappy]

Originally Posted by Willito

Don't let a little RTNing discourage you Greg. Find out what's causing it and fix it. Obviously your maintanance has suffered, therefore your reef environment has changed too much too fast. The equilibrium is out of balance. It sounds like it could only get worst if you don't correct it. I have one suggestion that will help sustain your passion. Call it restructuring if you will. Evaluate all your healthy and sick corals. Frag and save what looks promising. Sell off half of your coral collection and save only your favorite ones. In doing so, your maintanance will ease up quite a bit and you will have much plentiful space for your truely favorite pieces. I thought about trying this myself. My oh My, where time has gone

I think using tap water is catching up to me and could be a large part of the problem. I was going to install a RO unit when I set up my room with the built in display but may have to do it sooner than later. I do of course have my favorites, however I look at the others that aren't as nice and can't help but think they have potential and given some TLC could become a favorite. They all have some sort of story so I would have a hard time parting with them even if I know that would be best.

[Snappy]

Originally Posted by Johnny Reefer

What about downsizing to, say, a 70g?
I've heard of this as being a positive solution that has worked for others.

And also, along the lines of what Willito suggests, downsizing the livestock per gallon ratio would be a plus too.

Cheers,

Can't bring myself to do a downsizing. I know it is a viable suggestion but I know I would pack it too tight as well. I was thinking more along the line of a 230 gal with a 120 gal sump and 30 gal fuge. My problem is being able to take the time to actually do it.
Thanks,

[Johnny Reefer]

Well, whatever you do, good luck.
I feel your pain. I've been fighting with a similar decision myself lately, for various reasons. Money. Work. Expensive upgrades needed to do the hobby right (repetitive Cyano lately). Plus this increasing desire to get my butt in some airplane seats and go travelling. It's hard to walk away from it, but for me it's the right decision and I'll be keeping all my tanks in storage and will get back into it in a few years.

Anyway, sorry to hijack your thread, just that I've been thinkin' similar thoughts and I couldn't resist expressing them here.

Cheers,

[TheReefGeek]

If you already have 12K in, go buy an RODI unit, and setup an auto-top off system too.

Do you have a refugium?

What skimmer are you using, and what is your gallons?

[Delphinus]

I feel your pain. Once the setup starts a downward trend it can be a very tough task to turn things around. This last year, possibly year and a bit, has been one of the toughest on me in the hobby so far and I've been in the game closing in on ten years.

Going to a bigger system is my plan as well, I think the idea has merit, the question is what to do in the meantime. You could consider selling off some stock, it will help in the finances department to get the next system going, but the real benefit is if it buys you some time to limp along in the interim.

I've been battling the same questions myself, and have come incredible close to saying "this is enough" on several occasions. I still haven't ruled it out to be honest, I have a 280g sitting on my basement floor that I was going to develop my basement around, and I'm having the hardest time motivating myself to get on with it.

Hearing that Enmax utilities are going up 21 per cent in July ($21 for every $100 .. not good ... that means my bill is going to go up at least $60) is going to hurt. A lot.

You have managed to make yourself a nice system, hang in there. Sometimes you just need to shake things up a bit. If you're anything like me, you'll miss it if you quit outright. Good luck with whatever you decide.

The other thing to keep in mind is that it's summer right now, and it's easy to think about stopping when it's summer. But for the 18 months of the year that it's not summer, it's nice to have a slice of the tropics in your house to keep your sanity..

[TheReefGeek]

You could sell off all your livestock and live rock, and try keeping a nano for now. That in turn might spike your interest for a larger tank again.

I have found with a bigger tank it is much more difficult to "recover" after things slip away. When my tank crashed from the bad batch of instant ocean salt, and I lost all my fish but one, and 90% of my corals, I almost packed it in. But finally, now, after almost 8 months, my tank is healthy again, and I am glad I kept at it. It was so tough watching a tank covered in hair algae for months and months though. Now if I could just kill off the aiptasia buggers that got a foothold, I would be even better!

Anyhow you could try a nano for a while, just an idea.