should I just pack it in???

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Snappy

Seems crazy to sell it off only to have to go buy new stuff when it's done, especially considering I can fill the new tank with what I have. I need to figure out how to store my corals while I setup and aquascape the new tank.

Speaking as someone who has wrestled with this very question.. here are my thoughts.

If the system is having problems, keeping the corals is only risking losing them altogether. I ended up selling some, but keeping some that I really wanted to keep. Guess what - they died, but the ones I sold off are still out there. Had I sold them all, those others would be around still. Having them "out there" increases their odds of sticking around. It's more important that these things live, than it is that they live "in our tanks."

I do understand the dilemma though. Sometimes things are rare and hard to come by. The way around this is, keep frags. This has benefits on several levels. 1) We spread the wealth throughout the hobby. 2) With more frags floating around, the odds that pieces will survive are greater. 3) It's way more fun watching a little coral grow into a bigger coral, than it is to have a showpiece coral (or several showpiece corals).

I don't want to be mean here, but I am going to be a bit blunt (sorry). But, your system is PACKED. As corals grow, they shade out their lower portions and block out portions of flow. Thus they're almost self-defeating in a closed system as they get bigger.

Whatever you're most comfortable with is your decision of course, but if it were me, I'd seriously consider the fragging option.