should I just pack it in???

[Chad]

I've been considering getting out of the hobby as well.. A lot of other priorities and with this algae I have been fighting.. well it gets to be a real downer.. I don't think I have bought a coral in a good couple of months. Except for maybe 1 or 2 that I lost and really wanted back. But otherwise.. I have stayed away from corals altogther until I get this tank back up to par.

[reeferaddict]

I fight through these bouts of "depression" every year as well, but I just can't give it up. My plans for this hobby extend YEARS into the future, and I use that as a goal to keep it up. I had a back injury earlier this year that forced me to do minimal maintenance for close to 6 weeks, and by then I just wanted to add a bucket of bleach because things were so bad. Almost all of my LPS were wasting away, a couple of my favourite acros RTN'd, and my most prized frag that was growing to beat the band fell into an anemone and by the time I found it was pure white...

After contemplating the future, I decided to keep it going. My LPS are recovering, and last week I stuck to the original plan and got rid of most of my softies, tore down my 72 and amalgamated the rock and leftover livestock all into my 135. Wow! Now I have a tank that looks similar to one of the show tanks I saw that originally got me hooked. It's not perfect by any means, but amazing how a little rearranging can rekindle one's interest. Now I too am planning for a bigger tank. This won't happen for a year or two, but the thought process and challenge of setting up a new system to correct the shortfalls of my current one keeps me excited.

Here's what really helped me refocus:
In mulling it over with my girlfriend, she simply looked at me and said, "What will you do if you DON'T have a tank to care for?" All along I had thought she'd be thrilled to get rid of all this stuff, but she's so awesome, she'll support anything that brings me satisfaction and happiness.

Now I just have to figure out a way to break the news to her about the bigger tank... hehe...

Keep your chin up and move forward my friend. I bet your friends come over and are in awe of your tank, I am... nice job. Do whatever it takes to get your mind wrapped around this hobby again and get back on it. Talent like yours should not go to waste.

[midgetwaiter]

When I started my current job last winter I decided that my life was going to be much too complicated to maintain the all the reptiles I had so I gave most of them away. I found that I more or less immediately filled this time with a renewed interest in my fish and corals. The dishes still stack up till Saturday.

My initial plan with the reef tank was to setup something small, nice and simple, keep maybe less difficult animals but keep them very well. Then I decided to I wanted a sump and all the powerheads in there were causing some heat issues etc. In the end I found myself with a rebuilt system with every "big tank" goody I could think of jammed into a 20. This was working well and so I figured, I can probably keep a clam and add some different fish and... The simple thing went out the window, whole progression took about 3 months. Then I had my series of screwups I've been complaining about all week. I'm going to try simple again, 3 fish and some soft corals, period.

Maybe that's the kind of thing you could consider. Your tank is very impressive but you are having trouble keeping it like you want to so why not get rid of some of the finicky livestock? It may not seem like it would be as satisfying to do easier stuff but I think you could make up for it with the knowledge that you do it very well. Hopefully this would be less demanding.

Just an idea.

[danny zubot]

That other thread which delt with the "reef gods" sure did a number on me. I remember reading it saying to myself... "self, I haven't had any issues with my tank for a while". Then BAM! my skimmer pump dies two days later. Its always something with this hobby! But you have to laugh it off because you only live once, and what better way to spend thousands and thousands of dollars.

[BMW Rider]

This can be a frustrating pastime. I too have wondered if it is worth continuing at times when things are not looking ideal. I had a real algae problem for a while, but with some phosphate remover and lots of manual removal, I've got it 95% beat. I also had my acros showing some tissue recession recently. The cause was a re-apperance of the red bugs despite having treated all my new acros fro them. I suspect that I must have had them on my original colony as well as it was the only one that was never treated prior to placement in the tank. I pulled them all and retreated, leaving them in qt for two weeks to ensure none remained in the main tank. Hopefully they are gone. So far the acros all look to be improving in colour and health.

I find it much harder during the summer months to look after the tank since I really want to be travelling on my bike more. I want my tanks to be able to be self sufficient for at least a week without care, but its hard to plan an extended trip and not wonder if I'll come home to a disaster. I am planning to get a controller and some back up power supplies eventually to add some peace of mind, but I need to get the budget for them first.

There is no shame in downsizing if that is what you need to do for the time being. If a total shut down is what it takes, while sad, it may be the better choice rather than just letting it degrade to the point where it is all lost. You can keep all your equipment and restart when things are more accomodating. It is a hard choice though once you have invested so much into it, both time and money. For noiw though, try to figure out the cause of the decline first, then choose a course of action to deal; with it. The RO/DI is a good first step.

[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.

[untamed]

I had to move my tank recently. I fragged everything and distributed as many as I could before the move. I was concerned that I might lose them all during the move, and wanted to ensure they had a chance.

Fortunately for me, everything survived.

[OCDP]

I think once you invest in an RO/DI unit, a lot of problems may start to go away. I actually couldn't believe you were using tap water. I use it too, but I finally got myself an RO/DI . If I had a tank of that size with that many acros, I would have RO/DI without a doubt. I think it's a big cause to your SPS problems. I can keep SPS fairly well in a 20g with tap water, so I am looking forward to the results with using RO/DI water. At this point in the game with that much money invested in livestock, your doing yourself an enormous favour by adding an RO/DI system.

Good luck !! Hope you stick around... that's one heck of a tank.

[Snappy]

I have decided to keep on with it and move forward with my upgrade plans. I went out and bought a RODI unit today. I also picked up a few other goodies to make my life easier that can be easily adapted to the new setup once it gets rolling.

Tony, I know my tank is a bit on the full side which is why I want to upgrade. By adding in another approx 250 gallons of water and more than doubling the present lighting I believe that what I have would be very sustainable with room for them to grow as well.
I am more than happy to do some fragging as some pieces need to be or they are toast anyway. I just need to figure out what to do with them.

Thanks to all for your thoughts.
I guess all I ready needed was a kick in the pants pep talk.
Where there is a will there is a way, and as it happens I have the will.
Thanks again,

[christyf5]

Thank god for the kick in the pants pep talk to keep you going eh Greg?

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress of your tank with RODI. I think you'll be happy with your decision to get one