This hobby is sometimes infuriating

[Aparker2005]

Let me start this out by saying I'm probably in overdrive from coming off a week of Christmas with the in laws, travel, and being away from home.

Wife and I started our reef journey 2 years ago. We've had freshwater all our lives and finally made the switch to mixed reef.

It's been going well, but lately we wonder if it's worth it anymore. We came home from our 5 day vacation to our gorgeous purple hammer knocked over and basically dead.

We had 2 fish kill 5 within a week.

The amount of time and money spent on this to have things just constantly going wrong is just not fun. I'm more open to it, but my wife is quickly getting over having this tank. I know things happen in all aquariums, and so does she, but I guess we're looking for encouragement.

It's disheartening to spend so much on fish or coral only to have them gone in a day sometimes.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Uncle99]

Hate these days.
We all get them. Sorry for your loss.
Low moments are more than compensated with the highs, or at least, IMM. But throughout the journey, we all experience both.
Your in 2 years which mean you are successful. Many don’t get that far.

 

[VSVP bet]

It happens, but it's what you make it. I love the challenge of reefing. I designed my tank system, built it, and stocked it. I have some fish and corals almost 10yrs old.

For me I really love the ability to collect and aquaculture species. I sell frags to local stores and feel accomplished like i'm doing my part for the coral, its goal of reproducing and spreading to other tanks. I love the science (chemistry and biology) and researching species, learning about where they live in the wild, etc.

Reefing is what you make it. That's is why I love reefing. And that is what keeps me going. Do you have anything like this in reefing? Something you really look forward to? Or that excites you?

 

[mrpontiac80]

I know the feeling of frustration but have yet to feel like giving up. I struggle constantly but mostly trying to get acros to last longer than a month.
I think if you step back and look for all the positive things in your tank maybe it will help. I’m sure there are some corals doing well, or some obstacle you’ve overcome.. maybe figuring out a 2 part dose or beating an algae. Try to look at it from a guests eyes where you appreciate what is there.
I do t know if that helps any but from a fellow Arkansan, I wish you the best!

 

[Reefer Matt]

Sorry to hear about the loss. It is part of reefing though. Many reefers, myself included, have lost thousands of dollars worth of coral and fish. My family doesn't go on vacations because I have so many tanks. With a good tank sitter, it is possible, though. Just like having a boat, reefing is pretty much a money pit, but only to those that enjoy it enough to justify the cost. Good luck!

 

[Mr Fishface]

My first tank was lile that. I ended up leaving the hobby for a bit because the stress was too high. It was not relaxing and every day there was some issue it seemed.

This time I changed some things. Everything is hardcore glued down. No frags are loose anymore. The only crabs in my tank came in with my live rock. As far as I know, I have one small hermit right now.

I also decided to not control everything this time. Sounds silly but it has helped. Back wall covered in hair algae? I just leave it. Bad diatoms? Got some pods to help. I am treating for cyano though that stuff gets crazy fast. I tried to pick fish that work very well together, I have nothing aggressive at all this time and I love it. I got some macro algae in the display tank too. Looks pretty and it is far less work than lots of corals.

So... Things get better. For me, I needed to take my tank down while going through life. I know it needed to happen but I miss my first tank. I wish I could have my attitude now but with that tank.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

It is no doubt a challenge to keep a thriving reef. The thrill of success and the agony of defeat. I am sure this has happened to many of us. All we can do is learn from past mistakes and improve husbandry.

"Just keep swimming" Dory

 

[Aparker2005]

Meanwhile I'm placing a fish order Sunday haha. Thanks everyone. Encouraging reading these posts

 

[VSVP bet]

Meanwhile I'm placing a fish order Sunday haha. Thanks everyone. Encouraging reading these posts

are you having issues with the tank? water quality, filtration? or you are just getting unlucky?

 

[Aparker2005]

are you having issues with the tank? water quality, filtration? or you are just getting unlucky?

Some corals just die while others are doing great. We've lost 2 torches we absolutely loved, and the others are doing good but not great.

Fish we had 2 considered peaceful ones kill the other 5.

Mostly just discouraging on losing things and not knowing why with others doing well.

Fish I understand more as I've had it happen with fresh too.

I kinda thought we had a handle on things and then seems within a month things just go south

 

[Aparker2005]

And a picture of the 125 which has the most issues. Our 20g is usually no problem at all

 

[flashsmith]

I'm not a big proponent of having everything automated but... The best investment I made was a 4 head doser pump. If you don't have one it was a game changer for me and made life easier and much simpler. I've found Euphalia harder to keep than acros. They do great for months and then out nowhere jelly disease can take out several at once within a couple days without explanation. Like someone said I really didn't have success until I let go of the small things and stopped chasing numbers and trying to figure out why something didn't make it.

 

[Aparker2005]

Looks like we have no problem with certain corals, and then some do amazing for months, then one day come home and they're died or bailing.

Looks like we're gonna keep track of which do best for us and keep those. So far they include

Toadstools
Gsp
Zoas/polyps
Chalice
Stylophora
Certain encrusting corals (leptos)
Anenomes
Favia


Euphylia have done well for us until we moved to the 125, then we started to have issues. We've lost 2 of our frogs, 3 torches, and a hammer. Just odd how they die out of nowhere.

 

[kevgib67]

I feel your frustration but remember all the beautiful tanks you see most of the owners were where you are at right now. Take the punches and keep learning. At a point you’ll look at your tank and be in awe and the tank will be so stable it will seem like it is on cruise control. Problems will still crop up but you’ll have the knowledge and experience to make them minor. I wish you the best and hope to see you posting pictures of an awesome tank in the future.

 

[Littlesquishy]

Bad things happen. Consider a maintenance service or a reef tank sitter to keep an eye on things. Maybe consider installing a webcam while you are on vacation and call a family member who can fix certain bad things (e.g. coral flipped over).

All you can do is learn from your mistake. A mistake I did was putting a heater in a 5-gallon bucket without a temp. controller and I boiled all the fish in the bucket. The water heater sensor was out of water. I lost 4 - 5 fish during that accident.

 

[Hermie]

Let me start this out by saying I'm probably in overdrive from coming off a week of Christmas with the in laws, travel, and being away from home.

Wife and I started our reef journey 2 years ago. We've had freshwater all our lives and finally made the switch to mixed reef.

It's been going well, but lately we wonder if it's worth it anymore. We came home from our 5 day vacation to our gorgeous purple hammer knocked over and basically dead.

We had 2 fish kill 5 within a week.

The amount of time and money spent on this to have things just constantly going wrong is just not fun. I'm more open to it, but my wife is quickly getting over having this tank. I know things happen in all aquariums, and so does she, but I guess we're looking for encouragement.

It's disheartening to spend so much on fish or coral only to have them gone in a day sometimes.

Thanks everyone!

Honestly I look at reefing now as an "experience" more than a finished "tank"

It's always going to be changing, growing/dying etc

 

[Nemo&Friends]

You seem to be doing well, as you are keeping some corals successfully. I was going to suggest to switch to macro algae as it is a little easier and a lot less expensive than corals, but I do not think you need too. Loosing fish is hard, you may want to stick to easier and less expensive fish for a while. Easier too me does not mean boring, just more chance of success and therefore more satisfying, and still very enjoyable.

 

[Aparker2005]

Our bubble coral is also doing very well. It's extremely mean, but it's my wife's favorite. If I lose it I may be in trouble lol.

We'll be adding some more small wrasses back that jumped, and another copperband next week. Our CBB we had previously did incredibly well until our bellus angel went rogue and killed it. We're gonna try our hand at another as much as we love them.

My wife is who got into this hobby first. She always wanted saltwater. I was pretty surprised at how much research she does, but some fish just have different personalities no matter what the experts say.

We converted our freshwater 125 into the reef, and was never drilled for a sump. We did the best we could at the time financially and just got decent WaveMakers and seachem tidal filters. They do a decent job.

Hopefully this is just a bad month for us and things pick back up. I appreciate all the comments!

 

[Andreas' Reef]

At least once a year I have something happens that makes me think about leaving the hobby. Although, the satisfaction of a thriving tank far outways the hardships it took to get there in my opinion. These mistakes do happen. That being said, experience and research can reduce these mistakes.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Our bubble coral is also doing very well. It's extremely mean, but it's my wife's favorite. If I lose it I may be in trouble lol.

Bubble coral is great! They really do seem to enjoy being fed sinking carnivore pellets.

Acros are boring. Why don't you get some fox coral, sympodium, and grube's gorgonian? Softies and LPS are so underrated.