I GIVE UP. So frustrated. Im forced out.

I have been so into this hobby everysince I started 15 months ago. I read, read, read, asked tons of questions, hade some sucess along the way, which is what kept me going but Ive had so many failures I think its time to quit. Which sucks cause I really dont want to but on my budget and my addiction I cant afford it.

Ive posted several threads for solutions, went to the LFS, had my water tested numerous times, switched out equipment. I have every test kit for ever element you can get and I have a backup for all the most importan ones. (I know im going to be asked my parameters) but ive posted all my parameters and my maintenance schedule equipment on here sveral times and I still have these isssues. I can honestly say I have probably lost more frags than I have had sucess growing.

My main issue was SPS. Alot of guys that run halides told me 4 t5 bulbs wasnt enough for SPS while t5 guys said I could if kept high up. I wish I would have listened to the halide guys and left them alone. I just lost my last acro, a green colony that I purchased last year for $100, that is now 70% dead, it use to have this incredible green flourecent glow, but since ive got it it just lost the color and now is mostly white.

Last week my pink birdsnest(that was never pink in my tank) Is completly dead. I purchased a really nice green birdnest last week and its not dead but now Im on my way to return it, just to spare its life. Got 2 ORA corals last week too! best believe im getting those out ASAP.

I got 2 acan frags last year both had about 5 heads. one is now dead, he other still has 5 heads.

I even had a zoa colony just die(you gotta be a pretty ****ty reefer to kill a zoa colony)

Ricordea yumma. Dead
Xenia frag- dead
Green monti cap-brown (probably dead)
grape monti-dead
pavona coral-not dead but barely grows.
prism favia frag-dead


Then my livestock, I just got a yellow coris wrasse 3 weeks ago (MIA)
Emerald crab last month(mia)
2 algae blennies (2 seperate occasions)-1 jumped the other vanished
royal gramma-mysteriuos death
Coral beauty-mysterious death
Wheelers goby-mysterious death

my sucess...

I have 2 clowns since ive started the tank.

I have a hammer branching that only now has 5 heads sfter starting with 2.

I have a torch and a frogspawn.

My Orange Monti cap is probably the SPS I can say has always done great.

Galaxia,GSP, diffrent zoas, mushrooms is what my sucess is.

But I just dont have the money to be buying frags just to see them die.

So I will be breaking down my tank and sellin. I hate it but I clearly dont have what it takes...I believe reefing is harder than some may have you believe.

 

Sorry to see you go. Have you tried local reef clubs? From my experience they can be helpful in recognizing issues others cannot see over the Internet.

 

If you are having success with mushrooms and zoanthids, than you must be doing some thing right.

Thank about a nano AIO, nothing fancy, like a 14 gal or 24 gal. PC lighting fine, even better LED.

I have not bought anything for my tank since Dec. no coral, nothing. I can run a tank on just the money it takes to make water. I buy big bags of salt, Part A/B, fish food every 4 months or so.

I hope you decide to change your mind.

 

getting a smaller tank may be an idea but then it comes even harder to keep.

 

I would stay with it, just keep with the stuff you are having success with and stay away from the frags that you know you haven't had luck with. As far as zoanthids from what I have seen they are weird. I have had zoanthid colonies grow like crazy and then all of a sudden start dying off, while a colony a few inches away is still growing like crazy. So don't beat yourself up over it. If you can find a local club you can usually find frags people are selling for a pretty good price.

 

I fully agree that at times this hobby can become totally frustrating. mentally and financially. Not being able to nail down the exact problem or finding the exact solution can be taxing. I am in a current financial position that I could have no way been ready for. Life happens, and sometimes it cost lots of money. so like Corailline said, I have not bought anything for my tank in the last month or so. it is a new tank, and I have luckily not lost anything since starting. But I am ultra tempted to want to add frags and fish, but its just not a smart thing to do right now. I do water changes and buy fish food, watch my zoas, palys, shrooms and xenia grow...

Sleep on it, and let the frustration die down a bit. And stay with us....

 

Don't give up. My tank crashed a couple months ago and I felt the same way. Most of my coral took a beating and quite a few even died. I was on the verge of just breaking the tank down.

It took awhile but I bought new bulbs, two pheonix 250 halide's. (My corals LOVE them!) I've also been dosing part a and b to keep my params in check. I really like it so far. I also added a VorTech mp40 for better flow. And of course water changes.

Since I changed these few things my tank has really perked up! I know not everyone has money to buy VorTech's and metal halides, but I'm sure there are small things you could slowly change to perk up your tank. Don't give up, I think you'll be very sad in the long run if you do. Good luck!

 

Where to start.... Yes reefing is very demanding. Sure some folks can keep marine fish alive... but a reef is quite a challenge. I tend to get pretty involved in stuff, but even I was a little suprised at just how involved it can be.

Can't even begin to guess what your problems are. As with everything complicated... sometimes the basics get forgotten. I understand you are frustrated, but let me suggest something.....

Take a long deep breath.... and don't touch anything for 6 months. Stop buying coral until you know you can keep them alive.

Seems a lot of time people just f*** with their tank way too much. They think their maintenance is impecable yet can't seem to get anywhere. Stability is the key to reefs.... no swings, no changes, no tampering and keeping your mits out of the tank.

No more fish either. Fish are tough.... you loose one so you want to replace it... but then you get one thats all stressed out and opened itself up to disease from the LFS... then you bring it home and it dies or takes out a couple of others. Worse yet territorialism takes place when you don't see and the whole fighting thing gets resolved by one dying. Only after you make it through that and you have a group of fish for a while do things calm down. One dies of natural causes and bam you are at it all over again.

I constantly messed with my stuff. I had sucssess but I still had swings and things hapening. I decided to strive for stability. Automated water changes, automated top offs, automated dosing. Stopped testing constantly. Kept my hands out of the tank. Ran media and a stable regular routine. Did everything I could do to minimize maintenance... no filters to clean, nothing much to mess with, set and forget skimmer. My tank really took off after that.

If nothing else, just get back to basics. Water changes, dosing, regular schedule. See what happens.... if everything dies then sell your equipment. If things start taking off, then get a bit braver with your purchaces.

 

As far as frags..... on thing that really gets overlooked is water parameters of frag growers. Most are in it for the money and don't run with their numbers all jacked up. They generally go by natural sea water numbers because that is what their suppliers do. Then you bring home some prized frags and shock the crap out of them with sky high numbers. Keep your numbers stable and in the middle. I only bought from one grower cause I knew his numbers and mine were close.

Also, we haven't even talked about predators. You coul dhave bugs, or critters eating your stuff. Many a tank has been wiped clean by them. You think you are just having trouble with your tank but really it's critters. Do you religiously dip and inspect your frags? Do you look real close at the tanks they are coming out of? Do you know you don't have bugs? That same grower I bought from even had bugs from time to time even with all he did. I inspected and dipped everything I put in my tank.

 

+1 to what powerman said...

I set up a 55 gallon once about 11 years ago with no sump and tried to make it a reef tank with a HOB filter and HOB skimmer... I had success in spurts, but no longterm success with it... I was always chasing my tail... I eventually shut that tank down and kept african cichlids in it for a while... well, when the cichlids began to outgrow the tank, so I put my money into a 120G reef-ready tank and moved them over. A couple years later I gave my cichlids away and started the reef I have now... I learned a lot from my mistakes the first time around and haven't made as many errors this time. Plus the internet has become a much better resource than it was 10-15 years ago when I first started.

go slow with it, be patient, and you can have success. Just keep reading, and posting your questions... eventually you'll get the hang of it.