do you ever want to just quit?

[cindyp]

as long as I can remember I loved reef tanks 2 years ago I got up the courage to build one well 4 to be exact they were a sucess but I felt I had to many tanks and they were consuming all my time so I setup a 180 and took down all the other tanks except for 1 55.
the tanks have been doing great over the last few months my sps's and other corals growing like crazy then suddenly things began to snow ball I needed more flow then the 2 MP40's could give so I emailed Vortec they informed me I needed another 40 for the back side ok here I go again another 400+ well a few days have passed my tank is cloudy so I picked up some diesel bags for extra filtration 24 hrs later the tank is crystal clear I had what I was looking for finally.
then yesterday I went in to top off the tank and I looked in and was blown away several of my sps's have been stripped like bark from a tree then saw my flame angel who has been around over a year has suddenly decided corals are food feeling totally helpless to do anything about it because I have been unable to catch him I just want to give it up.well this morning my tank is cloudy again why I dont know. I was told that I needed a new skimmer and its not big enough for this tank it skims great how do I know if its the skimmer?I have been reluctant to buy a new one simply because I am not sure anymore if thats what the problem is. I have upgraded equipment and have gone full cirle and just when things seem to be getting better it all go's down hill again. I just don't know what I am doing anymore. I tested everything all are perfect. I'm lost. this whole thing is starting to take its toll on every aspect of my life. isn't this supposed to be enjoyable? does everyone go thru this? my apologies if I am in the wrong forum. maybe I just needed to vent.

 

[DrHank]

Cindy, don't give up. All of us who have been in the hobby for any period of time have had problems and thought of just getting out.

Take some time and really decide how you want to proceed. Sometimes just throwing money into equipment isn't the answer. Check out what you have and make sure that it's all working properly (especially your skimmer).

The white cloudiness you are having could be a bacterial bloom. This could be part or all of your problem. My first suggestion is water changes. Unfortunately dwarf angels can decide corals are food at any time.

I wish I could help more but unfortunately I can't. Good luck and I hope that things get better soon. Personally, I decided to remove all but simple SPS from my reef. Now I have much less problems, the reef still looks great and I don't have to micromanage my tank.

Remember that all reefs are different. What works great in your system might not do well in mine and vice versa. Hang in there, things are bound to get better.

 

[tnwillia]

+1, after a year my Combtooth Blenny got a taste for all SPS and stripped my tank. Now I keep LPS zoas & Mushrooms and like my tank a lot better.

Assuming your skimmer is in your sump, you could get a used HOB and run it for a while with 2 skimmers on your tank to see if it is or is not causing your problem before you by bigger.

There is always more than one way to get past this, and you will. Good luck!

 

[cindyp]

thank you both for the encouragement sometimes thats all thats needed I dont give up easy and at times I need to to talk to fellow reefers because my Husband refuses to talk to me about the tank anymore and friends still think corals are plants atleast thats got some humor to it.
I have an extra hob remora pro I will take that advise and hang it on the sump and see if that helps I guess if it does than a new skimmer is what I need. I also have a 1330 pump that I can put on the skimmer and see if that helps right now it has a 500 gph on it. I'm running carbon and have yet to see any improvement and last Saturday I did a 50 gal wc and vacuumed the debri out of the sump in hopes that that would help. I have been racking my brain for ideas and it occured to me that in the hopes of helping out the damaged sps's I target fed Brightwells coral amino could that have caused the fog? that seems awefully coincidental. I spoke with a guy that makes fish traps and he said he has a 240 and there has never been a fish that he couldn't catch within a day or two so he is making me one so in a couple days I will hopefully catch my angel and put him in the 55 where there is no sps's I dont have the heart to get rid of him after all he doesn't know he's bad lol yes I'm a sucker for pretty fish:laughroll

 

[tnwillia]

Good luck to you Cindy!

 

[DrHank]

Just a thought. I found that the more tanks I had, the more frustrated I got. I recently tried an 80gal Hex reef with a single dwarf Lionfish. Unfortunately, I also found I needed to move my business and didn't have the time to properly maintain 2 tanks. The poor fish died. Now, I've turned my attention back to my 200 gal and it's looking better than ever. Next month, I'm selling the 80 Hex and using the funds to change the lighting in my big tank from MH to T5's.

I'd rather have one tank that looks great than 2, 3, or 4 that look OK.

Just some food for thought.

 

[yungreefer2410]

don't give up on your tank, i have one thing to say, you didn't have to get a $400 vortech you could of gotten a different quality brand like koralia since there considerably less, they don't have all those fancy features but they are like $300 cheaper

 

[Eric]

Don't give up!!! We got your back Cindy

I was thinking the same thing last week when my stand build wasn't going right, I am past it now but it's not uncommon to get fed up and frustrated.

That tank is still new so you may have a little cycling even though you used a lot of cured rock and all that.

What skimmer are you using?

 

[astiesi]

I guess those of us thinking about quitting should stick together. Maybe we need a support group?

But I say stick with it? Feel free to vent all you want, sometimes having an outlet to vent will mean the difference between quitting and sticking with it.

 

[Schwa]

+1 on not needing another vortech I am finding the sicce voyagers are an awesome pump they blow koralias away in quality and are about the same price .I have a vortech mp20 which I am going to upgrade to a mp40 but that is it in the vortechs I was somewhat disapointed in the build quality of the driver box the buttons feel like they are real cheap and the cord insulation was all pulled out of the box when I got it exposing wires for as much as they cost you would think these are two places they could have put some more effort in to. keep your chin up all of us have problems like this and they eventually work themselves out. I think some of those coral foods like aminos and stuff are nothing but snake oil that foul your tank try going without and giving your damaged corals some extra light and flow. I am not telling you to do this but I personally dose iodine to my system once a week I use kent Lugols use 1 drop for every 25 gallons and dont overdose it at all. I have seen improvement but once again use at your own risk some have bad luck with it but I have seen noticeable improvement in color of my SPS and growth in softies

 

[Eric]

If venting on the forum isn't enough grab a chainsaw and go chop something up, some OT with the significant other, punch a complete stranger, fire up a doby. There are ways to work out this frustration. lol

Reefer Anonymous! Here we come lol

 

[deehz]

If venting on the forum isn't enough grab a chainsaw and go chop something up, some OT with the significant other, punch a complete stranger, fire up a doby. There are ways to work out this frustration. lol

Reefer Anonymous! Here we come lol

Amen Eric. Fire up a dooby! The most classic way to get calmed! LOL

I have gotten so frustrated with my system that I want to just get rid of it. I leave, come back, and figure out what the problem is with a clear mind. Yes, this hobby can be very frustrating. Just hang in there Cindy, venting is always a great thing. I am sure the issue in the tank is right in front of you. You just have to clear your mind and take everything one step at a time.

Thanks!

 

[rn04072]

Hi. My tank crashed over a year ago and so I was forced to take a break from reefing. Now I'm right back in it again even though I still have some tank problems. I think that we just have to accept that tank reefs will never be perfect, or if perfect, that will only be temporary. The 2 most valuable things anyone here has written to me is that everyone's tank is different and that its water change, water change, water change. I guess thats four things. Anyway, I love reefing and it sounds like you do too. Just keep at it and remember the water changes!

Michelle

 

[XeniaLee]

This is a great thread for a new reefer like me to read! My tank has been going for 5 months, and every time even the slightest thing doesn't look right I berate myself. "Oh why did I EVER think I was capable of keeping a reef tank???" "What was I thinking???"
It's nice to know that I am not alone.

 

[reefman78]

ya, i had major flaws during my 55 build, and almost quit b4 I even got it filled haha. Now looking at it I'm glad I went ahead and pushed through, and in a few weeks I'll bet you will be glad too....keep your head up!! =)

 

[redsea reefer]

Always but they just keep bringing me back in...LOL

 

[coralmadness]

One time I came home and my house was flooded. I was going to quit right then and there, till my wife came home and caught me with the tank in the middle of the street and talked me out of it.:angel4: Every time I look at the tank im glad I kept going. Now when my tank will have problems and I get stressed it helps me to take a step back and take another look and figure it out.

 

[cindyp]

you guys are great! we need a reefers support group we should designate a special place just to vent!
the last couple days I am in love with the tank again I guess I'm a glutton for punnishment. someone once told me having a tank is relaxing but I think he was confused and talking about freshwater.
the rogue fish that ate my sps's like corn on the cob is caught and in the 55 I was really worried about getting that fish out theres somewhere around 275lbs of rock in there I actually had nightmares about it but I found this trap online and it took less than 20 minutes and I had him
Eric my skimmer is an I dont know what? I bought it off a guy for 25 bucks it skims great but I still have no clue if its big enough here is a pic. I also bought some 200 micron bags to try. but haven't yet.
for some reason I am not getting email notices to replies to threads lol now the computer is being difficult

 

[cindyp]

here the tank its kind of hazzzzzy

 

[Eric]

Cindy the skimmer looks like a Euro Reef CS or RS series.

Lots of mods you can do to make it perform even better adding a bubble blaster recirculating pump or like pump to the side of the skimmer, I should have my neck an cup back this weekend I had it extended 16" to allow more contact time. You have options