All but abandoned my tank.

[olonmv]

long story short, kinda. Got into the hobby almost 2 years ago and went through the process of learning with the trial and error that we've all gone through I.E. dosing, tank maintenance and so on. When I finally thought I was getting a handle on things after tons of reading and work in the hobby BAM, found that I had a flatworm infestation. This was what broke me. All parameters were within my likings and within average range without what I thought were any crazy swings (I tested all parameters at least once a week when I got into dosing) but couldn’t stop softies from hating my tank and dying. I keep GSP, some gross looking paly’s and anemones well but, seemed like every other coral hated me. Pretty discouraging. When I discovered the FW’s I basically threw in the towel and decided I was just gonna keep an eye on what was living in the tank, (3) rockflowers, (1) RBTA, about a square foot of GSP, the gross paly’s, a pistol shrimp, yellow watchman goby, a neon dottyback and, 1 clown along with some CUC including a tuxedo urchin, alive. I continued with just feeding and changing basic filtration and glass cleanings also let the A41 doser do it’s thang as my bare minimum routine. Totally ignored the FW issue and abandoned water changes/tank cleanings and testing for 2 months.

The urge to see where my tank stands finally kicked in after a lil over 2 months and seeing that everything that was in the tank prior seemed happy and was growing (slowly). Much to my surprise the only parameter that was way out of my preferred range were my nitrates.

I took the completely lazy way out with what seems like just as good parameters as a result. I admit, my tank looks gross but nothing a good substrate cleaning won’t fix and of course a FW treatment. Is the lazy way gonna be a new trend? Lol, who knows but, I had just as good success with the lazy way Vs what I did when I stressed and worried about it almost all the time.
I’ll post my numbers with pre and post laziness results. What do you guys think?!?

Before. After.
temp/ Hanna: 79.2 78.4
Salinity/ Hanna: 34.7 34.4
Alk/ Hanna: 9.6 10.0
No3/ Hanna ulr: 14.1 29.2
P04/ hanna: .02 .04
Cal/ hanna: 445 451
Mag/ Red Sea: 1280 N/A

 

[Smprc]

My 2 cents...I don't think you were being "lazy". I just think that each tank depending on its inhabitants has different maintenance requirements. If everything is dialed in then your parameters should stay relatively stable. As soon as it's inhabitants start to put a greater demand then you will have to adjust accordingly. And that could mean adjusting dosing, feeding, WC etc...I know that I just went through a tough time with my tank and had to be patient and work hard to stabilize it and get the parameters closer to recommended levels. I felt I was working hard on it. Now my "maintenance" seems a lot less. Problem is I am just paranoid and have to admit that the paranoia is stealing away from my enjoyment because I did have a crash and that crushed me. At any rate. I would say monitor as you do and enjoy your tank!

 

[fish farmer]

What does your tank look like? When my tank took a backseat to life all my lps died which were growing well and the tank had green hair growing over everything else.

 

[Wasabiroot]

It's very normal as a newer hobbyist to feel discouraged. There are many curveball in the first few years.
I recommend setting up a QT system (doesn't have to be large) so that you can inspect and treat new corals for pests.
Some variety of livestock that eats flatworms will also aid you in reducing their numbers, but ultimately treatment may be the best course of action.
Remember that there is almost always a solution. I'm sure some more knowledgeable folk will chime in with good suggestions.

 

[vetteguy53081]

long story short, kinda. Got into the hobby almost 2 years ago and went through the process of learning with the trial and error that we've all gone through I.E. dosing, tank maintenance and so on. When I finally thought I was getting a handle on things after tons of reading and work in the hobby BAM, found that I had a flatworm infestation. This was what broke me. All parameters were within my likings and within average range without what I thought were any crazy swings (I tested all parameters at least once a week when I got into dosing) but couldn’t stop softies from hating my tank and dying. I keep GSP, some gross looking paly’s and anemones well but, seemed like every other coral hated me. Pretty discouraging. When I discovered the FW’s I basically threw in the towel and decided I was just gonna keep an eye on what was living in the tank, (3) rockflowers, (1) RBTA, about a square foot of GSP, the gross paly’s, a pistol shrimp, yellow watchman goby, a neon dottyback and, 1 clown along with some CUC including a tuxedo urchin, alive. I continued with just feeding and changing basic filtration and glass cleanings also let the A41 doser do it’s thang as my bare minimum routine. Totally ignored the FW issue and abandoned water changes/tank cleanings and testing for 2 months.

The urge to see where my tank stands finally kicked in after a lil over 2 months and seeing that everything that was in the tank prior seemed happy and was growing (slowly). Much to my surprise the only parameter that was way out of my preferred range were my nitrates.

I took the completely lazy way out with what seems like just as good parameters as a result. I admit, my tank looks gross but nothing a good substrate cleaning won’t fix and of course a FW treatment. Is the lazy way gonna be a new trend? Lol, who knows but, I had just as good success with the lazy way Vs what I did when I stressed and worried about it almost all the time.
I’ll post my numbers with pre and post laziness results. What do you guys think?!?

Before. After.
temp/ Hanna: 79.2 78.4
Salinity/ Hanna: 34.7 34.4
Alk/ Hanna: 9.6 10.0
No3/ Hanna ulr: 14.1 29.2
P04/ hanna: .02 .04
Cal/ hanna: 445 451
Mag/ Red Sea: 1280 N/A

Numbers look pretty good.
Establish a regimen. . . . Two days a week in which you will spend 20 minutes looking the tank over, how much you will feed and what you will feed, a Saturday or Sunday morning weekly water test, a 10-20% water change bi - tri-weekly. If others in the house, take turns cleaning the tank glass with magnet cleaner such as flipper (me Mon- son, Tues, wife saturday, Daughter Tues and so forth)
Soon you'll find yourself taking the time to enjoy the tank rather than working on it

 

[Wasabiroot]

Numbers look pretty good.
Establish a regimen. . . . Two days a week in which you will spend 20 minutes looking the tank over, how much you will feed and what you will feed, a Saturday or Sunday morning weekly water test, a 10-20% water change bi - tri-weekly. If others in the house, take turns cleaning the tank glass with magnet cleaner such as flipper (me Mon- son, Tues, wife saturday, Daughter Tues and so forth)
Soon you'll find yourself taking the time to enjoy the tank rather than working on it

Not to mention multiple sets of eyes on tank helps you notice things. My wife will point out corals doing well/irritated or aggression/etc sometimes that I miss which prompts me to check things out

 

[ggNoRe]

Lazy way plus regular water changes would be the way to go!

 

[olonmv]

My 2 cents...I don't think you were being "lazy". I just think that each tank depending on its inhabitants has different maintenance requirements. If everything is dialed in then your parameters should stay relatively stable. As soon as it's inhabitants start to put a greater demand then you will have to adjust accordingly. And that could mean adjusting dosing, feeding, WC etc...I know that I just went through a tough time with my tank and had to be patient and work hard to stabilize it and get the parameters closer to recommended levels. I felt I was working hard on it. Now my "maintenance" seems a lot less. Problem is I am just paranoid and have to admit that the paranoia is stealing away from my enjoyment because I did have a crash and that crushed me. At any rate. I would say monitor as you do and enjoy your tank!

Lol thanks for the kind words but I went straight lazy. I daily dosed brightwell amino….3 drops, had my nitrate and phos consumption dialed in and dosed tiny doses daily of neophos and neonitro, did the once a week target feeding of small amounts of reef roids and so on and still had little success with a lot of corals. Things that would take off and thrive would just start to die off even with my regimen of maintaining my numbers. The Flatworms all but made me quit. I’m close to getting my second wind but I’m still enjoying the lazy….for now.

 

[olonmv]

It's very normal as a newer hobbyist to feel discouraged. There are many curveball in the first few years.
I recommend setting up a QT system (doesn't have to be large) so that you can inspect and treat new corals for pests.
Some variety of livestock that eats flatworms will also aid you in reducing their numbers, but ultimately treatment may be the best course of action.
Remember that there is almost always a solution. I'm sure some more knowledgeable folk will chime in with good suggestions.

I’m starting to get motivated to start getting back on track but still enjoy the peace of mind. My method of operation will be to vacuum the substrate and rocks and glass to capture all of the flatworms I can (I made a filter outta a RODI canister that I run a 1 micron filter with). After that I’ll do a FW exit treatment regimen while simultaneously running the filter with activated carbon in it after I clean out the FW’s I previously caught.

 

[olonmv]

What does your tank look like? When my tank took a backseat to life all my lps died which were growing well and the tank had green hair growing over everything else.

It looks a little gross but it’s mainly due to what looks like cyano bits of bubble algae and tiny amounts of hair. Nothing a few hours of cleanup can’t take care of. Honestly thought things would have gotten way worse.

 

[olonmv]

Numbers look pretty good.
Establish a regimen. . . . Two days a week in which you will spend 20 minutes looking the tank over, how much you will feed and what you will feed, a Saturday or Sunday morning weekly water test, a 10-20% water change bi - tri-weekly. If others in the house, take turns cleaning the tank glass with magnet cleaner such as flipper (me Mon- son, Tues, wife saturday, Daughter Tues and so forth)
Soon you'll find yourself taking the time to enjoy the tank rather than working on it

I had a daily/weekly regimen that I followed once I got an understanding of water chemistry of reef tanks and things went good but my softies and LPS seemed to just hate my efforts. I have the flipper and absolutely love it, makes glass cleaning life way better IMO. Maybe I’m finding a new place in reef keeping where I can keep it simple and will finally have an epiphany on what if anything I was doin wrong for the LPS and softies but for now I’m still in relax mode especially after seeing that my parameters were still kinda in check after 2 months of doing the bare minimum.

 

[olonmv]

Not to mention multiple sets of eyes on tank helps you notice things. My wife will point out corals doing well/irritated or aggression/etc sometimes that I miss which prompts me to check things out

I live in a household of 7, my wife could care less about my reef tank and only one other child has a real interest in the marine life I keep lol and he does help me keep an eye on things. I don’t mind because after all, it’s my hobby.

 

[olonmv]

Lazy way plus regular water changes would be the way to go!

I went ultra lazy. Eventually I’ll get back into my stride but for now I’m still enjoying my reefcation.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had a daily/weekly regimen that I followed once I got an understanding of water chemistry of reef tanks and things went good but my softies and LPS seemed to just hate my efforts. I have the flipper and absolutely love it, makes glass cleaning life way better IMO. Maybe I’m finding a new place in reef keeping where I can keep it simple and will finally have an epiphany on what if anything I was doin wrong for the LPS and softies but for now I’m still in relax mode especially after seeing that my parameters were still kinda in check after 2 months of doing the bare minimum.

There you go. Have eveyone pitch in and share the enjoyment