Burnt out & losing faith... Please help

[Drew1600]

Short Backstory:

I have had a love for aquariums my whole life and have been keeping, mostly freshwater, on and off since the age of 7.

I am about to begin my final year of college comuting from home, after moving away post highschool to a different university. After about 2 years I decided it was not the right place for me, and decided to transfer to a university near to home and move back in to my parents house until graduation to save some money.

Thus, after being home for awhile I started my reefing journey about a year+ ago, with my current build (29 DT w/ 20 sump + 8g frag tank) being about 6 months old. I suffer from a few mental disorders and reefing grew into an amazing outlet, the tank being my motivation to get out of bed many mornings in the beginning.

I have gone through many ups and downs in the system, and conquered most, but I am burnt out and losing my passion.

It began with a bryopsis battle, which I won over the course of a couple months, losing some both long loved and new coral in the process.

After many more breaks and fixes, we arrive to the current situation. I added a Flaco Hawkfish a few weeks back. All went well until about a week ago, noticed a lot of injuries from rock on my Fiary Wrasse. Turns out after the lights go out the Hawkfish has began to "hunt" the other occupants (Fiji Blue Devil Damsel and a Wyoming White) after the lights go out, withe Fairy Wrasse recieving the brute of the damage for some reason, craming herself into rockwork and coral. After trying various things over the course of 2 days I decided I had to get her out last night before she ultimately kills my loved wrasse.

I waited til a late feeding, when the lights were dim, and attempted to catch during low light/distracted time. After trying until 4am, I gave up, unable to catch her (by far the quickest and most intelligent inhabitant, of course..)

Anyways I am on the verge of giving up which I do not want to do, as I have invested so much time, energy, and money in the tank. Any suggestions on:
1. How to catch the demon Hawkfish (I dont have access to a fish trap any time soon, would be atleast a week as no LFS around)
- My only other idea is to attempt to create an eggcrate wall she cant get around and try netting maybe..?
2. How do I save my relationship with this amazing hobby..?

Thank you all so much. I am sorry, this is somewhat vague and all over the place but I am very short on time and sleep as also dealing with a broken sewage pump in the house at the moment.

Turning to the R2R community in this time of need as I have always had the best support from this community in dire situations.

 

[botheboss]

Most of the time I try to catch a fish out I end up taking the majority of the rocks out. But I have caught a few with a homemade Gatorade bottle trap with fish’s favorite food in it. You can google how to make it. Take the time to research your fish list extensively and be prepared for worst case scenario. Good luck

 

[PeterC99]

Take a breath and relax. We all go through this and somehow survive.

Sounds like you are an amazing aquarist with great experience and knowledge! Look for homemade fish traps online and don’t feed your fish for a day or two. You will catch the culprit.

Heres a pic of an aggressive Sailfin in a fish trap who was bothering my other fish.

 

[Drew1600]

Thank you both so very much, I will most definitely take a look into it. I really appreciate the time and consideration gentleman.

 

[Drew1600]

I did my best to research prior to purchase... 95% of fish nowadays are labeled "semi-aggressive" and ancedotals can be found literally all over the internet stating one way or the other... People told me I would have problems with my Fiji Blue Devil, and I never have... I just feel when it comes down to it every fish has a slightly different personality so its very hard to generalize, and sometimes you just wont know until they are in the tank...

I will be preparing for the worst from now on. Though, I have no desire to add anything for a very long time now but.. Thank you.

 

[SamsReef]

Short Backstory:

I have had a love for aquariums my whole life and have been keeping, mostly freshwater, on and off since the age of 7.

I am about to begin my final year of college comuting from home, after moving away post highschool to a different university. After about 2 years I decided it was not the right place for me, and decided to transfer to a university near to home and move back in to my parents house until graduation to save some money.

Thus, after being home for awhile I started my reefing journey about a year+ ago, with my current build (29 DT w/ 20 sump + 8g frag tank) being about 6 months old. I suffer from a few mental disorders and reefing grew into an amazing outlet, the tank being my motivation to get out of bed many mornings in the beginning.

I have gone through many ups and downs in the system, and conquered most, but I am burnt out and losing my passion.

It began with a bryopsis battle, which I won over the course of a couple months, losing some both long loved and new coral in the process.

After many more breaks and fixes, we arrive to the current situation. I added a Flaco Hawkfish a few weeks back. All went well until about a week ago, noticed a lot of injuries from rock on my Fiary Wrasse. Turns out after the lights go out the Hawkfish has began to "hunt" the other occupants (Fiji Blue Devil Damsel and a Wyoming White) after the lights go out, withe Fairy Wrasse recieving the brute of the damage for some reason, craming herself into rockwork and coral. After trying various things over the course of 2 days I decided I had to get her out last night before she ultimately kills my loved wrasse.

I waited til a late feeding, when the lights were dim, and attempted to catch during low light/distracted time. After trying until 4am, I gave up, unable to catch her (by far the quickest and most intelligent inhabitant, of course..)

Anyways I am on the verge of giving up which I do not want to do, as I have invested so much time, energy, and money in the tank. Any suggestions on:
1. How to catch the demon Hawkfish (I dont have access to a fish trap any time soon, would be atleast a week as no LFS around)
- My only other idea is to attempt to create an eggcrate wall she cant get around and try netting maybe..?
2. How do I save my relationship with this amazing hobby..?

Thank you all so much. I am sorry, this is somewhat vague and all over the place but I am very short on time and sleep as also dealing with a broken sewage pump in the house at the moment.

Turning to the R2R community in this time of need as I have always had the best support from this community in dire situations.

this hobby is hard work but is enjoyable to see the result. I believe you said the tank is only 29 gallon. You should easily be able to take out everything, catch the fish and put it back in less than one hour with couple of buckets.
I am saying this because a lot of people hesitate in touching the rock work...I don’t. Where it is invasive zoa, mushrooms, a cleaver fish or shrimp. When you remove everything, there is nothing to hide under.
This process is much faster and also gives you chance to redo the rock work...

sam

 

[Staghorn]

Don’t lose faith. I’ve caught quite a few fish with a soda bottle trap. Make sure to research your fish before putting them in there a lot of times what people say about them is true. Dedicate yourself to keeping the tank clean and organized and as the corals and fish flourish you will regain your faith in yourself in the hobby. Good luck

 

[Rams]

Don’t lose faith,if it’s 29g tank…take out half of water into 2-3 buckets and it’s easy to get fish out

 

[Drew1600]

In regards to moving the rock: this isnt really an option as my coral are still in recovery from the bryopsis battle and I fear that removing will only cause more loss..

 

[Drew1600]

Basically the way my coral are mounted a lot will be broken as the diamter of the rock + coral sticking out is larger than my 5 gallon buckets... I could remove the coral from the rock and then remove rock and remount coral, but as I said, really dont want to risk any more losses. I could just leave the rock and coral out of water for a bit, but I dont have a way of keeping the rocks propped up in a nature which they will not fall and crush coral, the rock being puzzle pieced and epoxied together..

I probably need to invest in a holding tub or something of that nature.

 

[Dan_P]

Short Backstory:

I have had a love for aquariums my whole life and have been keeping, mostly freshwater, on and off since the age of 7.

I am about to begin my final year of college comuting from home, after moving away post highschool to a different university. After about 2 years I decided it was not the right place for me, and decided to transfer to a university near to home and move back in to my parents house until graduation to save some money.

Thus, after being home for awhile I started my reefing journey about a year+ ago, with my current build (29 DT w/ 20 sump + 8g frag tank) being about 6 months old. I suffer from a few mental disorders and reefing grew into an amazing outlet, the tank being my motivation to get out of bed many mornings in the beginning.

I have gone through many ups and downs in the system, and conquered most, but I am burnt out and losing my passion.

It began with a bryopsis battle, which I won over the course of a couple months, losing some both long loved and new coral in the process.

After many more breaks and fixes, we arrive to the current situation. I added a Flaco Hawkfish a few weeks back. All went well until about a week ago, noticed a lot of injuries from rock on my Fiary Wrasse. Turns out after the lights go out the Hawkfish has began to "hunt" the other occupants (Fiji Blue Devil Damsel and a Wyoming White) after the lights go out, withe Fairy Wrasse recieving the brute of the damage for some reason, craming herself into rockwork and coral. After trying various things over the course of 2 days I decided I had to get her out last night before she ultimately kills my loved wrasse.

I waited til a late feeding, when the lights were dim, and attempted to catch during low light/distracted time. After trying until 4am, I gave up, unable to catch her (by far the quickest and most intelligent inhabitant, of course..)

Anyways I am on the verge of giving up which I do not want to do, as I have invested so much time, energy, and money in the tank. Any suggestions on:
1. How to catch the demon Hawkfish (I dont have access to a fish trap any time soon, would be atleast a week as no LFS around)
- My only other idea is to attempt to create an eggcrate wall she cant get around and try netting maybe..?
2. How do I save my relationship with this amazing hobby..?

Thank you all so much. I am sorry, this is somewhat vague and all over the place but I am very short on time and sleep as also dealing with a broken sewage pump in the house at the moment.

Turning to the R2R community in this time of need as I have always had the best support from this community in dire situations.

I lived at home during college and I do not remember having much spare time for hobbies. The stress of college, personal development, studying, etc. does not leave much emotional energy for a decidedly frustrating hobby. Quitting the hobby at this time is a legitimate option. Come back to it when you have more free time. Donate the live stock to someone, clean and store the equipment for a later start up.

Good luck with college!

Dan

 

[nanonøkk]

you can try and turn your light to only red most fish can’t see that then i just scoop the fish up in my hand or net most of the time when it’s in the water column that’s always worked for me

 

[Drew1600]

Great idea, red light, never would have thought of that...

Will most definitely try in the mean time of the diy fish trap being made/employed. Thank you so much.

 

[Bo.]

Short Backstory:

I have had a love for aquariums my whole life and have been keeping, mostly freshwater, on and off since the age of 7.

I am about to begin my final year of college comuting from home, after moving away post highschool to a different university. After about 2 years I decided it was not the right place for me, and decided to transfer to a university near to home and move back in to my parents house until graduation to save some money.

Thus, after being home for awhile I started my reefing journey about a year+ ago, with my current build (29 DT w/ 20 sump + 8g frag tank) being about 6 months old. I suffer from a few mental disorders and reefing grew into an amazing outlet, the tank being my motivation to get out of bed many mornings in the beginning.

I have gone through many ups and downs in the system, and conquered most, but I am burnt out and losing my passion.

It began with a bryopsis battle, which I won over the course of a couple months, losing some both long loved and new coral in the process.

After many more breaks and fixes, we arrive to the current situation. I added a Flaco Hawkfish a few weeks back. All went well until about a week ago, noticed a lot of injuries from rock on my Fiary Wrasse. Turns out after the lights go out the Hawkfish has began to "hunt" the other occupants (Fiji Blue Devil Damsel and a Wyoming White) after the lights go out, withe Fairy Wrasse recieving the brute of the damage for some reason, craming herself into rockwork and coral. After trying various things over the course of 2 days I decided I had to get her out last night before she ultimately kills my loved wrasse.

I waited til a late feeding, when the lights were dim, and attempted to catch during low light/distracted time. After trying until 4am, I gave up, unable to catch her (by far the quickest and most intelligent inhabitant, of course..)

Anyways I am on the verge of giving up which I do not want to do, as I have invested so much time, energy, and money in the tank. Any suggestions on:
1. How to catch the demon Hawkfish (I dont have access to a fish trap any time soon, would be atleast a week as no LFS around)
- My only other idea is to attempt to create an eggcrate wall she cant get around and try netting maybe..?
2. How do I save my relationship with this amazing hobby..?

Thank you all so much. I am sorry, this is somewhat vague and all over the place but I am very short on time and sleep as also dealing with a broken sewage pump in the house at the moment.

Turning to the R2R community in this time of need as I have always had the best support from this community in dire situations.

 

[Drew1600]

Thank you so much, this is EXACTLY what I needed, will watch soon...

At this point, the only things that could make me quit would be a cracked tank or 100% livestock dieoff...

More so than the HUGE waste of money quitting would cause, I feel an obligation to the livestock which has been with me for sometime now.

This is rather silly, but I totally consider my fish as my college roomates (which is funny because they are probably smarter than my actual college roomates were). Point is I want to do all I can to save them and keep reefing.

 

[nanonøkk]

Great idea, red light, never would have thought of that...

Will most definitely try in the mean time of the diy fish trap being made/employed. Thank you so much.

yea just make sure there’s no other light in the room besides the red light or they will be able to see you outside the tank and i hope things get better for you this hobby is stressful and there’s gonna be a lot of losses but just focus on the positives of your tank and take the losses and learn from them but don’t dwell on them too much it’ll get better with time because most of if not all of this hobby is being patient with things

 

[Bo.]

You got this, and Reef2Reef is here for support/enablement!

 

[littlebigreef]

@Rams for the win. It’s a 29 gal, get a few buckets from Home Depot, drain it, get the hawk out and refill. I’ve had to do this on service accounts back in the day. It’s least stressful for all involved and can go pretty quick (though I’d drain all the water).

As for losing motivation, it happens. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I recently moved and down sized my DT from a 220 to a 125 and my zoa farm went from a 125 to an 8’x3’ plywood tank. Multiple systems running concurrently at 2 separate houses. Coral losses were nominal and I thought I was good. About 2 weeks later something burnt through my collection of fish in the DT and I lost all the fish, some of which were a decade old. Still hurts. I’m gonna have a hard time replacing my fowleri tang. At any rate you take the good take the bad, try not to get too high or low.

 

[Drew1600]

Beyond greatful for the support and feedback I have recieved here today in such a short amount of time. Do not know of any local hobbyists, no clubs around, and nearest LFS is about an hour and a half away so it gets lonely out here, especially when the going gets tough... Anyways, y'all provided the kick I needed to get my head back in the game, or atleast get a start, and I am so appreciative of it, as I cannot begin to express all the wonderful things this reef has done for me..

Thankful to be part of such a caring community... You have helped create a life-long R2R supporter. God bless you all & happy reefing.

 

[JayA]

I too caught an elusive fish with a soda bottle trap, only I used a 1 liter Poland spring water bottle b/c my tank if only 20 gallons with a lot of rock. It took a few days before mine ventured in, but alas he did. I also had to catch him due to aggression in my tank, though I was catching the fairy wrasse as the aggressor. I found many fish are aggressive in a small tank. Thus, I lost many peaceful fish... Sad. I now have all semi-aggressive placed in the tank in a really thoughtful manner (ie considering each one's size and personality). Hang in there, you CAN do this. Fish are all individuals, you just got to figure out the issues. p.s. I am also a total newbie and had a really rough start with fish.