reef_ranch
Well-Known Member
so sorry for you. stick with it and trust me, you will love doing it all over again!
Devastating Post
- Thread starter CoralWealth
- Start date
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Randeeeezy
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Sorry man, hope you stick with it. Either way, good luck on your next adventure.
twiatr2001
Valuable Member
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So this post is really hard to write but I need to update everyone.
I just got back last night from a 3 week vacation in Europe. While I was away, my brother was staying at my house and watching the tank and my dogs. He always has done this over the past 8 years and maybe we have one or two dead corals, nothing crazy ever happened. He knows how to do water changes, etc. Unfortunately around 1 week in out of nowhere, some of my corals started to RTN so we did some things to try to stop that, really only water changes and dose some cipro at lights out as I have done that plenty of times before. It seemed to have stopped it, but 3 days later he sent me a video saying the tank was cloudy.
The tank was so cloudy you could barely see in but I saw enough to see the tissue just flying off of my corals. Long story short, I lost every single coral I had overnight. In 24 hours, I lost every frag and colony. I had over 50 massive colonies and 100s of frags, literally probably close to $100k-$150,000 in corals.
The weird thing is the fish were not impacted at all, never were breathing hard or anything. The anemones also were not hurt at all, it was just all my SPS corals. This may be one of the worst RTN events ever, I could not find one worse when looking online.
I am beyond devasting mostly emotionally as I spent SOOO much time and passion into this hobby but honestly financially too, I invested a lot in my tank and now to lose it all is beyond hard.
I am really just writing this because I have a ton of people message me about buying my frags, I post a lot of WYSIWYG and also because I wanted to tell everyone to enjoy their tank while everything is going good.
Here is a pile of all the dead corals I could get out so far, there is still a good amount in my DT and also my growout.
Here is a video of frags I was selling just a month ago.
Here is my main cut order thread when I sell corals, I have lost every single one of these colonies.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sps-cut-to-order-indo-high-end-cheap-updated-6-2025.822161/
Here are some videos of my tank now, completely dead DT and my growout is now completely empty.
I was really debating if I just completely get out of the hobby or what I do next. I think I made up my mind that I am going to restart, I am going to keep my 180g display but get rid of my 600g growout and go much smaller with the growout, thinking a fiberglass tank that is around 8x2x1.
I will not be on R2R much over the next couple of weeks as honestly it really hurts me to look at nice SPS when I just lost everything and don't want to get anymore sad. I will probably be reaching out to some of the people who bought frags from me in the past to get started again, but that will not be till mid October most likely.
That's tough, so sorry to hear!
zheka757
2500 Club Member
Man that sucks, as someone who made big purchase from you several years back, you had some nice corals in your collection.
Sorry for your loss, It's very depressing for me to lose few frags, can't imagine for a tank to crash. Good luck with mental and financial recovery!
Sorry for your loss, It's very depressing for me to lose few frags, can't imagine for a tank to crash. Good luck with mental and financial recovery!
Wow, that's a lot of dead Coral and your Frag System also. I take it they were common to one and other. In the future probably better to run separate systems. Sounds like Coral Farming is a lot like Dairy Farming. Vacations are out of the question. I have yet to purchase any SPS Frags for my immature System, but it sounds like you have the formula and many satisfied customers. Hang in there and sorry for your loss.
So this post is really hard to write but I need to update everyone.
I just got back last night from a 3 week vacation in Europe. While I was away, my brother was staying at my house and watching the tank and my dogs. He always has done this over the past 8 years and maybe we have one or two dead corals, nothing crazy ever happened. He knows how to do water changes, etc. Unfortunately around 1 week in out of nowhere, some of my corals started to RTN so we did some things to try to stop that, really only water changes and dose some cipro at lights out as I have done that plenty of times before. It seemed to have stopped it, but 3 days later he sent me a video saying the tank was cloudy.
The tank was so cloudy you could barely see in but I saw enough to see the tissue just flying off of my corals. Long story short, I lost every single coral I had overnight. In 24 hours, I lost every frag and colony. I had over 50 massive colonies and 100s of frags, literally probably close to $100k-$150,000 in corals.
The weird thing is the fish were not impacted at all, never were breathing hard or anything. The anemones also were not hurt at all, it was just all my SPS corals. This may be one of the worst RTN events ever, I could not find one worse when looking online.
I am beyond devasting mostly emotionally as I spent SOOO much time and passion into this hobby but honestly financially too, I invested a lot in my tank and now to lose it all is beyond hard.
I am really just writing this because I have a ton of people message me about buying my frags, I post a lot of WYSIWYG and also because I wanted to tell everyone to enjoy their tank while everything is going good.
Here is a pile of all the dead corals I could get out so far, there is still a good amount in my DT and also my growout.
Here is a video of frags I was selling just a month ago.
Here is my main cut order thread when I sell corals, I have lost every single one of these colonies.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sps-cut-to-order-indo-high-end-cheap-updated-6-2025.822161/
Here are some videos of my tank now, completely dead DT and my growout is now completely empty.
I was really debating if I just completely get out of the hobby or what I do next. I think I made up my mind that I am going to restart, I am going to keep my 180g display but get rid of my 600g growout and go much smaller with the growout, thinking a fiberglass tank that is around 8x2x1.
I will not be on R2R much over the next couple of weeks as honestly it really hurts me to look at nice SPS when I just lost everything and don't want to get anymore sad. I will probably be reaching out to some of the people who bought frags from me in the past to get started again, but that will not be till mid October most likely.
So sorry to hear. Most all of us SPS lovers have been thru it. It truly is a terrible and helpless feeling. Were you able to figure out what caused it??
Oh wow I can not imagine the heart break you must be feeling! I am so very sorry for your loss.
Sorry double posted.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Thanks for the kind words everyone.
alabella1
Valuable Member
So sorry to hear this. I actually was revisiting my build thread tonight and looked at my failures over the last few years and joked with my wife about my "trauma" and how I cannot believe I'm still doing this. I've lost maybe 5K worth of coral and fish, nowhere near what you lost but I do feel your pain. I'm glad you are sticking with it and look forward to seeing how it goes.
1970 lonereefer
Active Member
I have about 500 gal total volume and just last year the same happened to me,colonies that were the size of dinner plates gone ,not to your extent but probably 20 k worth. The heartache was almost unbearable, im slowly rebuilding (smaller) for now . But I will be anticipating your return, your to good at it not to.
OP
OP
Thanks everyone! I will keep everyone updated once I finalize my plans on what I am doing next.
So sorry to hear that @CoralWealth. I’ve never talked with you but had started a pm to order a pack a few days ago and saw you were on vacay. You had some truly awesome and inspiring success before and nice pieces. I hope some people that have ordered can help you restart and wish I could have been one of them!
alabella1
Valuable Member
Here's my mess - Scroll down to Feb. 24, 2023 to see what happened. I feel you man. Sucks when things go wrong like this.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aquavim-150-gallon-corner-tank.916797/page-2
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aquavim-150-gallon-corner-tank.916797/page-2
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