How to restart passion for the hobby

[Letterkenny]

I’ve seen threads on this before but sad to say that I have now joined the ranks. This is now the second time I’ve gone through a mass death of my corals and now fish. The first time around was my fault for the loss of my Euphyllia’s in my old tank. Very busy with work letting alkalinity swings take them out. Now, new bigger tank and try to do everything right. Running a trident, keeping NO3 and PO4 low. See very favorable growth with splits and everything. Just had an issue keeping chaeto. Then, won a HG torch in a raffle and my tank has been spiraling down ever since.

After a week, the HG did polyp bailout. Not a clue why as parameters were fine and I dipped the coral. Next, one head at a time each torch coral would go from very healthy and lots of flesh on the skeleton to being deflated with lots of flesh still and then it all melting off within a day. Went from 15+ heads of high end torches to two. No clue why just presumably bacterial related. While that sucks, we can rebound.

Now, though, my fish are going down.... I was very diligent this time about doing a 6-8 week Qat treating with copper power at 2.5, deworming, and treating with metro and GC both internally and externally. Then, to my surprise, I see my tang with ick and an impossible task of trying to catch it and all my fish to treat. Ultimately, couldn’t trap them. I go to the next best thing of feeding heavy and soaking food in selcon. Seems to help the blue tang but then spreads to my potter angel which I see today has died. It’s so frustrating to go through such a stringent and time consuming QT and have it fail. I only assume it came in through inverts or corals as I do not have the space capacity to quarantine all these for 70+ days.

How do you regain that excitement for the hobby when you try to do everything by the book and are very diligent just to get hit with everything going sideways? I’m just hoping at this point that my other fish can stick it through and see if I can catch any to treat.

 

[Dbichler]

Sorry this hobby is a unforgiving you know what sometimes. Life gets in the way sometimes and my last tank lps primarily struggled when I got busy. I regained motivation by buying a bigger tank and going fowlr and now adding soft corals. Just so much easier than worrying about dosing and losing a ton of corals. I no longer qt anything and just feed super heavy on seafood nori and nls algae max pellets. Believe feeding like this truly keeps diseases at bay. Yes I have disease prone fish as well powder brown tang desjardini and kole tang.

 

[Chuk]

Unfortunately, I liken reef keeping to golf. It basically sucks and makes you hate it for 95% of the round and then you’ll hit this one shot like a chip in for an 8 on a par 3 or finally hitting a drive straight or something else ridiculous that is just out of this world amazing. Reefing can be the same way. If feels like you can’t do anything right every thing you do is a disaster until 1 thing works and it’s awesome. Then you want to keep trying.

Basically, look for the little victories and build off of that. Failing is hard and frustrating but it is an amazing teacher. Try and keep plugging away.
Sorry about the toubles your having but if you keep at it you will learn and grow.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Man, I'm sorry. We've all been there. I think when you've got an issue you can't figure out is the most frustrating part of this hobby. Hope things turn around soon.

 

[fade2black]

Been through this same thing at least 6-7 times over the past 20 years. I leave and come back again because I just can't stay away. It's like a drug addiction. For me, I needed that break to get over the loss and reinvigorate myself. If it becomes tedious then the fun has left and you're more likely to let things slide resulting in massive tank crashes. Not saying that's what happened to you, speaking from my own experience.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Structure a plan from cleaning equipment to rescaling, changing filters and even salt.
Create a fish wishlist and assess your lighting and fire up.
One there is life in the tank, take time to enjoy what is a portable ocean and add one thing at a time to your tank and enjoyment

 

[ZoWhat]

How do you regain that excitement for the hobby

You either enjoy it and move forward

Or

You use to enjoy it, so move on to smthg else

Every hobby has its failures. Heck, my cousin enjoys racing motorcycles competitively. He has broken many bones in his body, yet still has the passion to rehab and keep competing.

You really need to sit and ask yourself if you enjoy the hobby:

1) bc you enjoy the whole process and planning, building, shopping, maintenance, husbandry... and then enjoying looking at a pretty tank

Or

2) you only enjoy the benefit of looking at a pretty tank but dislike everything else.

If you're a #1er, you'll rebound from this

If you're a #2er, best that you spend your money in a different hobby.


.

 

[brandon429]

Bro you must downsize

make a nano reef do backflips of coral greatness its far less simpler about 99% effective owning no test kits, never reacting to nitrate or phosphate, and you can have three fish.

the same corals will do fine in a scaled down reef where you can effect so much by one water change all the tinkering and owning of gfo or nopox or three different nitrate and phosphate kits goes right out the window, and by extension coral issues.

in time we skip cycle move that nano to a more properly sized reef and you still do it with water changes nd no dosing or tinkering, then when one day the water change work is just too much begin the dangerous mode again (hands off, testing, buying adsorbing or boosting media to raise params, reduce water changes as much as possible)

the nano reef wont have the surprises biologically that the larger reef does because of the impacts of a simple nearly complete water change. resets every two weeks.

skim nano-reef.com for bacterial loss of corals and let me know % you can find compared to large tank sites. active water changing outpaces test and reaction on that site due to size and access, its neat to see what the patterned outcomes are, what causes losses when they do occur etc.

 

[X-37B]

Man sorry for your losses.
One of the biggest things I have noticed on this site over the years is people leaving a coral having issues in their tank.
No proof but bacterial issues may be the problem and spread to others.
No real way to test for it either.
The few corals I have lost are probably 80%+ wild ones.
They can go months looking good and growing then bail.
If I see an issue I remove said coral asap.

Overall stability may or may not be the issue.
My tank is very stable but I have lost a few for no apparent reason while the rest of the tank looks great.

 

[Thaxxx]

You either enjoy it and move forward

Or

You use to enjoy it, so move on to smthg else

Every hobby has its failures. Heck, my cousin enjoys racing motorcycles competitively. He has broken many bones in his body, yet still has the passion to rehab and keep competing.

You really need to sit and ask yourself if you enjoy the hobby:

1) bc you enjoy the whole process and planning, building, shopping, maintenance, husbandry... and then enjoying looking at a pretty tank

Or

2) you only enjoy the benefit of looking at a pretty tank but dislike everything else.

If you're a #1er, you'll rebound from this

If you're a #2er, best that you spend your money in a different hobby.


.

^^^^
This
If you only want the end results, you'll never stay in this hobby.
In fact, with most hobbies, it's the process that is the most enjoyable.

 

[Murica]

Get another hobby, stay off R2R. Sooner or later (if you’re anything like me) you’ll miss it after a while and want to come back

I also found that automation in your tank helps prevent me from getting burnt out from the monotony

 

[DeniseAndy]

I was going to suggest a nano as "brandon429" did. Go down to a 20g long. Nothing fancy. HOB filter, water changes weekly or so (just 1g or 2g). Get some smaller fish, easy corals, peaceful inverts. If you want to stay int the hobby, go easy for a bit and see if it restarts your passion.
If not, or you really do not have the excitement to even start a 20gL, maybe take a break. As stated and come back later if you miss it.

 

[Letterkenny]

I was going to suggest a nano as "brandon429" did. Go down to a 20g long. Nothing fancy. HOB filter, water changes weekly or so (just 1g or 2g). Get some smaller fish, easy corals, peaceful inverts. If you want to stay int the hobby, go easy for a bit and see if it restarts your passion.
If not, or you really do not have the excitement to even start a 20gL, maybe take a break. As stated and come back later if you miss it.

I actually have another 45g nem tank. Has some issues but otherwise is doing fine. Going to try a new approach on the QT front but overall just needed to vent some.

 

[brandon429]

let the record reflect

if this was 2001 and the same thread posted, anyone recommending you go smaller in volume to have it easier would be ridiculed and chastamacized.

 

[fade2black]

let the record reflect

if this was 2001 and the same thread posted, anyone recommending you go smaller in volume to have it easier would be ridiculed and chastamacized.

lol, no kidding. Seemed back then the answer to every question was "go bigger" "more water volume"

 

[Jonify]

Sometime it's impossible, and significant time away from the hobby is the best choice for your mental health. Takes some time to recover. But usually, folks get the itch to come back. And if that's you, we will be here for you then, too.

 

[Letterkenny]

let the record reflect

if this was 2001 and the same thread posted, anyone recommending you go smaller in volume to have it easier would be ridiculed and chastamacized.

I’m a fan of automation but I can say I do neglect my smaller tank more, mainly because it’s upstairs, and seems to do fine. Rarely do water changes and mostly just skim and add to the ATO and everything is doing well and my nem is growing like crazy (just wish it would split!). I just wanted some other fish at the end of the day which is why I got the bigger tank and went full Apex/trident with it and tried to set up an algae reactor. 5 times now my chaeto just melts without a clue as to why. Unfortunately, it looks like my bigger tank has velvet... I’m going to try the hydrogen peroxide dosing as I’ve read some studies of this working.

One way or another I will rebuild it but I really hate loosing fish that are wild caught being an avid diver. Hopefully my five remaining fish can pull through with a heavy diet and the hydrogen peroxide dosing.

 

[CMMorgan]

Sometimes to have to look at the other side. The loss sucks. The expense sucks. But having a tank that has maxed out new fish and being limited on what you can add to it gets dull, too. You are being a chance to start fresh. Maybe try a different fish or a different type of coral that maybe would have competed in the other set up. Clean the heck out of the thing, redo the aquascape... jump in and remember what it was like the first time you built a tank. It may be invigorating!!
HUGS on the crash but it will all be better eventually.

 

[stephj03]

If

your tank is otherwise balanced (no major algae issues)

Then

Once the losses stabilize, even if that means almost everything dies, leave the tank exactly as is minus whatever maintenance tasks you don't enjoy.


Don't do anything for at least a couple wks but preferably a month. Don't even walk by the tank, especially if you're afraid of what you'll see.

End of yr 1, mid yr 2 and early yr 3 were dark times on my tank for different reasons (most of 3 and 4 have been great).

Each time the above prescription was my wife's secret to getting me back on board. She'd tell me to ignore it, remind myself that I don't have to have a tank if it's not going to be fulfilling.

 

[stephj03]

But, if your tank isn't balance and that's part of the problems you're having, drain and reboot the tank first.

If neither of those sounds doable you should just get out altogether for now and try to get your groove back vicariously while tankless.