I think I give up.

[The Opinionated Reefer]

Some people just don't have what it takes to be successful at this game. Its that simple.

 

[Devisissy]

Some people just don't have what it takes to be successful at this game. Its that simple.

Is that me? I have six tanks total and a 500 gallon pond. All do very well. Planted mostly. I do have a macro algae mangrove pico. No issues with that. I think I need to keep it simple.

Your update reinforces the simple advice thst I gave you.

Smaller tanks are harder to keep stable.

Mixed reefs in small tanks make that task even harder due to chemical warfare and competition.

You likely ended up in vicious cycles of instability and chasing solutions.

Overfeeding, coral deaths, then vodka and gfo to remove the accumulated organics. Low nutrients, things look better and you add more. Things spike, organics Climb and you react. Rinse repeat.

Don‘t quit the hobby, but change your methodology (simplify) or you will continue to struggle. If you can’t find a way to do that then fish only or another hobby is in your future.

Start fresh and keep it simple. I outlined a simple plan that is time tested and works. Don’t listen to the YouTube idiots and the Influencer fools and don’t follow trends.

Ditch the mixed reef until you can do easy SPS and easy LPS well. That means a year or more without issues. don‘t put stuff in just because you can or somebody gave it to you.

Ditch the vodka, reactors, and all of that other stuff.

Feeding less in the larger 90 will be a wold of difference.

If you start fresh and fail to keep it simple and follow a long term plan, you will end up back in the same boat. For the system to be stable, you have to be stable.

that simple.

I brought in the tank stand last night. It's a aluminum stand. Only one thing to do. Start over with a larger tank. It's a trigger 36 sump. In the box. I'll see what happens with these corals and maybe just give them all away. I think I will gear this set up for sticks. I have a great reef store here with some great coral. If I gear the tank for one type of coral that has the same requirements I will do better.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Exactly - Fresh start - strict adherence to a plan.

Follow it and don't chase numbers.
You have a lot of options and I don't know your actual budget but...

Tampa Bay or Austrailian real live rock
Instant Ocean
Skimmer

2-3 month settling period before adding the fish (More for their safety than anything else) and not a single coral until the system matures for that 2-3 months, then one or two corals, preferably easy montis or other basic hardy SPS.

I honestly think that if you do that your 1 year milestone will show marked improvement.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

I was having a similar problem for two years. Tank becoming huge algae pit as you described. I think my biggest issue was low nutrient levels. I added more fish…like a lot more fish and the tank started doing better.

 

[Gribbles]

Exactly - Fresh start - strict adherence to a plan.

Follow it and don't chase numbers.
You have a lot of options and I don't know your actual budget but...

Tampa Bay or Austrailian real live rock
Instant Ocean
Skimmer

2-3 month settling period before adding the fish (More for their safety than anything else) and not a single coral until the system matures for that 2-3 months, then one or two corals, preferably easy montis or other basic hardy SPS.

I honestly think that if you do that your 1 year milestone will show marked improvement.

Curious why sps instead of lps, if you could elaborate a little

 

[Devisissy]

Curious why sps instead of lps, if you could elaborate a little

No reason. I have some great hook ups for sticks. Octos are my favorite though. I am so heartbroken over all the losses though.

 

[Devisissy]

Exactly - Fresh start - strict adherence to a plan.

Follow it and don't chase numbers.
You have a lot of options and I don't know your actual budget but...

Tampa Bay or Austrailian real live rock
Instant Ocean
Skimmer

2-3 month settling period before adding the fish (More for their safety than anything else) and not a single coral until the system matures for that 2-3 months, then one or two corals, preferably easy montis or other basic hardy SPS.

I honestly think that if you do that your 1 year milestone will show marked improvement.

I'm not keen on live rock. It's just not the look I am going for. It feels like you have a biotope of florida. I'll look into it though.

 

[ninjamyst]

I know exactly what you are doing wrong. When you mention gfo and carbon and reactor and skimmer and fighting algae issue. You are doing too much. You are trying to fight algae and that's killing your corals. The key is to coexist with algae. You don't need fancy reactors or all that junk you add to your tank. Water, light, flow. That's it. You have algae problem? Manual removal and a good CUC. Every time you restart your tank because of algae, you doing more harm than good. Don't blame AIO. Anyone that says AIO is harder is wrong. 100% wrong. AIO is easy to course correct with big water changes. AIO is supposed to be simple. Don't over complicate it. Your nutrients are too low so your corals are dying.

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I know exactly what you are doing wrong. When you mention gfo and carbon and reactor and skimmer and fighting algae issue. You are doing too much. You are trying to fight algae and that's killing your corals. The key is to coexist with algae. You don't need fancy reactors or all that junk you add to your tank. Water, light, flow. That's it. You have algae problem? Manual removal and a good CUC. Every time you restart your tank because of algae, you doing more harm than good. Don't blame AIO. Anyone that says AIO is harder is wrong. 100% wrong. AIO is easy to course correct with big water changes. AIO is supposed to be simple. Don't over complicate it. Your nutrients are too low so your corals are dying.

This is probably the best advice honestly.

I run carbon reactor and a fuge and carbon dose and all that, but the most I do to fight my absurd algae outbreaks I get, is just manually remove it. I don't change anything else I am doing in response to algae or lack there of, I try to keep the same exact schedule.

 

[Mikeltee]

There's a group on facebook AI Prime/Hydra Reef Group
Get on there and go to files. Darren has spent heaps of time creating profiles for LED lights.
Getting a decent light profile would be a good start.
You didn't mention what lights you have.

This place is awesome. There are many excellent light programs available. I cyxke through a few of them. The key is to dial it in with a light meter though. One guy's 50% is another guy's 70%. There is only one way to be sure. If you are wrong, that coral is as good as dead! One is best off just to stick to metal halide + T5 if they aren't willing to put in the research and work.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I'm not keen on live rock. It's just not the look I am going for. It feels like you have a biotope of florida. I'll look into it though.

Then buy the Australian live rock. I will come back to rock, but buckle up, this may be long and uncomfortable. I am going to be rather frank at this point, and then escort myself out of the thread.

There are infinite ways to keep a healthy and successful reef. You have tried for 5 years and failed for various reasons. This thread will be full of people giving advice about reactors, dosing, tank size, coral selection, nutrients, and every other wild guess under the sun or relating what worked for them. Some of the advice will be good, some of it suspect and some of it utter nonsense.

My advice is to ignore it all because much of it is the same advice that got you to where you are now, just repackaged and shiny for a new start.

You tried for 5 years and did not see sustained success. In your few short posts it is is evident that you ended up chasing numbers and methods and at the same time appear somewhat set in your ways.

So in short - struggles are likely of your own making.

I have given you a very simply plan for success, not because I am a reefing genius or because I am smarter than anybody, but because the advice that I offered is simple and time tested over thousands of hobby reefs for decades.

Sure you can start with any substrate you wish, but that adds to your variables and startup issues. The "uglies" is the latest fad term. If you start with dry rock, I would suggest you not run lights for two months and not put coral in for 3-6 months. There will be a parade of people telling you that is nonsense and you can dump a bottle of tis and that and put coral in the next day and blah blah blah... ad you will be right back where you started. The point for YOU is to stop listening to the talking heads and follow a time tested plan.

So use real live rock. Sources are limited. TBS or limited supply Australian or what you may be able to find elsewhere. This saves you a LOT of startup problems for the 90.

The same with the rest of the advice. Why mess around with exotic and expensive salt when cheap and consistent Instant Ocean is available. There will be an endless stream of people explaining how there are better salts and how they will help you. It will just lead you down one more path chasing things that don't matter.

Skimmers. Pick a good skimmer. Reef Octopus, Bubble King, Euroreef. Whatever, buy one with a DC pump and never buy another skimmer. A stable skimmer will make your life much easier.

Skip the fuge, the scrubbers and the rest of that stuff. Sure it works, but it is more to manage and get right. Once you get the first 1-2 years under your belt with a stable reef, then you can start tweaking things if needed. But you don't need that crap for the first year or two, it just more to get wrong.

As I stated two other times. Pick a coral type and stick with it. Easy, non invasive corals.

Somebody asked above why I said "SPS ONLY". Because there are MANY hardy SPS varieties that are very easy to take care of. They can be easily fragged if you run into issues. Most of not invasive and most are not overly territorial.

Why not LPS? In my experience most people struggle with LPS corals, especially fleshy ones. They are usually far less tolerant to flow and chemistry issues and when they do disintegrate they create water quality issues, stinging slime pools and all sorts of other problems.

If you want LPS with your SPS then stick to the harder bodied LPS that don't have big fleshy parts (Blue Ridge, maze style brains, some hardy chalice styles (many are tempermental), etc.

I already explained why to stay away from softies. Most are chemical warfare nightmares, invasive or both. Again, there is nothing wrong with these corals or a mixed reef. But given your struggles, the advice would be to not head down that path until (sound familiar) you get 1-2 years of a stable reef under your belt.

 

[PeterEde]

This place is awesome. There are many excellent light programs available. I cyxke through a few of them. The key is to dial it in with a light meter though. One guy's 50% is another guy's 70%. There is only one way to be sure. If you are wrong, that coral is as good as dead! One is best off just to stick to metal halide + T5 if they aren't willing to put in the research and work.

Darren gives approximate PAR for various depths with lights mounted at 12 or 14 inches off surface. But yes a PAR meter would be good for certainty.
I'm currently running his deadlights daylight pop at 81%.
I used a PAR meter on my tank to setup my HYDRA 32 and found 81% to be pretty close.
I will check again once I have my 425XL Reefer running with a 2nd Hydra 32.

 

[DJF]

Op is either regretting posting or regretting not posting sooner . Excellent responses & advice in this thread.

 

[Mikeltee]

Darren gives approximate PAR for various depths with lights mounted at 12 or 14 inches off surface. But yes a PAR meter would be good for certainty.
I'm currently running his deadlights daylight pop at 81%.
I used a PAR meter on my tank to setup my HYDRA 32 and found 81% to be pretty close.
I will check again once I have my 425XL Reefer running with a 2nd Hydra 32.

Nice. I have 2x 52s and 1x 26 over 130g. I'll check out the 41%. I haven't visited it in awhile. I'm running a modified Pirates.

 

[ctopherl]

I know, I know. Lot's of threads just like this.

I have been in the hobby now, 15 years. I have never been really successful. For the past 7 years I have had the same tank crash multiple times. Nothing stays alive except the fish. Nothing. They become giant algae pits, I get rid of the algae, then the corals die, rinse and repeat. I have had all the same fish for the last 7 years except for one blenny that died of old age.

But corals. I spend all this money, then they all die. There is no reason either. I send my water for ICP, it comes back great (30 times over the past 15 years)! I home test EVERY week. Nothing out of the ordinary. PH, ALK, CA, MAG all fall within normal. I do a weekly water change with water the same level as the tank. I have a great RO/DI system. The light is a reef breeders. Par is EXACTLY what you would want for a mixed tank. Softies, skin falls off they die, Sticks, they RTN and die. Xenia, shrivels dies, mushrooms, shrivel die. what the heck?

The fish just hang out and live FOREVER. So over these last 15 years I have taken the tank completely down and restarted. New sand rocks and corals. Always with the same results. Algae, coral death, fix algae, more coral death. Each time I reset up the tank I get a new algae I've never had before.

I'm so done. I can't figure out why I am always fighting algae and coral death. I have a JBJ 45 rimless. I also have a 90 gallon custom made tank with trigger sump and an aluminum stand but haven't set it up because I can't figure out where I am going wrong. Why set up another death trap? So I got to thinking maybe I am just really bad at this and I should give up. I was looking at my app, and my tank has been painfully consistent over the last 6 years since I have had the app. The only real changes has been lighting. The last three years being with the reef breeders.

Why do I fail?! I have nothing to lose at this point if anyone wants to throw in their 2 cents. I will consider it. After painful painful husbandry I was able to defeat my hair algae...but just like the other 5 times the corals are dying now. They were when the hair algae was around but they just continue to die after the algae is dead.

Any advice?

Outside the box - there are some beautiful fish only and macro algae tanks out there, and fake coral that look pretty good. I’m very jealous of all the angels out there I can’t have cuz they would devour corals. Or convert to freshwater and do some cool mud/log/plant scaping. Or try an algae scrubber/reactor/fuge - all the nutrients contributing to algae will go there instead of algae in your display (fight fire with fire).

 

[ctopherl]

I'm a newbie and don't even have a reef tank yet so take everything I say with a MASSIVE grain of salt, but I'm wondering if part of the issue might be the solutions you're using for each new algae bloom? From what I've read some of the aggressive solutions to wipe out specific algaes can nuke the corals in the tank too.
Whatever the cause is, I'm rooting for you!

There is likely some truth to this as there is algae within the corals that keep them alive (zooxanthelle). I’d imagine it’s difficult to target one but not the other.

 

[MoshJosh]

Please answer these:

Tank size?
Stocking list? CUC?
Foods you feed and how often?
Do you dose anything?
Water change schedule?
Equipment you are running and why you started running it?
Light schedule?
Full list of most recent parameters?

I know some of this has been answered, but spread over 3 pages it is hard to get a full picture.

Speaking of pictures, can you post a picture of the tank please?

From what I am reading it sounds like you have the proper equipment and are putting in appropriate time/effort. . . something is amiss. . .

I will agree with others that you may be doing "too much". But hard so say without knowing the above.

 

[jabberwock]

I believe that real ocean live rock is the remedy to your woes. Whatever you don't like about it, will be greatly diminished by your success.

 

[Roatan Reef]

Some people just don't have what it takes to be successful at this game. Its that simple.

What ***** butt Response!

 

[radiata]

Should one fall on ones sword?