Is anyone else just... failing?

[xCry0x]

I think live rock is more headache than it is worth.

Yes, a single piece can be nice to help "Seed" the tank.

That single piece can also include who knows how many nuisance pests and algaes.

Dry rock takes longer and can leech phosphate like crazy -- but it also doesn't include a bunch of invasive crap.

 

[g5flier]

Man I have the same problem with my Red sea 350

Did you start with dry rock or live rock?

 

[g5flier]

I think live rock is more headache than it is worth.

Yes, a single piece can be nice to help "Seed" the tank.

That single piece can also include who knows how many nuisance pests and algaes.

Dry rock takes longer and can leech phosphate like crazy -- but it also doesn't include a bunch of invasive crap.

Its all really a personal preference and how long you want to wait for an established tank. For me, honestly I'd never do dry rock again.

 

[JimmyV]

Been a beginner since 2004 lol. Like most I have read and researched to my head hurts, and have not yet in all these years been successful. But I Keep Trying. I am determined though. So Just keep trying.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I think live rock is more headache than it is worth.

Yes, a single piece can be nice to help "Seed" the tank.

That single piece can also include who knows how many nuisance pests and algaes.

Dry rock takes longer and can leech phosphate like crazy -- but it also doesn't include a bunch of invasive crap.

I can remove harmful hitchhikers and pests a lot faster than it takes dry rock to get to the point of not killing corals as soon as they are introduced to the tank. It's all personal preference, but I'd rather have living rock, with all the "bugs," to start a new tank.

 

[Bob Weigant]

Hang in there. I’ve had many ups and downs over the years. You’ll get there.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

My thoughts are keep SG near 1.026, alk 8-9 calcium around 420-450 light on 8-10 hours a day max lights about 4-5 hours. Only export methods skimmer and either refugium or algae scrubber. Keep it simple if you get algae get fish that will eat it or snails forget crabs they will just eat your snails. Don't look at other export methods until your nitrates and phosphates start getting high. An ATO helps stability dosing of alk and calcium is not needed until you have a demand that water changes do not keep up with. Put new frags near bottom lower light and start bringing them up higher light over a couple of month not days. My maintenance is clean skimmer and ATS once a month, pumps every 6-9 months, glass once a week, no water changes and feed tank a lot on 300 gallon system. Since I decided to keep it so simple I have not lost a single coral, color is better and coral growth is a problem as I have 5 new frags but no place to put them.

 

[cracker]

If anybody needs to know if there are others Who are frustrated , take a look at how many Folks are viewing this thread now.

 

[Cory]

If you have hair algae, get a few diadema sea urchins. Trust me, they work.

 

[rkpetersen]

My current DT was started less than one year ago with all live rock, and SPS corals have done exceptionally well in it right from the start. A variety of acros, montis, all have done very well. (In fact SPSs have overall done much better than LPS corals and even zoas in this tank. )

Another great thing about quality live rock is that will likely see much faster and more luxuriant development of coralline algae with it, not only on the rocks but throughout the tank. Pink and purple coralline covers every illuminated rock surface in my tank, and when I add new small pieces, they are also covered in coralline within a few weeks. I don't think I would be seeing this so soon if I had started with dry rock.

Coincident with luxurious coralline algae growth, other forms of algae have a much harder time getting established. I had one brief outbreak of cyano (due to overdosing amino acids), that's been it for bad algae in this tank.

Of course, drawback of live rock is that I've had to deal with my share of unwanted hitchhikers; aptasia, very small hydroids, predatory crabs, asterina stars, bristle worms, a tiny mantis shrimp.

I've just started my next tank. It's going to be more of a backreef, less flow, more nutrients. Lots and lots of anemones, clownfish, and shrimp. I'm planning on using almost entirely dry rock because I want to do more specific aquascape planning than I can with the locally available live rock. Since SPS are not a priority, the dry rock should be ok. I gave it all an acid wash with muriatic, it's now in a lanthanum chloride bath to remove as much phosphate as possible, and next I'll cycle it in the same brute with a heater, powerheads, a rock from the other tank, Seed & Tim's bacteria, and ammonium chloride. Only when it's cycled will I put it in the new DT. I then plan to take a lot of coralline from my other tank and spread it around the new one to seed it; keeping calcium/alkalinity up and adding a bit of strontium should also help. If I can get coralline algae established quickly, I hope to avoid the problems with bad algae commonly seen with dry rock setups.

 

[rkpetersen]

I'd like a tank with all tonga branch and shelf, I've been picturing this build in my head for a year now. Still deciding if I want dry ocean rock or that fake man made rock to seed.

I just bought some tonga shelf and branch from BRS. It's in a brute and will start cycling shortly.

 

[Cae]

As I've said in the past, "I'm too lazy to be a reefer". I just stick with what survives and my fish seem happy enough. My nitrates are high so I don't put anything in there that sensitive . Everything else is fine. I got so sick and tired of battling nitrates that now I just leave it be. The fish are stoked cause they're not starving and getting fed twice a day . I think you have to work with what you have and not fight it all the time or you'll end up hating your tank.

 

[Brandon42]

My struggle was a 4 year battle with HA. Was ready to throw in the towel. Along came fluconazole and I love my tank again. So what is different from when you were successful?

+1 to that story! Same thing here!

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

I feel like all I see on here all day are either people who are brand new to the hobby or people who have awesome thriving tanks. Is anyone else like me doing tons of reading and research and work on their tank and just... failing?

As some background, I kept a successful tank with SPS for a few years and then took a break from the hobby for about 2 years. When I started up again, I had nothing but trouble. My newest tank is a year old in March and every coral I put in there dies. And I've tried everything I can think of short of tossing all my rock and completely starting over (which I may do eventually). My fish at least have lived, for now.

I'm beyond frustrated because I love this hobby and I want to succeed with this tank so badly. I'm not even in it for the fish, it's the corals-- specifically SPS-- that I love. But I'm failing. And I guess this is just me wondering out loud... am I the only one struggling this much?

Just remember that behind every tank of the month is hours of hard work. You will get there in time. Im struggling too with getting corals to grow, most of it has been fairly slow aside from my palys.

 

[dede]

I've been killing SPS frags in my tank for nearly 7 years now. You aren't alone

It's all learning.

Heck, I just now found out that I am not supposed to strip all the nutrients from my tank and aim for 0 nitrate 0 phosphate.

I am also still trying to figure out how the **** to get rid of this red turf algae that has been the bane of my tank's existence for the past 2 years.

Turbo snails.

 

[srad750c]

No prob. As far as your other questions go re: how things die: most of the corals have followed the same pattern. They look great for about 3 weeks. Then they encrust, sometimes heavily, over the next few months, but they start to decline (paling, no upward growth at all, sometimes no polyp extension). Then one day, sometimes after encrusting an inch or more, they start STN'ing. Just this week I had a stylo that I acquired last May finally finish its STN and kick the bucket.

Things are stable. I used to constantly tinker with the lights and parameters but have been totally hands off for the past 6 months or so. But when I do check parameters they are always pretty close. When it comes to alk and calcium, I have few corals taking up resources, so I turned off my dosers because things stay stable without them. Here's a summary of my parameter swings in the last few months:
-Temp: 79.2-80.3
-Alk: 7.8-8.8
-Calcium: 420-450
-SG: 1.023-1.024

What’s your NO3 and PO4, ULN will cause your corals to look good for a while then pale and die. You may need to supplement with amino acids or get some NO3 and PO4 in your tank.

 

[EmdeReef]

Curious if there’s any research into benefits of live vs. dry rock? do we even need any rocks to grow corals?

Researchers grow corals almost exclusively in relatively small, bare tanks, without great flow, very often without a sump, gadgets, or elaborate filtration other than water changes which may or may not be automated. Makes you wonder why we spend so much

 

[Tklb]

Sorry, what's an ICP test?

An ICP is a test where you send off some of your tank water for a laboratory analysis. They run $40-$50 ish depending on the brand, but they can be very helpful identifying issues. They basically break down everything in your water and send you the results. I did the ATI test, and they test your RODI water plus your tank water and supply results for: DKH, Salinity, Chlorine, Sodium, Magnesium, Sulfur, Calcium, Potassium, Bromine, Strontium, Boron, Fluorid, Lithium, Silicon, Iodine, Barium, Molybdenum, Nickel, Manganese, Arsenic, Berylium, Chrome, Cobalt, Iron, Copper, Selenium, Silver, Vandium, Zink, Tin, Nitrate, Phosphorus, Phosphate, Aluminium, Antimony, Bismuth, Lead, Cadmium, Lanthanum, Thailium, Titanium, Tungsten, and Mercury.

It is easy to do and well worth the price, especially if you can troubleshoot problems with your water chemistry. Lots of stuff we just can't test for as hobbyists. They will give recommendations on dosing for what you are low on, and water changes etc. for things that are too high. First one I did, I found out my Iodine was through the roof. you can also identify if you have something rusting in your tank etc.

I found it very helpful and have decided to do it a couple times a year.

 

[Centerline]

No prob. As far as your other questions go re: how things die: most of the corals have followed the same pattern. They look great for about 3 weeks. Then they encrust, sometimes heavily, over the next few months, but they start to decline (paling, no upward growth at all, sometimes no polyp extension). Then one day, sometimes after encrusting an inch or more, they start STN'ing. Just this week I had a stylo that I acquired last May finally finish its STN and kick the bucket.

Things are stable. I used to constantly tinker with the lights and parameters but have been totally hands off for the past 6 months or so. But when I do check parameters they are always pretty close. When it comes to alk and calcium, I have few corals taking up resources, so I turned off my dosers because things stay stable without them. Here's a summary of my parameter swings in the last few months:
-Temp: 79.2-80.3
-Alk: 7.8-8.8
-Calcium: 420-450
-SG: 1.023-1.024

PH?

 

[srad750c]

Curious - the 'curing process' for the live rock. What does it remove - as compared to adding 'dry rock' and letting the bacteria slowly populate it. There is nothing sacred about 'dry' or 'live rock'. Its the bacteria inside the nooks and crannies that is the benefit - and either one should work as well.

I compare the concept of 'cured' live rock to 'a piece of live rock direct from the ocean'. They are 2 totally different things. I see no difference between cured live rock and dry rock thats allowed to populate with bacteria. Id be interested in your comments/evidence that the rock you're using is the 'cause' of the problems you are having..

Curing your tank with live rock will give you a much better start. Clean off all the sponges, they add too many organic as at one time. You will have all the beneficial bacteria colonies after the process. All you have to do is add live rock, start protein skimmer and sit back for a couple of months. Don’t turn on lights. All the things that die off will supply the ammonia to start process. Check water chemistry to make sure you have no ammonia and nitrites. Then you’re good to go. This has worked for me for many years. Started 4 reefs this way. My current reef started out FOWLR, added a few zoos, mushrooms and leather corals after a year added LPS. Stayed that way for 9 years. Then I experimented with SPS. Went great for a year then my corals went down hill, took me a year to figure out the ULN situation. I killed a few nice corals before I figured out what worked for my tank. Now I have bryopsis, been fighting for a year, corals are doing great, now I’m finally getting rid of it. It’s at the point where I feel it’s safe to do the fluconazole treatment. Just be patient, you will figure it out. No matter how long you in the game, you will have a headache at some point or another.