Losing Motivation in the Hobby :(

[RaymondL]

Have you ever felt a loss in motivation in the hobby? I'm not sure, but lately I've been less and less inclined to invest the time and effort in my reef tank. I believe that this is because I've recently started to see 2 of my Hammer Corals start to become unhealthy, which I feel so terrible and sad about, and on top of this my rock scape is infested with Vertamid Snails - it's a bit overwhelming.

Anyhow, I'm hoping this is just a phase, and I'll be back on top again.

 

[steveschuerger]

I’ve been there more than once. And I’ve only been reefing for around 3 years. It is worth it in my opinion. And like it or not corals will die even with the best care. Hang in there!

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

I think the majority of long term reefers will feel this over time. I’ve felt it several times, especially after a major loss of something in the tank. What helps is to refocus and use the loss as a challenge to figure out the issue. This helps me bide my time till something new energizes me again. Stay the course, keep your tank happy, and keep on reefing!

 

[Reefer Matt]

Yup. Every winter. To get myself out of the slump, I started making videos. Just to keep things fresh and share, not get anything from it. I also just picked up tank number six yesterday! This will be another frag tank. But when things aren’t going great, I take a step back and think about what I should try. For me, that’s usually a nice big water change. And for vermited snails, try some bumblebee snails. It’s all part of the reefing journey, it ebbs and flows like the ocean.

 

[Nano_Man]

All reefers go through this just do the maintenance and leave it be . And your interest will come back. Any one of us can lose corals and the snail problem can be sorted. Another member will help you out about the snails
Just keep going but do other things until you’re interest comes back

 

[piranhaman00]

Yup happens. I will say vermentid snails pass with time.

 

[Miami Reef]

I feel like this when I have unexpected coral losses, too.

It’s a valid feeling.

 

[steveschuerger]

As far as vermitids go, you might want try bumblebee snails. They’ll eat them and at least cut down the population usually

 

[sean151]

Multiple times. I've even taken a multi year sabbatical from the hobby, but knew I'd be back. Bryopsis and hydroids used to be a potential death sentence for a tank, that plus fish died (probably age) and both my lights started to die. It was spend a lot of money to do it right or just take it down for a few years and come back when I felt I could do it right.

Happy to back and turning around the new tank I started over 1.5 years ago. Been in or around the hobby for over 15 years now and success is so much easier now than before, but people's expectations have shot up to match.

 

[Pistondog]

Have you ever felt a loss in motivation in the hobby? I'm not sure, but lately I've been less and less inclined to invest the time and effort in my reef tank. I believe that this is because I've recently started to see 2 of my Hammer Corals start to become unhealthy, which I feel so terrible and sad about, and on top of this my rock scape is infested with Vertamid Snails - it's a bit overwhelming.

Anyhow, I'm hoping this is just a phase, and I'll be back on top again.

The hobby is constantly challenging. Try to learn from your mistakes.
Solving problems is, well challenging. If it were easy, that would be boring.

(add some bumblebee snails for your Vermetids. Vermetids are not as bad as other invaders, and maybe a complement to your healthy tank.)

 

[tzabor10]

I do this too. Focusing on losses instead of victory. It’s natural, you want to get better. Find something to improve on and work towards that goal. For me it’s stability in parameters with frequent testing. You might also want to rethink an aquascape that can be easily taken out in pieces. You could then remove sections and manually frag, or remove snails. Good luck

 

[Bob Weigant]

Ive been there too. Even walked away for a year. It can be overwhelming when things are going good. I sat back and then slowly came back in

 

[Just John]

Been there more than once over the last several years and am glad I didn't call it quits. My interest always came back. For my vermetid invasion, I brushed off the rocks with a steel brush the best I could and added bumblebee snails. You could have that small victory without a ton of work. Making those small positive changes help in my experience.

 

[RaymondL]

This is awesome that so many have extended some support and encouragement with my situation - I'm very appreciative of that, and all the feedback DEFINITELY has helped and gave me the push to continue with upkeeping my tank(s). I even scheduled half a day tomorrow to do just that! Water change, getting rid of some algae, vertamid snails, etc. Thankfully, it's just 2 hammer corals that are suffering - the rest of the tank is doing well, so luckily it's an isolated observation.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[PapaFishRocks]

Totally understand how you feel. I was feeling very ‘blah’ about my tank. My niece, who is studying Marine Biology, stopped by and started pointing out all the little critters, good and bad, in my tank. That got me seeing the tank in a whole different light. Made it exciting again.

I drive my wife nuts, cuz I spend hours upon hours scouring the tank with my Flipper magnifier. Constantly telling her to come look at this (insert imperceptibly small creature)

 

[VintageReefer]

We’ve all been there. My tank is thriving and doing great but it wasn’t always a smooth road. To help motivate you I will show a pic of my neverregions…the underside of my shelf platform with a white flashlight. Over a hundred vertamkd snails. But, all dead. A army of bumblebee snails took care of it for me.

Sometimes you have to adapt and push through

 

[PapaFishRocks]

We’ve all been there. My tank is thriving and doing great but it wasn’t always a smooth road. To help motivate you I will show a pic of my neverregions…the underside of my shelf platform with a white flashlight. Over a hundred vertamkd snails. But, all dead. A army of bumblebee snails took care of it for me.

Sometimes you have to adapt and push through

NGL, in your 2nd picture, I thought there were some very poorly photoshopped corals on these weird squares.

Then I realized, ohhhhh, I’m not very bright, those are magnetic frag racks.

 

[VintageReefer]

NGL, in your 2nd picture, I thought there were some very poorly photoshopped corals on these weird squares.

Then I realized, ohhhhh, I’m not very bright, those are magnetic frag racks.

They are an invention of mine and then I had my design custom made. They are frag shelves that hold a 2x2 ceramic grow out tile. But they also hold custom made 2x2 3d printed tiles. The tiles have 1 or 5 holes in them so you can put frag plugs in without having to remove the frag from the plug. It will encrust over the plug and onto a nice flat tile to make a strong base.

The ones with 5 holes are for holding a parent frag and 4 blank plugs for the parent to encrust/spread onto - it’s a self propagating Zoanthid system

 

[Bay]

If you lose motivation then best thing to do is quit. I would advise quitting asap to save money.

 

[kdx7214]

This is pretty much my perpetual feeling with my tank. I've been at this off and on for 20+ years now and have never been able to keep stony corals alive longer a couple of weeks. Fish do just fine, but not being able to keep stony corals is depressing as I don't know what the heck I'm doing wrong.