Need to rant/encouragement

[Sabellafella]

Lol paulb

 

[Sabellafella]

Might as well here you go, after a while all the algae will reach its medium and look better, just focusing on the health of my animals is all

 

[Sabellafella]

I think I know what your talking about here. I haven't noticed any receding yet but I'll keep checking

Hows it looking

 

[Wilsoni]

Us as reefers strive to play the role of mother nature but the truth is, you can't always predict the weather.

It sounds like you have a killer setup but need to work out a few kinks... You made quite a jump going from a Nuvo 30l to the largest Reefer on the market. With that will come it's own set of challenges but once your system gains stability, I think you will find it much easier to maintain.

This is the part of the hobby where you have to push through and have faith in your abilities. The best part of it all is that you're part of the most knowledgeable, friendly, reefing community out there. :D


May the force be with you @Griff

 

[CodyRVA]

Don't give up man, keep on keepin on! The system below belonged to my dad. He ran it for 5 years, had a huge snow storm wipe it out and he lost all interest. It set in his basement half full of water, dead, for probably another 7 years before I finally got interested and took it off his hands. The image below marked January 2015 is the tank setup and just starting out in my hands. This bow front ultimately ended up leaking on me, the replacement tank leaked as well. Two leaky tanks in a span of a few weeks, unbelievable mess, frustration, and so much money! However, the second image is the same system today, and i'm so glad I never gave up!

January 2015

Today:

 

[L.A.]

Beautiful!

 

[Griff]

Don't give up man, keep on keepin on! The system below belonged to my dad. He ran it for 5 years, had a huge snow storm wipe it out and he lost all interest. It set in his basement half full of water, dead, for probably another 7 years before I finally got interested and took it off his hands. The image below marked January 2015 is the tank setup and just starting out in my hands. This bow front ultimately ended up leaking on me, the replacement tank leaked as well. Two leaky tanks in a span of a few weeks, unbelievable mess, frustration, and so much money! However, the second image is the same system today, and i'm so glad I never gave up!

January 2015

Today:

Wow that's gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!

Just an FYI all the issues have been with the existing 30L which is relatively stable. The reefer just finished its cycle and I'll be transferring the clowns soon.

 

[Griff]

Hows it looking

Your system looks great I hope to be there in the next 6 months.

 

[Wilsoni]

Wow that's gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!

Just an FYI all the issues have been with the existing 30L which is relatively stable. The reefer just finished its cycle and I'll be transferring the clowns soon.

Oh geeze... Sorry man, I thought it was the Reefer you were referring to... Well in that case I would put your focus towards the Reefer and look forward to less headaches that come with nano tanks.

I'm in a similar transition period myself, I have a Nuvo Fusion 20 currently awaiting the arrival of my Reefer 350. It's ETA is the 17th :)

I'm not encountering the same issues but I easily put at least an hour in a day as well... Lol my issue is space... I have way too much in a tiny nano tank. 46 different acros, several montipora species and various LPS all packed into a Fusion 20. (Not to mention my crazy high bio load) :eek:



I know it's a bit unorthodox but it's worked thus far...

 

[Griff]

Oh geeze... Sorry man, I thought it was the Reefer you were referring to... Well in that case I would put your focus towards the Reefer and look forward to less headaches that come with nano tanks.

I'm in a similar transition period myself, I have a Nuvo Fusion 20 currently with a Reefer 350 on it's way. It's ETA is the 17th :)

I'm not encountering the same issues but I easily put at least an hour in a day as well... Lol my issue is space... I have way too much in a tiny nano tank. 46 different acros, several montipora species and various LPS all packed into a Fusion 20. (Not to mention my crazy high bio load) :eek:



I know it's a bit unorthodox but it's worked thus far...

WoW nice nano do you have a build thread for it? I'd love to read it!

 

[Wilsoni]

WoW nice nano do you have a build thread for it? I'd love to read it!

Thank you! I do have a build thread but it's super outdated. I should probably create a new one as the tank has changed drastically over the past 6 months... Haha

 

[Wilsoni]

Here are my current stats:

IM Fusion 20
Radion XR30W G3 Pro with RMS mount
MP10wQD
Sicce Syncra 1.5 return
Dual Mame skimmers
Neptune Apex Gold
Neptune DOS
Tunze Nano ATO
Dual In-Tank Media Baskets with floss and Chemi-Pure Elite
Cobalt Neo-Therm 100W heater

Temp: 78
PH: 8.3-8.4
dKH: 9.9
Ca: 450
Mg: 1350
K: 420
N03: 0.02
P04: 0.03

I dose NoPox daily, perform 25-40% weekly water changes followed by a dose of MB7

In addition to ESV 2-Part + Aquavitro Ions for Mg, I dose AcroPower, Fuel, Potassium and Iodide.

Oh and I use Red Sea Coral Pro salt.

 

[JamesPettus]

I've been looking at r2r from my Facebook for over a year now. I was never a member until I read your post. I had the same problem for 2 years and for every 5 "sea animals" I put in the tank 4 died and if I didn't do a water change every week.... alge everywhere. Looking back I can't believe I waisted so much time and money and killed so may fish and coral.

So here is 3 questions I wish someone would have asked me:
-how many gallons?
-what skimmer [gph]?
-sump?
-return pump [gph]?

I didn't have enough water going though my sump therefor my skimmer wasn't getting all the heavy metals out the water. These heavy metals DO NOT show up in test kits and if you're running carbon like you should be, you can't see that the water quality is poor/lethal.


I'll try to post some pics of my tank when I get home. Can't believe these are the only pics I have in my phone.

 

[Roberts reef]

You would be surprised how quickly a sea hare will clean up hair alge .

 

[Markdiane]

I'm almost at my wits end! I knew there would be ups and downs but the last several months have been issue after issue. I've only been in the salt life for a short two years and just invested roughly 7000 in my new Red Sea reefer 525 upgrade from my IM 30L.

The negatives just keep on coming. Is it me? I spend roughly 1 hour a day on my system avg and my most recent battle with hair algea is driving me crazy. Everyone here has been extremely helpful with all the husbandry, disease, and chemical questions. I just don't know when the issues are going to slow down.

My most recent concern is my green/ghost torch. Today while picking out some hair algea I noticed some stringy stuff caught in the tenticals. At first I thought it was the hair algea and upon closer inspection I'm thinking brown jelly! It has two heads and both mouths were open about half the size of a pencil eraser. My only hope is that it truly was hair algea but from th looks of it I don't think it is.

This is after I recently lost a mal nourished mandarin that I spent 200 trying to save. A Midas Blenny that just disappeared and probably the cause of all the hair algea. Several issues with shipping to get my reefer which delayed my build several weeks. The disappointment in Neptune and feeling like I was scammed. Also had a minor crash around the beginning of the year, lost fire fish and multiple corals.

I put the time in but my results are not there. I spend hours a day watching YouTube videos on reefing, on reef2reef probably 20 times a day just reading trying to learn more and more. I keep aquarium logs for calc, Alk, Mg, PO4. I test weekly do weekly water changes.

I quarentine I dip corals using methods here and with advice from well respected members of this forum. 50% of the stress is not so much based on my existing system but on trying to get the new system up and running.

I'm not looking for advice with this post as its extremely broad, but let me hear when you went through reefing depression, and how things turned around for you. Would also be nice if you could post a pic of your system now as encouragement.

I took out a second mortgage on the house to do this new build and with the way things are going I'm sick about the whole thing.

 

[FlReef]

Well just today I discovered I'm getting some hair algae, got it picked out have a mal nourished green spotted manadarin who won't eat anything that I'm trying to save, my new 90 gallon set up is going haywire one of the pumps is going out, new led lights went out on my fresh tank and 10 gallon tank, new coral I got yesterday is loosing color in chunks (hammer coral) it's also killing my other 2 corals, over night almost already dead and the 10 gallon holding tank that I use for temporary fish/coral quarantine which I put a new filter system on it 2 weeks ago has already for no reason burnt out, so now instead of moving the hammer coral to revive it in the 10 gallon, well can't move it now since whole system went down (20 minutes after I made decision to move the coral tonight) and don't know if I should risk keeping by it in the tank it's in now or cut my lose and revive my 2 good corals that have been in the tank since I started it. Trust me this stuff happens with any hobby, just have to push through it.

 

[Jahalu]

The fact that this hobby is at times exasperating is what I like most about it. If it was easy, everyone would have a gorgeous reef in their living room. Nothing worth it is easy. The feeling of achievement and pride when it all comes together (even if it's short-lived) is only because of the prior moments of frustration and hours of effort and research. Keep going!

 

[Griff]

I've been looking at r2r from my Facebook for over a year now. I was never a member until I read your post. I had the same problem for 2 years and for every 5 "sea animals" I put in the tank 4 died and if I didn't do a water change every week.... alge everywhere. Looking back I can't believe I waisted so much time and money and killed so may fish and coral.

So here is 3 questions I wish someone would have asked me:
-how many gallons?
-what skimmer [gph]?
-sump?
-return pump [gph]?

I didn't have enough water going though my sump therefor my skimmer wasn't getting all the heavy metals out the water. These heavy metals DO NOT show up in test kits and if you're running carbon like you should be, you can't see that the water quality is poor/lethal.


I'll try to post some pics of my tank when I get home. Can't believe these are the only pics I have in my phone.

Couple of questions.

How would heavy metals get in the system to begin with?

Second would a skimmer even pull metals out? I thought it only pulled organi waste out.

 

[Griff]

The fact that this hobby is at times exasperating is what I like most about it. If it was easy, everyone would have a gorgeous reef in their living room. Nothing worth it is easy. The feeling of achievement and pride when it all comes together (even if it's short-lived) is only because of the prior moments of frustration and hours of effort and research. Keep going!

I agree with your post. It's what I like most about the hobby as well. Just feeling overwhelmed right now and needed to vent. I had about 6 months where everything was perfect on my Nuvo 30L and I was so proud and happy! It's just been some time since I've been in that position and I need a month or two of things going well to reenergize me. I love this hobby but taking on a build of this magnitude and trying to be a perfectionist with the new system while dealing with the old one is daunting! Everyone's encouragement and posts about thier pitfalls and path to recovery has made me feel better about the whole thing. When we all look at these amazing tanks online only to be having issue after issue with our own it can feel like your the only one.

I do think I practice relatively good husbandry skills and also have amassed a fair amount of knowledge from these forums ( of course always more to learn that's what attracted me to the hobby) I'm just feeling down about it right now based on issues that I know I'm doing the right things to correct just not seeing results as quickly as id hoped. Again 2 months of this hair algea issue. The new build is coming along slower than I had expected which is also frustrating. When I set up the Nuvo we only had our son now we have 1 yr old twins as well. I feel a little foolish thinking I had time to do it all.

The maintenance in my mind won't be an issue. It's getting the cabinet set up the way I want the plumbing right and initial setup that's been slow and concerning. That and I've spent a fair amount more than I expected on the new system.

On a positive note I have 1 hippo tang 1 yellow tang and 3 chromosomes in quarentine right now and I see no spots no flashing or odd behavior and everyone is eating like a champ. In addition I've seen no stringy stuff coming from the torch I was concerned about. I'll keep a close eye and post if that changes.

 

[Griff]

Well just today I discovered I'm getting some hair algae, got it picked out have a mal nourished green spotted manadarin who won't eat anything that I'm trying to save, my new 90 gallon set up is going haywire one of the pumps is going out, new led lights went out on my fresh tank and 10 gallon tank, new coral I got yesterday is loosing color in chunks (hammer coral) it's also killing my other 2 corals, over night almost already dead and the 10 gallon holding tank that I use for temporary fish/coral quarantine which I put a new filter system on it 2 weeks ago has already for no reason burnt out, so now instead of moving the hammer coral to revive it in the 10 gallon, well can't move it now since whole system went down (20 minutes after I made decision to move the coral tonight) and don't know if I should risk keeping by it in the tank it's in now or cut my lose and revive my 2 good corals that have been in the tank since I started it. Trust me this stuff happens with any hobby, just have to push through it.

Thanks for sharing! Sorry for the issues your having but good to know I'm not the only one.