Reef Tank or Divorce - Last Chance

Leemcg · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome!! Glad you found R2R. The folks here will easily guide you down the right path.

Stlrfan88 · Feb 20, 2020

Indytraveler83 said:
Welcome!

What's gone wrong with your previous systems? Equipment is only part of the planning. You can have all the right stuff for the entirely wrong system. Start with what you want, and plan back from there.

un-controllable algae out breaks that literly would take over the tank in a matter of days. Fish would last about a month if I was lucky. it got to the point I tested water every day and all the levels read in tolerance. I just think the tank never fully cycled like it should have and had to many elements (live rock, sand, fish, coral) and the fish shop couldn't put there finger on the issue to help me so their answer was to cover it in blankets for a month, tear it down and bleach it and add more chemical. This time I am going simple and slow and use this forum for help. Already getting great advise after only an hour. thanks

BeejReef · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome

Hemmdog · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome to reef2reef!

Arthacker87 · Feb 20, 2020

Possible sick fish? And if you run high nutrients you'll have algae without skimmer and something to naturally take nitrate and ammonia out. Two things that hurt some fishies imo. If you can't or don't qt stuff find a local fish store and when they get a fish in either
A. See if they can hold it 2 weeks
B. Hope it doesn't sell and go check on it for 2 weeks lol.

Indytraveler83 · Feb 20, 2020

Stlrfan88 said:
un-controllable algae out breaks that literly would take over the tank in a matter of days. Fish would last about a month if I was lucky. it got to the point I tested water every day and all the levels read in tolerance. I just think the tank never fully cycled like it should have and had to many elements (live rock, sand, fish, coral) and the fish shop couldn't put there finger on the issue to help me so their answer was to cover it in blankets for a month, tear it down and bleach it and add more chemical. This time I am going simple and slow and use this forum for help. Already getting great advise after only an hour. thanks

I'm by no means an expert, but it sounds like things were going a bit too fast. Slow is a good approach. Nothing good ever happens fast in this hobby (literally the first words that were ever given to me). Unfortunately even the most helpful lfs have every motivation to sell you too much too fast.

Take a good read through water chemistry and algae threads in the forums . Some crazy smart people give advice here.

Jeto2004 · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Glad you give it another shot!

LovesDogs_CatsRokay · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome! And I agree with the others, no need for gfo or carbon yet. They’ll just strip things your tank needs while cycling and it’s early stages. Go slow and enjoy! I like to try and find natural remedies before chemicals, chemicals should be a last resort imo. And feed the fish a good quality food like LRS reef frenzy if you weren’t before. Good nutrition goes a long way! Good luck!

Stlrfan88 · Feb 20, 2020

Arthacker87 said:
Possible sick fish? And if you run high nutrients you'll have algae without skimmer and something to naturally take nitrate and ammonia out. Two things that hurt some fishies imo. If you can't or don't qt stuff find a local fish store and when they get a fish in either
A. See if they can hold it 2 weeks
B. Hope it doesn't sell and go check on it for 2 weeks lol.

maybe but don't think so. they showed me where and how they quarantine them and they came very highly rated as far as fish and coral. I think the owners of the shop are very knowledgable but I was talking with the 'regular' staff for advise. I think I had a perfect storm of my own lack of knowledge + some new staff guessing at what to do next with out really understanding reefing + my 100% trust they knew what they were talking about...I just listened, bought it and did it. Lesson learned. Several have said to start a build thread which I will do this weekend.

Side note on the fish shop - after all the issues i had they did offer me some store credit to try to help ease my frustration without me asking or pitching an absolute meltdown 2 year old tantrum. so i give them props for great customer service and trying to help. thanks

sp1187 · Feb 20, 2020

welcome to the show.
get the wife involved.... let her name the fish.

Arthacker87 · Feb 20, 2020

That is amazing!!! That store knows how to keep a customer. Honestly just seem like you are excited and ready!! Just be slow and keep it stable. Top off every 2 days at least of not ato and add fish slowly. Bio load can kill some stuff

Stlrfan88 · Feb 20, 2020

sp1187 said:
welcome to the show.
get the wife involved.... let her name the fish.

Fish need to live long enough to get names first....A fish lasting a month in the previous tank was cause for celebration

vetteguy53081 · Feb 20, 2020

arichmond1003 · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome! Check out my build, I just started from the ground up less than a month ago! The community here is great!

yan2pr · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome to R2R!!!

Leslie Tabor · Feb 20, 2020

albano said:
Welcome... a little tip, to help save your marriage... very important to remember... never tell your wife how much things really cost!

This is THE key to survival in reefing...I tell my hubby NOTHING.

Quietman · Feb 20, 2020

Welcome Aboard R2R!!! Get her involved and invested... we're here to listen to wives too. Been a few threads that start out with "...my husband can't seem to figure out...". Good luck.

sp1187 · Feb 20, 2020

Stlrfan88 said:
Fish need to live long enough to get names first....A fish lasting a month in the previous tank was cause for celebration

my Mrs. names them as soon as they are out of the bag.

TheShrimpNibbler · Feb 20, 2020

Stlrfan88 said:
I have been reading several posts here and finally figured it was time to make it official. After 2 years of fighting my tank (includes 2 complete tear downs and restarts of which 1 tear down was a complete bleach bath ) and sending a house payment of Fish to an unfortunate demise I (my wife) made the decision enough was enough and it was time to end this experiment for good.

I think the issue come in with me being a newby 2 years ago trying to learn and every time I had a conversation with the fish shop I got 3 different answers to the same question and I spent all my time buying the next best chemical to fix what ever issue I had. I don't think the tank ever got off on the right foot.

I have begged and got 1 more chance to get this right and need some help. Need a good reliable source and it appears R2R is the place for that.

Here is what is about to happen. To save some cost and try to use some of these chemicals I already have I just received my order of dry rock and dry sand (used Live rock and live sand last time which is all in a landfill). My plan is to get this set up and use AquVirto Seed (have 3 unopened bottles) to get the bacteria going and the cycling process underway. I also bought 2 Red Sea Mature Pro kits just in case the Seed option is the wrong path.

Equipment - 90 Gallon display tank / Eshopps Sump / RO 150 Skimmer / Dual Gyre Power Heads / Kessel AP 700 LED Lights / Apex system / ATO / Auto Feeder / RODI 4 stage BRS water filtration / all Hanna test equipment / More chemicals then I can count. I feel like I have good equipment from all the reviews I read on each piece.

I feel like I have a good understanding of how things should work and the cause and effects of the chemistry, just need a good starting point.

Any thoughts on this before I go down another wrong path?
Also should I be running the skimmer / carbon / GFO bags / NO3 Brick in the sump while cycling the tank.
Thanks and look forward to chatting.

Welcome! My advice would be to keep those chemicals that you’ve been stocking up on far from your tank. The only one I would recommend is bacteria. Also, quarantine your fish. It makes things so much easier. Take it slow and have fun, but remember that your marriage is more important than any hobby.