Should I quit??

[mujimran]

I always wanted to have an aquarium and finally 7 months back I got a tank and started my saltwater aquarium. Since then I learnt a lott of how to take care of it but lost around 10 fishes in these few minths. Everytime I think my aquarium is stable a fish dies. I know now the water quality needs to be maintained consistently. But honestly I find it too much work and the fear of loosing another fish is very stressful. And when a fish actually dies I feel like a failure and is not fair for the fish either. I have invested enough time and money researching on how to maintain it and now giving it all up is hard too.

Should I give it up? Is it really as difficult for everyone else? Does everyone loose a fish randomly once a month for no reason?

 

[Gtinnel]

Yes first few years suck. It isn't until your tank matures that the hobby becomes enjoyable IME.

 

[Gtinnel]

Don't give up it gets easier. I almost quit at the 1 year mark because everything died. I'm now at 2.5 years and I'm glad I didn't quit.

 

[Bombschell]

If you are not willing to loose critters you have to put in the work (proper husbandry, testing, equipment, and research). If you are tired of buying new critters and losing them then call it quits because unless you do all the other stuff it will continue this trend.

 

[Dan_P]

I always wanted to have an aquarium and finally 7 months back I got a tank and started my saltwater aquarium. Since then I learnt a lott of how to take care of it but lost around 10 fishes in these few minths. Everytime I think my aquarium is stable a fish dies. I know now the water quality needs to be maintained consistently. But honestly I find it too much work and the fear of loosing another fish is very stressful. And when a fish actually dies I feel like a failure and is not fair for the fish either. I have invested enough time and money researching on how to maintain it and now giving it all up is hard too.

Should I give it up? Is it really as difficult for everyone else? Does everyone loose a fish randomly once a month for no reason?

I think you made a very important discovery about yourself and this hobby: “it is too much work.” Moving on might be the right thing to do.

 

[X-37B]

You have to have a plan from day one.
You also need a complete understanding of a salt water system and how to maintain it.

You can not setup a system and learn as you go. Its a recipe for failure.

 

[Gtinnel]

You can not setup a system and learn as you go. Its a recipe for failure.

That is exactly how I did my first few tanks a few decades ago. It doesn't work out well.

 

[Bombschell]

People new also don't realize the value of more tank so they buy the Nanos and things go bad real fast in those. My EVO is the one of the smallest tanks i've kept and you have to keep any eye on things or it goes south quick.

 

[mujimran]

Don't give up it gets easier. I almost quit at the 1 year mark because everything died. I'm now at 2.5 years and I'm glad I didn't quit.

Thanks. But I keep wondering what happens when I go for a vacation for a week or visit my home in India for a month? I can setup weekly automatic water change setup but this is something you need to keep checking every other day for ssick fish.

 

[Lyss]

Thanks. But I keep wondering what happens when I go for a vacation for a week or visit my home in India for a month? I can setup weekly automatic water change setup but this is something you need to keep checking every other day for ssick fish.

I’m currently making that plan — what will happen when I go on vacation again, and who I will have look in on it. But that is something you need to do for any pet. I can’t go away for a week+ and leave my cat — I pay someone who works at his vet to stop by to feed and check on him. She plays with him, too

I think if someone is not ready or willing to do the work for the pet, then it’s best to not have it. It’s nothing to feel bad about — my brother adopted a dog and then decided he wasn’t ready for the responsibility, so he took it back to the no-kill shelter he got it from. You can always revisit down the road if you feel ready.

 

[ying yang]

Hi there and hello.

I would like to say to you that you shouldn't quit and things will get better so hang in there.
But with you saying you honestly find it to much work,I'm little confused in what to say. As if find it to much work and not willing to put effort into fixing a problem if one arrises then maybe it isnt for you.
But on other hand you starting a thread so seems you don't really want to quit,either because spent to much money or you want to make it right ,if its because spent lots money then if carry on it will cost you more money even if just do basics.
If got enthusiasm to carry on maybe do some more research as my tank 9 months old now and I still reading articles/ threads about others problems or youtube videos around 2- 4 hours a day ,every day so I can continue learning.
If I was you I would be thinking did the fish give any signs before they died like flashing ,loss of appetite,swimming into powerhead and white spots,mucous peeling off and stuff like this and if so I would be researching how to fallow my tank and qt fish before entered tank next time.
If qt or not qt I would research what makes the fish more comfortable/ less stressed by rockwork having overhangs,caves,fish can lose sight of each other and me,compatable tank mates,appropiate tank size and good fresh or live food rather than dry pellets/ flakes and stuff like this .

If fish didn't show signs of diesese before died I would be looking at did I aclimitise them properley ,did I buy healthy and eating fish in the first place,do I do enough water changes regurlary and do I test my water parameters properly ,has the tank been up running enough and did I cycle the tank properley or did I add fish while still amnonia in the tank .
Have I to much or not enough flow in tank .
Did I keep temperature stable and at correct temperatures ,did I keep salinity at correct levels and stable,did I manually top up with rodi water instead of saltwater of got an ato.
These above imo are just the basics and what I personally feel I have to do to keep my tank looking good and running best it can and keep on having 0 fish loss and minumul deaths of cuc,aw also am I stocking up cuc when tank says it needed ( the current cuc and my maintenance cant keep up) I've lost couple hermit crabs as had a naughty one kill a couple and had 1 snail death ( think snail kept climbing up side container as drip aclimitising them and it died the next day )
If this sounds to much then maybe hobby not for you but if you willing to put in just a little work and want to enjoy your tank then go for it I say .
Vacation is easy,I just went on one 6 weeks ago and going again in 13 days time,I just get a trusted person ( mother in law ) to come every day or tell her can be every other day if wants miss a day and feed the clams/ oysters/ scallops that I already cut/ diced up and in freezer in seperate bags and tell her as feed one day pull 2 bags out for next day and put in fridge,and as she won't put hand in tank.i asked my neighbour if he would come around and remove a dead fish or coral or if ato needed topping up and just had a plan for the vacation if anything bad happenned.

Anyway whatever you decide I wish you best of luck, I keep my set up very simple and dont over complicate things and so far so good and if I do the simple things I consider as essential on daily/ bi weekly or weekly basis then I'm confident I won't have major problems, but if a problem comes I'm hoping I already researched enough to know a little bit about a little bit then I can spot problems as they starting and address them and put them right or if get stuck,then start a thread asking for help from the friendly r2r community ^_^

 

[Tamberav]

Thanks. But I keep wondering what happens when I go for a vacation for a week or visit my home in India for a month? I can setup weekly automatic water change setup but this is something you need to keep checking every other day for ssick fish.

If your fish are sick then it sounds like they were not Quarantined properly and your tank is harboring a parasite. When fish are free from diseases, they are petty easy to keep.

A new tank + plopping in fish can = a bad time.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I read in an article a while ago that, out of 10 people that start a saltwater tank, only one of the 10 will still have their tank 18 months later. I have no idea how they came up with that statistic, but I've always beleived it was probably pretty darn close to the truth. Its really too bad, I think (my own opinion) the major problem is that this hobby moves at a snails pace, litterally, and most people cant handle that.

 

[brandon429]

Mujimran

Ive been keeping an eye on your tank since it was cycling. Your tank is at the age we expect to have disease issues if preps are skipped.

check this post out, look how decisive and instructive it is, there isn’t really a choice to skip disease preps you need a clear stance, like this:

What will it take to change your mind about qt?

For me it was running into velvet. I wrote this as a reply to another post but thought it was worth its own thread. I have 20+ years in the hobby, and multiple tanks, one that has been running for over 15 years. Not once did I quarantine in any of my tanks. It was just unheard of back then. If...

www.reef2reef.com

you can do it, refallow your tank and use qt fish you can reef well with a little updated boosting. Imagine paying for a personal trainer and getting someone who asks gently if you feel like breaking a sweat this day heh


you need to hear rocky music in your head, get serious about fish preps, and run them and come back strong

 

[mujimran]

Hi there and hello.

I would like to say to you that you shouldn't quit and things will get better so hang in there.
But with you saying you honestly find it to much work,I'm little confused in what to say. As if find it to much work and not willing to put effort into fixing a problem if one arrises then maybe it isnt for you.
But on other hand you starting a thread so seems you don't really want to quit,either because spent to much money or you want to make it right ,if its because spent lots money then if carry on it will cost you more money even if just do basics.
If got enthusiasm to carry on maybe do some more research as my tank 9 months old now and I still reading articles/ threads about others problems or youtube videos around 2- 4 hours a day ,every day so I can continue learning.
If I was you I would be thinking did the fish give any signs before they died like flashing ,loss of appetite,swimming into powerhead and white spots,mucous peeling off and stuff like this and if so I would be researching how to fallow my tank and qt fish before entered tank next time.
If qt or not qt I would research what makes the fish more comfortable/ less stressed by rockwork having overhangs,caves,fish can lose sight of each other and me,compatable tank mates,appropiate tank size and good fresh or live food rather than dry pellets/ flakes and stuff like this .

If fish didn't show signs of diesese before died I would be looking at did I aclimitise them properley ,did I buy healthy and eating fish in the first place,do I do enough water changes regurlary and do I test my water parameters properly ,has the tank been up running enough and did I cycle the tank properley or did I add fish while still amnonia in the tank .
Have I to much or not enough flow in tank .
Did I keep temperature stable and at correct temperatures ,did I keep salinity at correct levels and stable,did I manually top up with rodi water instead of saltwater of got an ato.
These above imo are just the basics and what I personally feel I have to do to keep my tank looking good and running best it can and keep on having 0 fish loss and minumul deaths of cuc,aw also am I stocking up cuc when tank says it needed ( the current cuc and my maintenance cant keep up) I've lost couple hermit crabs as had a naughty one kill a couple and had 1 snail death ( think snail kept climbing up side container as drip aclimitising them and it died the next day )
If this sounds to much then maybe hobby not for you but if you willing to put in just a little work and want to enjoy your tank then go for it I say .
Vacation is easy,I just went on one 6 weeks ago and going again in 13 days time,I just get a trusted person ( mother in law ) to come every day or tell her can be every other day if wants miss a day and feed the clams/ oysters/ scallops that I already cut/ diced up and in freezer in seperate bags and tell her as feed one day pull 2 bags out for next day and put in fridge,and as she won't put hand in tank.i asked my neighbour if he would come around and remove a dead fish or coral or if ato needed topping up and just had a plan for the vacation if anything bad happenned.

Anyway whatever you decide I wish you best of luck, I keep my set up very simple and dont over complicate things and so far so good and if I do the simple things I consider as essential on daily/ bi weekly or weekly basis then I'm confident I won't have major problems, but if a problem comes I'm hoping I already researched enough to know a little bit about a little bit then I can spot problems as they starting and address them and put them right or if get stuck,then start a thread asking for help from the friendly r2r community ^_^

Thanks. The part where I say “too much work” is basically if you spot a disease you immediately have to jump into action. Like the first time I got ich it was very confusing for me to how to handle it not knowing what it was (first time). The second time I got ich (cause I did not wait 76 days to put the fish back and wanted to believe 30 days was good enough) I had been in a car accident and needed bed rest but had to move around a bit.

And initially I just had 1 tank now I have a 40G QT, a 20G Hospital tank. 6 heaters (lost a beautiful swallowtail angel while moving to DT just cause I didn’t put in a heater acclimating ). Having a QT and a HT made it so much easier than panicking and looking for storage boxes big enough.

Today, after thinking I got the hang of it, I lost my fairy wrasse. It was doing well but since 2 days it was in hiding. U moved it to HT and dosed with Prazipro. Just to find out later that wrasses dontreally do good with Prazipro but everything else. I think it had flukes.

Its just that baattling ich was stressful not knowing what it was, now ich treatment is quite easy but now I know about flukes. Like how many diseases do I need to know about??

I know I am going to continue cause the part when the tank is stable it is so satisfying watching the fishes worth the work

 

[mujimran]

Mujimran

Ive been keeping an eye on your tank since it was cycling. Your tank is at the age we expect to have disease issues if preps are skipped.

check this post out, look how decisive and instructive it is, there isn’t really a choice to skip disease preps you need a clear stance, like this:

What will it take to change your mind about qt?

For me it was running into velvet. I wrote this as a reply to another post but thought it was worth its own thread. I have 20+ years in the hobby, and multiple tanks, one that has been running for over 15 years. Not once did I quarantine in any of my tanks. It was just unheard of back then. If...

www.reef2reef.com

you can do it, refallow your tank and use qt fish you can reef well with a little updated boosting. Imagine paying for a personal trainer and getting someone who asks gently if you feel like breaking a sweat this day heh


you need to hear rocky music in your head, get serious about fish preps, and run them and come back strong

Thanks! This community has been really helpful with prompt responses.

Will push through this time knowing everytime a fish died was basically something I overlooked.

 

[brandon429]

Anything from the disease forum is the top fish disease care and prevention information that exists


the most likely approach most would use if coming from the fish disease forum is fallow the tank here by simply going fishless for the time you choose 45-80 days based on which mode you choose, and then add back quarantined fish and you can even order them that way and save hassle.

 

[Idech]

I know now the water quality needs to be maintained consistently. But honestly I find it too much work and the fear of loosing another fish is very stressful.

If it’s too much work for you, then yes, you need to quit. Fish are living creatures and they deserve the best care we can give them, just as any other pet. But you know that.

Can you tell us what you find too hard ? Maybe there are ways to make your life easier that we can help you with. I’m a beginner as well, but a lot of people here have tons of experience.

I say before you decide to give up, you need to get to the bottom of this topic.

eta : okay, I see you’ve already answered that question and got help with it.

 

[ying yang]

Thanks. The part where I say “too much work” is basically if you spot a disease you immediately have to jump into action. Like the first time I got ich it was very confusing for me to how to handle it not knowing what it was (first time). The second time I got ich (cause I did not wait 76 days to put the fish back and wanted to believe 30 days was good enough) I had been in a car accident and needed bed rest but had to move around a bit.

And initially I just had 1 tank now I have a 40G QT, a 20G Hospital tank. 6 heaters (lost a beautiful swallowtail angel while moving to DT just cause I didn’t put in a heater acclimating ). Having a QT and a HT made it so much easier than panicking and looking for storage boxes big enough.

Today, after thinking I got the hang of it, I lost my fairy wrasse. It was doing well but since 2 days it was in hiding. U moved it to HT and dosed with Prazipro. Just to find out later that wrasses dontreally do good with Prazipro but everything else. I think it had flukes.

Its just that baattling ich was stressful not knowing what it was, now ich treatment is quite easy but now I know about flukes. Like how many diseases do I need to know about??

I know I am going to continue cause the part when the tank is stable it is so satisfying watching the fishes worth the work

Here you go." Current diesese protocol 2021" from r2r resident expert.
Well now you mention had dieseses in tank and lost fish and tried fallow but fish back to early,its easier to answer now and imo do what jay recommends in current diesese protocol and that has all the common dieseses that he sees regulary ( in your initial post it sounded like you didn't know how fish died and sounded like you thought reef tank was to much work ha ha ) anyhow glad you finding treating fish easier second time.read through what jay says and see if doing it how he recommends and good luck ^_^

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[mujimran]

If it’s too much work for you, then yes, you need to quit. Fish are living creatures and they deserve the best care we can give them, just as any other pet. But you know that.

Can you tell us what you find too hard ? Maybe there are ways to make your life easier that we can help you with. I’m a beginner as well, but a lot of people here have tons of experience.

I say before you decide to give up, you need to get to the bottom of this topic.

Funny now that you asked and I think of it, most of what I would to consider hard was in the past when I didn’t know how to deal with it or had the proper setup.

At this point I can’t really put a finger on it, its just the experience. Fish nipping on corals etc. As @90’s reefer said I was learning as I go. I got the fishes forst and then started learning about reef tanks.