So you're thinking of quitting the hobby...

[Hemmdog]

Set up a thread with photos and maybe a video of the plumbing issues, I'm sure a bunch of people will jump in and point out ways to improve it.

+1 that sounds like an easy fix.

 

[PanchoG]

I recently had a crash, a power outage took away all my fish except two and two of my acros. However I am not considering to quit, I was a punch in the guts sure but I love this hobby too much and at least for me very rewarding pretty much as any other things on this life.

 

[blasterman]

Been forced out of the hobby a few times due to job changes and not wanting to go through the hell of moving a tank.

Over the years I've figured out how to do_this_hobby cheaper and cheaper and removing all the superfluous variables and stuff that is just a waste of time, so it's not much work nor expensive.

 

[j.falk]

I seriously thought about quitting last week. I bought a piece of live rock (to seed my tank with corraline algae) a couple months ago and it brought Lyngbya and Bryopsis in with it. When I bought the rock I thought it was just a little bit of hair algae that my cuc would promptly take care of and possibly some type of Caulerpa. I didn't even know what Lyngbya and Byopsis was until it was too late and it had a stranglehold on my tank.

Two months after buying that rock, my entire tank was taken over and I was disappointed, frustrated and mad over what had happened. Instead of having a beautiful coral filled tank like I see in online photos, I had a tank covered in disgusting looking algae/cyanobacteria. So, I made a big batch of new rodi saltwater and did a huge manual cleaning and water change thinking that would help get rid of it. Nope. That just brought on dinos.

Things were going from bad to worse.

I thought about tearing the tank down, getting rid of all my saltwater stuff and going back to a freshwater planted aquarium.

But before I did anything rash (as I'm prone to do) I talked things over with my wife and her advice was, "Will switching back make you happy?"

So I took a few days and really thought about it and the conclusion I came to was: No, it wouldn't.

I've had freshwater tanks for the better part of 20 years. While I enjoyed them when I first got into the hobby, I don't enjoy them anymore. Freshwater is easy...and in my honest opinion...very boring. Saltwater has so much diversity and challenge to it with all the different fish, corals, and inverts. I love everything about it.

So, long story short, this morning I tore down my aquarium, completely cleaned and bleached everything and am starting over from scratch. I learned a lot the first go around and this time I intend to take things in a completely different direction. I feel excited about things again. If at first you don't succeed...

 

[S2G]

Hello,

The reason for me honestly is because my tank is almost 2 years old and doing excellent. The reason is because this is the second time I have had to move. The first time Lfs helped on my 125 and pretty much killed everything. Now that I have my 240, local normal movers won’t touch a fish tank (even dry according to three that I spoke with). My only option is to have the lfs help me move my current one at 40 an hour. Well I don’t wanna lose all my fish and coral again.
I’m still debating on throwing my fish in qt to help with stress but I get mixed responses. Some say it’s worse some say it’s better, (lol which is it?) plus honestly I love my rock scape that I have now. Yet they tell me it won’t be the same look the same get use to it. Well how does that work when a lot of them have encrusted rocks together? I’m pretty sure I can figure out (maybe) which ones are base and top. Yes it may not be exactly theeeee same but still.

Am I just gonna up and quit (probably not), but it’s frustrating when local professionals won’t answer questions. At my work they come to me because something is wrong. I can’t say I don’t know. I have to problem solve it, and keep solving problems and eventually I will have an answer.

Plus gathering enough people, resources, is like herding cats in huge field full of mice. Good luck. Not to mention (at least new place is only five min away), ((bigger bonus no hoa)). ((Down side is I have to rent till I figure out what house I want to build) then once again move my tank again.

Please tell me it’s not this big of a nightmare to move? Yes I know to start with the top rocks and separate or move any loose corals. Ones attached keep separate and etc. then I don’t know if I drain most of my water (which I’ll keep 80%; then) catch my fish and they go in a bag then a black bag etc. Then drain the rest, get the sand out into a bucket. I have no idea how to undo my plumbing (I can turn everything off but) yeah I will have to look more.

I intend to just completely drain the water in the sump and start over. Then I have to sort and undo all the pumps etc lights etc.

So in reality how likely is it to move my tank and keep all my fish and (I may lose some coral but I’d prefer not too). I have 23 days to be completely moved and I’m about to have a huge dumpster dropped off and throw things away (not fish stuff).

This is the truth. To make it easy on yourself. You need to sell most everything but the bare min got to keep it. Your rock work isn't going to be the same but you can rebuild it nice. This is why I stayed 6x2ft. I can get 2 people to move but usually no more.

I setup up temp tanks and transferred my fish with rock. Then setup my display and got it how I liked it. My fish are fine and have been in the for months. They'll adapt but you need to be patient. Let them adapt and get comfy for awhile then move them to main display. Start timid fish first.

I've always been aquarium hobbyist been with ups and downs of the hobby after my wife got sick and we had to move due to med bills I've sold most of my aquariums but kept a few to set back up but looking at prices of stuff now vs when I first started I just can't afford to set back up I've got rock still cooking but after looking a prices and all the bashing if you don't have apex and eco-tech this hobby doesn't look as fun anymore and due to I live in Cali prices are even higher club are disappearing due to facebook and I live in a smaller town with only Petco and I other lfs that sell reef stuff it makes it hard to find any used equipment without taking a chance of been scammed I love the reef hobby but 4 now I think it just going to be freshwater planted

They can bash us together. I don't even own one DC anything and my lights are black box. I don't have colored plumbing and I use garbage cans as water reservoirs. I even modified an old aqueon stand I had to work with my sump. You won't find sapphire glass or rimless.

I've seen so many successful tanks that don't run any of that stuff. Petco has $1 per gal and 50% off up to a 75. Diamond bits are cheap. I find planted a lot harder than sw water

 

[RevMH]

This is the place for help guys! Believe me with the number of reefers we have here someone has experienced what you're going through. Give 'em a chance to help!

This is so true. Everyone has helped me! I hope to offer that back to someone else!!!

 

[Grigs]

Bet you don't miss it right now with this stupid storm barreling down on us...
I grew up in California surfing Jalama and Rincon my entire childhood, talk about homesick right now....

I was stationed in San Deigo in the Navy and worked out there for another 12 yrs after. Got to surf Lowers, Blacks, etc daily. Made it up to Rincon and Jalama to surf with my brother, too. He's in Santa Cruz so I made it up there a bunch of times for long weekends in the water. Talk about homesick... I'm in KS! Lmbo!

 

[BMMMW]

I have been doing well in the hobby for over 5 years. Grew colonies and got some sort of bacterial infection. All perams are good. My harder to keep more beautiful corals grow, encrust, branch and die, but the ends keep growing. I need help. 150 gallon tank, 35 gallon sump, uv, skimmer, gfo, carbon, and Kessil ap700 lights.

 

[Topekoms]

Considering I had a house fire on the 3rd of July and.just bought a whole new system sticking around

 

[stacksoner]

Just take a gander at the entries in the various forums...it becomes evident that replicating a reef ecosystem in a small glass box is a struggle for 99% of those who attempt to do it

 

[chk4tix]

In the past 6 months had a few battles that almost made me quit, I had a monster outbreak of dino's after putting a few frags in my tank that I bypassed my normal QT process because I was in a hurry. Fortunately, I was able to over come that in a few months but swore is anything else big happened I was calling it quits.
My tank was on the rebound and started to become exciting again after many years of struggling. I had 14 fish, and thousands dollars of SPS's, tank was dialed in and going good. Then I sold my house and had to move to and I figured all would be fine.
Since 2013 , i have moved across multiple states with the tank, most of the fish, and some of the corals without any major issues. However, in the latest move that was under 30 minutes away, I lost nearly everything. All my fish and the majority of all my corals.

It was such a devastating blow that I instantly posted all my equipment for sale.

Fortunately, there were many people on this forum and my local forum that talked me off the cliff. After a few days passed, I noticed that some of my corals were still alive and I could not bare to just let the others just die. Ultimately, I decided to try and keep going. I know I will have to move again in about a year, so instead of quitting I decided to downsize my tank and keep what I could alive. Its been a few weeks now and so far I am glad I didnt just give up.

 

[exnisstech]

To me I think the most important thing many people don't have is the time to enjoy the. creatures we bring into our homes. My kids are grown but I have a dog and a wife. I work 10 hour shifts and spend around 20-30 minutes or so feeding in the morning and looking things over. When I get home in the evening I do a head count as soon as I walk in the door. The fish all wiggle and beg for food. I have LPS, softies, many nems and a lot of fish. Tank volume is over 350 gallons spread accross 3 tanks and a sump in the basement. Just for reference not bragging. I shower eat etc and spend at least another hour or so looking things over. Feeding, looking for unusual behavior from corals, clams and fish. I don't even want to guess how much time I spend on maintenence but I love every minute of it, even cleaning the skimmer My wife and I spend more time watching the tanks than we do TV. I guess I think many people may not have the time to dedicate to the hobby that is required to really enjoy it and that is why they leave. I have had my ups and downs and felt guilt over every creature that has died while in my care but I can't imagine not continuing.

 

[Bastray]

I don't want to quit but I am struggling. I have had GHA for the last couple of months and it's driving me bananas. I have some things I haven't tried yet but due to some family medical issues that came up I haven't had funds to do it. I should be able to fix it after this weekend (I'm going to MACNA). I'm hoping for some fat coupons or on-site discounts, lol.

Just keep with it. I have battled most bad things in my tank and I have found that time and patience cure a lot of things. Trying to fix every problem that arises has caused the majority of problems in my tank. When I chill and let it do it's thing I find that is when the tank runs best. Weekly water changes, good filtration, careful feeding and patience I have found to be my backbone for success. GHA can be defeated. When you do finally get it resolved your sense of pride and accomplishment will be sky high.

 

[Acartia]

The biggest mistake is being too aggressive when you start. I started with a 20 gallon, T5s, a couple clowns, a cardinal and some green star polyps. The polyps died out, the clowns kept jumping out and the other corals I put in kept dying. Then one of the green star polyps that I thought had died made a come back. And took over all of the rocks.

I don’t dose, skim or test. I do a 20% water change every couple weeks. And the tank has been thriving for over five years. With almost no maintenance. Maybe I have just been lucky.

 

[NinnJinn]

I have wanted to quit the hobby for the last five months.

But I guess what's keeping me feeding the fish is the fact that I will get Pennies on the dollar for everything that I have invested.

I very seldom get on here anymore unless I see a interesting thread in my email.

I no longer have dreams of a 300+ gal tank.

Couldn't tell you the last time I searched for new fish.


3 pf my 4 fish Blue Tang, Royal gamma and orange spotted goby only swim around my 125 gallon tank when it's feeding time. Otherwise they are hiding in the nooks and crannies of my rock. The highlight of the day is if I see my blue Mandarin. But most of the time I only see the Mandarin two to three times a week.

My goal with this tank was for an active swimming aquarium. But as you can see I do not have that so therefore I have lost interest.

Once my equipment starts failing I might call up the guys in North Central Indiana see if they want my fish and then just trash the the rest of what i got.

 

[Bouldereefer]

I have lost count of the number of times I have quit. I keep a hammer in my stand for my glass tank. Just starting up again after tank was down for a move. It’s addicting. Maybe Vegas would be cheaper

 

[ReefTeacher]

I have moved more times that I would have wanted in the last 10 years...taking my 180 gal with me. My tank is actually doing quite well, despite one bird's nest bleaching this summer. I think it is cheap, but the Mag anemone with clownfish draws an incredible amount of comment.

But I have always loved goldfish, and just this spring set up a 45 gal planted goldfish tank in my bedroom. I forgot how much fun they are! They give a lot of feedback and the colors and fins are great.

So I am not mad, I have not had a big crash lately, and I will NOT sell everything. But I think I might retire from my job in 3-5 more years and sell all my livestock but not the equipment. Moving back east with an empty tank is a LOT easier than trying to keep things alive during a move. When I get back to New York, I'll set up a planted goldfish tank in the 180...Am I crazy or what?

 

[aqua_code]

Water changes were always too much effort for me and the testing requires handing all these toxic chemicals. I did triton for awhile but ended up getting discouraged with the cost and maintenance.

I figured I'd do BRS 2 part, automatic water changes and buy a mindstream this time around. It's revitalized my interest for the time being. I'm trying to find a balance this time around to get SPS growing well without depending on myself to do much.

One positive is I have a good eye for when things are going poorly with water quality because I've screwed up so many times. Helps keep my aquarium much healthier. I also have two 4 year old clownfish and I feel they deserve a good quality home.

 

[Retfitter]

The coral is getting to be sooooo expensive. I see several zoas listed for $149 per polyp, really? Hardly any frags for under $50. I want a few frags but not that bad.....lol.....help?

 

[Urkin$Urchin]

I was and might still be considering giving it up, seems like everything just keeps dying, I had several duncans, all thriving, all of a sudden, they start decaying, candy canes done the same thing, I had a beautiful colony of candy canes, not they have maybe 3 heads left, had a beautiful frog spawn, now I have a piece of frog spawn, the one things thriving in my tank are my fish, red mushrooms, Octospawn, hammers, and an open brain I think is what it's called, I had 5 zoa colonies, now I have a few polyps left on one frag, just can't seem to get happy with it anymore, I just lost my long tentacle to a canister filter intake tube, now my carpet has a gaping mouth all the time, but his color and everything looks healthy, it's just seeming to always be a hassle anymore and losing money constantly