So this is more so a rant and if this is not a good place to put it feel free to just remove it. So i get up this morning and go check on the tank and make sure everything is running good. To my unpleasant surprise... My entire rock work collapsed. how? I have no clue. Half of my corals seem to have been crushed by rocks so who knows if they'll survive. At this point i am just debating if its even worth my time to try to save everything and get the tank looking good again. Anyone ever have that issue where your at the point where you want to just swing a bat through the front of your tank and be done?
At what point is it to much?
- Thread starter PfenWendt
- Start date
If it becomes more of a chore rather than something you enjoy doing, it might be time to take a break, you'll either find out you want to come back or it's not for you anymore. Not everything is fun, particularly maintenance like water changes an changing out carbon and gfo, but if my rock work fell off, i'd look at it as a change to change it up a bit and maybe make a new layout of the tank.
When I moved to my new house in the beginning of september, I had about $750 worth of fish die. I debated heavily on selling my tank and just keeping my small tank going with my breeding clowns that survived. I posted the tank for sale and had a ton of interest but in it... I took the listing down and decided to keep it. Now it is almost fully cycled and ready for more then just the 3 Chromis. It took about a week to realize I wanted to get it going again though.
Quiet_Ivy
New member
Oh yes. My tank has dinoflagellates. I've been away for a week and now I get to play "will everything die when I clean up the incredibly toxic mess".
Your corals will come back! I figure in the wild they have to be used to random rock falls, fish attacks, etc. Give yourself a day or two to curse and see how you feel then.
stingeragent
New member
Keep at it if you like it.
Mr. Brooks
MASVC Member
Corals will survive a rock slide. Stick with it, a rock slide is a small hiccup compared to what some people go through.
TangingOut
New member
When I sit back, relax and watch the tank, it makes all the work and maintenance is worth it.
Tweaked
FUP&A Member
This and is scientifically proven to reduce stress. The only caveat is that the tank must not be consuming you.
Keoki18
New member
Well said, and fully agreed. salvage what you have, sit back, and re-plan your system. If you are stressed out, I wouldn't put more effort into it, less you become more frustrated. This is better for you and your aquatic buddies.
Keep swimming
kmbyrnes
New member
Now that the 125 is fully cycled and stocked, we seem to watch less TV in the evening. The TV is on but the tanks keep drawing our eyes.
Yes, I spend a couple ( or more ) hours on Saturday, plus daily feeding and checking. But I think I have reached equilibrium - I watch my tanks as much as I work on them.
gone fishin
New member
Sorry to hear about your issues. I have certainly had my ups and downs over time. I think as a mind set, run your tank do not let your tank run you, if that makes sense. Sadly I see way to many threads where it seems folks are super stressed. I wish you good luck on whatever choice you make.
seamonster124
New member
It was too much for me few years ago. Took a couple years off, redesigned everything with low maintenance as #1 goal. Now I just watch the fish and corals grow and everything else just works. Planning plays a big part. Auto everything & low bio load.
Bent
I got nothin'
I felt the same way this morning when I found my newly purchased expensive "to me" fish dead in QT.
But I had the same problem years ago. Every time I looked at my tank I just saw work. Had fish that needed feeding frequently, dosing schedules, buckets and water changes. I just took it all down. I hated that tank.
Like above, I made this one to work as easy as possible.
But I had the same problem years ago. Every time I looked at my tank I just saw work. Had fish that needed feeding frequently, dosing schedules, buckets and water changes. I just took it all down. I hated that tank.
Like above, I made this one to work as easy as possible.
Keoki18
New member
Saw that post earlier, sorry to hear about that wrasse.
Bent
I got nothin'
It's ok. I do just sometimes wonder why we even do this. Not that I'm a tree hugger or anything, but that fish was probably totally cool, minding his own business on the reef, got nabbed and moved from glass box to glass box until the stress of everything literally killed him.
I spent about 5 hours moving the rocks around and finding/dealing with all the corals and now have most of them out where I can see recovering and all the rocks just there. I'm going to let the tank run for about a week or so here and see how all the corals are doing and then spend a day, completely re-do all the rock work. I had them all held together with epoxy but I guess that didn't hold... I blame my urchin for it...I think this time I will go with acrylic rods to hold everything together. I'll give it a good month of just the regular jobs, water changes, feeding, dosing, ect. and then decide if I really want to go all in again and spend a lot of time fine tuning it and all that stressful stuff.
Keoki18
New member
That's a very responsible reply, and I'm glad that you appreciate the animal in that regard. I feel this way many of times, however, I think reef keeping has really saved the oceans by making people more sympathetic to the underwater world. By keeping/caring for an animal, we really appreciate what it takes for them to live. Losing captive animals always is a bummer, but it is part of the process.
