This hobby sucks

[Leishman]

This hobby sucks. Each time I grow a show size colony it has issues.

1st my Cali blue tort 10"x10"x16" to dead, all gone. Grown from a 3" frag

2nd my A. Hyacinthus 20"x10" bottom level 12"x8" top level. Grown from a 3"-4" mini colony

and now my A. Exquister 16"x8"x10". Grown from a 2.5"-3" frag.

It started with a tiny dead spot 1/2 way up the main branch months ago. In the past week the dead spot became this:

When I pulled it out last night to frag, I saw the base had the same recession:

leading to this:

Its things like this that make me wish I only had a small tank and no need for large colonies.........

 

[Hendersonracing]

wonder whats happening? sorry to hear that!

 

[Frankenpora]

Ya SPS are funny like that.
You are doing the right thing though.
Every time I've had one of these issues, Cutting out the problem
seemed to be the solution. Just remember, we are trying to be
like Gods in that we are duplicating an environment that has
trillions times more volume and vastly more diversity.
Just be grateful that we are allowed to come this far as mear mortals.

 

[kev apsley]

WOW that does suck! I still have acro's but I pretty much switched over to all LPS, don't have all the issue associated with SPS and just as beautiful if not prettier...what so you think might have casued this? How much flow were they getting? any parameter swings at all, did you change anything in your normal routine? temp drops?

 

[cwegescheide]

Sorry to hear you had these problems. That does really suck. I think everybody has had problems like that at some point. When you saw you were having issues with pieces didn't you make frags of them or are they all gone?

 

[ProdigalPoster]

This post looks familiar....I feel as though I've seen it somewhere

 

[bogg]

I wonder if they had enough flow at there large size or if possible if the coral knew it had no more room to grow?.

 

[drawman]

Sorry to hear this. It is always depressing when it's a colony you grew from a small frag! This shows why it is a great idea to give large frags to friends.

 

[dvanacker]

Wow on the up side you should be very proud to think that your grew those beautiful corals that large....many people strive for success like that and never get there before giving up.

I think you will be able to frag some nice peices of that exquisita and start over.

Again those are all nice pics....can you share more of your tank??

 

[Frankenpora]

Sorry to say it kids, but when it comes to SPS sometimes they
just do things like this. It does'nt have to be a flow or param
issue. A guy at this level would have gone over all of those little
details.

 

[dots]

Cut the dead out and reglue it into the orientation your like, and it will grow back together in time.

 

[dots]

double

 

[Leishman]

I lost the whole Blue Tort, but its only a cali, nothing I cant re-grow. The red table is a weed and the 3"x3" frag that survived is now 6"x6". The one that I just fragged up is fine, just not the show colony it was this time yesterday.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14050183#post14050183 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kev apsley
How much flow were they getting? any parameter swings at all, did you change anything in your normal routine? temp drops?

3 6100's
1 vortech
and 2x1" seaswirls on a Dart

Dont think flow is an issue with all that and my open rockwork.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14050225#post14050225 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cwegescheide
When you saw you were having issues with pieces didn't you make frags of them or are they all gone?

Only lost 1" off the base and 2" in the middle of the main branch. I'm just ****ed that another show piece had to be busted up.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14051321#post14051321 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dvanacker
Again those are all nice pics....can you share more of your tank??

Click my little red house for some old pics or my photobucket here or my tank thread here

 

[trueblackpercula]

Good luck and hope all work out for Ya. Maybe they get to a point that the system can't handle the Bio load just a thought. I guess what i am trying to say that the system it self can only handle so much and when the corals get that large it can't handle it?
I think its a good debatable theory................anyone else?

By the way your Sps rock dude what ever your doing pass it over to my tank


Michael Anthony

 

[gasman059]

Unfortunately I've also seen that happen many times over the years.

 

[ngn8dogg]

i just had a sweet acro die for some reason too?? sure can be a cruel hobby sometimes. Your tank is awesome though

 

[Unarce]

Sorry to hear that! Great job on growing out some beautiful pieces.

It's the nature of the beast. The brightest stars burn out the quickest. Guess that's another reason why SPS tanks are the pinnacle of reefkeeping.

 

[Kip]

i went thru this same mess in 07... wiped most of my acros at an extremely slow, painful rate

i have no way to prove it... but i think it was some pathogen that was introduced to my system during some frag acquisitions... after dealing with it for about 8 months, as soon as a coral would start a recession point i just went ahead and pulled it instead of trying to save it

there should be a thread around here somewhere with "pathogen" in the title and my name on it with details of everything i did to troubleshoot it. in the end, it just had to wear itself out.

i feel your pain though, i lost some big ones grown from frags too

it swept thru my frag tank first and worked its way into display.... i ended up emptying this bucket twice with dead acro frags from the frag tank

 

[brightsilverRT]

Man that is painful to see and read, so sorry!

 

[mkbtank]

Thread title of the year. I had a crash in March and lost 40+ sps pieces. This hobby can be so painful.