May have lost it all -- console me

[bromion]

I executed a move this past weekend and it went just terribly. I did what I thought was right -- moved LR into buckets, added tank water, added corals, added fish, moved it all, then put things into holding tanks. But something went wrong because all my fish died in their holding tank, and most of my corals are on the way out.

Very sad :( I had those fish for 3-5 years, and some were from my first purchases. My beautiful b/w ocellaris clowns were regularly laying eggs for the past two or three years.

I'm bummed. Can anyone console me with stories of loss and woe and hopefully comeback?

Thanks!

[craftyfish]

were you trying to clean the tank? or moving?
sorry for your loss...can't imagine...
well if anything, its probably a good time to make any upgrades or changes that you may have been considering....

[REEForBANG]

Sorry to hear that.I had the same situation lost half my livestock the other half made it and is doing great hopefully your able to recuperate what's left goodluck

[NVTE]

sorry to hear about your loss.

[bromion]

This hobby can be a real heartbreaker sometimes. This is my only significant loss in the 5+ years I have been in the hobby, but boy does it hurt.

[InTr4nceWeTrust]

I lost about 99% of my livestock out of 4 tanks (120g, 120g, 40g, 10g) when I moved. All that survived were the larger FOWLR fish who ALMOST died. I gave up for maybe 6 months while taking SOME care of the FOWLR fish who made a full recovery. I downsized and I'm now getting back into the hobby with only one 120 for the FOWLR and the 40 gallon for a reef that's currently cycling. It sucks losing everything you worked so hard on...but after a while, it's not so bad and you can just start all over again.

[EndlessSummer]

I wonder what it was. How far was the move? Ive had some big setbacks recently, but finally my tank is getting back together and I'm glad I didn't just give up on it.

[bromion]

Move was one mile. ONE MILE!

I even have some experience with this. I had a 60g tank where my 90g tank was located. I had to drain everything, put into buckets, holding tanks, etc, then set back up with the new tank. I think the process of doing both moving and the tank and having to transport things in the van etc was just too much for me to handle.

I am guessing that the bioload was just too high in some of the holding tanks. There may have been some initial die-off that kickstarted a cycle. I tried ammonia neutralizers but it was probably too late.

[gofor100]

I recently had to move, and although the move itself went smoothly, when the tank was all set up, I had numerous setbacks (a major hair algae issue, red bugs, browned out corals, etc.)... luckily, things slowly but surely got better and now the tank looks better than ever.

Keep at it... you'll get back into the game.

[firereef]

I moved less than one mile to my new place now and lost fish and corals. Honestly, my tank looks great now cuz I got to start over and took my time after my move.


Sorry about your loss but it comes with the hobby.

[All Delight]

I hate these find of stories. I hope you love the hobby so much that soon you can move forward and get your tank going again. I've been in the aquarium hobby for over 30 years and I think the longest break I took was 3 years. During that time I would still go into fish stores and look around. I just have a huge facisination with fish and the ocean. Funny thing is I'm scared as hell to go snorkling.

[agsansoo]

Did you have a DSB or where you bare bottom ? Disturbing a old sand bed is not good.

[bromion]

Medium-depth sand bed. 1-2". That could have been problematic, though I tried to remove as much sand from the rocks as possible before transfer.

[kichimark]

Oh man your tank and fish were beautiful. I am sorry to hear of your loss. If you need some corals let me know.

[bromion]

Oh man your tank and fish were beautiful. I am sorry to hear of your loss. If you need some corals let me know.

Thanks! Will do.

[stryker]

Sorry to hear. I lost all my fish and some corals never adjusted well at all and others ended up dead. It's tough to get back to the stability of an established tank after a move. I have some frags to get u going again when ur ready.

[bvysochin]

Sorry to hear but I agree with Andy. If your base rocks were some of the 1st things moved, then thats the problem. The times we moved we always left the sand undisturbed til the end.
I hope things get better..

[Reefers4U]

Sorry if I missed this but after the move did you mix new salt water or use the old in the new display? Did you set up a skimmer to run right after the move?

Sorry to hear about your loss man. I think the best we can do is figure out what went wrong so other don't have this issue. Thanks for your contribution to the hobby.

[cocoaandme]

Tank moves are always hard since it really disrupts the balance of the tank. If you think about how just one water parameter fluctuating in a day can cause corals to recede or fish to break out in ick and then put in perspective with a tank move where everything is fluctuating a great deal in such a short time it's not hard to see why so many things often die.

I think the best tank moves I have seen is where the person transferred their livestock slowly to someone else's tank and then slowly transferred them back to their new tank once it had been established. If that is not option the second most successful tank move is probably just selling off most of the livestock so that more attention can be paid to a smaller amount of living creatures.

I'm sorry about your loss Bromion but don't give up! I can give you some of that xenia I got from you if you want. And I have a frag of green digitata that you can have if you want too.

[bromion]

I didn't set up the new system immediately. Everything was in holding tanks that were of much smaller volume. No skimmer on them, but I had circulation, air, and heat, and added some ammonia neutralizing chemicals (Amiquel). Water was original tank water, not new. I was hoping to minimize the shock.

It is quite possible that the disruption of the sand bed did a lot of damage. Die-off of sponges could have contributed, too. I'm hoping some of the heartier corals can pull through.

[bromion]

Thanks, Richard!

I was originally hoping to have a second tank set up at my new place and just transfer tank-to-tank. But that didn't work out, obviously.

[cocoaandme]

Yeah I had a mandarin goby die on me that way. I have been making plans for what i will do when I need to move my tank which is probably sell of a lot of corals and have a friend hold the ones I need to keep. If you don't know anyone to hold your corals though it helps to make friends with a good lfs. Sometimes they will hold your corals for you if they like you. I have seen lots of people do that before and it seems to work out well.

I prefer to avoid holding tanks unless they have been established for a long while and have the same equipment on them as a normal reef tank. I have had things die in quarantine holding tanks and from my experience they really should be an entire system in and of themselves to really work.

[qwuintus]

Good luck to you and I'm sorry this happened. Though not as drastic, I lost a blenny about a month ago when I setup a new tank as well.

If you ever setup again while I still have frags I will hook you up. :) Send me a PM when you are ready.

[vsco]

I'm sorry to hear about this! The corals you gave me a month or so ago are doing well in my tank so if you want anything once you get up and running let me know and I can bring some by. Your tank looked great..such a shame.

[Lurking]

I have some frags for you when ready...let me know.

[Fish4Me2]

So sorry to hear about this. I had an alk spike after a move about a year ago, and lost quite a few corals. The good news is that the survivors have recovered really well and overall the tank looks better than ever. It can get better, I promise!

[elvis142]

hello and that sucks!!

[s2k]

sorry to hear, let me know when the tank is all settled down and I'll donate a few pieces to help you get going again.

[vdubfiend]

im not too far from you and have some things for you when u get going again- PM me

[bromion]

Thanks, everyone!

I have most definitely lost everything or almost everything. Very sad, but getting ready to move on from here. On the plus side (if I can possibly imagine a plus side), this gives me more time to rehab my tank before setting it up again.

Time to clean the tank, drill some holes, and cure some LR.....

[sabazerehi]

so sad to hear jason, but ya def take this as an opportunity to do what you weren't able to do before. it'll open some doors for you at least...

[isseym328]

Sorry to hear man. I was worrying about my fishes and corals 6 months ago when I upgraded...and that was from upstairs to downstairs!

I noticed you're in Brentwood...might be working out there soon. For sure I can pass over some cool frags when you're ready again. :D