Toooo many ups and downs

[Justbecause]

For the past 6 months I have been battling with this hobby. Starts with neglect. Lost all my acan colony, most of my chalices and of course my high-end Zoas. Got back on track after a few months and an itch outbreak causing most of my fish to die. I personally personally can't get a handle on my tanks parameters. Now tonight my Jawbraker was missing. So after almost completely tearing down my aquascape. NOTHING. So when do you come to terms that it may have melted over night and no longer in you tank :( So on the fence with this hobby.

First This.
http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q572/jlarotjr/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-04-24-00-11-52_zpsccqmo4ar.png (http://s1164.photobucket.com/user/jlarotjr/media/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-04-24-00-11-52_zpsccqmo4ar.png.html)


Now this
http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q572/jlarotjr/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-04-24-00-12-55_zpsga1dmyg0.png (http://s1164.photobucket.com/user/jlarotjr/media/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2015-04-24-00-12-55_zpsga1dmyg0.png.html)

[toky916]

I had this battle also and I took a got rid of all my fish and left what corals. Let it just run maybe a water change every once in a while and picked it up with fish again and corals.

Now I got a few fish that I consider gems for me few wrasse and have a few corals slowly growing. I just got to a point where I got tired of loseing corals that I just paid $80 for and next thing you know it's gone.
The coral market is just funny you buy named corals for over inflated price then there worth $5 so I just wait sooner or later I will get it or trade.

[Justbecause]

6am with a blue LED flashlight. I feel like a crackhead.lol. Still no signs of my beautiful Jawbraker. Now what. Move on. Move out. A break might be good.

[tfp]

come on now john...isn't this a fun "hobby?" only you can decide whether to persevere but we'd all understand either way...

[TigeBell]

What are your parameters? lights? Salinity? When was the last time you changed out your ro/di unit filters, cartridges and resin?

I had issues that arose 6 months ago. I couldn't keep a acro in my tank for more then 1 week. I slowly went from meadia, to clean up crew, to thinking my low nutrient tank needed to be fed, and finely to changing out my ro/di unit stuff with a 200 gallon water change within 10 days. I was blamming the aerojet plum on my inability to keep acros. The water changes started to make a world of difference. Today, the tank is better but i am still trying to recover from the ro/di filter, carbon, and resin being exhausted. I'm 2 months into the recovery stage time and now i can see growth in my acros now.

So, moral of the story. Don't give up. Continue to look, change things up, and troubleshoot the issues. Don't go to quick and continue to think what could be your issue. Post here and let us know what you have and or what you plan to do. We will try to help.

[tcoral]

been there, had a bunch of downs and then I did the fatal calculating how much time and money I spent per month on tests, upkeep, corals and fish and and thought "I could be spending that on..." and the cost didn't keep up with the fun anymore. Remember, it's a hobby, step back for a while, if it still makes you happy to see the fish and some coral start back slow with the easy stuff and get into it, if it isn't fun anymore, time for something else or to step back further until it maybe fun again.

P.S. I do still have a tank that could easily be converted back, it has cichlids in now, but so far I'm happy with it as it is.

[Diamond Jack]

Keep your head up John. We've all been there. If your just down to a frag tank i'd just keep it low maint for a while. Feed fish. Waterchange every few weeks. Don't think about getting new corals or talk a lot of reefing with peeps for a while. Eventually you will feel refreshed.

[TOM BLEVINS]

Hi John,

We have all had the crackhead feeling here and there in the middle of the night and have had are ups and downs for sure but it's the joy and or addiction and the community of reefers that make this all good in my opinion, before you know it you will see little shrooms popping out from the cracks and then you will THINK TO YOURSELF mo money mo money HA!

Regards
Tom

[79chopperdr]

Too bad John, we all know how it goes. Good luck whatever you decide.

[robert s b.]

Tough decision bro, I had some trying times and a quite a few bad episodes in 2014. Ups and Downs and in between comes with this hobby. Just pinpoint what's going on with your system, take care of it.

[hnnhflns]

It's a really tough decision. It's heartbreaking to see living organisms die, and you can't figure out why. Chris laughs at me, but I cry any time I lose a fish (even if it is just a damsel)

We almost quit about 2 years ago. Not matter what we did, everything was dying. We were doing water changes multiple times a week, parameters were spot on, flow and lighting were good, and we were at the end of our rope trying to figure out what was going on. Chris wanted to quit, but I convinced him that we needed to scrap that tank and get a new one. We did that, and it turned out that the 50 gallon drum we were using for mixing water was leaching something into the new water we mixed and was killing everything.

So take your time and figure out what is the right thing for you do to. If you need any help, let us know.

[tankaddict]

This recently happened to me as well. Ich took out nearly all my fish and now all i have left is a chromis.. Last summer i had a tank crash and a few kind people helped me out with some frags. Those started dying off slowly over a 3-4 week period. Long story short my salinity was off after checking it with a WTW cond 330i from work. I nearly gave up as some of my fish were 6-7 years old and many of my corals were very expensive. At this point i'll say i've lost at least 600-700 in lifestock and corals. I have really invested way too much in my tank to simply give up and i know you have too john. So i would suggest you recheck all parameter with a different kit and use a different refractometer to make sure everything is on point.

[psykobowler]

John, get back to basics and keep it simple (with ozone).

[Justbecause]

As I think about this crazy hobby we all love/hate. I realize I have ran into so many kind hearted, genually generous, top-notch individuals. From the Tim's, Moe's, Tom's, Jeff's, Ann's, Carlos's, Mario's, Glen's, Joe's, Rudy's, Casey's, Alex's, Wes's and thats just just to name a few. That Jawbraker pictured is from Wes on a trade. Don't even remember what I traded for it. If it wasn't for the numerous individuals allowing me to make some crazy trades or giving killer deals I wouldn't have/had what I have/had. YOU know who your are :) Not only the individuals but this group. Out of all the groups I have been involved with "MARS" has been hands down the best in my opinion. Thanks everyone for the past experiences and further support :) have a blessed Friday.

[Paul B]

I never have any battles in this hobby because I have no test kits. Tank has been running fine for 44 years.

[marflo530]

man go touch the f!@#$in tree

[Paul B]

OK, where is it?

[timnem70]

If this was easy everyone would be doing it. Take your time. Don't skimp on the necessities... Water,light,salt,filtration. I like what the above member said about keeping it simple for a while, low maintenance. Spend your money on equipment first, not corals and fish. Get the tank right and the slowly add some animals. Keep your head up dude. Nobody like to see their animals perish.

[Paul B]

We also should not call these things battles. We are not battling algae, ich or cyano. They are all part of the hobby and a hobby should be fun. I was in some battles in the army but I had no choice. Now I have a hobby and if it stops being fun, and starts being work or a battle, I throw the entire thing out. As the above poster said, if it was easy, everyone could do it. If you are the type of person with very little patience, this is probably not the hobby for you and you will think of everything as a battle. This is fun, even the algae, cyano, carpet surfing, electric bills etc. Otherwise, Why would I do it? I can get stressed in many other ways if I wanted to.
I lost maybe $150.00 worth of corals last week. It is what it is. Sometimes that happens and sometimes they live 15 years. We are not the Gods of fish or corals but we try to do the best we can while we enjoy the hobby, which, by the way, no one needs. We wanted to do this, no one made us and no one keeps us in it.

[tcoral]

Sometimes, we have so much invested in the hobby, time, money, effort, that it does become a challenge or a battle that we must overcome and it becomes something we must win and conquer at all costs that it becomes more work than fun. when a hobby becomes more work and stress than fun and rewards it may be time to step back and see what it would take to make it more fun or to step away for a while. Keep some easy and cheap stuff that you don't have to worry about if you lose and see if that brings some of the passion back (those pictures of that tank with the gsp lawn are beautiful, but I know a lot of us cringe over gsp :).

And yeah, it is a challenge, but it is supposed to be a hobby too, do what you enjoy, you are not married to it :).

[CLeadfootS]

Don't be trippin bro, you know I got jawbreakers to give you here.... :thumbsup:

[vietboy209]

Still a noobie in the hobby...lost a lot of fish and lost a ton of corals but if it wasn't challenging...this hobby wouldn't b so much fun and rewarding....