ugh...Already burnt out. :(
 

Well It seems to me that comming to the salt side was the bad choice. I only started my tank 2 months ago and only got my first salt fish 1 month ago. I'm not really sure that starting off with a 175g tank was the best choice. I think I went to big. As in saying that in 1 month from now I will be starting to take down this tank, it will become a freshwater arrowana tank stingray tank, because of it's wide footprint. The cost of running the tank is passing and taking up my fish budget, I'd rather spend $800 on a nice stingray then salt, and stuff to keep the tank going. BUT I will not be getting out of salt completley. I will keep some live sand and rock and set-up my 29g tank as a saltwater tank. YES I know some people say small tanks are harder to maintain good water condtions but atleast it will be easy to clean and toy around with. I feel that this will be a much better idea with busy school work taking up most of my time. So if anyone wants my lookdown:sad:, miniatus grouper or live rock, skimmer etc...just let me know, but at the end of the month there will be a FS thread. Everything will be really cheap too, I'm going to sell the live rock at $3LB.

too bad, your tank is the perfect size for a nice reef tank..
if you want we can switch skimmer,you can have the smaller one again??LOl:lol:. Anyway good luck on your journey..

thanks,
teddy

Sometimes downsizing is not a bad idea, My last few tanks were all down sizes, It's all about the planning and execution of the system, you can make a really nice reef with a small footprint and as an added bonus save on some costs.. All the best.

ya, the 29g will be a sumpless tank. It will be a good size. Anyways I want to grow out some more arrowana's. My current guy is having a hard time turning in his 135g. So the 175g with it's 31" width will be ideal until another upgrade.

Hey! Sorry to hear you're having to down size. I know what you mean though; even with a 40 gallon I can feel wiped at times.

I would be interested in your live rock... oh, probably 20 to 30 lbs if you have it. I'm looking for both display and sump rock. When you are starting to tear down, please shoot me a PM and we'll get in touch so I can make a trip out your way.

Cheers,

Kevin

ya, I'll let you know when the time comes.

I've been keeping a 25g for over 2 years now and it is very little maintenance. I have a HOB skimmer and an Aquaclear 70 that I run my sponge filter, carbon and Chemipur Elite in. Everything grows well and no pest algae in the tank. I have a 2.5 gallon pail that I do weekly water changes with and within 15 minutes all the work is done with the exception of feeding the fish. I've been slowly transferring my livestock into a new 90 gallon and will be converting the 25 to a frag tank after I sell off my soft corals but I've really enjoyed the small tank and never had any issues with it. If you can commit to doing a small water change every week without exception then I don't think you will have any problems with a small tank. Take some of your live rock and sand out of your 175 and you won't even have much of a cycle if any at all. Good Luck!

Personally, it sounds like you've already bought almost everything you need to keep it running and there's not a lot of spending left if you want to keep it a simple fowlr tank. Fowlrs don't require frequent water changes (considerably less than a full blown reef tank). If time is an issue, the switch over from sw to fw at this time will be quite a big chore. FW sting rays are far more sensitive and expensive than the fish you already have. Even a tiny bit of ammonia is enough to damage or kill a ray. If time & money is that big an issue, I would stay away from rays. You'll end up killing it through lack of maintenance time. Any high maintenance, expensive species is a bad idea at this time, it sounds like.

Just my $.02.

Anthony

+1

It really only gets easier and cheaper as you move along in this hobby.
I run 4 SW tanks total, a 95, 14, 12 and 30 gallon.

You are so close to being in the best part of the hobby where you can actually sit back and enjoy after the big start up cost and sometimes expensive learning curve...

just my 2 cents...

I'm sure you wil enjoy yout 29 all the same...it just seems like you migh tbe cheating yourself a little bit by not givng it another couple months..

i started with my first tank 6 months ago and its a 65gal, its pretty low maintainence but i have a **** load of live rock which basically filters everything on its own, gotta be close to 90lbs. I have had no issues and wish i would of gone bigger, it also helps that i let it cycle for 3 months before i added any fish. main thing to think about before you decide to pack this tank in is what fish and corals you really want to have in the tank. 29gal limits you from alot of nice fish. 175gal is a great size tank.

i ran FW for years and ithoughti was happy with it until my tank sprung a leak. and i decided to go salt. it changed my life. yes at first fear and problems did make me think wtf did i get myself into. but now almost a year into it come dec. i would never change a thing and setting up a second tank now.

with fw i liked the fish but i didnt pay much attention to it it was there i fed them cleaned it when i felt like it, even thought of rays. rays can have a short life span in captivity. but salt WOW the color the vibrance the attitudes the personality the where did that thing come from i dont remember buying that, just blows my mind every day. i still have frustration days as everyone does and fears of crash. buti do look forward every morning to peeking at the tank to see whats grown over night.

i too would say give it a few more month you have already done the hard part. now i dream of making my display tank bigger. i wish i had the size of yours so much more i could do.

in the end you have to do whats best for you not what us cronics think you should do.:)

I've kept many rays before. I've kept 8 rays in the last year but sold them all. I know how to take care of them well.

Was NOT commenting on whether you know how to take care of rays or not. Just commenting that rays are high maintenance & expensive, which is your posted reason for wanting to quit sw when you're really on the verge of being able to sit back and enjoy your tank more.

Pretty much nothing other than powerheads & heaters will be transferable to keeping rays. That means getting rid of a lot of live sand, live rock, big fish, skimmer, etc. that you end up not being able to fit into a 29g system. For someone with time constraints & money issues due to school, this changeover sounds like a less than ideal idea and will result in a significant financial loss.

But to each their own.

No it won't. Off course I need to completely clean out the tank and sell the sand rock etc... but I'm keeping some rock and sand for the 29g. Water changes are a lot easier for fw, just stick the python on and it's done, none of this mixing water or ato or another tank just for water. Personally rays are a lot for easy for me to take care of then these saltwater fish. The lookdown already got ick once but now It's 100% fixed atleast that worked out well, did not want him to die but it gets to the point where it's no fun anymore. I'm still NOT sure though that I will sell which is why I'm waiting until the end of the month two decide. If I was done with it everything would have been up for sale by now.

As others have said, it does get easier once you are settled in.

I think that patience and some solid planning really helps too. As for water changes, once you have a system in place, it isn't difficult at all. Bigger or smaller, you'll still have to deal with an ATO and with water changes. Once you are setup it is fairly straightforward. I have a waterchange bucket that I fill with DI water and mix a few days before I'm going to make my water change. Then I do it. Yes, it takes a little more time that a FW water change but that is part of the hobby.

I'm very busy, being a teacher and having 2 young kids. I'm away 2-3 weeks a year on various school trips and have trouble keeping up with maintenance sometimes. It has taken me almost 2 years to get my new setup going. This way I can plan and prepare for when I know I'll be too busy for maintenance. I even do this with my FW tanks.

I'd say wait at least 2 months before you get out. Like others have said, you're already setup and running. Just sit back and enjoy what you have for now and then see what happens and how you feel. This hobby really requires patience, planning and a calm demeanor. I've seen so many people on this site and other rush and make some pretty big mistakes. You've done a pretty good job so far so keep your chin up and look at the work you've done so far and just enjoy it...

What kind of Arrowana do you have? Any pictures?