Tylers ~300Gal System Build. *The epic failure*

[zum14]

Well..... where to start.......I guess it was a while back now we were doing our kitchen in aug. We found water in our newly reno'd walls. Found a vent on the exterior wall was located slightly above the roof line of the carport. It was rotten so down the roof came, still need to pull structure down. Then as im driving up to the dump my jeep started acting up. Cost me $500 in electronics (long story) to find out the oil pump has a stiff spot and took the distributor and cam out. To do the cam I have to pull the engine and head, so might as well rebuild it. Its still sitting at work... Were down to one car. About a day after parking my jeep my car started acting up. Its teetering on the brink of disaster as I havent found the problem yet. So moving forward with life, started putting our kitchen back together. Water on the floor. %#^$. Found that our dishwashers back corner of the inside tub has turned into swiss cheeze from steak knives and such poking it when closing the door. Its ok I can run without a dishwasher. Wife does some laundry, we hear a BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG, go down, The drum is seperating from the tray on top and bangs around on spin. Screw it, it can bang, no money for it right now. So halloween rolls around. Wife runs downstairs for something. Asks me why theres water in a box. Look up. Oh joy the toilet is leaking upstairs through the floor and through the cieling downstairs. Neat. OK well we still have a toilet downstairs. Ha. That jammed up and required a call out from roto rooter. $160 later the toilets out in the carport and the upstairs one comes downstairs. Ill fix the floor upstairs later. Ok so tanks still ok. Corals kinda up and down. Waters good. Figured everything can just sort of hold out till all this gets wrapped up and we can come back. Well then we got a bill this month for electricity. $240. I cant afford that every month right now. I figured oh we must of been playing catch up from the last couple months. Crunched some numbers, nope. Looks like with the extra energy from the cold and well it being dark at 4 its going to be steady all month. So I have been racking my brain for the last week or so trying to figure out what to do. My first thought was major downsizing. My problem is all routes require new lighting to help with energy consumption and other various peices needed with the downsizing. The wife even suggested moving the tank upstairs to help with not having to heat so much ( shes doesnt like this hobby which really doesnt help as im sure many know ) So I figured ok sure we can do this. Should be spending the money elsewhere where its needed but we will do this and get to the other stuff. Well tonight were sitting watching tv. Hear a DRIP, DRIP, DRIP. *Sigh* Get up and walk out to the living room. Well it turns out the attic isnt vented well enough and being that my attic isnt insulated really well (ive known about this so its partially my fault) with all the excess moisture from the tanks my attic looks like the frost buildup in an old freezer. Yay...... Its really not my houses fault. Its not a piece of junk, nor is anything inside it. I just have that kind of luck. Most dont belive me at first but soon they all come around and realize I am really, really unlucky. So ya, I hit the brakes, I tried, but it won. Itll get shut down to reduce humidity (oh and we spent $300 on a dehumidifier to try to get the humidity down already) to stop attic frosting and try to catch up on some other problems. It would sure be nice to have 2 vehicles again. Ill be back, Im not selling any hardware or rock(not sure how to treat and store but i havent asked the search function yet) Ill store it all and start up again one day. Just doesnt seem like it was ment to be right now. OH and I forgot that I found 2 more coral crunching crabs in the tank too, robyn said he hasnt heard of anyone having soo many pests in one single batch of liverock. Ya everything was good for like 6 months. I should of known.....theres a few more but well we will leave it at that.

[Madreefer]

Wow! What a story. You sure have had alot of bad luck lately. I feel for you dude. I hope things turn around for you and quick. Have you thought of maybe setting up a nano for the time being? At least it would be something to keep you interested in the hobby until you get things sorted out. When your ready you know theres a couple of us in town that are constantly fragging all the time. I'm bad as I trim and throw away. It's that or take it to our LFS to watch them slowly kill it. I hope you can find good homes for your livestock as the LFS is really not in the best conditions right now with the SW guy only workin 3 days a week now. If you want I can help you find homes for your stuff as I know a few SW in town guys that don't want any part of the internet stuff. I could also babysit some of your stuff until you want it back. Take care of yourself and don't abandon us here.

[zum14]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Wow! What a story. You sure have had alot of bad luck lately. I feel for you dude. I hope things turn around for you and quick. Have you thought of maybe setting up a nano for the time being? At least it would be something to keep you interested in the hobby until you get things sorted out. When your ready you know theres a couple of us in town that are constantly fragging all the time. I'm bad as I trim and throw away. It's that or take it to our LFS to watch them slowly kill it. I hope you can find good homes for your livestock as the LFS is really not in the best conditions right now with the SW guy only workin 3 days a week now. If you want I can help you find homes for your stuff as I know a few SW in town guys that don't want any part of the internet stuff. I could also babysit some of your stuff until you want it back. Take care of yourself and don't abandon us here.

Hey thanks, you get used to the luck really. Hahaha go up after typeing that and grab a slice of pizza, threw it in the nuker, light comes on, no turn or buzz, hahaha figured its a timer or something, nooo noo its busted. haha Oh and christmas coming too. My dad was 24 when he had his first heart attack. This years my year. haha. Its better I just get right out for a while. Take a rest. Ill be back for sure. Going to do it smarter next time. I learned a lot and have to thank everyone that helped me learn.

[lastlight]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck or whatever you want to call it. 2009 in its entirety was like that for my family and 2010 has been a move in the positive direction so chin up you can turn it around just takes time.

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by zum14

Well..... where to start.......I guess it was a while back now we were doing our kitchen in aug. We found water in our newly reno'd walls. Found a vent on the exterior wall was located slightly above the roof line of the carport. It was rotten so down the roof came, still need to pull structure down. Then as im driving up to the dump my jeep started acting up. Cost me $500 in electronics (long story) to find out the oil pump has a stiff spot and took the distributor and cam out. To do the cam I have to pull the engine and head, so might as well rebuild it. Its still sitting at work... Were down to one car. About a day after parking my jeep my car started acting up. Its teetering on the brink of disaster as I havent found the problem yet. So moving forward with life, started putting our kitchen back together. Water on the floor. %#^$. Found that our dishwashers back corner of the inside tub has turned into swiss cheeze from steak knives and such poking it when closing the door. Its ok I can run without a dishwasher. Wife does some laundry, we hear a BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG, go down, The drum is seperating from the tray on top and bangs around on spin. Screw it, it can bang, no money for it right now. So halloween rolls around. Wife runs downstairs for something. Asks me why theres water in a box. Look up. Oh joy the toilet is leaking upstairs through the floor and through the cieling downstairs. Neat. OK well we still have a toilet downstairs. Ha. That jammed up and required a call out from roto rooter. $160 later the toilets out in the carport and the upstairs one comes downstairs. Ill fix the floor upstairs later. Ok so tanks still ok. Corals kinda up and down. Waters good. Figured everything can just sort of hold out till all this gets wrapped up and we can come back. Well then we got a bill this month for electricity. $240. I cant afford that every month right now. I figured oh we must of been playing catch up from the last couple months. Crunched some numbers, nope. Looks like with the extra energy from the cold and well it being dark at 4 its going to be steady all month. So I have been racking my brain for the last week or so trying to figure out what to do. My first thought was major downsizing. My problem is all routes require new lighting to help with energy consumption and other various peices needed with the downsizing. The wife even suggested moving the tank upstairs to help with not having to heat so much ( shes doesnt like this hobby which really doesnt help as im sure many know ) So I figured ok sure we can do this. Should be spending the money elsewhere where its needed but we will do this and get to the other stuff. Well tonight were sitting watching tv. Hear a DRIP, DRIP, DRIP. *Sigh* Get up and walk out to the living room. Well it turns out the attic isnt vented well enough and being that my attic isnt insulated really well (ive known about this so its partially my fault) with all the excess moisture from the tanks my attic looks like the frost buildup in an old freezer. Yay...... Its really not my houses fault. Its not a piece of junk, nor is anything inside it. I just have that kind of luck. Most dont belive me at first but soon they all come around and realize I am really, really unlucky. So ya, I hit the brakes, I tried, but it won. Itll get shut down to reduce humidity (oh and we spent $300 on a dehumidifier to try to get the humidity down already) to stop attic frosting and try to catch up on some other problems. It would sure be nice to have 2 vehicles again. Ill be back, Im not selling any hardware or rock(not sure how to treat and store but i havent asked the search function yet) Ill store it all and start up again one day. Just doesnt seem like it was ment to be right now. OH and I forgot that I found 2 more coral crunching crabs in the tank too, robyn said he hasnt heard of anyone having soo many pests in one single batch of liverock. Ya everything was good for like 6 months. I should of known.....theres a few more but well we will leave it at that.

F***. Hope things turn around. My house has had its own share of moisture and mold issues from my tank this year. Joyous times.

[whatcaneyedo]

Wow you and Chris should talk (if he was still in the country). This sounds just like his life when he had a tank running. Crappy.

[zum14]

YAY!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeee. Hahaha. So all is not lost! The wife finally got tired of me dragging my feet and mopeing around this last week. She asked me to set up a small tank upstairs. We talked about it and she actually said she wanted me to. Thats big for her as my tanks have pretty much been money she doesnt want to spend. Now its not really huge as not much is going to change as far as the downsizing. Its only going to be a 24" tank. 15 or 20 gal depends whats available. So any fish I had was too big for this nano so that doesnt change, and im still good with the coral downsize, just might want a few frags of some stuff if thats cool. I think im going to keep it fishless for a bit, keep just a few corals. I want to make sure I can keep up with the demands for a nano before investing in any livestock. The only thing I really need is going to be a light. Anyone think a 150W halide pendant will be too much for a 12" or 15" deep tank?? Ill go flourecent, I gots no problem with that but just really like the look of the phoenix 14K. Im just stoked its still alive.

[Madreefer]

Well that did'nt last long. Haha Right on, good to hear. That guy that runs the home business has some used tanks. Don't forget to call me when you need some stuff to put in your nano.

[zum14]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Well that did'nt last long. Haha Right on, good to hear. That guy that runs the home business has some used tanks. Don't forget to call me when you need some stuff to put in your nano.

Ya I know. haha. I guess the wife was tired of seeing a dirty lower lip. It was hanging pretty low last week. haha. Its going to be interesting. Ill start a new tank journal.