Quit or start over?

[The Guy]

Oh that sucks , But if you truly love the hobby, learn from what has happened and move forward. yes it's an expensive loss, but it is what it is.
Vortech good quality yes, but the open front end of the wet side steered me away from using them. If you have to use sponge guards to keep the critters out you might as well go with an in tank pump IMO.
Stay with it you'll be glad you did.

[Wildechild_01]

Definitely not throwing in the towel, not the first tank crash I've experienced but definitely the most expensive one to date.... that said, with the water change completed and the lights and flow up and running again looking like i may be okay with the LPS, and lets be honest, if the zoa's don't make it I should probably go back to keeping freshwater Betta's. As i type this the LPS corals are starting to extend again and there is a little bit of extension on the birdsnest. Glad i caught it quick, there was about 8 hours between the last time i looked at the tank and when i found it this morning, just shows how quick things can go south. Skimmer is Skimming away, and i need to head to Calgary to pick up some salt and more carbon.... waterchange worked out around 90G on a 120G + 20G sump system will probably do another change this afternoon depending on readings. I am hoping that with the flow, skimmer, and amount of live rock things level out fairly quick... with 4 Clown fish in the tank its a pretty small Bio-load, the hermit crabs are super active all over the tank getting what i missed, will probably pick up more of them today as well...... oh well... Time to keep going and start planning the re-stock

[dudley moray]

I learned that lesson once too now the only nems I keep are bubble tips
I don't keep hawk fishes anymore either but that's another story !
Good luck brother stay positive

[Wildechild_01]

Originally Posted by dudley moray

I learned that lesson once too now the only nems I keep are bubble tips
I don't keep hawk fishes anymore either but that's another story !
Good luck brother stay positive

I'm curious why no Hawk Fish.. I love Hawk Fish, but if they are a No No for my rebuild that would be good to know...

[mike31154]

My BTAs have split a number of times with the last episode being a quadruple split. They've all migrated from the area the original has been in for 6 years! 3 of them not too far, but one is now on another pile of rockwork, populated by some coral I'm not too keen on losing. Such is the hobby though & fortune is somewhat with me as I also have VorTechs. Luckily the clones didn't float away & get caught in any of them. I wouldn't be too quick to blame the VorTech itself, if a nem starts floating around the way yours probably did, any powerhead could end up sucking it into its intake. I had a lawnmower blenny get caught on the intake of an Aquaclear powerhead years ago. Put one of the large filter cylinders on that ph after the fact, too late for the blenny though.

If you're keen on keeping sps long term, it's probably best not to have anemones in the same tank. I like mine though & am prepared to take the chance with my coral. Only a few sps pieces, mostly soft & lps, so investment is not that high $ wise. Best of luck with your scenario, keep at it. Seems like you enjoy the hobby enough that if you did throw in the towel, you may regret that more.

[hfp75]

Super frustrating... its a real downer.....

what type of Nem and how long had it suffered from suicidal thoughts ?

[dudley moray]

Originally Posted by Wildechild_01

I'm curious why no Hawk Fish.. I love Hawk Fish, but if they are a No No for my rebuild that would be good to know...

I had one once named 'im Hudson hawkefish chased all fish out (literarily out onto the floor) of the tank took him back to the lfs they ended up having to put him in with a couple black tip reef sharks cause he did the same to all their fish

[Llewos]

A lot of people have experienced the same thing! I have lost 2 BTA's and a really cool blue carpet anemone (and carpets usually don't move. It decided to puff up and float around the tank before getting sucked up!) I currently don't have anemones mostly for this reason but you will regret leaving the hobby! My advice, for what its worth, is try another coral that clowns like hosting that give the same motion, ie: elegance, torch, frogspawn, hammer, etc. These will all stay where you put them and most clowns eventually host them. Some prefer them, some wont touch them. Good luck!

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I've come to accept these kinds of mishaps and/or crashes are part of this hobby and IMO if you're not willing to accept that yourself then you should quit because it's really just a matter of time. Wishful and unrealistic thinking to believe it can't and won't happen to you. That said the clean up does suck but the rebuild is worth it, starting over gives new opportunities

this is so true. i felt like tossing in the towel late last year when i lost most of my sps and all of my rics. i never did pinpoint the issue and am calling it my first crash. did a 90% water change and just carried on. a couple months later and it seems the tank has hot a milestone in its maturity and my sps pieces which remain are encrusting back over the dead branches. it's really exciting to watch and overcoming these things can be more rewarding then simply having good luck and success without any hardships.

i vote start over (which you seem to be doing).

[spit.fire]

Originally Posted by dudley moray

I had one once named 'im Hudson hawkefish chased all fish out (literarily out onto the floor) of the tank took him back to the lfs they ended up having to put him in with a couple black tip reef sharks cause he did the same to all their fish

Mine killed 2 peppermint shrimp, a mccoskers wrasse a cleaner shrimp and a fire shrimp

It then proceeded to knock over every coral that wasn't glued down.

Funny thing is it is a model citizen now

Either way I wouldn't have gotten rid of it tho because I doubt I'll ever find another one (Japanese golden hawk fish)