I might be done...but not today

[Myka]

Oh no Tony!!! Keep your chin up. These things happen. It really sucks to have to take some steps backwards right when you start to feel happy about the tank. I think we've all had disasters at some point or another. I've had heaters fail twice cooking two entire tanks. Now I am smarter than the heaters. I am due for a disaster though...maybe my recent brush with red bugs will cure me for awhile. It's easy to toss in the towel and give up. Sometimes it's good to do that. Or downgrade. Everyone is always on the upgrade...sometimes downgrading is better!!

How are your corals looking?

[Delphinus]

Thanks Myka. Corals, interestingly enough, don't look too bad today, but bear in mind I only have zoanthids and gorgonians and clams. The zoanthids were quickly receding on account of the butterfly, the gorgonians seem to be bulletproof anyhow, and the clams.. well, two of them look like hell, one of them looks like heck, and then the last 4 of them look like nothing was ever the matter. I'm sort of expecting the lose the two hellers (they look that bad.. .. kind of wondering if I should maybe just .. er, do something about it .. like freeze them and put them out of their misery), and I'm hoping for the best for the hecker, sometimes they just seem to gape for a day, and well the tank did go through a trauma so it's not unexpected to see reaction .. just hoping for the best right now, you never know, maybe they'll pull through).

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Thanks Myka. Corals, interestingly enough, don't look too bad today, but bear in mind I only have zoanthids and gorgonians and clams. The zoanthids were quickly receding on account of the butterfly, the gorgonians seem to be bulletproof anyhow, and the clams.. well, two of them look like hell, one of them looks like heck, and then the last 4 of them look like nothing was ever the matter.

Clams are weenies. I hope they pull through for you. Why do they have to be sooooooooooooo perdy when they are such a pain in the butt???

[sharuq1]

So sorry to hear about this Tony I hope what's left pulls through. You've been a real inspiration to many of us (including me) so I'm really rooting for you to stay in the hobby.

[LostMind]

Tony, you were here when I started my crazy reef tank adventure many many years ago. You're still here. Don't do what I did... faced a little adversity and I quit (broke my 320g dream tank). Since the day I tore down the 120g and 90g, I've been looking to get into another tank.

I regret my decision to give up those two tanks nearly every day. I've since moved to a newer house with much less room to keep tanks and am searching for ways to fit in a new tank.

You do not want to be me! Although, I do not want to be you right now

Then again, I don't think you need a pep talk.

Good luck though.

[Delphinus]

Thanks. To be honest the sheer logistics of pulling out are daunting enough to keep me to press on. I'm also too far along on my inwall (despite the running joke of how long it's taking to put water in it) to really abort that, the whole basement has been drawn up around it so .. so I guess that's that. Just have to find a way to make it work is all.

If this isn't an argument to consider BB tanks though and forgo the need to have cucumbers in the tank, I'm not sure what is. Although it's weird, if it was the hitchhiker cucumber, I thought it was a garden variety tiger-tail, and I thought these were reasonably safe to keep. Although I suppose if something happened like it went into the overflow pipe or a pump intake, who knows, maybe in that case still, "anything goes."

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

If this isn't an argument to consider BB tanks though and forgo the need to have cucumbers in the tank, I'm not sure what is.

You don't need cucumbers in the tank. I have never put one in any of my tanks simply because I think they are disasters waiting. Plus, there are other critters that do the job just as well - particularly conches and sand sifting gobies.