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

[zum14]

For sure, Ive kind of gotten used to the thinking of whatever i need i order. I thought t5's and metal halides were the same in a yearly replacement??

[Madreefer]

I was told every 6-8 months. Nedco had some nice good priced fixtures in the summer. Not sure how many bulbs it held but much cheaper if the words fish, reef, aquarium or marine is'nt on it. The cheap Coralife T5 bulbs at our LFS are only $90 each.

[zum14]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

I was told every 6-8 months. Nedco had some nice good priced fixtures in the summer. Not sure how many bulbs it held but much cheaper if the words fish, reef, aquarium or marine is'nt on it. The cheap Coralife T5 bulbs at our LFS are only $90 each.

I make regular orders to JL so Id be going there. Its hard to decide and have to crunch numbers on bulb replacement vs energy consumpsion between metal halide and t5. Do you have 150s or 250s on your tank?

[Madreefer]

I have two 250MH's with four 54w T5's

[zum14]

This is it. The white flag is waving. Ill do a thread up, going to give away the livestock (its not nice enough to sell) I tried so hard but life is really trying me right now and tonight tipped me over the edge. Im not selling hardware. Ill be back, do it properly. Damn I wish life was more like Star Trek. No more money problems.

[Madreefer]

Dude, what the hell?

[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.