Okay rebirth or get out....I need some advice

[ZeroHour]

So my 62 Red Sea had a crash of sorts I lost 3 fish no corals but the tank basically turned into dustbowl....

What I can best surmise is somehow my diamond goby dug up something that caused a major issue. All my params were great a few days ago.

Had a bit of dust last night like he was sifting...then this morning WHAM dead khole tang, dead Mandarin, missing clown goby.

All corals look fine but my Hippo Tang is super stressed. The clown, Diamond, 1 chromis that I had left from years ago, and inverts are all doing fine.

I have transferred 80% water and 20% new into my 15 nano setup with NO SAND BED. It is stocked with corals and looks amazing now but not sure itll handle this group this close together. Gonna run my reactor with carbon as well as run chemipure on it for now.


Which leads me to where I am. Im tired of sandbeds especially the shiz that can build up in places I cant clean behind the rock scape. Havin to tear into it to get the dead ones out today turned the tank into a cesspool.

So im now torn...try to keep the nano and stock it the way I have it and unload the big tank...

OR take the time and do a rebirth on the big tank and get her cycling now. I cant clean this sand bed without destrpying it and causing an uber cycle...So here i sit...do you think anyone would pay a reasonable price for a 250D redsea max with a bunch of extra new bulbs, koralia's, cabinet stand, etc. and a spare hood?

Or should I just totally rebirth it as a fowler or reef with a bare bottom.... I am just not sure im into it as I was before and the nano sure seems more manageable. maybe a 29 nano as a partial trade on the big tank? Im open to ideas.

[FireWater]

We all have had times that make us question our sanity. Take a moment and think it through.

I would also look at all possibilities and causes before deciding on the goby causing the sand to kill the tank. I have done more rearranging of sand in my tank than a school of gobies could and never had this issue.

I feel for you and know it sucks.

[ZeroHour]

i cannot find anything else that would have caused it i tore the whole thing down and am debating on what to do, my corals are in my nano that i was gonna get rid of its amazing how nicely stocked the 14 looks lol.

[ZeroHour]

I at this point dont know what I want to do. We have the distinct possibility of having to move in about 9 months. With it at least taken down right now it seems logical to run the nano if I can for now and just not go through the effort of setting the bigger one back up. I think it may be better for my sanity and the fish.

[Europhyllia]

If you sell just know that most likely people will want to kind of customize their own set-up - meaning complete sales are rare unless price is fantastic. If you want reasonable prices for everything you may have to make peace with the idea of parting it out.

I sold my 215 and just have a 60g seahorse tank and a 29g clownfish nano and... I LOVE it. I feel like I learned a lot and accomplished a lot with my big tank. But I don't miss it. And I don't miss the maintenance.

Giving up the big tank has allowed me to fully immerse myself into my old hobby (horses) and I've never been happier.
I've had several crashes with my horse hobby too. And it hurts but is generally a tad cheaper. The only sand I worry is the arena sand in my ears (after a fall) and there are no mysterious crashes -I usually know what happened -unlike with tanks where everything can go great and then suddenly everything dies.

I have absolutely no regrets giving it up.

If you don't feel the passion for this right now then why not take a break? If you are unsure you can always store the tank and stuff and keep your options open right now.

[ZeroHour]

I wondered what happened with your tank actually.

I think im gonna do just that. The corals are housed okay in my 14 and what doesnt fit is being sold. I may try and find a 29 for now. They look absolutely killer in there so IF everything works in there and plays nice we will just stick it out in there, if it proves too small then ill think of a 24 or 29.

I still love doing it but cannot justify resetting everything if we may be moving. its unfair to the animals the most as its just un-due stress, and by the time I do WHAT I FEEL is a proper cycle id have at most 4 months with anything in it...that to me is pointless.

I did lose some other corals from this a few of my Pink Yuma babies etc that I was working on cultivating. But it is what it is. The 14 is stunning ill post pics and im running it bare bottom.

Now i just need to nurse back my hippo so I can find him a new home. He had some sores that showed up from this. He seems surprisingly happy in the nano for now and he looks MUCH better and is eating so hopefully when hes back we can roll him into a new tank.

He has to be around 6-7 years old at the minimum.

I believe I will be able to keep everything else I have though I will most likely have to split my duncan colony to, it fits when its not very open in there just fine, but if it gets acclimated its beyond huge for this tank.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

He has to be around 6-7 years old at the minimum. hippo? really in a nano
You can get some pretty fish in there that wont grow biggg

[Scutterborn]

Dude, I've got a deal I'm working now that may put my 185 into gear again. I may be able to free up a 28g nanocube in the next few weeks. I'll post it for sale here and it won't be expensive. Maybe we could work a deal on cash plus coral or something. Sorry to hear all of this is going on. If this helps you and is up your alley, let me know. I've also got a 75g you could borrow if you just need a place to house some stuff until you get this all situated.


- Ben -

[ZeroHour]

He has to be around 6-7 years old at the minimum. hippo? really in a nano
You can get some pretty fish in there that wont grow biggg

BB he wasnt IN the nano before, this is a temporary house. The shape he was in is coming around already and he will be moved forward prob in a week or so. I have no intent of keeping him there im not a newb here. This was just a move today because of the crash. He is old but hasn't grown big. Hes prob about 5 inches. I got him from another person that took their tank down 3 years ago, and he got it from someone that took a tank down 3 years before that. So I am guessing this is a minimum on his age. He has had issues over the time I have had him. He gets occasional sores that I cant ID. They come and go and never seem to effect him but he was hurting before tonight. He is doing well in there for now though and if it looked like it was stressing him I would move him into my LR bin that I have going right now. I have nursed fish back before like this and I honestly dont think I am hurting him in any way.

I know what can be put in a 14 that stays small, im thinking maybe you didnt read everything that preceeded this.



And I would definitely be into a 28 cube and appreciate the heads up let me know. As for the 75 I appreciate it but I am good for the moment.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

My bad.

[Big_Pun]

how is flow in that tank, if your having that much build up to knock it out in 24 hours something is missing. also maybe you should change rock work and make it more flow friendly so everything is kept in water column and make it through filtration.

[ZeroHour]

Hey Pun I appreciate the suggestions, I tore it down completely I think ill just stick with the nano till I know if we have to move. We will know by Thanksgiving so that will be my decider.

As for the flow this tank had beyond enough or at least I thought. I was running 2 rio's one and 2 massive koralia 4's I believe they are plus the skimmer pump. The rio's IIRC I havent pulled them to ck again were a 1700 and either an 11 or 1400 as well. there were outflows at either end as well as the 2 Ph's there was a rip wave in this tank. And it has been happy for well over a year. I really cant put my finger on what happened to be honest. Whatever it is its done and dealt with now.

[OrionN]

Since you are going to be moving in a few months. I would just stick to the Nano for now and wait.
I don't think it is the sand bed that cause problem. You got to look for some other cause. I got deep sand bed that I stir up some time, and all I got is a very cloudy tank for a day or two. Anemone, coral and fish not affects. Sometime for major cleaning of old sand bed, I vacuum the sand 1/3 or so at a time. Tank all the rock/croral out, the fish out (so they don't run into my carpet) and start suction away. I first stir up the sand to get the finer particles to the surface, then I suction. No problem.