5 fish in a 20g?

[Anonymous]

How does everyone feel about 5 fish in a 20 gallon, one Cirrhilabrus rubripinnis, one Cirrhilabrus solarensis, two pink skunks, and one Halichoeres chrysus?

Too much? It is too many isn't it? FWIW, they all get along "swimmingly" now in a 60.

I need to take my 60 down and am trying to figure out what to do with everybody.

I have a 20 long and a regular 20 gallon tank to choose from.

 

[Len]

Laura, a 20 gallon is too much for those fish. It's arguably too much for one of any of those wrasses since they are such active swimmers. Pick the 20 long if you have the choice.

May I ask why the 60g is coming down?

 

[Anonymous]

May I ask why the 60g is coming down?

I am so sick of equipment failures. I just can't deal with the stress of keeping these things running anymore. Ten years of this is enough. It just seems like no matter how much money you spend, things are continually breaking, failing, or needing constant attention. We had three very expensive return pumps fail on us about a year and a half ago, in succession, with two very serious floods. Not long ago we had an expensive halide lighting system less than a year old crap out on us, and now the ballasts on my lighting system (just over a year old) appear to have failed one after the other. Just when I get another ballast on order, the second one is going out. My fish and corals are in flickering semi darkness, and I just feel so defeated. Even when things have a warrentee there is the huge fiasco of sending things back for repair and going without vital equipment, worrying about your livestock the whole time. . .

I want to give my fish to Marcus and take my tank down and just feed the fishes that are in his care and enjoy them, but not have a tank that is in any way my responsibility anymore. He said he would set up a 20 for my LTA and skunks and keep them himself. The LTA was in my family since way back when you don't even dare mention you want an anemone on the reef boards, and has lived well in a 20g in the past. I was just hoping I could stick the wrasses in there too. I guess I will take them to the fish store but it really breaks my heart because I really love them. These fish are such nice specimens that I hate to get rid of them. It's just so depressing to have these expensive items only last a year or so, over and over, and over and over, I don't want any part of worrying about it anymore. Both ballast failing in succession was just the last straw. I am so sad about this but I really feel like this hobby is out to make me insane. I am going to miss that solar wrasse.

 

[Len]

Ah. Sounds like you have had extremely terrible luck Sorry to hear about that. I've never had an inline pump break on me in 20+ years. The worst failures were an exploding (coralife) bulb, some bad Rios (stupid me to use them), a controller I got wet, and some busted glass heaters (human error). I've set up my current tank such that any failure has minimal effect, although that wet controller which caused my tank boiling event really did a number on fish and corals.

 

[Chubosco]

That really really really sucks!!!

 

[ChrisRD]

Wow - that's a serious run of bad luck. Are you sticking to quality brands with the equipment?

Setting up a system to avoid flooding and minimize potential disaster is very doable IME - just takes some good planning.

That said, I can certainly understand getting tired of all the maintenance and attention a reef tank can require. Maybe you just need a break.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow - that's a serious run of bad luck. Are you sticking to quality brands with the equipment?

I thought we were, two ampmaster pumps, as sequence pump, and two "orbit" lighting systems? I had to have a new, like 5 months old, MH halide ballast sent in for repair last january too that ended up being a total cluster &*(^ and was out waaaaayyyy longer than they said it would be, I can't recall the brand right now, but I know it was supposed to be a good one. This was all in the span of less then two years ago. I just feel burnt out.

Either way, my husband Marcus said he would take over my tank for a while, he is putting the hard corals in his tank, selling the softies, and the fish can hang in the my 60 as a fish only for a while that he will take care off. I told him to do what he wanted with all of it, and he seems tickled to get his paws on my Vortech! :lol: I just need to step away and stop thinking about it for a while. You know when that third pump, the sequence, leaked a whole bunch of water, he wanted to get out of the hobby, but I convinced him to just downsize for a while. :lol: It's kinda hard to get out of reef tank when your spouse and both your parents keep them.

 

[ChrisRD]

I know it doesn't help much now, but I tend to avoid pumps with a mechanical seal and stick to the mag drive units because I'm paranoid of this very thing.

No experience with Orbit fixtures. I can't say I've ever had a ballast fail, but I've mostly used stuff from Sunlight Supply, Giesemann, PFO and IceCap which all seem to be very reliable brands.

Anyway, sounds like you've got a good plan worked out for now. Still, I get this feeling you'll be back before long... :wink:

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry about that string of bad luck.

Is it possible that you have an unclean power supply in your home? I noticed that all your failures were electrical, so perhaps the power source is the culprit.

And I too think those 5 fish would be too much for a 20.

 

[Anonymous]

Laura - if you can find one maybe a 30 long would be a better solution short term. Gives the fish about an extra foot of length to swim.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry about that string of bad luck.

Is it possible that you have an unclean power supply in your home? I noticed that all your failures were electrical, so perhaps the power source is the culprit.

:!: Exactly what I was going to post.

You may want to check the grounding of your electrical system, your circuit breakers, electric panels, maybe the surge protectors you are using etc...Sounds like too many coincidences in the electrical area of the hobby to go wrong without some kind of reason.

 

[Anonymous]

Except that they occured in two separate houses (we moved less than a year ago) and the pump failures were not electric failures, but rather mechanical/seal failures.

The only electric problems have been the ballast issues with our lights, and they were made by the same manufacturer. So, I agree that it wasn't a coincidence, it was most likely POS equipment.

In any event, the 60 gal tank is now gone. Half the corals were sold, half were moved into my tank. I'm taking two of the fish, three are remaining in the 20 gal, and one is going back to the LFS.

Laura was pretty upset by having to take her tank down. She described it as having to admit that this really long-term relationship she had just didn't work out. So I don't know if she will re-visit this thread. I told her not to be upset, people change hobbies all of the time. She will be back someday.

 

[Anonymous]

Awwww.. ..thats so sad...she really wont visit the thread because she is upset by having to do all of this?

I got ya on the electrical system...it seemed to make sense when it was just one home :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I dunno if she will open this thread or not.

I think she is feeling better about it. I am keeping her interesting corals and fish, so she will still "have them" in a sense. But this is the first time in nearly 10 years that she hasn't had a reef set up, so its still kinda wierd I think.

 

[Anonymous]

I dunno if she will open this thread or not.

I think she is feeling better about it. I am keeping her interesting corals and fish, so she will still "have them" in a sense. But this is the first time in nearly 10 years that she hasn't had a reef set up, so its still kinda wierd I think.

I have gone back and forth many times on whether or not to have a reef tank anymore. I have just enough time to maintain it without ever really getting to enjoy it.

The girls look at it for a total of about 5 minutes a month, and I have not added or done a thing to it for a very long time.

I keep it for the few minutes the wife, kids I sit and watch, and when people come over, they enjoy it, since it is more of a rare hobby that people dont get to see often.

Other than that, I am so ready to sell it all and have peace of mind as well from my fears of a burst tank or major leak, or the little one toppling it over.

 

[Anonymous]

I was at the quitting point about a year ago, I was just so sick of everything associated with it (power bills, water bills, stressful vacations, occasional floods, mysterious tissue necrosis, etc.)
I stuck through it, and now (finally) I really like my tank, and spend entirely too much time in front of it or working on it.

My interest ebbs and flows.

For a long time I was so frustrated that no matter how hard I worked, or how much money I put into the tank, it never looked quite right... at least not to me, and it was annoying to work so hard on an algae pit.