Ever feel like you've had enough?

[pufferlover]

Tacks; sorry to hear about your problems but believe me I've been there done that ans still come back for more. The worst I had was a few months back when 4 out of 10 tanks were sick but we hung in kept working on them and now I have one little 20 giving me problems but the rest are fine again. Frankly I had more trouble when I had my first tank then I do with 10 now but I learned a lot as I kept encountering problems. Now as far as the UV I tend to agree a 15 should be enough on a 125 (I run one on my 125 and one on my 135 and have had no problems). Hang in there because the good days are coming (in this hobby they tend to follow the bad ones and that keeps us sucked into this money pit).

 

[dathem]

Hello,
Sorry about your problems but don't give up. I don't think you did anything really wrong but I would add a few more power heads, I have 4 in my 55 gal plus a outside power filter, a Pequin 330 with double bio-wheels. The CC is ok but I believe ls to be much better, I have a layer of CC with 40 pounds of ls on top. The ls doesn't need to be vaccumed, like the cc does. If the cleanup crew isn't keeping up, try adding a few more snails. I bought a Hover Dragon fish and it is really cleaning the algae off the substrate.
I have never used a UV unit, they may work for some people but they kill the good and the bad and I know I can have a good tank without one. IMHO I would turn it off until your tank is in better condition, you need to have it off anyway to treat the tank with any meds.
Hope you get your tank in good working order soon.

 

[tacks]

Thank you to everyone for all your help,
My tank is doing better. I guess maybe I just got a bad fish. The other four seem to be fine. I'm gonna get another powerhead.
The day I posted this I was seriously considering giving up. All of you really helped my spirits and I thank you for that.
I still have the algea problem although it seems to be at a stand still. It's not getting any worse. What's a Hoover Dragon fish? I've never heard of it before.
Soon I will add a lawnmower blenny. I'm gonna give it a few weeks.
Once again, Thanks so much for all the replies...

 

[pufferlover]

Glad your feeling better again. We all go thru that pit of the stomach why do I keep trying this, but when things start to work it is a high that can't be explained. You will get there and then for sure you are hooked.

 

[dathem]

Hello,
A Hover Dragon is not a colorful fish but it hovers almost motionless then dives down and grabs a mouthful of sand and filters food out and then passes what it doesn't eat out through its gills. It is a gobie, I believe, and it grows about 6 ", my 20 gal Q-tank was getting full of algae everywhere and the lfs had some 3-4" ones and it has done a great job cleaning the substrate in just a few days. It doesn't look quite so meanlike the lawnmower blenny does.The Dragoon hide for about a hr or so then it started doing its thing and isn't afraid of me when I get close to the tank to feed it, I am glad to have it.
Hope that helps and glad that your tank seems to be getting better!