Disaster! Since last reporting good things about my fish tank, it has all gone way downhill. In these two months, the algae levels have been uncontrollable at best. I tried adding a bunch of snails to the tank, but those quickly disappeared. I’ve never had good luck with any snails, and I cannot determine if either the hermit crabs are finding an easy snack or if there is something wrong with the tank itself. So that attempt to clear out the algae failed. I tried limiting the amount of time that the new lights are on, but that didn’t help much either.

So I had to resort to extreme cleaning sessions every couple of weeks. I would scrape and remove as much algae as possible, but these sessions didn’t seem to have positive effects on the fish. I think I stressed one of the clownfish into shock a month ago or so, and though I tried to help him out, he eventually found his way to the toilet bowl in the sky. Since that time, I’m assuming that the six line wrasse experienced a similar fate, though I never could find any of his remains. And just last night, I found my last remaining clownfish on the sand bed of the tank.

This is an all time low for the tank, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do. The only form of life left are a couple of hermit crabs that I’ve had for a long time. It seems nothing can kills those guys. So I am considering starting over with the tank, though I will keep the live rock submerged in salt water, as to preserve any beneficial qualities left. Perhaps I should remove all or most of the sand currently in the tank, and replace it with live sand from a fish store. Or maybe I should just give up on it and sell what I’ve invested into this super frustrating hobby.