Should I get out or switch to FOWLR

I've had my reef tank up and running for a few years now, a few things have changed in my life and I have not been able to keep the tank as nice as it used to be when I put more time into it. Last night my apex base unit died and it got me thinking if I should just sell everything and get out. After sleeping on it I thought maybe I could go FOWLR.

Most of my corals have died off, I have a few zoa gardens, xenia and one SPS (not sure the name). I also have 3 BTA's and a leather.

If I go FOWLR I think I could either sell my light fixture and get something smaller or just run less bulbs on it (and keep it in case I decide to go back to reef later on). Also I could get rid of my dosing pumps. I have 3 6105's in my 180, would I need that much flow for a FOWLR?

My main question is, for those of you that have done both, what is the maintenance workload difference between reef and FOWLR? I have been very inconsistent on doing water changes, and even more so of maintaining CA/ALK.

Anyone have any other thoughts that I should consider? Thanks for reading.

FOWLR is a lot easier IMO and you shouldn't need as much flow.

Vince, you had another crash? It would be much easier to change to FOWLR and you could also save your equipment when you are ready to commit to reefing again. Also, if you have a automatic doser why would it be hard to keep the CA/ALK levels. Things are so much easier for me with a controller and auto doser.

Also, keep in mind there are people who are successful at doing few or no water changes but you need everything going right.

To me its hard to leave the hobby after putting so much time into it but there has to be a turning point to change your mind.

No crash mike, just the tank looks pretty sucky for a while now. ive had 2 dosers for a while, but i never get around to refilling them with the ca/alk mix. thats why my corals died. i have a hanna alk meter ive only used like twice and the CA kit never been used. I think I am going to go FOWLR and sell off some of the stuff I dont need.

I agree with you that its hard to leave after putting so much into it, last night i was ready to throw everything out the window, but after sleeping on it im going to keep it going with the fish and go from there.

Yeah, too bad theres nothing thats hands free but glad that you're sticking with sw.

Been there, done that, got the T shirt.

I'd suggest going FOWLR for a while. You can keep your equipment. Just disconnect it and clean it well, then store it. Or sell it and if you go back, you can have a good excuse to buy newer/better.

I let my tank go for about 2 or more years when I had a power outage and lost a lot of my prize fish, mainly my extra large pair of Naso tangs and my Moorish Idol. I did occasional water changes when it got too bad and you couldn't see in the tank. Now I'm getting back into it.

So yes, take a break, go FOWLR and see where you are in a year or so and then go from there.

Good luck.

I also vote FOWLR, I don't think you need all of that flow either, and you can def. scale back on lights. I would also keep your equipment, unless your hard pressed for the money. You might be able to run a tank with mushrooms and xania without really having to watch the parameters of the tank. I cured some live rock and used a rock with a mushroom on it to seed the rest. I thought it would for sure die, and it didn't its a lot hardier than you might think.