Has a long term illness or condition in the family changed how you reef
 

Took this idea from another forum

In light of my recent heart attack I have had to make some short term plans for looking after my tank and at least for the next 6 months to a year I will have to make adjustments for consideration of my health and well being which could possibly become permanent depending on what the many tests I am taking find.

With that being said has having a long term or permanent condition changed the way you reefed or having a family member who has constant medical attention needs changed your mindset of how you reef or has it always been part of how you reef?

Well, not permanent (or at least I hope not), but I did have rotator cuff surgery 5 months ago. That basically made me a one armed bandit for a couple months. Slowly starting to use my arm again (right arm), but still lots I can't do. I can't raise it yet or reach out very far (as when trying to reach into my tank). So it has definitely stopped me from doing some things that I had planned.

I want to redo my upstairs tank. That means removing/moving rocks and coral, but have been holding off until I have more use of both arms. Almost there now, though, so might attempt it in the not too distant future.

Having said all that, can't compare my condition to that of a heart attack or many other more severe and possibly long term condition. I still feel very fortunate for the good health I am enjoying.

First of all, sorry about your health condition. Hope your tests give you some good news.

As to your question, my girls love the reef tanks and know the names of most of my fish and corals. I have been training Felicia (and to a lesser extent Isabella) on how I do water changes, clean the glass, etc. I'm hoping that over time, they will remain interested in this addiction and be able to take over. Felicia is the more responsible older daughter so this will probably fall on her if anybody.

The other option is to do what we see on those "Island Life" and "House Hunters International" shows on tv and end up retiring to a tropical beach side paradise where we can snorkel or swim in the coral reefs and forget about keeping a tank at home:wink::biggrin:

Anthony

I have to have surgery on my ankle so I need to "streamline my tank cleaning chores" so my husband can take over while I recover. He's always been my muscle & he'll pitch in here & there but more than that his fish keeping is limited to him enjoying my hard work.
We fully converted my FW tanks over to Seachem's Matrix in the filters instead of charcoal, replanted the tanks with volcanic soil. This has proven to cut needing to clean the tanks in 1/2. My 11 year old daughter has taken to feeding these 2 tanks.
The salt water tank is just being slowly set up & hubby has been involved so that he understands more the day to day. We are sticking with easy to care for corals right now & peaceful fish!

I suppose my daughter's condition/issues reduce the amount of time/care I have for the tank. Lot's of hospitalizations, nurses in the house day and night have impacted my time with the tank. I've tried to balance things out so that it gets the minimum at least, but at the end of the day, it is just a box of water I call a hobby, and there are more important things in life to care about.

I was struggling through 2015 and finally got diagnosed as having RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis). As such, some days parts of me stop working and that has changed how my tank thrived (or failed to). I do my best to just ignore it and push through because the tank does a lot for helping me through stress and/or tough days. I relaxed on some of my habits and continue to try to automate more of the tank. I also had to learn to ask for help more readily if i'm having an attack and need to do something in the tank.

I wish I was still there so I could help Mark! :)

Mark, You will persevere. You will do what needs to be done. It would be good if you train your significant other to do some chores while you are able. Then if/when you are disabled, someone can do temporarily what you cannot.
I hope you will have a minimum of problems.

I must say I am fine now, not a problem to do anything. Back to work. Tank is doing good.
In May 2011 I was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Went through chemo and radiation. And positive thinking helped.
Finished in June. Back to work in Aug. Really pushed myself to recover.
My tank suffered during this time. Some fish and corals died because of lack of maintenance.
I thought that I would be able to keep up the maintenance but that did not happen. I did not have fore sight to train anyone. I was just too weak.

Holy crap, Dietmar, didn't know you had that!! Glad you are OK now. I know a guy at our airport that had it. Thought he was a goner at the time, and felt really bad. But he came through it, and seems to have beat it. He is still a little hoarse, and has to be careful what he drinks and eats, but otherwise is fine. Good luck and wish you the best going forward.

Thanks Walter
Everything is ok now.
The main thing is, one person cannot just maintain a tank. At the very least someone else has to be trained to do a minimum of chores to keep up the water quality. (in my case). Because I just was not interested and did not care.
The other person does not really have to do anything routinely just have knowledge to do things if anything happens.
As in the case of others, you do not know when suddenly something happens and we are temporarily incapacitated.