Life after reefing

[Animal-Chin]

Well its been a few months without a tank, gotta say the adjustment has been weirdly difficult. There are good things and bad, ups and downs. Here are some thoughts...

Firstly, my electricity bill went down 47% a month since the tank is gone. 47%!!! All those years I told my wife it didn't make a big difference I was full of... But ya holy moly!

Secondly, its super dry in my place. My wife and daughter both quicky had the skin on their face dry up as I wasn't sending 2.5 gallons of evaporated water in the air. Didn't see that side effect coming...lol

I miss having something to tinker with in the evenings. I always had this thing that would temporarily make me forget about work or life or whatever, gotta find something to replace that, it left a hole for sure.

Maintaining a mixed reef was a challenge and doing it right gave me this sense of accomplishment, that's gone now, sure my life has other things in it but looking at that box of awesomeness every day and seeing everything happy in there really felt good. Flip side, I haven't had a coral die in a long time! lol I do feel better about that, I always had this little internal moral dilemma about keeping these animals in a tank. Small thing but...

I really miss trips to J&L, King Ed Pets, Fish Addicts, ect. Nothing like finding that coral you've been missing or that one fish you've always wanted. Talking to the staff about how your tank is going, all that fun stuff. I drove through Burnaby on Saturday and it really hit me, I have NO reason to ever go to J&L again, I went there regularly for 8 years. Are they worried about me? lol Should I check in and let them know its nothing personal?

I don't have to make water, change water, spill water, test water, dose water, put my arms in water... this is nice, when I get the feeling like I made a mistake taking it down I remember the maintenance I don't worry bout now and it changes my mind.

Is this gone forever? Hard to say, with the rising prices of everything in the hobby it may be. Maybe a nano creeps back into my life someday. maybe FOWRL, maybe a 300 gallon all sps monster tank...guess time will tell...

Oh and the internet, I don't look at fish sites, post on fish boards, shop for coral/equipment. I've had to unsubscribe from a zillion things and seeing reeftanks on instragram makes me low key angry? Its weird, its like you have to go cold turkey, you can't want videos from MrSaltwater Tank anymore...

Anyway, just some thoughts from an ex reefer trying to figure out if he made the right decision. Hope you're all well and still love your tanks.

Your friend, Animal Chin.

[ReefMadness]

after 30 years of keeping a tank I can't say I've ever really considered what it'd be like to not have one so it was an interesting viewpoint.
so long as I'm physically, financially and mentally in good shape I think I'll always have a tank of some type. reef retirement for me will probably just mean downsizing to a 40g nano... I mean where else am I going to go to mindlessly burn hours of my life lol.

[Dash]

You’ll be saying this soon enough...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU

Very interesting post - thanks for sharing your thoughts. I won’t mention that electricity bill bit to the husband though. He brought up the higher bill once & I convinced him it was because of our cold winter heh heh.

Three years in and the tank is the first thing I think about when I get up and the last thing I attend to before going to bed. Yes I need help.

[Animal-Chin]

lol ya not gonna lie, I have had thoughts like "maybe a nano would be ok"...lol

Ugh.

[Skimmer Juice]

well on the bright side you can start a new system anytime you want . But I dont think I could go without a system , not to mention I cant get rid of any of my sea pets so as long as they are living I will have a system . the power bill is quit crazy drop though

[gregzz4]

Hey Gord, I understand.
Many times I have thought of shutting it down, but my wife wants me to keep it running.
I'd like to miss all the maintenance and other required times I could be doing something else.
I'd like to forego the costs but the wife still says keep it running.
If I didn't have it I'd have some free time, but there are many nights as you mentioned that I'd be looking for something else to do.
I'm still on the fence, as I have been for nearly a year now.
Do I keep it running, or sell everything and move on ...
For me, if I shut it down and sell off everything, I'd never come back due to the costs of new hardware.

I don't spend the time staring at the tank that I used to because I don't have enough free time.
This is why I'm debating why do I keep it if I don't actually spend time looking at it?

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by Animal-Chin

Anyway, just some thoughts from an ex reefer trying to figure out if he made the right decision. Hope you're all well and still love your tanks.

A reef tank is quite a commitment so taking down one's reef is quite a big decision, practically a lifestyle decision. It sounds like you're coping with change which isn't a bad thing. You can come and go from the hobby with ease and you shouldn't feel responsible to people more than your immediate family so it seems like you're doing what your heart desires, which is good.

If it makes you feel any better, I left the aquarium hobby entirely around 2009, and it was actually a relief to look after some other things in my life for a period. The hiatus lasted about 6 years, and when I got back into the hobby I had matured in my outlook on time and money put in vs reward. I spend less money on the hobby, make fewer changes, and have healthier livestock and more free time as a result. It took the break to make that change.

Whether you get back into it or not, feel good about the change you've made and how things will be going forward. Good luck!

[blacknife]

I don't want to, but SHOULD take a break.

Posted my livestock up for reholming on the local groups, had to take a time out for kid time on the weekend but really it was just stressing me out to much all the vultures messaging me<sorry if any of you are here>. Just before seeing this post i had the brainwave of yeah if all/most of my rock goes and that leaves me with just some coral/small rocks i got about 5 little tanks i can chose to throw that in so i am not OUT of the game untill i can restart. guess i should go mix up some water for that lol.

but yeah.. its all the little things i don't want to miss.

[Animal-Chin]

Well it looks like reefing is in my blood, I just ordered the new Red Sea Max E 170 on Friday...lol Just waiting or it to be delivered and back in I go! lol

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by Animal-Chin

Well it looks like reefing is in my blood, I just ordered the new Red Sea Max E 170 on Friday...lol Just waiting or it to be delivered and back in I go! lol

I knew it!!!! Lol welcome back, just didn’t expect so soon