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

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by hillegom

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.

Yup, so true. But if that happened to me, would likely shut down my tank, and turn my attention to other life priorities and family.

[crimper]

Hey Dearth, first of you'll be fine so don't be discouraged.

Yours is a minor heart attack... I had a Cardiac Arrest 2 years ago, got stented and was lucky to survive. Then after a year I went on another procedure which they had implanted an ICD on me. On the first year I was totally depressed as I was only a shadow of a man I used to be. The biggest frustration of course is how am I gonna take care of my tanks? No more scuba diving for me... etc.

That time that I got ill, I got so many tanks running. I have been breeding discus and for people who are aware how tedious it is to keep discus is... tell me about "Daily Water Change."

But my life didn't stop there, I didn't let infirmity stop me from doing things that I love. I was lucky my wife supported me and managed to take care of everything when I was in the hospital with the help of my father in law until I had decided to let go of everything except for my 57G reef. This tank served as a therapy for me while I was recovering. In fact my Reef addiction got worsen.

All I can say is, it depends on the people that surrounds you. I always thank my wife for understanding and supporting me with all I've gone through. My father in law and my son who lift things for me when I need to as I was refrained from lifting things.

Life and reefing must go on for me... as a matter of fact I am working on my ultimate goal... "To go back home and scuba dive on one of the nicest reef in my country." I'm hoping I will be allowed to dive for less than 50 ft.

By the way I'm back working full time for almost a year now.

Stay positive!

[Borderjumper]

Originally Posted by hillegom

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.

I so agree!

Last fall i injured my right foot and just got that pretty much healed then I tore my right rotator cuff. Water changes basically stopped and the tanks were looking pretty ghetto. My husband took an interest in the living room tank and pretty much took over its care he does all the water hauling and does the water changes now in that tank so that his tusk fish doesn't croak. The other two little tanks are pretty much ricordea, nems and zoas which don't really mind my lack of Maintanance .

[BMW Rider]

I went through a period of being incapacitated due to injuries a few years back. I did still manage to look after the basics on my tank, but my wife did assist with the heavy lifting until I was finally able to resume. I have made strides in automating my tank and minimizing the amount of regular work it demands. Still, I am considering that reality that I will soon need to decide whether I continue in the hobby , or if I need to find someone to do routine upkeep. This will be not so much from an ability standpoint as it will be from a lifestyle change. I'm nearing retirement and hope to be spending more time traveling which will mean I won't be home to look after the tank.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

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.

Saw my surgeon today,... and bad news. My first surgery didn't work, and will now need shoulder replacement surgery (reverse metal ball and socket). Scheduled for Mar 14, so will be another 6 months after that before I can do stuff again.

So, crap,... do I try to redo my tank before that, or wait until after next summer? I do have some use of my right arm again, and think I could do it. My tank really needs to get redone (I said that last winter), as the mushrooms are really taking over... But if I have any trouble or difficulties with the tank following the surgery, won't be able to fix anything. My wife is OK with feeding the fish and minor maintenance. And will be able to change water after a couple months with her help. But not anything else.

So I have some decisions to make...

[input80]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

Saw my surgeon today,... and bad news. My first surgery didn't work, and will now need shoulder replacement surgery (reverse metal ball and socket). Scheduled for Mar 14, so will be another 6 months after that before I can do stuff again.

So, crap,... do I try to redo my tank before that, or wait until after next summer? I do have some use of my right arm again, and think I could do it. My tank really needs to get redone (I said that last winter), as the mushrooms are really taking over... But if I have any trouble or difficulties with the tank following the surgery, won't be able to fix anything. My wife is OK with feeding the fish and minor maintenance. And will be able to change water after a couple months with her help. But not anything else.

So I have some decisions to make...

Let me know if I can help out on weekends Walter.

[hillegom]

Plus 2
Walter, if you need help, let me know.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Plus 3.

Was going to post earlier but it may be a good thing I waited till others chimed in.

Walter, if you get all the stuff organized on your end, let us know what days/times will work and maybe we have a "work party" at your place one weekend soon to get your tank moved or redone or whatever. You supply the plan & we'll supply the muscle

I think its a good idea to get it all done ahead of time, before your second surgery.

My good friends TomR & Chin Lee both told me to prepare my tanks ahead of time to be neglected for 6 to 9 months after my first daughter was born. I did that and boy was I glad I listened to their advice because the tanks were neglected for 9 months post-birth. If we can come over and give you a hand to get everything set up the way you want before your surgery, you'll have one less thing to worry about (less stress = heal better). Your tank(s) are supposed to help you relax and relieve stress, not generate unnecessary stress every time you look at it and think "I need to change this or move that." Let us help you out so you can enjoy your tank post-surgery, not stress out over it.

If there's issues afterwards, post on here and some of us can come out again to fix them.

Cheers & good luck,

Anthony

[Reef Pilot]

Thanks everyone, for the kind words and offer to help. It is very much appreciated. You guys are all a great bunch, for sure. But I want to keep things in perspective. I consider my shoulder issue more of an inconvenience than anything else. I have already gone skiing once this year, and plan to do as much I can (depends on snow conditions, I'm a powder hound) before the next surgery. So no one should have any sympathy for me.

But I do have some decisions to make. I think I will be quite able to redo the tank before the surgery. But as you guys also know, that is not the end of it. My concern is if things go bad in the tank afterwards (corals not doing well, etc), I will not be in a good position to fix it.

And I know I have many offers to help, which I will not hesitate to call on if I need it. But would like to make the right decision too, for what is best for my tank and livestock as well.

My choices are a 1) major redo, 2) minor moving around of rocks and trying to beat back as many mushrooms as possible, or 3) nothing and wait until my shoulder recovers again. At the moment I am leaning on #2, just doing enough to help the tank (and my SPS) survive until I am good again.

[input80]

I'm not too far that I can't help you out with your rock work etc Walter.