I have only been in the hobby for a year now, but the past 4 months my wife has been suffering from debilitating intractable migraines and photophobia after a sudden migraine back in Sept. Initially the tank lights crippled her, now she is finally able to start looking and enjoying it again, just not for long periods of time and we cant spend time in the family room down stairs like we used to, so it has become a room in the house we occasionally go in. Another thing that has dampened my commitment was the breakup of the routine. I used to go down with the kids and feed the fish and corals, watch the inverts run around, and the corals pull in food. While the kids were watching I would do testing, clean the skimmer, change socks, do other minor cleaning activities, but since the initial onset of my wifes condition, I was struggling to remember to feed, change socks, clean the skimmer, etc...I haven't tested the tank water other than salinity when I mix a new batch for the AWC in nearly 4 months now.
That all being said, its been hard to stay focused in the hobby with her being down and the 2 kids (3 and 5) seeing the opening in parenting and exploiting it added to the holidays and the crippling medical bills. Luckily I had already setup the ATO and AWC, which kept the tank and all the inhabitants alive during this time.
I am starting to get back into it but it has been slow to reinstate the routine. New health insurance this year is reducing medical cost commitments so financially we will be in a better position and my wifes condition is improving overall so my overall mood is improving and depression and stress are lifting. Which is good because before my wifes issues I had purchased all of the equipment for Dosing and some other stuff for "tank related projects" that I am still eager to setup. I may even be able to make my first frags which is exciting as well. Couple the positive direction of our general household health and winter providing me with the apparent luxury of having some free time to be inside a lot is forcing me to tinker a little more here and there and most importantly reorganize all the tank related stuff to figure out what is next. I have also begun purchasing some other items as well for upgrades.
I am due for a major tank cleaning, pumps, power heads, skimmer, dust the lights, etc so I think that will also reinvigorate me. I find lists help me as well. If I don't have a list of what I need to do, then all the tasks seem overwhelming. But if I have a list of 10 or 20 things, its almost a challenge to see how many I can cross off in a weekend...
Now I just need to make a list...;Facepalm
Anyway...I know my pitfalls, I know when stressed the tank helps me decompress, but depression and stress incapacitate me. I also know its a matter of time before I come out of it...but that is just me.
I love reefing and my journey is only just begun...I have big plans...Need to buy my neighbors house. Then water proof my basement, significantly expand the leech fields for skimmate, install solar panels, wind farms and fuel cells for power. Turn my neighbors garage into a sump/Fuge and his basement area into a wet room, run the new water mains the 30' between my future reef and the new sump, take out the floor for the room above the wet room for the 2 story skimmer, install a cruise liner impeller for a water pump and of course all of the plumbing, install about 500 XR30 pros. Fill my basement with salt water and the new sump room (probably just truck it up from the gulf coast, I mean I would already be like a million bucks in the hole). Aqua-scaping will take some time, would need to come up with a lock system for bringing in large dead reef rock thru my garage but that just logistics...Then I would install the scuba platform and refilling station for endless ours of enjoyment...oh and the water proof life alert so my wife knows when something has gone wrong...
It's nice to dream...
