Reef rush from “Work from Home”/Hybrid work model

[vabben]

I worked from home before COVID, and my kids had a freshwater tank in my office I took care of. We upgraded to a slightly larger tank in their play area for something to do during the lockdowns. My wife then said I needed something cool in my office, now my little 20 gallon reef is going on two years old and have rearranged my office to fit my new 120gallon!

 

[SamsReef]

I worked from home before COVID, and my kids had a freshwater tank in my office I took care of. We upgraded to a slightly larger tank in their play area for something to do during the lockdowns. My wife then said I needed something cool in my office, now my little 20 gallon reef is going on two years old and have rearranged my office to fit my new 120gallon!

Lovely. Pics would be great.

sam

 

[Willhersh34]

i’ve kept a FOWLR tank for a couple of years. i’ve wanted to do a reef for a while. Working from home my wife pushed me to trick out my office so it was the perfect time to set up my first reef tank.

of course I’m assuming she had no idea what a commitment/addiction it would become. Go figure. Lol

 

[TheHunterYall]

Had a tank 20 years ago for a few years then kids took over my life. Always loved scuba and snorkel. Now back into it with COVID and work from home, made myself an office, was a eureka moment for me during COVID, really helped.

 

[reefguy250]

I can 100% say working from home allowed me to start this hobby. Being next to the tank for the majority of waking hours and tracking every step of your journey made me love and explore reefing a lot more in depth. I now culture pods and am starting a second tank, and never want to return to the office!!

 

[Flame2hawk]

set up 625gallon FOWLR 5 months before covid. Added a 240g semi reef 3 months ago. Soon I could be opening up my own public aquarium if this keeps up!

 

[MrTPlush]

I’m sure it has, like most hobbies.

I didn’t personally start because of remote work, but it has helped getting into it. Any big change I can babysit all day and not have to worry about my skimmer having a stroke mid day. New arrivals I can watch all day. Of course I can be at home for any fish arrivals etc.

 

[ReefingIsMyTherapy]

I struggled a lot with the lock downs and my brain was spinning all day long thinking on the multiple ways I was gonna get COVID. I had a freshwater tank 25+ years ago but always wanted to have a saltwater aquarium, but for many reasons (money was the major factor) I couldn't.

Fast forward 2021, I decided enough was enough and that for my own sake, I needed to do something I really enjoyed (I've been working from home since Jan 2020) so I decided to embark on this awesome journey. I've been on the saltwater hobby just for 4+ months, but it's been great so far My tank is now on my home office. It's still cycling and can't wait to add fish and corals.

 

[SamsReef]

I struggled a lot with the lock downs and my brain was spinning all day long thinking on the multiple ways I was gonna get COVID. I had a freshwater tank 25+ years ago but always wanted to have a saltwater aquarium, but for many reasons (money was the major factor) I couldn't.

Fast forward 2021, I decided enough was enough and that for my own sake, I needed to do something I really enjoyed (I've been working from home since Jan 2020) so I decided to embark on this awesome journey. I've been on the saltwater hobby just for 4+ months, but it's been great so far My tank is now on my home office. It's still cycling and can't wait to add fish and corals.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

sam

 

[SamsReef]

New arrivals I can watch all day. Of course I can be at home for any fish arrivals etc.

That is a definite plus

sam

 

[SamsReef]

set up 625gallon FOWLR 5 months before covid. Added a 240g semi reef 3 months ago. Soon I could be opening up my own public aquarium if this keeps up!

Oh. Wow. You have the bug for sure.
Sam

 

[afrokobe]

Even then I am sure the extra time would have accelerated and allowed you the right amount of time to get it done right…

Unfortunately, I actually got less time during covid. My work picked up and been working a lot more than before. I never really went out before, so not much impact from covid there lol.

 

[KYnewbee42103]

I’ve been a member for a bit. I didn’t use as much as I do now. I was more of a lurker. Not a expert by any means but I have learned a lot from R2R and from my own personal experiences with my now tanks. I try to answer the questions new members ask that have been answered many times by members who have been on the site longer than me. They’ve already put time into these easy questions and have moved on to more technical issues. Takes the burden off them to have to repeat themselves. I’ve always been able to work at home so this hasn’t changed much for me. I have noticed a lot of new members over the last year so I know there has been a huge increase in the Reefing hobby.

Thumbs up this guy is here to help! Taught me a bunch!

 

[DopamineKata]

Working from home didn't really influence my decision to start but it sure helped give me time to work on converting my office closet to an aquarium stand and all the various other preparations. I've wanted to start a reef tank for over 20 years but always let the startup cost get in the way. I'm honestly not sure what made me finally decide to pull the trigger.

 

[Acros]

Yes, work from home. I always wanted a reef tank tho.

 

[Lyss]

This was back in the spring but this bubbly person walked in to one of my LFS and started asking what tank size he had. After looking at a couple of options they asked “Do you have any seahorses? “ He said not at the moment and explained the specific tank requirements to house and care for seahorses. They responded “well that’s going to ruin my day …I got up and got inspired to get some seahorses. I’ll take that Nemo fish and that 20G cube”….
He looked at the customer blankly and asked do you have a tank already setup? Of course the response was “no”….Then he explained to them the cycling process….A complete look of shock and disbelief came across the customers eyes that they couldn’t buy a 20 gallon and throw Nemo in it. They walked out without buying anything….

See, my dad letting us have freshwater tanks as a kid, and always telling us no to saltwater b/c it was too hard kept me from being that kind of dope. When I set my tank up I at least had the FW background and knew to study up on SW before doing anything.

 

[ELM]

Oh, do you mean that honorary marine biology degree I feel like I've earned in the past 14 months of owning a box of water? Yes, that happened thanks to COVID.

Right before COVID took hold, my bf and I stopped in to Reefco (Green Brook, NJ) on a lark, and I said, "What is THAT?!?", referring to the gorgeous frags. He saw the look in my eye and knew I was hooked, lol. In his defense, he did try to warn me that saltwater is HARD but, "I like a challenge!!" I had no idea, smh.

DT is a 60gal low reef tank (or seafood buffet, considering the sudden and complete shrimp, crab, snail, and scallop decimation that took place yesterday.....someone seems to have developed an appetite!) with assorted QT and holding tanks. Currently "only" battling high nutrients, a new cyano outbreak, and a love-hate relationship with my Apex.

 

[FrontRangeReefer]

I’ve been working from home for around 5 years, but my role includes routine travel on short, domestic trips. Freshwater was my thing growing up, but saltwater was always a goal. My tank will have been up and going for a year in February, and while being home a lot has definitely made that process easier, I would have done this even if I was still office based. Automation is key…I have my tank set up such that I can monitor most things remotely when I travel, including a Blink camera to check in when I’m on the road, and an automatic dosing pump to keep parameters stable.

Here is my Build Thread for anyone interested in following along.