Too Old To Reef: How long do you expect to be in the hobby and will older age dictate when you break your tanks down for good?

[Paul B]

Harrr, I thought you are a least a good few years older than me but I am 70 on the 22nd Dec so your less than a year older than I am.

I am a year older than you but I still have all my teeth. 9 of them I paid for as implants but they were very expensive, much more expensive than my real teeth. We all have arthritis and screwed up bladders and some of us have hair. I don't know what color my hair would be if I had any. But most of me still works perfectly and I also want to grow old enough to be an embarrassment to my kids. I am almost there.

I figure by 70 I'll be done reefing...that gives me 20 more years. I'll probably be working and lifting buckets, etc. at work until I'm 60 and assume if parts don't give out I'll continue to do so. My wife and I are starting to think about the golden years, we want to travel, but we are also pet people and there is the cost of travel and pet/reef sitting.

I can still carry buckets, empty ones but buckets all the same.
If your parts don't wear out, you didn't work hard enough. I had 22 operations on worn out parts so far, and I'm not done yet. As long as Medicare wants to pay for it, I love operations. Great sleep.

 

[ReefGrammie]

Great question! I started my first reef tank 11 years ago and just turned 60. I really thought I was going to wind it down. We were considering downsizing and I had no idea how I was going to move a 90-gallon tank! After deciding we were going to stay, my husband asked if I really wanted to tear down the tank and my answer was "absolutely not." My newest grandbabies are absolutely mesmerized by the tank. This grammie is going to keep her tank as long as she can! I picked 71-80 as my realistic age to wind it down...maybe! ;Happy

 

[atoll]

Of course there is no such things as too old only not able anymore either due to a worn out body or mental illness. Having said that I am managing with both.

 

[fish farmer]

I can still carry buckets, empty ones but buckets all the same.
If your parts don't wear out, you didn't work hard enough. I had 22 operations on worn out parts so far, and I'm not done yet. As long as Medicare wants to pay for it, I love operations. Great sleep.

That's IF they pay for it...haha. A guy I work with who has worked in hatcheries for 30 years gets cortizone shots in BOTH shoulders every spring for fish stocking season. They lift 50 to 70 lbs netfuls at a time, probably 3,000 lbs a day for two months.

I'd rather work smarter not harder, if I blow out a shoulder or knee they will have someone else do my job.....good excuse to use my 2,000 hours of sick though. Based on my genetics though my heart will be stroking before the other parts wear out.

 

[Paul B]

I'd rather work smarter not harder, if I blow out a shoulder or knee they will have someone else do my job.

I think I worked very smart. But 40+ years as a commercial Construction Electrician in Manhattan where everything is over 1,000 lbs takes a toll. I even drank large cups of coffee which were heavy.

We are just not built for that type of work. We were built for picking grapes and mushrooms with the occasional running away from a saber tooth tiger. ;Bucktooth

 

[atoll]

I think I worked very smart. But 40+ years as a commercial Construction Electrician in Manhattan where everything is over 1,000 lbs takes a toll. I even drank large cups of coffee which were heavy.

We are just not built for that type of work. We were built for picking grapes and mushrooms with the occasional running away from a saber tooth tiger. ;Bucktooth

I spent a large part of my working life as a carpenter on the tools but opportunities arose to move up to building management which was much easier on the body. I have a dodgy shoulder and ankle along with my fingers. Swinging a hammer all day and spending long periods on my knees took its toll. We didn't have knee pads back then unless you were a floor tile and we didn't have skateboards back then. Still I could have been bionic like Paul had I stayed on the tools. Hard graft is building work. Sometimes my ankle decides it doesn't want to work or carry me but you get on with it.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I voted till I die,but my better half may have other ideas. At 59 I am already having some little medical issues. With a herniated disc I need to automate things more as I get older. That is not happening in this house though. We bought this big butt house as an investment only and not a forever home. ( 5 bdrm/ 6 bath for 3 people is insane, but a foreclosure literally at half price was too good to pass up.) Therefore I am not allowed to cut holes in walls/floors or things like that, which I get. My daughter is going off to college next year so I'm trying to convince my husband to downsize. But he's not ready to give up this house yet. I am ready to move to a smaller house and set up my tank with a fish room and fully automated the way I want it! . I would pay a tank maintenance company to care for it if I no longer could, but my husband would not go for that either.He won't want to spend our retirement money of that! We also want to travel when he retires so I would need the tank to be fully automated in order to keep it till I die.

 

[User1]

Depending on the size and complexity one may at some point make some changes for easier access and maintenance. Simple things such as less equipment to clean, differently equipment that makes maintenance easier or quicker, automation, tank size, height, larger labels to read, amount of live stock and the drum beats on.

Above all else one thing I would encourage everyone to do is write a letter to a loved one explaining what is what, how much it costs, and what can and can not be done in the event of something bad happening. Who may be able to take a large coral, clam, or fish. How much some corals may go for, tank, and other equipment should one need to sell them. Also include things like passwords to a controller or cloud portal and any associated subscriptions be it disk or reagent based.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Till I lose my mind, I'm hoping 90's

 

[Nick Steele]

Well today was a fun day! Guess I have my first reef tank!!! Early Xmas gift!

 

[DelRayTank]

I think a better question here is whether you have planned for what happens to your fish and corals if you pass away of old age or otherwise.
My wife isn’t a reefer and wouldn’t be able to take care of my tank if I were gone. She knows about our local reefing association. I’ve told here to post there to sell/give away the animals ASAP if something happens to me.... I would hate to have them suffer from my untimely demise.

 

[Bpb]

I don’t imagine I’ll make it much past 60 if even then so I picked the lowest. Bad genetics.

 

[User1]

I don’t imagine I’ll make it much past 60 if even then so I picked the lowest. Bad genetics.

Always remember no bad days, two feet on the floor.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I will reef until I die or, in other words, reefing will kill me.

 

[Tennyson]

I voted until I die, but the thought alone is making me sad I need my coral but more importantly my coral need me, whose going to feed them everyday?? All those years of growth have to count for something.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I will reef until I die or, in other words, reefing will kill me.

But, what if dementia kicks in?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I expect my wife to smother me in my sleep any day now so I voted until i die, lol. Just kidding because she has to put up with this insane hobby and all of it's sounds and smells.

Yes, keep telling your self that.......

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Heck, I just started last year at 56 and you're asking me when I'll stop? LOL

I plan on reefing as long as I can. Might have to get smarter and stop carrying buckets around at some point. It'll probably be my mental health before the physical limits me. This isn't a hobby you can forget things for too long.

I'm just behind you by 6 years

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

If? Lol it already has!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I was going to say - quit when we downsize (if ever) - but - I guess I probably would have a smaller tank. In the nursing home it will probably like @brandon429 's reef in a jar....

Maybe @brandon429 is in a nursing home. ......think about it,