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?

[Medic58]

Once I retire I will be traveling a ton so I’m not going to watching a tank I’ll be diving in the ocean to see it up close

 

[atoll]

As they put the last screw in the box. Or just use silicone.

 

[JeannieS]

I’ve only had my tank for 2 1/2 years and I’m 65. No plans to give it up anytime soon. Love my tank!

 

[James77]

You can even be part of a reef after you croak:

Eternal Reefs » Living legacies that memorialize our loved ones

Eternal Reefs combines a cremation urn, ash scattering, & green burial at sea into an environmental memorial while creating new marine habitats for sea life

www.eternalreefs.com

Knowing my history and luck, I'd be covered in cyano and bubble algae....

 

[AdamB]

I will definitely reef for the rest of my life . One hobby I have stuck with and never get tired of .

 

[White Hair]

There are many reasons why people have to give up their reef tanks. But I've seen countless members say they will always have a reef tank in their life. That being said there will come a time when they might not be able to care for a reef anymore due to age. So let's talk about that for today.

How long do you expect to be in the hobby and will older age dictate when you break your tanks down for good?
Well, i’m 75 now and just getting started with a 30 gal, if i can maintain it and get my wife interested i want to go to a 100 gal
image via @ChristopherKriens

 

[C. Eymann]

I'll probably have a reef tank in my will. lol

 

[JMM744]

64 now and I think health and funds will decide for me. I own my business and work a lot but all things come to an end and when work stops so do my tanks. Been trying to get myself to agree to buy a 8 or 10 ft. Tank but age certainly is a big obstacle .

 

[albano]

64 now and I think health and funds will decide for me. I own my business and work a lot but all things come to an end and when work stops so do my tanks. Been trying to get myself to agree to buy a 8 or 10 ft. Tank but age certainly is a big obstacle .

That’s the problem with you kids... just order the big tank and make yourself happy!

 

[Tplummer]

They

I now have 1/2 my natural teeth. When they are gone I will prob be ready for the bone yard. So my best guess is in another 65 years.

ll have

As they put the last screw in the box. Or just use silicone.

theyll have to pry the turkey baster from my cold dead hands

 

[H@rry]

I'm 75 now and I picked 71 - 80. Probably another 5 years maybe. I was just calibrating the controller for a new pH probe yesterday and I know M@ry Ruth would never do that if she even knew it needed to be done. She knows who to call when I choke on a chicken bone. We're discussed that as well as the person to be called.

If my health holds up I guess I'll keep it up as long as I can carry a 5 gallon bucket of water from the laundry room to the sun room where the tanks are. I don't really enjoy it as much as I used to as there is always something needing to be done; but, I have asked myself what I'd be doing if I didn't have to keep these tanks going. I'll have to admit at times it can be a little stressful. Maybe I'll just downsize to the frag tank and let the others go. If somebody comes and waves pictures of dead presidents in front of my face it could happen pretty soon!

 

[Roosterjack]

They can cast my ashes into a frag rock and grow a nice colony on it in my memoriam.

 

[ca1ore]

It’s not a physical thing ... strong sons solves that problem. It’s the mental stuff that takes you out.

 

[Peach02]

I’m 17 now and plan on remaining fit and healthy as long as possible. I think I’ll be able to look after a large tank till 70 or 80 but after that I’ll probably have to downsize to a smaller reef but I don’t know how I will age especially since I do martial arts and plan on competing

 

[Paul B]

This Christmas Day I will be 71 and have had a tank continuously for about 65 years.
Even when I was in Nam I had a tank at home. Of course no one took care of it so the only fish, a foot long catfish died 2 weeks before I came home. It was in two inches of slimy "water". ;Bucktooth

I recently sold my house and moved to a smaller condo. Next stop is a nursing home and if they will let me have a tank and a few nurses to take care of it, I will have a tank until I am sharing oxygen from a tank with the fish.

It is getting harder as my wife has MS and I am getting a new knee. It is new but it is rusty or something so they will tear it out again in February and put in a better model. Maybe made of titanium instead of the pressure treated wooden one they used last time from Home Depot. ;Wideyed

 

[Nick Steele]

Don’t have a reef tank just yet but have had freshwater tanks since high school about 10 years ago. Reef tank is in the works now and should be here between now and March. I know it will be upgraded to a 100+ Gallon tank when we get a house. Don’t have the tank and it’s already an addiction!

Its a hobby I can’t see getting old to me as I just love it all! I’ll be Reefing and fishing until I die of old age hopefully!

 

[atoll]

This Christmas Day I will be 71 and have had a tank continuously for about 65 years.
Even when I was in Nam I had a tank at home. Of course no one took care of it so the only fish, a foot long catfish died 2 weeks before I came home. It was in two inches of slimy "water". ;Bucktooth

I recently sold my house and moved to a smaller condo. Next stop is a nursing home and if they will let me have a tank and a few nurses to take care of it, I will have a tank until I am sharing oxygen from a tank with the fish.

It is getting harder as my wife has MS and I am getting a new knee. It is new but it is rusty or something so they will tear it out again in February and put in a better model. Maybe made of titanium instead of the pressure treated wooden one they used last time from Home Depot. ;Wideyed

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. My fingers have Arthur and my bladder has shrunk, prostrate is growing but I still have my hair well most of it even if it's a nice shade of silver. Have about half my teeth, I tried dentures but spit them out. Eyes went years ago and I have 2 hearing aids I can sometimes get the BBC radio on if I get on top of a hill or scale a telegraph mast. Sometimes I forget what I forgot and can't remember if I ever knew it in thķe first place. They say growing old doesn't come alone, well if I ever meet him am going to kick his butt along with the grim reaper. Actually he may ask me to sharpen his sickle. I hope to live long enough to be an embarrassment to my children all 5 of them. In fact I think I have accomplished that already but I have 9 grandchildren who seem to enjoy that fact.

 

[raylinds]

I had a reef tank that I loved until 20 years ago when I moved to Manhattan. Now that I am retired and living in my own home in Connecticut I just set up a new 110g and I just turned 62. My tank is set up with Tunze ATO and I have a DOS set up to do water changes, so there is very little physical work involved. Hopefully I can keep at it until I die, but you never know what health issues might come up, but it would take something major to get me to stop.

 

[fish farmer]

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.

There are so many things around my home state to keep me busy when I retire so I could see continuing a tank until I can't physically do it.

 

[Scolymite Is My Name]

Currently 26, i could def see myself reefing when i’m older. Probably would buy am autofeeder tho