Thinking of a Lifestyle Change
 

We've been keeping finches and reefs for about ten years. Chris and I talked about the possibility of selling our 120g reef and all related equipment (tons of stuff!!!) as well as our aviary and finches. We think that we could use the change to our lives, to give us more free time and to not have to feed anyone but ourselves daily.

Don't get me wrong, though. We have thoroughly enjoyed these past ten years with our unusual pets. Our reef is doing very well now that I have gotten the chemistry thing into my head. Some corals have been with us for four years and their growth has been phenomenal. Our GBTA and RBTA live in harmony in the same rock structure and it's a joy to watch our pair of ocellaris clowns swim back and forth between the two.

As for our finches, well, we have a custom made walk-in aviary that currently houses seven finches of various species, mainly African waxbills. They sing frequently, and I'm sure we'll miss their songs, but I'm also sure someone will step up to give them a good home, if that is the direction we finally choose.

I have not posted our 120g in the FS section yet, mostly because there too many items, like 10 pails of salt, new MH and PC bulbs, lots of small tanks, heaters and powerheads. We would want the entire tank, stand, lighting and livestock to go in one piece, along with all the extra kibbles and bits.

Anyway, we have not fully decided on our course of action yet, but we seem to be leaning toward making the change.

why do you have to get rid of everything at once? you could do a fish-less nano that wouldn't require significant maintenance. then again, if you don't enjoy spending time with your reef, then there's not much point.

Oh NO !

Change
 

Emily, change is a healthy thing and it might open up a lot of other great possibilities you hadn't even thought of.

As long as you find great homes for your little creatures, you may be able to do a total life make-over.

I always say do what feels good.

I'm sure it's a tough decision though!!

Big change
 

Going from something to not at all seems like a big change; would there be room for the idea of keeping one bird in a cage and a nano tank, perhaps?

Good luck with whatever you do :)

The videos you posted were very cool :)

Cheers,
Vic [veng68]

I learned a lot from you teachings when I first started out last year. Pets are a lot of work, I understand your motivations.

As others have mentioned, a small little nano-cube would still give you a bit of reef keeping without all the work.

I keep a little 5 gallon FW tank on my desk and it is very little work but brings me and my coworkers a lot of joy during the day. :)

Appreciate the comments and suggestions from everyone :)

The more I think about it, a clean break and down a completely different road is where we are headed. It actually feels good to be on the other side of the decision, though when time comes to part with my friends, I'm going to be very sad.

I have already started down the new road. It's a good road, with plenty of creative stuff to keep me challenged. I'm going to continue making videos, this time of the little fuzzy toys I've been collecting. The first one I made is on youtube.com, and some of you have already seen it. For those that haven't.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCTwrqC176w

I will be creating stories in the new videos for my 21 month old granddaughter who has life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts, with less severe allergies to a few other very common food products. Good thing she loves vegetables, fruit and meats of all kinds.

Anyway, shortly, I will post my system and livestock for sale, and hope it will be bought by one person to avoid the hassle of parting it out. PM me if you'd like to stop by and see everything. I'll be happy to give you a guided tour :)

Mom you can't get out of the hobby who will i bug when i have a problem...:razz:

Follow your heart.


Michael

I used to keep Shaftails and Zebras as well as Cordon Bleu's. I loved their singing especially the Shaftails.

What ever you decide we all wish the best for you and hope you'll keep in touch if for no other reason to let us know what freedom is like.

Doug

I wish you the best wherever you find yourself. You've contributed greatly to this place and I have learned quite a bit from you... even if we have never met! :lol:

good luck!

Grandkids, eh? Understandable.

Think you should hang on to a couple little things, though. Otherwise you may regret the complete lack of animal company and find yourself on the road back to what you once had. Besides, if you do decide you don't even want a nano and a small cage its easy enough to get rid of those too.

Time is the most valuable thing you have. I'm excited for you and look forward to mamking the big lifestyle decisions in my future.

You'll still be around here though, right?

Thank you for the kind words and for the suggestions....

We moved a few years ago. At that time, we had a 180g reef, but sadly had to give it up due to the move, though we kept our finches. A few months after the move, I missed having a tank. Reefkeeping was all I knew back then, so I sneakily set up a 7g bowfront nano. It was so cute that when I found a 2.5g bowfront nano a few weeks later, I again sneakily set it up, too. Later, I did a 28g bowfront with H. whitei seahorses. My poor husband has been through so much with me and my reefs :rolleyes:

Anyway, fast forward to the current decision. I have more than enough to do now. I have movie sets to build, props to build and buy from far away places and places close to home, story lines to write, video to shoot and edit, accompanying music to create, and of course a granddaughter to play Grandma monster and Rebecca monster with :)

A small cage with finches, IME, is not the correct way to keep these kinds of birds. Have done nanos to death. Need all the extra space in various rooms in our apartment condo for new endeavors. Am looking forward to having my den free of stacks of salt. The pantry and several cupboads will be free of test kits, additives, extra heaters, finch paraphernalia etc. The master bedroom will no longer have the new saltwater mixing garbage can and associated equipment. Like, man, it's gonna be a brand new condo, and I can hardly wait to get the space back again.

But I'm sure we will go through pet withdrawel. It happened to some extent when we found our ball python a new home late last year. But we haven't looked back from that experience, and I don't expect we'll be looking back longing at the time when we had all our pets.

I'm sure I will visit Canreef from time to time, if only to post my new videos and to check in on my friends on the board. Besides, I'm still gonna have to sell my stuff here and make it to 4,000 posts :razz:

HI Bev,
Sorry to see you leave. Your contribution to the board will be missed. Good luck. FWIW, I think I understand, {my downsize to my 30g} and as a grandfather of two girls. :biggrin:

Man alive, when you put it that way, you almost convinced me to quit the hobby too, just when I have my 280g stand half built. My poor wife will kill me if I change my mind now though! I have to see this through to the end before deciding that it's time to stop.

Best of luck Bev, sorry to see another old-timer move past the hobby, but seriously, the way you've put it makes it sound like a no-brainer (you really did have me thinking for a nanosecond there!) Sounds like an interesting new hobby for you on the horizon, have fun with it!

Best of luck with your new freedom.Its not like you can never come back if you decide you want to set up another tank.I look forward to seeing your new videos.

As a comparative newcomer ( and grandfather :) ),may I add my best wishes for your new venture . I have enjoyed reading your posts .
Thankyou.
.........................Dave,.

I look forward to that freedom someday, but then there's the dogs....:lol:

Good luck Bev. Thanks for sharing all your experiences with us for so many years.

Anthony

I have grandkids too and understand how life constantly evolves and our priorities change. I hope to be snow-birding it sometime in the next 3 to 6 years which is why I haven't upsized my system and built the fish room I've always wanted. I guess when that time comes I'll be shutting down too. Good luck Bev, have fun with your new ventures.:smile:

I'm glad to see that the reefkeeping experience has been educational and passionate for you.

I don't foresee any regrets for you, as you can always start another reefkeeping journey when you're ready for one in the future :D.

Best of luck to you.

Bev, from someone who you gave indirect inspiration to, someone who was the pinnacle decision to me starting a tank, you WILL be missed. You've done so many great things and were the epitome of "low tech tank" - you will be missed, but it sounds like you're going off to bigger, better and more important things.

Good luck to you, and here's a tipped hat to one of the masters.

Tony, that was not my intention :lol:

Jim, they'll be awhile in coming. Am still waiting for stuff from OZ, Singapore, the US and the UK. But you guys will be some of the first to see them :)

Thanks, Anthony :)

andsoitgoes, Wow! I never thought I had much sway around here with all the hi-tech tanks people have going. Your kind words touch me deeply.

Anyway, I do have a buyer for the tank, but he's a newbie. I'll offer him as much advice as I can to get him started and to keep him going.

The tank is scheduled to be picked up on Good Friday. Man, it's going to be a joy cleaning that spot where the tank used to be for so long :razz: The new owner is going to give us a deposit today, and we're going to load him up with all the stuff that can be transported before the tank setup and livestock go.

The finches and their aviary are also spoken for. The new owner has been a friend for over 25 years (!!!) and she has a reasonable amount of experience having kept finches for at least 4 years. She and her husband are going to Turkey until the end of May, so in early June our finches will be at their new home.

Don't know how we're going to utilize all the new space, but I'm sure we'll manage somehow :)

Epilogue....


While the guys loaded up the livestock in the new owner's van (parked in our underground parkade), I scraped the tank clean. When they got back, we siphoned out the last of the cruddy water.

At the very end, I used a clean cloth and hot tapwater to do a final wash inside the tank. It was very soothing to do after the teardown. Washing down the tank that way reminded me of how the family of the deceased would wash the body before burial. It was somehow very fitting to do this last loving thing to the glass that held our joy, our amazement, our frustrations, our sweat, love, respect and frustrations - yes, I know, I wrote that twice ;)

I am at peace with letting go of my beloved 120g. I am at peace with the decision that we have taken a new road that will not ever have any type or size of aquaria along it.

I have many memories of various tanks we've had over the years. These memories will sustain me into old age - well, if I live that long :razz:

We have so much more space now. There is a completely different feeling to our home, one that will take some getting used to, but one I'm sure that will tell us we are still home.

Thank you to all on Canreef who helped me over the years. It has been a joy to get to know so many of you, both in person and online. You have been part of my extended family and, even though I will visit from time to time, I know I will miss you all.

Dang, and keep 'The Most Worthless Thread on Canreef' going! I may still hit 5,000 posts with that one :)

kudos to you bev. you better be back to hit that 5000!

Well take care Bev have a good one good knowing you online and thanks for all the help over the last years pointing me in the right direction. I can still remember the Reef Party at Nemain's house AKA Beth. Where you called me Michael..

seems like just yesterday. and that was the summer of 2003..


take care have a good one........:cry:

Enjoyed all your videos :) Best of luck in the future Bev. Sad to see another long time canreefer go.

Sad to see you move on Bev.:cry:

I've always concidered all of your posts to be top of the pile. (Well the last one about washing a body and stuff kind of made me squirm.:razz: )

I hope you keep posting here for a passtime.

*hugs Beverly*

Michael,

Oh, I remember that party at Beth's! Can't believe it was so long ago.

Ande,

Glad you liked the videos. I truly enjoyed making them :)

Gary,

Thanks for the hugs, man :) Hugs back to you :sad:

ta for now, Bev - Again, shame to see someone so integral to the hobby gone, but glad that it seems to be the right lifestyle change for you. You know what you're doing, and you will be missed, just don't forget that.

Take care, and just HAVE FUN!!! :)

Wow....so sad! Enjoy your free time and free money, Beverly. I always enjoyed reading your thoughts. Bye for now!

~Drew

Good luck to you in your new ventures Bev. Sorry to see you go but Im sure you will dropin to Canreef from time to time to say hi. ( I hope.. :wink: )

Enjoy the freedom.. :mrgreen:

Ryan.