High Tide Aquatics

Not new member...but very close. Been gone too long and here's why.

Hey All,

I figure I'll bump into or talk with many of you in the next few weeks as I get back into BAR so I thought I'd "re-introduce" me and tell you all why I was gone for so long.

Quick synopsis of what happened:
My 100G tank had two catastrophic events in the period of a few months which killed off most of my fish (twice). At the same time I was down-sized and started a new company which is still struggling to survive. Also, more importantly, during this time I was spending lots of time with my father who passed away in October from a year long battle with cancer. All of this left me little motivation to work on my tank. It became painful for me to look at it, knowing what I had and accepting the fact that I could not bring it back. I guess I had reef failure based depression. So, for the better part of a year and a half I neglected my tank, trying not to see the few remaining living things die at my hand.

Where I am now:

I'm moving into my parent's home this summer and I'm in the process of packing up and moving my 100G there to get a cleansing and proper cycle before starting to bring in corals again. In the meantime I'm running a 24G nano in hopes of bringing back the few corals strong enough to survive my abuse.

I was so focused on the guilt I felt for killing all those living creatures in my care that I missed the joy they brought me. And now the joy is amplified by my two sons. Yes, I have two now. Many of you might remember the crazy little one that was running around at the meeting. Well, he's almost four now and his little brother is two. They LOVE my tank and they are learning so much.

So, for them and for my own therapy I'm coming back into the BAR fold hoping to adopt second hand fish and start filling up this little nano with LPS and softies. I'm going to try and not buy one living creature from the fish store in this endeavor unless it was tank raised. My goal is to once again have a beautiful reef to share with my kids without contributing directly to ocean harvesting of living animal.

I look forward to catching up with you all, seeing all that I have missed and enjoying all that BAR has to offer.
 
Hey Matt ... welcome back!!! So sorry to hear about your dad, but great to hear about you getting to be dad a second time. Great to have you back and active, and look forward to catching up.
 
FYI I'll always try to post up the morning of a meeting if I'm going to bring my kids. Ages 4 (soon to be 5) and just turned 3. Strength in numbers, strength in numbers... See you around!
 
houser said:
FYI I'll always try to post up the morning of a meeting if I'm going to bring my kids. Ages 4 (soon to be 5) and just turned 3. Strength in numbers, strength in numbers... See you around!

Captain nachos!!!
 
Welcome back, it was always nice to see you around and hopefully we'll trade some corals soon! Let me know if you need anything.
 
Sorry to hear of your loss.

Mi reeftanka es su reeftanka! ;)
I'm sure you'll have your tank up and running and beautiful again. I can understand how a declining tank tends to snowball, let us know what you need!


V
 
Hey Matt, welcome back. Sorry to hear about your Dad. If you get a chance stop by the potluck meeting this Sat!
 
hey matt, glad to hear from you again. sorry about your loss and the trouble you've gone through.

I'll shoot some animals your way sometime soon ;)
 
Condolences to you and your family. I just lost my grandpa 3 weeks ago. Glad to have you back. I'm sure your tank will be back to full strength fast, especially with all the BAR friends.
 
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