Reefing has saved my life... Am I the only one?
- Thread starter mcozad829
- Start date
Hey folks- I'm the wife of a Purple Heart recipient so forgive me if I'm intruding here 
But I wanted to say that, for my husband, anything that requires precise order and maintenance seems to help calm him down. We absolutely adore 'our baby' as we call 'my' tank. (Our children don't really appreciate that name but oh well!) I pick most everything that goes into it but he does a lot of the maintenance and placing things around where I want them (our tank is taller than my arms are long). I think maybe keeping order within the tank and other projects helps to keep order in his mind maybe? But that's just my outsiders take on it. I'm very very glad that every single one of y'all has found reefing/ fish keeping and that it has helped y'all!
Thank you to every one of you for what you've done and sacrificed for us!
But I wanted to say that, for my husband, anything that requires precise order and maintenance seems to help calm him down. We absolutely adore 'our baby' as we call 'my' tank. (Our children don't really appreciate that name but oh well!) I pick most everything that goes into it but he does a lot of the maintenance and placing things around where I want them (our tank is taller than my arms are long). I think maybe keeping order within the tank and other projects helps to keep order in his mind maybe? But that's just my outsiders take on it. I'm very very glad that every single one of y'all has found reefing/ fish keeping and that it has helped y'all!Thank you to every one of you for what you've done and sacrificed for us!
Hey Mcozad, I understand completely how you feel. I was just medically retired in February because of a spinal tumor/cancer found in my spine. Its an ependymoma and it has turned my life upside down. Severe pain, problems walking, keep up the good fight. I hope the VA is taking care of you but I probably know the answers to that.
darmar7812
New member
Hello everyone, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone of you for you service. The bravery and courageous selfless duty you gentlemen preformed for all of us here in America is greatly appreciated by me. So once again I would like to say thank you all!
vikinglord13
New member
Thank you all for your service. I'm glad to hear this hobby has helped you guys get a handle on things.
I've always valued the therapeutic, relaxing sensations one gets from a fish tank. I'm thinking if anybody ever writes an article on the positive effects a tank has on mental/spiritual health, referring to your guys' stories would really emphasize how valuable these tanks can be.
I've always valued the therapeutic, relaxing sensations one gets from a fish tank. I'm thinking if anybody ever writes an article on the positive effects a tank has on mental/spiritual health, referring to your guys' stories would really emphasize how valuable these tanks can be.
Paul B
Premium Member
I never thought of it as therapy but maybe that is the reason I started my reef as soon as I returned from Nam. I was also blown up on an LZ where we lost about 50 of us out of about 150.
I came home in one piece but my tank has always been a comfort to me even though I never equated it to Viet Nam.
Thanks for reminding me of why I love this hobby so much.
I came home in one piece but my tank has always been a comfort to me even though I never equated it to Viet Nam.
Thanks for reminding me of why I love this hobby so much.
lifeoffaith
Member
Thank you all. Those of us who sit in luxury (even the poorest of us have it better than most of the world) owe it all to you all.
My experience doesn't equate even close to yours, but I used to suffer from mild forms of depression in the winter especially. Winters here in Michigan are pretty unforgiving. In the summers I had my koi pond (now we've moved so I only have small outdoor tanks that are more like cow troughs) and before my accident I had motorcycles. In the winter I tended to get bored easily and depressed. My wife and I have both noticed that I'm in a better mood in the winters because I can focus on my tanks. This past winter was a bit rough because I was downsizing to move, but this winter I hope to build my 90 gallon coral tank and in future years I hope to be building a 300 gallon FOWLR plywood tank. All that to say that this hobby has been greatly therapeutic for me, and I'm glad to hear that you all are getting some therapeutic help from it as well.
May we never forget the lives given and the sacrifice of those who have served in all of the military forces. God bless you all!
My experience doesn't equate even close to yours, but I used to suffer from mild forms of depression in the winter especially. Winters here in Michigan are pretty unforgiving. In the summers I had my koi pond (now we've moved so I only have small outdoor tanks that are more like cow troughs) and before my accident I had motorcycles. In the winter I tended to get bored easily and depressed. My wife and I have both noticed that I'm in a better mood in the winters because I can focus on my tanks. This past winter was a bit rough because I was downsizing to move, but this winter I hope to build my 90 gallon coral tank and in future years I hope to be building a 300 gallon FOWLR plywood tank. All that to say that this hobby has been greatly therapeutic for me, and I'm glad to hear that you all are getting some therapeutic help from it as well.
May we never forget the lives given and the sacrifice of those who have served in all of the military forces. God bless you all!
Thank you to you and everyone else here that has a bigger set of balls than I. I can't imagine what you've been through and what you're still going through.
I'm sitting at work and this thread brought a tear to my eye. I'm 30 myself. I've never been in combat. I've never enlisted. I've never even considered it.
But I want to thank you for doing something that the majority of us wouldn't even consider. Thank you for putting your life on the line so that I and others could sleep and have all the freedoms that we take for granted on a daily basis.
How about some photos of this tank and others?
Majestic Corals
New member
On the same boat
On the same boat
I couldn't agree with you more. I am also a DV with PTSD and this hobby has kept me from taking the easy way out. Something about being able to keep a piece of the ocean thriving in your living room is something else. I would take a sps frag over some pill the VA wants to shove down my throat any day.
On the same boat
I couldn't agree with you more. I am also a DV with PTSD and this hobby has kept me from taking the easy way out. Something about being able to keep a piece of the ocean thriving in your living room is something else. I would take a sps frag over some pill the VA wants to shove down my throat any day.
vikinglord13
New member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXInvF4Wqa4
I thought you guys might appreciate this video by Wayne Scott about how aquariums helped his transition from military life.
Happy [belated] Veterans Day!
I thought you guys might appreciate this video by Wayne Scott about how aquariums helped his transition from military life.
Happy [belated] Veterans Day!
jmcdaniel0
New member
Brothers,
I am new to this forum, and I stumbled across this thread. I can relate to so much of what you all are saying. I was in the 101st Airborne, and I pulled four tourrs of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. I broke my neck on the last tour and I was medically discharged in 2012. I had a very rough time when I first came out. Thankfully, I had a strong wife, that kept me from doing anything stupid. I never thought about my reefing as a stress reliever or coping mechanism, but I certainly see why it could be. I took a break from reefing when we were moving from our apartment to the new house we bought. Then my jobs switched, and things just wouldnt seem to settle down. Now I am putting up a small tank I have had for a bit now. It will be good to get back into the hobby.
I am new to this forum, and I stumbled across this thread. I can relate to so much of what you all are saying. I was in the 101st Airborne, and I pulled four tourrs of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. I broke my neck on the last tour and I was medically discharged in 2012. I had a very rough time when I first came out. Thankfully, I had a strong wife, that kept me from doing anything stupid. I never thought about my reefing as a stress reliever or coping mechanism, but I certainly see why it could be. I took a break from reefing when we were moving from our apartment to the new house we bought. Then my jobs switched, and things just wouldnt seem to settle down. Now I am putting up a small tank I have had for a bit now. It will be good to get back into the hobby.
Psyops
Still Learning
I have been reading your posts since the Military Reefers group started but was not comfortable, for some reason, to post.
Have had a reef tank for about 15 yrs now. Recommended from another vet that was helping me with my issues. There was a time that if it wasn't for my cat and reef tank I probably would not have made it. Basically I did not want to leave them on there own.
PS. I have a pretty kick *** wife also.
Have had a reef tank for about 15 yrs now. Recommended from another vet that was helping me with my issues. There was a time that if it wasn't for my cat and reef tank I probably would not have made it. Basically I did not want to leave them on there own.
PS. I have a pretty kick *** wife also.
victor_c3
Premium Member
I can't say that reefing has saved my life, but it adds a tremendous amount of enjoyment to mine.
Before I stopped working, I earned a degree in chemistry and worked for the government for a few years as a chemist. The technical aspects and research aspects of reefing are very interesting to me. I've read numerous books and countless science joiurnal articles and pouring myself over details such as optimal flow rates for sponges in benthic habitats and trying to recreate that in a portion of my reef system is pure joy to me.
I too was an Infantryman, but I was mechanized and served in Iraq in 2004. In hindite, I'm soooo relieved that I wasn't Light Infantry. True, our vehicles made for great targets, but they could take a pounding. A section of tanks was assigned to my platoon and, in their infinite wisdom, haji would fire everything he had at a tank and ignore the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The tank could take RPG hits all day while the Bradley couldn't. Fortunately, haji never figured that out.
I got back from Iraq in 2005 and got out of the army in 2007. My PTSD issues didn't really start to appear until 2008, but they didn't get out of hand until 2014. In the last two years I went down hard and fast. I've had numerous suicide attempts, spent about 1/3 of that time locked up in psych hospitals, lost two great jobs, and now I'm 100% P&T for PTSD.
Reefing to me is about having something go right in my life. Looking back at things since Iraq it's hard for me to find examples if things I'm good at or do right. I was in a leadership position (I actually was an Infantry Platoon Leader) and I take everything my platoon did or didn't do to heart. I was in charge when we were out in sector and if someone was hurt, it was fault. If a kid got killed, it was because I didn't control my troops well enough (Soldiers are good at killing things - even when not ordered to) or if someone got hurt it was because I dindn't make the right decision. I lost 5 guys under my command and it absolutely tears me apart more than 12 years later. I can't keep a job, I've foreclosed on a house, and simple things like making my kids lunch in the morning and getting them ready for school overwhelms me.
As a guy who has a history of messing stuff up, getting something right - even as small as not killing a coral - gives me something to hang on to in life.
Before I stopped working, I earned a degree in chemistry and worked for the government for a few years as a chemist. The technical aspects and research aspects of reefing are very interesting to me. I've read numerous books and countless science joiurnal articles and pouring myself over details such as optimal flow rates for sponges in benthic habitats and trying to recreate that in a portion of my reef system is pure joy to me.
I too was an Infantryman, but I was mechanized and served in Iraq in 2004. In hindite, I'm soooo relieved that I wasn't Light Infantry. True, our vehicles made for great targets, but they could take a pounding. A section of tanks was assigned to my platoon and, in their infinite wisdom, haji would fire everything he had at a tank and ignore the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The tank could take RPG hits all day while the Bradley couldn't. Fortunately, haji never figured that out.
I got back from Iraq in 2005 and got out of the army in 2007. My PTSD issues didn't really start to appear until 2008, but they didn't get out of hand until 2014. In the last two years I went down hard and fast. I've had numerous suicide attempts, spent about 1/3 of that time locked up in psych hospitals, lost two great jobs, and now I'm 100% P&T for PTSD.
Reefing to me is about having something go right in my life. Looking back at things since Iraq it's hard for me to find examples if things I'm good at or do right. I was in a leadership position (I actually was an Infantry Platoon Leader) and I take everything my platoon did or didn't do to heart. I was in charge when we were out in sector and if someone was hurt, it was fault. If a kid got killed, it was because I didn't control my troops well enough (Soldiers are good at killing things - even when not ordered to) or if someone got hurt it was because I dindn't make the right decision. I lost 5 guys under my command and it absolutely tears me apart more than 12 years later. I can't keep a job, I've foreclosed on a house, and simple things like making my kids lunch in the morning and getting them ready for school overwhelms me.
As a guy who has a history of messing stuff up, getting something right - even as small as not killing a coral - gives me something to hang on to in life.
Salty150
New member
Thank you, for a lot of things, and for sharing your story.
I, and everyone else here I am sure, am glad that you found reefing!
