I Need some advice on help

[flower]

I have finally come to the conclusion that I can't take care of my tanks on my own. I can't get down on my knees or climb on the step ladder. No way do I want to get rid of them. I just need somebody to harvest my macros, and do a monthly water change. It would be just 1 day a month. Does anyone have any idea how I would go about finding such help? I know doctors offices have folks who do the up-keep on their office tanks, but I don't have that kind of cash. It isn't like I need someone to set things up and run it for me....what would be a fair price to offer?

 

[kiefers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/394089/i-need-some-advice-on-help#post_3507225
I have finally come to the conclusion that I can't take care of my tanks on my own. I can't get down on my knees or climb on the step ladder. No way do I want to get rid of them. I just need somebody to harvest my macros, and do a monthly water change. It would be just 1 day a month. Does anyone have any idea how I would go about finding such help? I know doctors offices have folks who do the up-keep on their office tanks, but I don't have that kind of cash. It isn't like I need someone to set things up and run it for me....what would be a fair price to offer?
You have kids that can help out don'tchya?
Sorry to read that you are having difficulties tho. I ill keep youin my toughts!

 

[meowzer]

See if you can find someone willing to trade their services for your frags (or macros)

 

[btldreef]

Sorry to hear of your troubles!
Are there other hobbyists in the area? If so, Meowzer's idea is a good one!
You could always ask a drs office who they use and call them and explain what you need...

 

[kiefers]

+1 on both
Some times they wll give a discount if someone is hung up medically. Call and ask and offer them a trade.
The peopl up here trade me for my macro's all the time. Never thought that a little macro from the beach was worth so much. It's worth a try Flower

I can take oneof your Sheppards for ! Lol.......
I know..... shudup Kiefers Lol

 

[flower]

My kids are 2 and 4 hours away in Wisconsin, and the weather is unpredictable, so no help unless I'm in the hospital, and then my daughter will come and take care of the house and my mother...she has 6 children she leaves with her husband to come help when it's needed, so that's a huge effort on her part. All but one is in school, so she couldn't bring them with her. My sons wouldn't touch a fish tank...LOL, they would tell me to sell out, and let keeping fish tanks be a thing of the past.
I have no coral anymore, and I agree that macros are a good trade...ONCE. LOL, I'm afraid once you get a little macro, you have enough to share and toss away for a lifetime. Mostly I would like to know what price range to offer...I was thinking $50.00 a month ($25.00 each tank)...it's only about 2 hours of work each month, and that's a high estimate on time, because in my youth I could do it all in less than an hour. I would still have all the water mixed and ready, and all that would be needed with macros, after the first good harvest to get started, because I have let it grow so much... is very little plucking to keep it under control. Cold water seahorse tanks means slower growth....so I do have that on my side.
I can do all my own water tests and feeding, besides providing the water mixed and ready for the change...it isn't like the tanks in the doctors offices that they completely run things to keep it pretty, I'm sure they want big bucks, and my little bit wouldn't be enough to be worth their time. I just need someone to do the heavy grunt work and bending over that I can't do anymore.
LOL...One observation: If macros in the wild where seahorses hide is why they have cirri....my seahorses would look like leafy sea-dragons by now. So we can remove that as one possible reason why wild caught has it, and those in captivity does not.

 

[noobzilla]

Is there a LFS in your area? I know the guys in the stores around here have people they send out to the office's that have tanks in them, to take care of things and keep them nice.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Noobzilla http:///t/394089/i-need-some-advice-on-help#post_3507345
Is there a LFS in your area? I know the guys in the stores around here have people they send out to the office's that have tanks in them, to take care of things and keep them nice.
I thought of that...the only fish store with a person even halfway willing, would be a lazy young man. If I owned the store I would have fired him.
He had me wait nearly 40 minutes while he chatted with a lady about a rabbit (he told me just a minute)...then he went right past me and chatted with another fellow about the right bedding for his hamster. At closing time I finally asked another lady to get me some RO water in my jugs, she took me in the back and I filled the jugs myself. I was a regular at the store and each month came in to get premixed saltwater for my water changes...at $50.00 a pop.. When the guy realized all I wanted was RO water, and not the premixed to a certain SG..he actually had the nerve to say to me he would have taken care of me half an hour ago...he just didn't want to have to mess with the SG.....I was steaming mad by then, and it was at least 6 months before I went back there to give them any of my business. So I wouldn't hire him to do a thing for me, that's for sure.
The other stores have kids that know absolutely nothing, my cleaning lady was helping with WCs, bless her heart, however the last time she helped with macro harvesting she scared me from having her do it again. She pulled on the macros and disrupted all the rock and decor...she wasn't careful of knocking the rocks over...she just gabbed a handful of whatever and yanked. I wanted her to clear the red, and not the green but she said she couldn't really see what she was doing and just grabbed what she could....Seahorses can't move fast enough to dodge a falling rock, I was a wreck by the time she was finished, that was the last time the macros were harvested.
I know I'm a bit anal about it, and I even feel a little sorry for whoever does any work on my tanks, but I can't help being particular and micro manage.

 

[florida joe]

Flower do you have a high school or college in the area that has a marine life program. If so I would reach out to them they may be able to incorporate your maintenance in their learning curriculum

 

[fattytwobyfour]

Do you know a youth who you might could train? Not only are you getting your tank maintenance completed, & you could be instilling a love for the hobby in a future generation.

 

[beaslbob]

So stop doing water changes and harvesting macros.
Sorry the hear and hope you get all better and better.
no just .02

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///t/394089/i-need-some-advice-on-help#post_3507377
Flower do you have a high school or college in the area that has a marine life program. If so I would reach out to them they may be able to incorporate your maintenance in their learning curriculum
Ah...just the kind of advice I was looking for...you and Fatty both. Thank you. I will look and see what is around here for schools and maybe run an ad in the local paper, or post on a school billboard for someone who needs a little extra cash and is willing to take their time to do things right...LOL or at least to my over cautious satisfaction. The LFSs around here are just not flush with anyone I would want to hire even for $10.00.
Thanks beaslbob...we all grow older, and aches and pains are a fact of life. If I ever have to live in an old folks home, I hope they have a SW tank for me to watch and enjoy. It just isn't home without a fish tank or two.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I hope it all works out and you find someone who will take good care of your tanks.
I would do it for free if I lived around yah. Doesn't seem like that bad of work and we would have fun talking in the mean time. Oh well. The troubles of being long distance friends.
Be careful posting ads at colleges. Most of those places have strict rules for what can be posted on their billboards. A marine bio program may be a good start - or even a local ad asking for help. I don't think your asking much and the amount you are paying is decent for the work done.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/394089/i-need-some-advice-on-help#post_3507447
I hope it all works out and you find someone who will take good care of your tanks.
I would do it for free if I lived around yah. Doesn't seem like that bad of work and we would have fun talking in the mean time. Oh well. The troubles of being long distance friends.
Be careful posting ads at colleges. Most of those places have strict rules for what can be posted on their billboards. A marine bio program may be a good start - or even a local ad asking for help. I don't think your asking much and the amount you are paying is decent for the work done.
Hi,
I know if you were close by, and lots of others on the site...I wouldn't have to worry about anything. The friends I have made on ths site boggles the mind. My entire family was amazed during the sump build, and still talk about it. Most stories you hear about cyber friends are not good ones. I feel so blessed to know folks like yourself...Oh and by the way, that canopy you built for me is easy to get off..it fits really snug but perfect. I had used a rubber mallet to tap it into place originally, and I was afriad to try and remove it, but the lifter pump needed to be unclogged and I had to do it.... It's still very solid and sturdy so I didn't stress the seams like I feared I had.
Which reminds me...I need to find a long box big enough for a retrofit 175w MH unit Acrylic said he could use, and I promised to give it to him.
There is a Collage nearby, I also found out there is a marine biologist that goes to our Synagogue, so he may know someone if he doesn't want to do it himself.
Thanks for the encouragment on the $50.00 thing, I really have no idea what a person may want for pay to do the chore I need done. If the pay is too low nobody will do it, but at the same time I live on a fixed income now.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Well, that's great. I'm glad everything is working out so far. I hope that you find someone soon - it sounds like you have a good direction to go on.

 

[mikelly02]

That sounds like a dream come true for someone like me who could learn so much from someone like you! I can read all day long & bet I'd learn more from those 2 hours with someone who knows
Maybe you could find an "apprentice" so to speak? Assistance in exchange for advice & hands on? G/L,

 

[snakeblitz33]

Who are you talking to, mikelly02?

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/394089/i-need-some-advice-on-help#post_3507463
Hi,
I know if you were close by, and lots of others on the site...I wouldn't have to worry about anything. The friends I have made on ths site boggles the mind. My entire family was amazed during the sump build, and still talk about it. Most stories you hear about cyber friends are not good ones. I feel so blessed to know folks like yourself...Oh and by the way, that canopy you built for me is easy to get off..it fits really snug but perfect. I had used a rubber mallet to tap it into place originally, and I was afriad to try and remove it, but the lifter pump needed to be unclogged and I had to do it.... It's still very solid and sturdy so I didn't stress the seams like I feared I had.
Which reminds me...I need to find a long box big enough for a retrofit 175w MH unit Acrylic said he could use, and I promised to give it to him.
There is a Collage nearby, I also found out there is a marine biologist that goes to our Synagogue, so he may know someone if he doesn't want to do it himself.
Thanks for the encouragment on the $50.00 thing, I really have no idea what a person may want for pay to do the chore I need done. If the pay is too low nobody will do it, but at the same time I live on a fixed income now.
Flower I said no rush.......

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/394089/i-need-some-advice-on-help#post_3507443
Ah...just the kind of advice I was looking for...you and Fatty both. Thank you. I will look and see what is around here for schools and maybe run an ad in the local paper, or post on a school billboard for someone who needs a little extra cash and is willing to take their time to do things right...LOL or at least to my over cautious satisfaction. The LFSs around here are just not flush with anyone I would want to hire even for $10.00.
Thanks beaslbob...we all grow older, and aches and pains are a fact of life. If I ever have to live in an old folks home, I hope they have a SW tank for me to watch and enjoy. It just isn't home without a fish tank or two.

I feel you Flower.....I told both my daughters and granddaughter that when I get old I was going to stay with each of them 4 months out of the year....You should have seen the eyes......My oldest just got up and walked away, the youngest said she'd be to busy, but the granddaughter told me she'd make sure she'd have a shed at her house......I laughed figuring she was telling me that, that is where I'd be staying and she said no for the fish tanks......

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/394089/i-need-some-advice-on-help#post_3509652

I feel you Flower.....I told both my daughters and granddaughter that when I get old I was going to stay with each of them 4 months out of the year....You should have seen the eyes......My oldest just got up and walked away, the youngest said she'd be to busy, but the granddaughter told me she'd make sure she'd have a shed at her house......I laughed figuring she was telling me that, that is where I'd be staying and she said no for the fish tanks......
You know they are playing around...at least I hope so.
My oldest son Mark (34 yrs old and has 5 children), told me he would make me an apartment off of his house for me so he would be near, my daughter (35 yrs old and has 6 children) took in my husband when we were divorced, and would take me in a heart beat. My middle son Nicholas (33 yrs old), just last month noticed how bad I was walking, and was ready to leave his place, and come stay with his grandmother and me to take care of us. .. he said all he had to do was pack, and he was sure he could find a job here in Illinois. We turned him down because, we only have a 2 bedroom house and he would have to sleep in the living room and have no personal space, and he would be 2 hours from his 8 yr old son that he gets every other weekend.
They know they would have to accept my fish tank. LOL...but they would hire someone to care for it. I'm the one who moved away from them, because otherwise I would be too entangled in their affairs. I like being just a few hours away, I get to see the grand-kids often, and it's a visit instead of an infringement. They are not perfect kids, my daughter lives on welfare, Nick drinks, and Mark's wife is ...lets say, tolerable but I wouldn't want to live with her. They have their lives, and I have mine.
I did get my cleaning lady to do the job. I explained about being careful, and rocks crushing seahorses that hug things instead of getting out of the way like other fish. I watched and gave instructions as she did the harvesting and water change.... she was very careful and took her time, my 90g looks awesome again. She will be back Sunday or Monday to do the 56g in my bedroom. My mixing tub is only 37g, so it was used up for a 3% water change, and I need to mix another tub of water. I have two tubs, but my poor mother already lives with one taking up kitchen space....LOL, it used to be in the living room. I keep one tub full of mixed water all the time. New water has to churn 24 hours before use, and Friday is cleaning for Sabbath (her regular job with me), then Saturday is Sabbath so no work is to be done...that pushed the day to Sunday or Monday depending on the schedule at the ski resort where she works part time.
It was a big job this time, because the tanks have been neglected, but after they are cleaned up...it won't take so long. She lost her job a year ago and really needs the money. She goes from house to house, cleaning homes, and even picking up dog poop...anything she can find so she can pay for her house and stay afloat. She could be on welfare, but she chooses to work and stand on her own two feet, I really admire her for that.