As much as I hate to do this, I need to downsize my reef tank to something around 30G.
My 21-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and it's been an incredibly difficult time for our family. Between caring for her, managing work, and keeping things together at home, I simply don’t have the ability to maintain a large tank like I used to.
Cancer sucks. She was enjoying her junior year of college, full of life and plans for the future, when she developed a persistent cough about three months ago. We thought it was something minor—maybe a cold or lingering flu. But after testing and scans, we got the devastating news: it was lung cancer that had already spread to her brain.
Honestly, I was ready to walk away from the hobby entirely. But my daughter—despite everything she’s going through—told me to keep the fish alive and happy. She reminded me how much peace and joy the tank brought to both of us over the years. That conversation stuck with me, and it’s why I’ve decided to keep a smaller setup instead of giving it all up.
I plan to move what I can into a 30-gallon tank—mainly my two clownfish, some coral, and enough live rock to build a decent rockscape. The rest will need to go.
The current setup is a 55-gallon tank, recently upgraded from T5s to LED lighting. It’s running with a canister filter, two powerheads, and a heater. I’ll be parting with any equipment and livestock that won’t fit the smaller build.
Here are a few photos from better days, before everything changed. This has been a hard decision, but right now my priority is my daughter and our time together.
My 21-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and it's been an incredibly difficult time for our family. Between caring for her, managing work, and keeping things together at home, I simply don’t have the ability to maintain a large tank like I used to.
Cancer sucks. She was enjoying her junior year of college, full of life and plans for the future, when she developed a persistent cough about three months ago. We thought it was something minor—maybe a cold or lingering flu. But after testing and scans, we got the devastating news: it was lung cancer that had already spread to her brain.
Honestly, I was ready to walk away from the hobby entirely. But my daughter—despite everything she’s going through—told me to keep the fish alive and happy. She reminded me how much peace and joy the tank brought to both of us over the years. That conversation stuck with me, and it’s why I’ve decided to keep a smaller setup instead of giving it all up.
I plan to move what I can into a 30-gallon tank—mainly my two clownfish, some coral, and enough live rock to build a decent rockscape. The rest will need to go.
The current setup is a 55-gallon tank, recently upgraded from T5s to LED lighting. It’s running with a canister filter, two powerheads, and a heater. I’ll be parting with any equipment and livestock that won’t fit the smaller build.
Here are a few photos from better days, before everything changed. This has been a hard decision, but right now my priority is my daughter and our time together.
