Where are all the reefers

How many friends have left the hobby in your circle of friends.

  • none

    Votes: 7 46.7%
  • 1-5

    Votes: 7 46.7%
  • 6-10

    Votes: 1 6.7%
  • 10-20

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • were're all here

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .

Basile

Well-Known Member
I was out of the hobby for 10 months for special circumstances, but is it me or people are leaving the hobby.
I'm saying because out of my 10 hobbyist friends only two of us remain. My LFS says the same thing . How's the hobby in your neighborhood?

Whats going on with the market.......any body knows???
 

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
I have a local "acquaintance" who is in the hobby. The one friend I had who was in the hobby doesn't live near me any longer. And isn't in the hobby. I do live in the middle of nowhere, so that's partially on me, however, I live near a larger city and about an hour from DC, and it's still tough to find reefers.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
As anyone who has been in the hobby any length of time knows, reef keeping can be very demanding. Many people get into it with out realizing this and give up. May people give up because they do things wrong and end up with tank after tank of very dead fish. Others find the cost is too much for them. Others move on to another aspect of the hobby. I'd say this is typical for the entire aquarium hobby.

As a side note, you'd be surprised how many people on a FW planted tank forum I post on are ex reef keepers. For one reason or another they got out of SW reefs.
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Yeah I think the demands of sw really hit home after a while a fw is the answer for many. I don't have a tank now but am living vicariously through two friends so it's holding me over for now!
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Is it people leaving the hobby or leaving the forum? I don't have any friends who have coral tanks or SW tanks either. I do know acquaintances met through this forum at conferences and through a local forum met through local meetings. I don't go onto the forums as much now as I used to do. Just too busy. As for my tank, it is still going strong. I have started and stopped my frag tank over the years, but not the DT.
 

AndtheBonus

Member
I have been away for a while too from RS. I always pop in here and there but have definitely noticed a decrease, at least posts wise. I need to start posting more as well. Have had my new system up and running for a few years now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

StirCrayzy

Well-Known Member
Like many, life gets me all tied up, and I visit RS in short bursts When I can.
I'll never be out of the SW hobby, its one of the best things I've ever discovered.
I can understand why many get out, this is not for the faint of heart. but for some of us, it's a part of life and will endure any hardship.
 

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
I have very minimal friends IRL. None have SW aquariums, so It is basically me and all the voices in my own head.....and Last I checked we are all still here.

I am so damn busy with family and work that by the time I have free time, it is Monday morning. Getting old is overrated.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
I have very minimal friends IRL. None have SW aquariums, so It is basically me and all the voices in my own head.....and Last I checked we are all still here.

I am so damn busy with family and work that by the time I have free time, it is Monday morning. Getting old is overrated.

To me, this is simply the way of almost any forum. People are around for a while, then stuff happens in their life and they aren't. Sometimes they come back and sometimes they don't. It doesn't mean much except life is change.

I am doing as @DaveK says above in his post. I'm exiting the hobby after 3 years and going to freshwater, but for complex reasons not because saltwater was a disaster. I consider my saltwater excursion a success and I'm very glad I took the plunge and did it. I expect to be back at it when my kids are older and I have time for two tanks.

I actually may start a tank thread for my freshwater experience here since I am using my saltwater equipment and it may be interesting for someone out there to learn from whatever mistakes I'm about to make on converting a reef tank to freshwater.
 
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SPR

Well-Known Member
.

I actually may start a tank thread for my freshwater experience here since I am using my saltwater equipment and it may be interesting for someone out there to learn from whatever mistakes I'm about to make on converting a reef tank to freshwater.

Hi Pat
If you do go Freshwater please start a thread as that would be great to watch and learn the differences between the two etc. I am assuming saltwater is much more complex than Freshwater and I jumped in at the deep end! Enjoy it though.

Update - I see you have started a new thread so thanks for that- following.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I don't have any friends with salt tanks. I had one once 30 years ago and he got out but that's it.
When I started the hobby it took many years before anyone had a salt tank. I do notice on these forums that most of the people don't last ten years.
For me it is not a hobby but a way of life. I always had a tank and it is very little maintenance and not very expensive. I guess after enough years you have it figured out so you don't have the problems that force people out of the hobby.
 

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
For me it is not a hobby but a way of life. I always had a tank and it is very little maintenance and not very expensive.
I think that this describes my mentality totally. Simplicity is key. There are so many contraptions and thingies that people get into buying to accessorize. After a while you could have 2-4 various reactors, bottles of compressed gasses and tons of various pumps pushing water in and out of all sorts of things.

Modified berlin method with a skimmer has always worked. I want my fish tank to work, I don't want to have to work my fish tank.

I have always had an aquarium....Since I was just a little guy....I might have been 8 when mom gave me a 10 gallon to fill with critters from the local creek.

My salt "obsession" started with a standard 29 gallon tank and a friend who assured me that I could not duplicate his external overflow box and make it work. I think part of my "Fun" is creating things on the cheap that work through trial and error. (It worked on the first trial run)

Keeping a SW is really no harder than FW. The only aspect that is "Hard" is mixing up water prior to a water change.

Reefkeeping does not require much more work. Get good lights. Keep up with water changes. Grow coral until it dies or covers everything.

Just like a car or any other thing, the more moving parts something has, the greater the chance of failure.....And never spend more than you can afford to lose.
 

Mayja

Social Media Moderator
RS STAFF
I'm still running the RS Facebook feed, and I check back here as often as I can. But the whole newlywed thing is blissfully causing time to pass more quickly than I imagined.

We had a major power outage that took out many of our coral. We still have leathers and shrooms, but that's it. We're going to invest in a power backup unit for the tank before restocking.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 

Uncle99

Well-Known Member
While I am sure some leave the hobby for a multitude of reasons, Owning and caring for a reef tank takes a special type of person, one who has acquired over time a significant amount of knowledge. There's a big difference in wanting a SWT and maintaining a thriving bio-sphere over a long time. For every 1000 FW there's 1 SW, and while some say it's not hard, that's because they have acquired the necessary knowledge to be successful. And that knowledge probably did not come cheap, and certainly did not come fast. Our reward is inside the glass box. It's always interesting to watch people marvel at what we have accomplished.

So we are not many.....but skillful.
 

Susanedw

Well-Known Member
I only have my dau and sil for reefing buddies. I don't know anyone locally, don't even have a lfs close. I haven't been on this forum much because it seems to be fading. I check in periodically, and even updated my thread and started a new one. Will see how it goes. It is not as fun or rewarding if there aren't "conversations". I've noticed a huge drop in responses and even new threads or questions. This place needs a "shot in the arm" or something to bring it back to life.
 
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