Where are all the reefers

[Uncle99]

In our area, I would not say the hobby is growing, but in fact maintaining its specific users. When I started 30 years ago, there were 12 Franchised LFS available to me each having about 10% of the floor space for SW.

Today, we have 14 Franchised LFS, and in the last two years, 6 independent Stores, 3 of which cater to corals only, and 3 which are net based delivery.

While the LFS admit there money us actually made in selling kids FW stuff through their parents, they have their solid base of SW people.

Every time I am at the LFS, I meet several new people starting SW tanks, many upgrading from FW, but usually not kids, more like 30 and up.

IMO, while the hobby is likely reducing in my area, it is likely very slow.

Just my 3 cents..

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

One thing that helps... is visiting other people tank threads and posting in them...

Give that a go... and I bet you will have more feedback in your thread.

 

[Susanedw]

@nanoreefing4fun It's not just my thread. I've been noticing all threads, all topics are much less. I look at the listing of threads in the different forums and see huge gaps in dates which means not much activity. I'm going to give it a shot to try to do more here and start some threads and see. It's usually the same 2-3 people I see responding.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Over the years... there are ebbs & flows it seems ... but posting in others thread will get one more post in their own, been my observation.

I do know... RS is the nicest reefing forum on the net ! No Flames here

 

[Uncle99]

I must agree. People like Dave and Paul and Oxy, (for example) are quite knowledgeable (and I know I missed a lot others, sorry) and not judgemental or condescending, that's why I like this site so much. My DT and all its inhabitants are quite happy now thanks to the support I Have received from the members. I came here from a site which is 20 times the size but I got lost in the multitude of responses, some not too friendly. These are sites where a stupid question, is still a stupid question.Some weeks are slower than others, but I agree with nanoreefing4fun, great people on this site...and too those who helped me...BIG THANKS!

 

[Pat24601]

Over the years... there are ebbs & flows it seems ... but posting in others thread will get one more post in their own, been my observation.

I do know... RS is the nicest reefing forum on the net ! No Flames here

There are fewer active regulars here at the moment, but it can ebb and flow it seems. People come and go from the hobby and even those that stay with the hobby come and go as real life impacts their schedule.

It’s definitely the most newbie friendly sites out there. No one waiting to jump down your throat if you phrase a question the wrong way.

We will see what the future holds.

As far as the hobby itself, my area seems to be doing pretty well from what a layman can see. I have one store in my immediate area does nothing but saltwater and they always seem very busy. A number of other quality stores have popped up which do fresh and salt and they seem to support themselves well.

I’m not sure Red Sea tanks are doing quite as well as they used to in my area from what I gather talking to my LFS. I’m well documented for saying I don’t like them going rimless with everything. Maybe it’s actually impacting adoption. I dunno. If so, that may be impacting our forum as I think it was by far the best place to talk about Red Sea tanks and I think that attracted new users.

 

[Pat24601]

I must agree. People like Dave and Paul and Oxy, (for example) are quite knowledgeable (and I know I missed a lot others, sorry) and not judgemental or condescending, that's why I like this site so much. My DT and all its inhabitants are quite happy now thanks to the support I Have received from the members. I came here from a site which is 20 times the size but I got lost in the multitude of responses, some not too friendly. These are sites where a stupid question, is still a stupid question.Some weeks are slower than others, but I agree with nanoreefing4fun, great people on this site...and too those who helped me...BIG THANKS!

Dave, Paul, and Oxy are awesome!

 

[Oxylebius]

Interesting conversation. I came across an article a week ago about this very same topic.

Polls tracking pet ownership show that the number of fishkeepers (particularly marine fishkeepers) have increased in the USA over the past five years. However, over the same time period, UK fishkeepers have declined substantially. How is the fishkeeping scene where you live? Find out by looking at some of the graphics in this article.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/how-many-fishkeepers-are-there

 

[Pat24601]

Interesting conversation. I came across an article a week ago about this very same topic.

Polls tracking pet ownership show that the number of fishkeepers (particularly marine fishkeepers) have increased in the USA over the past five years. However, over the same time period, UK fishkeepers have declined substantially. How is the fishkeeping scene where you live? Find out by looking at some of the graphics in this article.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/how-many-fishkeepers-are-there

Wow. Very interesting!

 

[StirCrayzy]

One thing that helps... is visiting other people tank threads and posting in them...

Give that a go... and I bet you will have more feedback in your thread.

Well put Glenn.
It helps to revive everyones interest too. Long term tanks are in process everywhere we look. Im sometimes overwhelmed by the volume of new tanks being started, and my favorite thing is remembering the startups and trials we all must endure.

 

[Paul B]

My thread on here has almost 140,000 views, but I rarely see anyone post (except me)
I am not sure if they are sleeping or in a coma. But I am fed up to here (my hand is under my chin) with people reading but not posting. Say something, even if it is wrong or you just made it up.

I know you have something to report. How about your vacation or your earthworm collection.

 

[Pat24601]

I’m starting to be more convinced the lower number of regular contributors here is directly related to Red Sea tanks being less popular now that they changed them.

This really was (and is) the best Red Sea tank forum on the internet and I think that attracted many new users who wanted to share experiences with their tanks.

At least, that was really a lot of the traffic when I joined in 2014. I remember a whole cadre of new users that joined with me and almost all were running Red Sea tanks.

I obviously don’t have any data on Red Sea tank sales, but I know my LFS is a thriving business in my local area and they say the Red Sea tanks are not as popular as they used to be.

These forums always had a lot to offer besides just Red Sea, of course, but it was the thing that really stood out as unique about this site vs. others and was certainly the reason I was attracted to these forums.

It’s still a great site with some phenomenal long term members and a wealth of informative articles, but the active member base isn’t what it was.

 

[Uncle99]

Maybe we should all share a bit more and more frequently instead of just answering questions....
Some people just read.....we may never or rarely hear from them if there are no problems...
So I through out a summary of my recent rebuild with some of the things I learned on this site....

 

[Paul B]

I don't even know what a red sea tank is.

 

[Pat24601]

I don't even know what a red sea tank is.

Nor do you need to.

I'm sure you'll also be disappointed to find out they don't come with little plastic ships where the bubbles come out.

 

[Paul B]

What, no Ship with bubbles!!! Then I surely don't want one.

 

[DaveK]

What, no Ship with bubbles!!! Then I surely don't want one.

Everyone is different in their interests. We even have people here that use undergravel filters. (grin)

 

[Pat24601]

Everyone is different in their interests. We even have people here that use undergravel filters. (grin)

Ha!

 

[Paul B]

Everyone is different in their interests. We even have people here that use undergravel filters. (grin)

Are they nuts!, That is a nitrate factory and causes locusts. It can't possibly work. How ridiculous.

 

[Pat24601]

Are they nuts!, That is a nitrate factory and causes locusts. It can't possibly work. How ridiculous.

I am pretty sure it causes at least 3 of the 7 deadly plagues, including locusts.