Is the hobby becoming too pricy? Discussion

[glb]

Its way to expensive I have 10k in my set up and its not even that big .. 120 gal and a 180 gal sump

it is verry sad that it is so expensive and I don't think things are EVER going to change

Wow. That's a lot of money but I'm not surprised. It is a beautiful tank though.

 

[ebushrow]

I can't stand when I hear this....the hobby can be expensive as you want to make it....because some people want the latest and greatest NEW equipment, and keep increasing their costs is their OWN doing, not the hobby. You can buy used equipment, make your own pieces or whatever.

If you think about a LED light, most people need 1 or 2..... Development costs, build costs, customs costs, and profits need to be built in as you should not need to replace the light under normal use for 10 years...how would a company stay in business then....you can't stop paying for business costs for 9 years waiting for you to buy a new light, or not developing a new technology that is better, more energy efficient, and lasts 10 years longer ? This is just a small portion of the costs passed on to the buyer...and rightly so!

As for livestock, air flights have gone up, fees from fish and wildlife has gone up, as well as stock has decreased as further restrictions are put on wildlife collecting, this makes the prices go up. Just part of the business....can't do anything about that....prices from the collectors have even gone up due to regulations .

People who fall into the name game have the disposable income, or should have, to play that game. You can get coral frags (no names) from most stores for 10.00... But you want big colonies to add to your bare tanks, so yes...they cost 100 or more...just be patient that 10 frag will grow up to that colony if you know what you are doing.

I think new hobbyist fall into the thought process that, I buy a glass box, add salt and water once, have a inadequate filter and they add fish and or corals....I find that most of the people that complain about the price likely did not research what they were getting into before they took the leap. Look at the issues listed under the titles help....75-80% of them IMO are due to people not researching before they act....

I am going to bet that many new hobbyists have never opened a tropical fish monthly, coral magazine, or joined a local reef club before they start their tanks. Now, I am not trying to "bash" new hobbyists, but I think they are also given poor info or have no idea from many aspects until they have a question and realize there is a plethora of information on sites like reef2reef and the others...not sure how to get that out there though...
Rev does his best to advertize, but people don't look either....this I have no idea how to change though.

Take away message- if you research what it takes to get into the hobby, before you buy a tank, you should not be surprised by the costs as they arise. If you don't, then you realize it is expensive.

 

[4FordFamily]

Expensive is all relative. We all find ways to make it expensive relative to our disposable income. I can afford most aspects of this hobby pretty well for my three tanks so I fill my tanks with rare, difficult to keep, expensive, ornamental fish so that's where my cost is.

Some do this with coral - maybe 95% of my inverts are cheap. The most expensive corals I have are rbta (13 of them) and frog spawn, monti caps (small), and some hammer. The rest of my coral is cheapo and easy.

Some people buy ornamental expensive fish and coral and they are better off financially than me!

 

[FlyinBryan]

Economics drives prices. You can't just lower a price just because. Prices get too high it attracts competition. It is a hobby, but it can NEVER be immune to naturally occurring economic forces. You can't regulate prices because you'll diminish supply and quality. The youth can get a better job, they can save. If its that important they'll find a way. Capitalism is beautiful thing that brings out the very best in individuals! Sw hobby is no different!

 

[reefwiser]

Every hobby is expensive. Name a hobby any golf ,hunting ,fishing even something like gardening. Every pursuit worth pursuing is expensive in both time and pocket book.

 

[4FordFamily]

Economics drives prices. You can't just lower a price just because. Prices get too high it attracts competition. It is a hobby, but it can NEVER be immune to naturally occurring economic forces. You can't regulate prices because you'll diminish supply and quality. The youth can get a better job, they can save. If its that important they'll find a way. Capitalism is beautiful thing that brings out the very best in individuals! Sw hobby is no different!

Well said

 

[I Hate Nitrates]

Bwahaha! Loaded question. Agree with many comments. My 2 cents: Everyone complains at one time or another that they are "broke", low on funds, etc. Yet it always amazes me how when they want something bad enough, they seem to find the funds. So maybe one doesn't want to spend money on, this, that, and the other, but then..."oh, I HAVE to get this mycedium!" Not saying I have done this myself, but...Yes I have! If you enjoy it, you will spend $ on it! Totally agree with reefwiser and ebushrow! Also, you get what you pay for. You can buy 5 or 6 piece of junk lights, powerheads, etc. or you can buy one nice one that lasts much longer. Just sayin.

 

[Up2no6ood]

This is honestly one of the cheapest hobbies out there....ive spent more in ammo with my gun hobby than I have ever spent on coral and what's nice about reefing is that eventually things will grow out and need to be trimmed. I can sell or trade that stuff to supplement the costs. If I could only get my ammo to do that

 

[macscale]

Great Opinions Everyone!
Thank you all for sharing your ideas and points.

For those of you who have other beloved hobbies,
Have you ever compared the costs?
Maybe a chart like
Power costs
Equipment
Livestock/Accessories
And such?

 

[Oscaror]

I don't think the name drives the coral up, it's the little acronym at the beginning
RR, CC, SC, ORA, JF
I have proof of this, since I pay big bucks for these pieces, so I know people fall for this gimmick.
The name is a very helpful tool, not a gimmick, it helps you identify the coral you want. I don't want to see an amazing coral, and not know how to find it again. I need it's name. It's like trying to find a friend on facebook, without their name, you just scroll through your friends' mutual friends, and hope you find them. NO! I need the name!
But what company discovered it first should not be important, and the reason you pay big bucks for it is because you THINK that knowing it's origin makes it more exclusive.
It's not rare just because it came from one person, lots oof people have it and are selling it. My LFS got an RR wolverine, they didn't even know it! (guess who's it's proud owner lol)
But, until everyone realizes this, the prices won't drop. So I'll join everyone in exploiting the prices! I gotta pay for this hobby some way.

 

[thejuggernaut]

I agree that it is one of the cheapest hobbies out there. The gear, if cared for, will last a long time. I look at my tanks for hours a day, because they are always in my living room. I wouldn't want a tank if I couldn't have it in my main living area. If you figure $ spent per hour enjoyed, it is about as cheap as it can get. That said, it is a hobby and by its nature is for disposable income. I honestly think that the cost of quality equipment has come DOWN over the last 5 years or so. More and more people are able to keep extremely successful tanks these days. We have controllable powerheads for less than $100 (not $450), DC controllable pumps in the $200 range (not $800), and cone skimmers for $300-$500 (not $2000). True, those other brands still make Top Of The Line equipment, that for many is worth the added expense. But, it gives people with a lesser budget the ability to get into the hobby and have 90% of the function at less than half the price. As far as fish and corals go, yes they have gotten more expensive. But that has more to do with the cost of doing business. I imagine they will continue to increase in price as the govt begins to put more pressure on collectors and we move more towards aqua-cultured livestock. You can already see more and more companies investing money on closing the life cycles of several rare and more expensive species. Spending $100 on a fish that I am going to enjoy for hours a day for 10-15 years is a no brainer to me and ALLOT cheaper than that $5 cup of starbucks I will drink in 15 minutes while I am typing this.

 

[glb]

This is honestly one of the cheapest hobbies out there....ive spent more in ammo with my gun hobby than I have ever spent on coral and what's nice about reefing is that eventually things will grow out and need to be trimmed. I can sell or trade that stuff to supplement the costs. If I could only get my ammo to do that

Exactly how much shooting do you do? [emoji6]

 

[Up2no6ood]

Exactly how much shooting do you do? [emoji6]

When I had the time. About 50 rounds of 9mm daily, about 1000 rounds of 22 weekly. I worked next to an indoor range and had a membership. Would stop by during my lunch break every day to put a few down the pipe. Then on the weekends it was to the other outdoor range just down the road for .308 and 8mm rifles. Ive spent a small fortune on guns and ammo and realized while it was fun I didn't have anything to really show for it. Minus buckets full of brass and paper with holes in it. So I decided to cut down and save some money that's what brought me to reefing. Way cheaper and just as relaxing.

 

[glb]

When I had the time. About 50 rounds of 9mm daily, about 1000 rounds of 22 weekly. I worked next to an indoor range and had a membership. Would stop by during my lunch break every day to put a few down the pipe. Then on the weekends it was to the other outdoor range just down the road for .308 and 8mm rifles. Ive spent a small fortune on guns and ammo and realized while it was fun I didn't have anything to really show for it. Minus buckets full of brass and paper with holes in it. So I decided to cut down and save some money that's what brought me to reefing. Way cheaper and just as relaxing.

Wow! There is a more expensive hobby!!!!

 

[Up2no6ood]

Wow! There is a more expensive hobby!!!!

Lol ask my wife about scrapbooking....now that's an expensive hobby.

 

[Docdiggy]

I've gotten to the point where I just maintain the tank. One of the worst things I've found is starting with cheaper equipment only to end up buying the good stuff. Too many unneeded purchases. I'm finally happy with my setup and I buy a new coral from time to time. Between this and car upgrades, it gets pricey.

 

[dcarrion144]

Hey bkreefbaby ware do u live in NYC Brooklyn? I'm in jamaica queens

 

[dcarrion144]

Totally agree with you. You can trade frags fish or equipment on different forums. You can even buy USED equipment for less then half the price from other hobbyist and in this hobby I noticed reefers keep their equipment pristine. I live in NYC one of the most expensive cities in the world and I still find 5$-15$ frags at a lot of LFS. If you want high end items you will pay high end prices

Hey bkreefbaby ware do u live in the nyc Brooklyn? I live in Jamaica queens

 

[hart24601]

I made a poll about cost without trying to use subjective terms:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/187602-cost-reefkeeping-hobby.html

The median value of money spent is currently at $6,000, but look at the distribution, the over 10,000 category has nearly 2x the votes of any other price range. I should have made it with more options over 10k, but that wouldn't change the median value.

Personally I find this hobby expensive.

I also don't totally agree with people saying it can be done cheap. Sure it can, once you know a lot about the hobby and can pick what equipment works well and look for it used, but when many people start they use the LFS or just mail order catalogs before finding the forums, and even then it takes a long time to figure out what advise to listen to. I know there are some people here that found the forums right away and were able to reef on the cheap, but that generally doesn't happen IMO.

 

[kidtango]

This hobby is NOT cheap. Nothing is "cheap" about it, especially the good stuff. Good equipment is expensive. I have done it cheap before and it didn't work out so well. We have way more selections now than ever, but the corals are getting way up there. Even Z n P are expensive... Those shrooms are amazing but $$$$... And nice SPS aren't cheap either. I spend more money on fish than corals... But that's because I have expensive taste. And there are plenty others with way better taste with fish than me.

It can be done at a reasonable price, but you have to limit what you want to keep. Rimless tanks or Reef savy tanks aren't cheap. I guess it depends mainly on your taste. And than fish.... Woahhhh... LOL... If you have expensive taste than forget thinking cheap. I have quite a few fish in the tank that are $100 per fish and some are over $200... Not to mention the lost of livestock due to various reasons.

I stop counting to be honest. I think it's so worth it. Especially, when I see my fish are happy and healthy and corals are growing. Maybe I'll get to the point where I can start trading my corals for more corals that I want. But that's a maybe... My tank can crash or it can bush open one day. Who knows!

I think a person has to be very committed to have a successful/healthy tank for the long run. I often discourage my friends to NOT get into the hobby. It's expensive finanically and emotionally...