Why do people “Get out of the Hobby”

[bdongoron]

What do we think are the biggest contributing factors to people getting out of the “hobby”. I see a lot of people selling off tanks and equipment stating they don’t have time for it anymore but I’ve never thought it to be a super time consuming thing. Do people lose interest overtime? I don’t really view it as a hobby personally, just try to create a beautiful glimpse of the ocean/reefs contained in the comfort of our homes. I think it adds a relaxing calming element to the home for all who live there as well as any guests that come over.

 

[tzabor10]

What do we think are the biggest contributing factors to people getting out of the “hobby”. I see a lot of people selling off tanks and equipment stating they don’t have time for it anymore but I’ve never thought it to be a super time consuming thing. Do people lose interest overtime? I don’t really view it as a hobby personally, just try to create a beautiful glimpse of the ocean/reefs contained in the comfort of our homes. I think it adds a relaxing calming element to the home for all who live there as well as any guests that come over.

It is expensive and time consuming. And an ugly tank is not fun

 

[Goaway]

My guess is cyano/algae/dinos overly stressed them and much cash was spent fighting the battle with negative results.

 

[braaap]

Life. Money isn’t an issue for me in this hobby. Because I enjoy it. Life gets in the way.

 

[RockRash]

I got out 10 years ago when I started my business. I was working crazy hours and hardly ever home. I never lost interest and am currently building a 75 gallon. It feels good to be back and I cant wait to have it up and running.

 

[NeedAReef]

divorce....
I got out when I got divorced, had to spend my money differently and focus on my kids. 10 years later I got back in and the kids are happy that daddy is happy

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

I would say people get burnt out. It's very common to happen to people who get really into a hobby. That or something catastrophic happens, which could include crashes, as well as dinos, cyanos, ETC. Stuff like cyano outbreaks aren't much of a catastrophic event, but when you are starting to get burnt out it may seem like way to much work.

 

[bdongoron]

I got out 10 years ago when I started my business. I was working crazy hours and hardly ever home. I never lost interest and am currently building a 75 gallon. It feels good to be back and I cant wait to have it up and running.

I love that. I’m new to saltwater myself, started with freshwater. I’m definitely nervous to see where this journey goes but I’ve always wanted to have a small piece of the ocean to take care of, view and enjoy. I’m thankful reef2reef exists it’s helped me a ton with planning and questions.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What do we think are the biggest contributing factors to people getting out of the “hobby”. I see a lot of people selling off tanks and equipment stating they don’t have time for it anymore but I’ve never thought it to be a super time consuming thing. Do people lose interest overtime? I don’t really view it as a hobby personally, just try to create a beautiful glimpse of the ocean/reefs contained in the comfort of our homes. I think it adds a relaxing calming element to the home for all who live there as well as any guests that come over.

Costs
lack of time
Items used now hard to find
Local LFS closes down
repeated issues with tank and livestock loss

 

[Idech]

Expensive, high failure rate, fish loss and the overall complexity of it all.

 

[fish farmer]

There were times that I could have been out of the hobby, at least the reef keeping aspect. For many years my tanks were more FOWLR than reef.

If my wife and I get to the point where we want to take extended travels out of state, I expect I would shut the tank down. We have pets like cats and a dog as well, so we can justify a competent pet sitter, but we feel we will downsize to one pet when we both retire.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Health issues, new job, loss of job, lifestyle changes, boredom, frustration, tank crash, and many other of life’s curveballs. A few of my reefing friends, who were 10+ year Reefers recently quit too.

 

[00W]

Impatience.
Everyone wants the perfect tank right now and it just doesn't happen that way.

 

[workhz]

Moving.

Sometimes you break a tank down, sell stuff, move and take a break.

I do think for most people it’s just a lack of success and not having patience.

 

[VintageReefer]

Page one of my tank thread I explain the top 3 common reasons I think people quit

 

[marinesnow]

I've been in and out multiple times and for various reasons...

- Relocation
- Resource limitations
- A new job
- Travel
- Life changing events

 

[Bpones]

Living in New Orleans, I could see the day a hurricane may take me outta it. I hope not…

 

[rc8t6353]

I almost decided to get out when I broke my hand at work and my tank crashed around the same time. Luckily my wife talked me into keeping with it.

 

[X-37B]

Many get into the hobby without a plan. They have no understanding of what is involved in maintaining a system. Just look at all the threads, its obvious that they never took time to research the hobby.
They crash and burn and are out.
This happens way more than most realize.

 

[slingfox]

I am only in month 8 of the hobby right now. I almost quit in the first few months because the high cost got me stressed out. Then I went through a 3 month seemingly non-stop battle of the uglies which was both labor intensive and costly to battle. By month 6 my tank started to stabilize and now there is not much to do on a day-to-day basis other than stare at the beautiful scenery and plan on what to add. There is some labor to do basic weekly tank maintenance but no hobby is worthwhile unless it requires some effort.

I think the current trend to go with all dry rock + bottled bacteria sets up a rough first year for new reefers. If I had to start from scratch again I would get at least some live rock or live sand (from the ocean not the bagged stuff inoculated with bottled bacteria) to make the ugly stage less challenging.