A little statists help from the mods please

[Russell Casey]

I hate to point it out. But it's not just reefing. Hobby shops are gone, speed shops for cars.
Motorcycle shops, bicycle shops, bait shops. BMX tracks, SCCA sports car club. RC flying clubs.

As near as I can tell Americans don't do anything interesting anymore.

Or is it my friend that the average American isn't making the cash their parents did?

 

[WVNed]

Or is it my friend that the average American isn't making the cash their parents did?

LOL
The average American stares at their phone all day and does nothing.
People that do nothing and know nothing don't do well in life.

 

[I’ma tempermental coral]

So another millennial checking in here. Been in the hobby myself since the day my husband and I became something serious. At first I was showing an interest in one of his passion, then I got hooked. That makes about 15 years for me, almost 20 for him. While I agree the attention span of most of the younger generations is as long as a fruit tart I don’t think that’s the biggest thing to blame. The reef keeping hobby at this point can be terrifying to look at from an outside perspective these days as I have learned recently. From my own daughter no less. Not long ago she decided she wanted her own tank. She was saving up for the new Nintendo switch when it comes out and decided she wanted her own tank instead! Very proud daddy moment for my husband! Lol. Shortly there after, while doing her research she started to become increasingly nervous about all the things she thought she was going to need to buy to run a successful nano reef. She thought she had made a mistake with trying and became very discouraged. It took my husband sitting her down and showing her his very first successful reef tank and how simple and inexpensive it was for her to understand she didn’t need all these expensive gadgets that dominate the hobby today. I think the main issue in today’s reefing market is how intimidating and overwhelming it can be to see all this massively expensive equipment. Seriously think about it. A light, leds no less, something seemingly cheap to manufacture, some costing $700+! Flow pumps, something that does little more than push a little water around can cost $300+. Lets face it when you find something you become interested in the first thing you do is go and find out how you can make the “best” thing you can. In this hobby doing that takes you direct to things like Apex, Ecotech, and the like. None are a necessity but from the outside looking in you find more examples of success from those systems running these things. But what do I know, it’s possible my husband and I are broken millennials. He builds race cars and classic cars for a living, builds lightning fast large RC boats when he has time, is part of a RC boat and airplane club all things I’ve seen mention in this thread of going extinct.

 

[Scottmac]

Well as with almost everything it comes down to money and when things go from good to bad the most expensive hobbies like this one are on the chopping block.

Here over in the UK we have a similar issue - large businesses forcing out the smaller ones, and generally people choosing less expensive hobbies or just living more 'virtual lives' which IMO is the saddest and most damaging change.

Sadly, I agree with your friend that the aquarium hobby has its days numbered although the most dedicated will still try and hang on, as most people, esp younger generations, have less and less expendable finances. The truth is this is a luxury hobby for easy times, and when harder times come around people focus on necessities.

Unfortunately I have a bad feeling that his time prediction of 10 years is far too optimistic. Consider two dates:
24/07/2020: US eviction moratorium expires
31/07/2020: Federal unemployment assistance to be significantly reduced (currently in debate)

The truth is a lot of these jobs & businesses on furlough/assistance don't exist anymore, it's just being propped up by Government debt payments. So very few people will soon have the left over cash to afford a hobby like this.

As financial markets are usually reactive rather than proactive, you don't usually see the knock-on effects until after a short delay. So wait for the Q3 & Q4 reports this year...