jdiver
Community Member
I had been out of the hobby for about 10 years after being pretty deep into it for 5 or 6 years prior. Getting back into it has been more overwhelming than I had anticipated and a lot has changed. I thought it might be interesting to come up with a list and get some thoughts on it.
Begin old man "When I was growing up" post now...
1. Fish and coral prices
Sticker shock is an understatement! Everything has at least doubled in price if not tripled or more. I'd be curious to know if there has been a significant increase in prices of livestock from 2 years ago pre-pandemic and how much supply and demand of so many more people being home has affected prices. My LFS (Something Fishy in Allentown, PA - amazing store) used to have $10/$15 frag tanks that usually had some nice mushrooms, zoas, xenia, etc. Now the lowest end frag tanks are $25 and the frags I would see in the $10/$15 tanks are now in the $25 or $50 tanks.
1b. Value of corals
GSP was often seen as a nuisance coral and reefers would gladly give it away, and threads on "how to get rid of GSP" weren't uncommon. Now a frag goes for $30+. The same is true for things like Xenia and some other common softies. Every coral seems to have value now, which is great, just not great for the bank account.
2. Color varieties of corals
Back then eagle eye zoas and pink and purple people eater palys were relatively new and all the rage, and highly sought after. Now those 2 varieties, while still gorgeous, have been surpassed by dozens of new (to me) color variations. The same is true for LPS, particularly frogspawn, hammers, and torches which really only had a couple of varieties and now have many many more. I was never an SPS reefer, but from what I can tell the same applies there as well.
3. Lighting
LEDs were new and not yet figured out. Towards the end of my previous stint in the hobby I replaced a MH lighting set up with an LED fixture and was unimpressed with the results. Obviously significant strides have been made with LEDs since then and the results are impressive, plus cheaper and more efficient to run, and way less heat.
4. Technology
I don't even know where to start with this one because I'm overwhelmed by it all. Sure there were reefers using dosing pumps and controllers and whatnot, but now it seems like those are almost standard. Add in all the advances with connected apps, and it's a lot. To me there does seem to be more "new shiny syndrome" in the hobby, and I'd be curious to know if people feel like some things are now overcomplicated (the ocean is perfectly imperfect after all) or if the advances are mostly necessary ones to advance the hobby and proper care of fish and corals.
5. Tanks
Rimless tanks are everywhere now and I love it. Largely gone are the days of black and faux wood grained framed tanks by AGA. Now we have Waterbox, Redsea, UNS, Hydra, Prostar, etc etc, etc. The tanks are now waaaay more attractive and have way more options. There are also many more AIO options, which is a great reduction of barrier to entry in the hobby - not everyone is plumbing proficient or wants to drill glass. Going along with this, the stands are also much nicer and higher quality. I used to have a 125 gallon (black frame AGA of course), and for the first 2 weeks of having it I would lay awake at night expecting the tank to crash to the floor, which probably says more about me than the hobby. lol
6. Online coral retailers
Back then it was predominantly liveaquaria.com and ebay for buying corals, wwc may have existed as well. Just the sheer number of r2r sponsors is amazing, but again not good for the bank account, especially with a special sale seemingly every day. The same isn't true for LFS though, at least not in my area, but the few stores that were around are still there, so that's good.
I'm sure plenty more has changed, but these are my observations over the past couple of months of getting back into the hobby, perusing these boards, YouTube, etc. Would love to hear other reefers' thoughts.
Begin old man "When I was growing up" post now...
1. Fish and coral prices
Sticker shock is an understatement! Everything has at least doubled in price if not tripled or more. I'd be curious to know if there has been a significant increase in prices of livestock from 2 years ago pre-pandemic and how much supply and demand of so many more people being home has affected prices. My LFS (Something Fishy in Allentown, PA - amazing store) used to have $10/$15 frag tanks that usually had some nice mushrooms, zoas, xenia, etc. Now the lowest end frag tanks are $25 and the frags I would see in the $10/$15 tanks are now in the $25 or $50 tanks.
1b. Value of corals
GSP was often seen as a nuisance coral and reefers would gladly give it away, and threads on "how to get rid of GSP" weren't uncommon. Now a frag goes for $30+. The same is true for things like Xenia and some other common softies. Every coral seems to have value now, which is great, just not great for the bank account.
2. Color varieties of corals
Back then eagle eye zoas and pink and purple people eater palys were relatively new and all the rage, and highly sought after. Now those 2 varieties, while still gorgeous, have been surpassed by dozens of new (to me) color variations. The same is true for LPS, particularly frogspawn, hammers, and torches which really only had a couple of varieties and now have many many more. I was never an SPS reefer, but from what I can tell the same applies there as well.
3. Lighting
LEDs were new and not yet figured out. Towards the end of my previous stint in the hobby I replaced a MH lighting set up with an LED fixture and was unimpressed with the results. Obviously significant strides have been made with LEDs since then and the results are impressive, plus cheaper and more efficient to run, and way less heat.
4. Technology
I don't even know where to start with this one because I'm overwhelmed by it all. Sure there were reefers using dosing pumps and controllers and whatnot, but now it seems like those are almost standard. Add in all the advances with connected apps, and it's a lot. To me there does seem to be more "new shiny syndrome" in the hobby, and I'd be curious to know if people feel like some things are now overcomplicated (the ocean is perfectly imperfect after all) or if the advances are mostly necessary ones to advance the hobby and proper care of fish and corals.
5. Tanks
Rimless tanks are everywhere now and I love it. Largely gone are the days of black and faux wood grained framed tanks by AGA. Now we have Waterbox, Redsea, UNS, Hydra, Prostar, etc etc, etc. The tanks are now waaaay more attractive and have way more options. There are also many more AIO options, which is a great reduction of barrier to entry in the hobby - not everyone is plumbing proficient or wants to drill glass. Going along with this, the stands are also much nicer and higher quality. I used to have a 125 gallon (black frame AGA of course), and for the first 2 weeks of having it I would lay awake at night expecting the tank to crash to the floor, which probably says more about me than the hobby. lol
6. Online coral retailers
Back then it was predominantly liveaquaria.com and ebay for buying corals, wwc may have existed as well. Just the sheer number of r2r sponsors is amazing, but again not good for the bank account, especially with a special sale seemingly every day. The same isn't true for LFS though, at least not in my area, but the few stores that were around are still there, so that's good.
I'm sure plenty more has changed, but these are my observations over the past couple of months of getting back into the hobby, perusing these boards, YouTube, etc. Would love to hear other reefers' thoughts.
