Dry Rock and LED LIGHTING are the 2 main causes of new people leaving the hobby in the first year.

[PeterC99]

This here pretty much sums it up/\ /\

Someone coming into the hobby who
1. Doesn't have someone guiding them
2. Doesn't put in the work to learn the basics before drop one goes in the tank
3. Doesn't know what a financial investment these tanks are
4. Unable to have all the basic equipment up front ie RODI, lights, skimmer in order for a successful launch

These are the people that drop out in year 1. Also patience, so many folks want immediate gratification, and this is NOT that hobby.

Regarding the rock issue, if you do it right, your dry rock eventually becomes live rock.
My 2 cents.

ThIs is spot on!!!

 

[Frostblitz20]

its def cost.. i threw over 1000$ into a small 15g alone... when you think 1,000$ just for 15g's how much is a 100g going to cost me in the long run then...

Lights- we all know they are way over price for lighting.. its because theirs limited number of us in the hobby which is driving up something so simple so much.. if you have a large tank you could be buying up to 4-5 of the larger model lights which will drive up your investment up to 2,500+ depending on model..

Skimmers- these range from 200-600$ depending on size for something that has such a simple concept behind them..

Return pumps- these are also alittle on the high end for certain models and sizes.

sad thing is though if you go too cheap your going to have a rough time and this will lead many to leave the hobby..

 

[jft]

If you had to give a new person standing a saltwater aquarium instructions on how to start, what would the steps be?

Find a Mentor, Buy Reliable equipment NOT JUNK and READ READ READ!!!

 

[jft]

Oh Yeah There IS NO BEST WAY TO RUN A TANK ! KNOWLEGDE AND EXPERIENCE IS THE KEY! Don t buy into the latest HypE Learn what works FOR YOU and GO FOR IT!!!

 

[elorablue]

Completely disagree on dry rock and leds.
This is my first marine tank started with dry rock and sand, LEDS, bottled bacteria. 5 1/2
months in and successfully keeping Acropora.
The #1 reason people leave the hobby is fear spread on the internet and boredom. this is not a hobby you get into on a whim.

on a whim.

 

[burningmime]

DIVORCE

Hey; That's what got me into reefing! I needed something to keep my mind occupied, which started as plants/terrariums, which quickly became some reefs.

 

[fishybizzness]

Another point after watching the latest brs video and an observation Ryan made. He pretty much said that alot of his issues were directly related to just using dry rock and no sand/bare bottom. Do you think not using sand and dry rock makes it exponentially harder in the first year?

 

[Nano sapiens]

If you had to give a new person standing a saltwater aquarium instructions on how to start, what would the steps be?

Set up my first marine aquarium around '79, first reef in '84...

Like many 'old timers', I embrace the KISS principle and my method in words goes something like this, "If there is less to go wrong, there is more to go right"

If I had to give advice to a person wanting to set up their first reef aquarium I'd first ask them to tell me what reef animals needs to survive and thrive. After sufficient research they should then understand the parameters (temp, flow, light, water chemistry, nutrition, etc.), and the aquarium setup and equipment would be much more appropriate (and less costly).

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I’ve been in the hobby since Early 70’s, seen a lot of changes over the years.
i think the majority of people that get into the hobby quit within the first year for a number of reasons, one is impatient from the get go which results in lost of livestock, they soon realize the work it takes to maintain and decide it too much. It really became bad after the movie Nemo came out and all these people had to have Nemo.

 

[Bridgerdean]

I’m still in my first year.

 

[Jeffcb]

I disagree. Dry rock and LEDs are easy!

 

[Gungo]

My opinion is that people leave the hobby in the first year because they're always going "as big as they can afford" as this appears to be THE standard for building a reef tank. The truth is that we don't need to. Either you go small or big, do something that you will enjoy and something that you can control in the worst-case scenario. Failures, disappointments, and all kinds of issues can happen either way but the impact will be bigger if you put all your resources into a tank that you really can't afford.

 

[MnFish1]

My tank is 13 months old, used dry rock and leds. I think the biggest cause of failure is lack of patience and not enough research.

NICE TANK

 

[MnFish1]

This question goes out to all the experienced reefers following this thread.

I would recommend you start another thread - maybe with poll options?

 

[MnFish1]

Completely disagree on dry rock and leds.
This is my first marine tank started with dry rock and sand, LEDS, bottled bacteria. 5 1/2
months in and successfully keeping Acropora.
The #1 reason people leave the hobby is fear spread on the internet and boredom. this is not a hobby you get into on a whim.

on a whim.

Nice tank!

 

[Thaxxx]

Getting sucked into these leach driven live sales that cost newbies a months pay, only to see their corals slowly die off one by one.
That will get anyone to quit.
Next time you see a live sale take notice how many of them in the thread are at least new to the forum. Under a year, and most under 6 months. I would estamate 60 to 80%. All victims of the bougus live sales.

 

[fishybizzness]

I would recommend you start another thread - maybe with poll options?

Great discussion! I've added a poll!

 

[Wasabiroot]

I don't think it's a led vs T5 debate, I think it's just that new reefers need to practice resilience in the face of obstacles. This hobby can be very discouraging for a beginner as you can experience multiple setbacks that really eat at your confidence, but if you stick to it, you're much more likely to persevere.

 

[MnFish1]

Great discussion! I've added a poll!

Can you post the link?

 

[fishybizzness]

Its added to the first page of the thread.