Have you ever left the hobby and came back?

revhtree · Mar 10, 2016

How many of you have ever gotten out of the hobby only to have it suck you back in?

Also how long were you out and where there any major changes in the hobby when you returned?

aaron23 · Mar 10, 2016

left the hobby when a snow storm cut electricity for a week back in 2009-2010. Returned in 2016! Apex controller was the most significant change

mrtian97 · Mar 10, 2016

Left the hobby about 20 yrs ago due to move and graduate from college, now back? from 135 gallon to 120 gallon now. Funny that when I left the hobby, I was saying that I am done with reef tank

d2mini · Mar 10, 2016

My first tank was the early 2000's. I bit off more than I could chew.
Bought a complete 150g system from my LFS. Tank, stand/canopy, MH lighting, chiller, wet/dry filter etc. Great guy, really knew his stuff, but I didn't.
I didn't even have the money to buy all the rock at once, so i'd buy a piece or two at time.
The little coral I had (softies) didn't do well, I don't even recall if I knew of any forums at the time. I didn't know anything about testing the water or dosing, i just did water changes, all water purchased from my lfs.
I finally got frustrated and through in the towel.

Fast forward about 4-5 years and I wanted to get back in. But this time I approached it completely differently.
First, I got on my local forums as well as national. And I decided to start small! Something I could handle financially and small enough to get my feet wet and really learn what I was doing.
So i got a 46g bowfront, new on craigslist. Then I build my own stand, did all my own plumbing, sourced all my own equipment. Even installed retro T5. Got a controller. Skimmer. Test kits. ATO.
This tank did ok, I learned a lot, but still made some newbie mistakes and ended up with a really bad case of dinos that I fought for like 6 months.
But by this time I was ready for an upgrade and ready to put to use what I had learned over the past year or two.

This is when I upgraded to the 36" cube that many of you know from Ecotech's marketing. This setup did very well for me and was only torn down 3 years later when we decided to move to a different house.
Then the big 200g with separate fish room was spawned.
And now I'm in the planning stages of the next build at yet another new house. :)

Bdog4u2 · Mar 10, 2016

I've had a tank up for 18 years straight first 3 freshwater so I've never left completely but I did ignore my tank for 2 years and somehow a few fish survived 2 years with maybe 3 water changes. I was going through some medical issues I've had crohn's disease the past 23 years

fragit · Mar 10, 2016

Doing it right now! Working on my new set up! 40 breeder taken down in 2013, working on setting up a 120 peninsula as we speak.

seastar · Mar 10, 2016

Had a 55 FOWLR (Didn't even know that's what it was called at the time) in the mid 2000's and left until June of last year, so probably out 8 years or so. Now I am full on reef and with the help of some many amazing people on this site I am having much more success than failures.

For those curious, I left the hobby after one night I had a party at my house, I woke up to people all over my floor and an empty plastic bottle of vodka floating in my tank, along with all of my fish. Very, very sad day.

Salt It Away · Mar 10, 2016

Left the hobby more than 30 yrs ago. Still remember having six 20 gal longs in the apartment. Back then I used tap water, decline, under gravel filter, fake sand, huge glass heaters, etc. Love my 65 gal running on Apex now.

acer · Mar 10, 2016

Yep-left 4-5 years ago due to health issues and family issues. Got back in 8 months ago with a 65 mixed reef and just setting up my 40 cube again. LED's were kind of just starting to get into the hobby when I left - but were very expensive. Now they are everywhere and while not real cheap they are not out of reach anymore. Controllers were not very good then and now they are controlled by your phone for crying out loud ( yes showing my age here) and they do everything from turning pumps on, light changes, feedings, etc. The other thing that has changed is the how we control flow inside the tank itself = waves synchronized, controllers changing the wave motions from pumps that do not have any cords in the tanks, etc. all very good changes.

Cant wait for a robot glass scraper - like they have for vacuuming your carpets. Hey - that's a great idea! Battery powered and programmable for you tank size.

Salt It Away · Mar 10, 2016

* that was dechlor. Doggone auto correct.

arman · Mar 10, 2016

Im really challenging not to leave the hobby(im really really dependent to this hobby).
But the matter is my tank is not doing well and ive tried all ways.
But i know ill come back as strongly as before dino came to scene.

mmw64 · Mar 10, 2016

revhtree said:
How many of you have ever gotten out of the hobby only to have it suck you back in?

Also how long were you out and where there any major changes in the hobby when you returned?

Yup, left about 8 years ago after hand surgery. Aquarium got way ahead of me, gave all away. Came back last May when I started a Red Sea Reefer 350. Never lost the interest. Had fish only before and trying soft coral this time. Using Kessel lighting and Vortex skimmer. Also Gyre circulation. Not very techy so everything is a challenge. Setting up Apex really a challenge and I'm sure it does so much more than I will ever figure out. Love this forum for information. Thank you!

happyhourhero · Mar 10, 2016

I had a 58 gallon while in college and a little after from around 2004-2008. Was rocking PC lights and a HOB skimmer. Had some decent softies and lps.

Came back in last July after relieving a guy on craigslist of his tank. LED lights are big now and they were not before, live rock is nowhere near as cool as it was (for good reason though). The internet coral market scene still blows me away. I think I have done a much better job with my tank this time and really enjoy it.

hybridazn · Mar 10, 2016

acer said:
Yep-left 4-5 years ago due to health issues and family issues. Got back in 8 months ago with a 65 mixed reef and just setting up my 40 cube again. LED's were kind of just starting to get into the hobby when I left - but were very expensive. Now they are everywhere and while not real cheap they are not out of reach anymore. Controllers were not very good then and now they are controlled by your phone for crying out loud ( yes showing my age here) and they do everything from turning pumps on, light changes, feedings, etc. The other thing that has changed is the how we control flow inside the tank itself = waves synchronized, controllers changing the wave motions from pumps that do not have any cords in the tanks, etc. all very good changes.

Cant wait for a robot glass scraper - like they have for vacuuming your carpets. Hey - that's a great idea! Battery powered and programmable for you tank size.

Look up Robosnail and this

https://reefbuilders.com/2015/11/13/robotic-aquarium-glass-cleaner-ocean-swipe-360-kickstarter/

ReefWithCare · Mar 10, 2016

Multiple times - they were usually due to moves or life events. I only took a break when I had one wipe out - due to zealous overfeeding from my father in a predator tank while I was out of town.

I usually preferred to sell off or give away all my livestock when I would move since the distances were too far for my comfort level. When I had kids - I took a pretty long extended break.

So many things have changed over the years - LED did exist back in the day, Controllers were brand new, dry rock was not as popular since many were still using live rock to cycle tanks, liveaquaria was flyingfishexpress back then, marinedepot was in it's early days...pretty certain I remember when they first started, rimless aquariums did not exist, list goes on and on lol.

Oh for the person who mentioned robot algae cleaners - they exist - it's just very early right now :). It's called the Robosnail.

Bdog4u2 · Mar 10, 2016

seastar said:
Had a 55 FOWLR (Didn't even know that's what it was called at the time) in the mid 2000's and left until June of last year, so probably out 8 years or so. Now I am full on reef and with the help of some many amazing people on this site I am having much more success than failures.

For those curious, I left the hobby after one night I had a party at my house, I woke up to people all over my floor and an empty plastic bottle of vodka floating in my tank, along with all of my fish. Very, very sad day.

Carbon dosing to the xtreme

Tautog · Mar 10, 2016

I left the hobby after my 2nd divorce, 25 years ago. Now I'm retired, and went with a big tank, I thought, at 180 gal. My thinking was at 200 gallons I could still manage, after that, the tank should be a few thousand so I could jump in to feed and clean.
It's a very funny hobby. You spend thousands of dollars to run a clean system. Then you spend more to decorate. While decorating, adding more, you get stuff you didn't pay for. Great right? Not in this hobby! Free......there's nothing free! So now you have a new critter, good or bad, it doesn't matter. You go back to your next favorite pet store to get something to kill it!!! I love this hobby, better than TV.

seastar · Mar 10, 2016

Tautog said:
I left the hobby after my 2nd divorce, 25 years ago. Now I'm retired, and went with a big tank, I thought, at 180 gal. My thinking was at 200 gallons I could still manage, after that, the tank should be a few thousand so I could jump in to feed and clean.
It's a very funny hobby. You spend thousands of dollars to run a clean system. Then you spend more to decorate. While decorating, adding more, you get stuff you didn't pay for. Great right? Not in this hobby! Free......there's nothing free! So now you have a new critter, good or bad, it doesn't matter. You go back to your next favorite pet store to get something to kill it!!! I love this hobby, better than TV.

Spot on in every aspect! :D :D :D :D :D

AlexG · Mar 10, 2016

I was keeping aquariums into the early 2000s then after the big blackout in 2003 I said I needed to stop and broke everything down. I lost a few things in the blackout of 2003 but I decided I had too much going on. At the time I had 2 jobs while I was a full time student and I had a girl friend. After I stepped away I started my career and then in 2013 I started up again with a 120 gallon system. About a year after the tank was started I got a new job and moved so it was all torn down again. Now I am trying to build my dream system. I think the biggest change I saw from the time I left the first time was LED lighting, aquarium controllers, water flow pumps, and the growing popularity of coral frags for sale. I must say it is hard looking at this forum everyday and not having a complete setup yet but it will be done in time.

Duke4Life · Mar 10, 2016

Was in the hobby from 2000-2003. Groupers drew me in the 1st time, with a tank wipe out and move back to Ky took me out.

Eels drew me back in this time, just under a year with water in the tank.

Lots of changes and luckily we have sites like this that people are willing to help out. My tank would probably be a war zone to say the least considering how different fish are and can be.