How Popular Is The Aquarium Hobby In Your Region?

[Cincyreefer513]

I'm curious how the aquarium hobby varies from region to region? This doesn't necessarily have to just be salt. It could be fresh too, but how popular is the hobby in your part of country (or world)

I'm in the Cincinnati area. I know of 16, true local fish stores between northern Kentucky and Dayton. This is roughly an hour apart. These are all single stores and Do Not include the multiple Petco, PetSmart, and Pet Supplies+ or Walmart etc that sometimes sell fish too.
I realize this is a ton and even traveling to some of the other major cities in the area don't even come close (ie Indy, Columbus, Louisville)
We also have a major reef club and a huge mostly freshwater club.

One other interesting thing to ponder is several years back I did one of those "discover scuba" events. The lead instructor told us that the Cincinnati area was in the top 3 most populous certified divers in either the country or outside of the main diving states (I can't remember which he said). Chicago was in the top 3 too. If true, that's very interesting.

Granted, of the 16 stores, only about half would be worthy to buy anything from and of those, some would be fresh only. A few I wouldn't touch with a 10ft pole and a couple are so expensive they're for window shopping only (10ish pound rock with gsp for $150 anyone?)
I believe all, but 1 of these 16 has salt (either half salt, half fresh or strictly salt).
How about your region?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'd say it's decently popular in the North Georgia Area, we have a couple of local fish stores around here, but not too many public events as far as I know though.

 

[Reefing102]

I’m an hour north of Columbus, we have I think about 4 or 5 individually owned stores. Of those, one is trying to be like online retailers is super clean but incredibly expensive and one is moderately priced but you need to quarantine his stuff (fish, coral or otherwise). The others are pretty decent. Head to Cleveland and you have @Tidal Gardens and at least 5 or 6 others that are usually high quality but range into the pricier side

CORA is virtually non-existent club wise but still have an annual frag swap. There’s another freshwater club that’s pretty big. Up in Cleveland there’s NORE which has regular meetings and frag swaps and there’s a couple other clubs up there I think too

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'm not 100% convinced that the number of LFSs dictate how robust the reefing scene is. There may be some correlation but I don't think it dictates it.

Although my bias may stem from my location in Phoenix az where we have a thriving reefing community as well as plenty of lfs to choose from.

Personally I haven't stepped foot in an LFS in a very long time. And maybe that's because there are enough hobbyists that have everything I may need coral wise, and all my recurring products needed to sustain a reef tank get delivered to my doorstep.

I personally think that what makes an area popular is a having a reoccuring venue to get people together and share in common goals and to socialize. And maybe that's where having tons of LFS makes it easier to get people to congregate...

 

[Cincyreefer513]

I’m an hour north of Columbus, we have I think about 4 or 5 individually owned stores. Of those, one is trying to be like online retailers is super clean but incredibly expensive and one is moderately priced but you need to quarantine his stuff (fish, coral or otherwise). The others are pretty decent. Head to Cleveland and you have @Tidal Gardens and at least 5 or 6 others that are usually high quality but range into the pricier side

CORA is virtually non-existent club wise but still have an annual frag swap. There’s another freshwater club that’s pretty big. Up in Cleveland there’s NORE which has regular meetings and frag swaps and there’s a couple other clubs up there I think too

I believe I know what online retailer you're talking about.
I've only been to 2 Columbus area stores so far. AA (not impressed and way overpriced) and Matt's (seemed alright)

Thinking about it, technically one of the 16 I mentioned is pretty much online only, but has a local pickup option. He used to allow people into his house for open shopping, but that's not the case anymore. Not a true lfs I suppose, but I'll count it because it is a big and legit operation and not "just a hobbyist".

 

[muzikalmatt]

I'm in Southwest Virginia and while there are a few decent saltwater/reef stores in the area I'm not sure how popular the hobby is as a whole in this area. There are a couple of Facebook groups and a few people post in the club forums here on R2R, but neither are super active. I wish there was more of a "scene" in the area in which local reefers got together to swap corals and/or visit each other's tanks, but there doesn't seem to be much interest.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'm in Southwest Virginia and while there are a few decent saltwater/reef stores in the area I'm not sure how popular the hobby is as a whole in this area. There are a couple of Facebook groups and a few people post in the club forums here on R2R, but neither are super active. I wish there was more of a "scene" in the area in which local reefers got together to swap corals and/or visit each other's tanks, but there doesn't seem to be much interest.

Are you able to facilitate that yourself? Get the message out, have an impromptu get together and let it snowball from there...

 

[vlangel]

I live in the Pittsburgh, PA area and I think we have a fairly vibrant group of aquarists. We don't have a lot of private owned lfs but we have 4 that I know of and 3 of those are respectable. We also have a marine club that even hosts a frag swap which is cool.

 

[Reefing102]

I believe I know what online retailer you're talking about.
I've only been to 2 Columbus area stores so far. AA (not impressed and way overpriced) and Matt's (seemed alright)

Thinking about it, technically one of the 16 I mentioned is pretty much online only, but has a local pickup option. He used to allow people into his house for open shopping, but that's not the case anymore. Not a true lfs I suppose, but I'll count it because it is a big and legit operation and not "just a hobbyist".

AA is definitely overpriced even their sales bring their prices down to average retail. Matt’s is good but in my opinion definitely higher in price. Rivers is alright with decent - average pricing (depends the day as far as stock and QT is necessary regardless). Reef Systems is usually pretty good. High prices online but decent at the farm. There’s one in Lancaster that I can’t think of the name.

I have found LFS’s in Virginia (Norfolk area) to be almost non-existent or at least aren’t just a window shopping. I know of a reefer in Northern Virginia that’s a hobbyist but sells high quality corals.

The Baltimore/DC area used to be pretty good back in the day. Had clubs and had a couple good stores. Today’s Pet in Columbia had ORA stuff and then there was House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie. No clue if those two are even still around.

 

[Atherial]

I'm in Madison WI and it's not at all popular here. We've got one LFS that opened last year that mostly has freshwater fish. There's another that mostly does tank maintenance for clients that just opened a retail store with limited hours. That one is salt water focused. And there's one more that is a general pet store. I've bought several snails from them but I wouldn't buy much else there. Mostly I've been driving 1.5 hrs to Milwaukee to a LFS there or down to Janesville (1 hour) to a small LFS.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I'm in the greater Los Angeles area, very popular. The sheer number of long time aquarium stores (30+ years of business) lays that out.

 

[Cthulukelele]

I'm curious how the aquarium hobby varies from region to region? This doesn't necessarily have to just be salt. It could be fresh too, but how popular is the hobby in your part of country (or world)

I'm in the Cincinnati area. I know of 16, true local fish stores between northern Kentucky and Dayton. This is roughly an hour apart. These are all single stores and Do Not include the multiple Petco, PetSmart, and Pet Supplies+ or Walmart etc that sometimes sell fish too.
I realize this is a ton and even traveling to some of the other major cities in the area don't even come close (ie Indy, Columbus, Louisville)
We also have a major reef club and a huge mostly freshwater club.

One other interesting thing to ponder is several years back I did one of those "discover scuba" events. The lead instructor told us that the Cincinnati area was in the top 3 most populous certified divers in either the country or outside of the main diving states (I can't remember which he said). Chicago was in the top 3 too. If true, that's very interesting.

Granted, of the 16 stores, only about half would be worthy to buy anything from and of those, some would be fresh only. A few I wouldn't touch with a 10ft pole and a couple are so expensive they're for window shopping only (10ish pound rock with gsp for $150 anyone?)
I believe all, but 1 of these 16 has salt (either half salt, half fresh or strictly salt).
How about your region?

Grew up in Cincinnati. Have lived in NC for 22 years now. Outside of Charlotte and Wilmington, it's really just a sporadic peppering of reefers it feels like sometime. Got me wishing I was still up in Clermont County lol

 

[muzikalmatt]

Are you able to facilitate that yourself? Get the message out, have an impromptu get together and let it snowball from there...

I've tried getting something going using the club forum here for this region as well as reaching out on the Facebook reefing groups, but I haven't had much success/traction. I'll probably give it another attempt this spring.

 

[Cincyreefer513]

AA is definitely overpriced even their sales bring their prices down to average retail. Matt’s is good but in my opinion definitely higher in price. Rivers is alright with decent - average pricing (depends the day as far as stock and QT is necessary regardless). Reef Systems is usually pretty good. High prices online but decent at the farm. There’s one in Lancaster that I can’t think of the name.

I have found LFS’s in Virginia (Norfolk area) to be almost non-existent or at least aren’t just a window shopping. I know of a reefer in Northern Virginia that’s a hobbyist but sells high quality corals.

The Baltimore/DC area used to be pretty good back in the day. Had clubs and had a couple good stores. Today’s Pet in Columbia had ORA stuff and then there was House of Tropicals in Glen Burnie. No clue if those two are even still around.

Rivers is on my list to check out the next time I'm in the area for work.

I didn't realize Lancaster had a store? It's not exactly a big town lol I was just over there a few months ago for hiking at Clear Creek. Wish I knew about the store then.

 

[Cincyreefer513]

Grew up in Cincinnati. Have lived in NC for 22 years now. Outside of Charlotte and Wilmington, it's really just a sporadic peppering of reefers it feels like sometime. Got me wishing I was still up in Clermont County lol

I don't think much has changed in Clermont County outside of the 275 loop since you've been gone haha It's nice actually seeing open farm land and forests though.

 

[Cincyreefer513]

So far, it appears my area is sort of an oddity.
My take is we wouldn't have so many store if there wasn't much interest. Most have been around for more than 5 years and I'm willing to bet it's more like 10+ for the majority of them although I question how some stay open 6 months let alone 20 years, but someone is buying from them.

How are areas like Florida? You guys definitely have a strong hobbyist scene down there.

 

[The_Skrimp]

I'd say it's pretty popular in the north Georgia area. We have the Atlanta Reef Club with an active forum and occasional frag swaps and club events. There was a decent sized MACNA in Atlanta last year. Plus there are about five or six reef stores within driving distance from where I live.

 

[Cthulukelele]

So far, it appears my area is sort of an oddity.
My take is we wouldn't have so many store if there wasn't much interest. Most have been around for more than 5 years and I'm willing to bet it's more like 10+ for the majority of them although I question how some stay open 6 months let alone 20 years, but someone is buying from them.

How are areas like Florida? You guys definitely have a strong hobbyist scene down there.

Having grown up in the Cincy area, what else is there to do? Lol. Go to Jungle Jim's and look at a cursed soup can man?

 

[Cthulukelele]

Mostly kidding, I've heard things are on the upswing

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Area with 300k people, 1 store that does only coral, one other that is a feed store with about 12 saltwater tanks. Only 2 stores for about 30 miles.

Northern illinois, obviously gets more dense towards chicago. But 90 miles away its sparse