Leaving hobby

[ChrisfromBrick]

cost and exhaustive maintenance is why i won’t go over 100 gallons

 

[Reefer Matt]

Imo, the covid boom is over. People also seem to be getting less and less patient. Reef tanks are like a marriage to me, not a hook up. I take the good with the bad. Some just want only the good and leave when things don’t go as planned.

 

[shcrimps]

I feel like there has always been tons of equiptment for sale, not just now. The hobby has always had a really high turn over but also people change builds/tanks/upgrade/downgrade/sidegrade fairly often.

I went from a nanobox hybrid to just t5's to radions to orpheks just in lights... then I replaced my frag tanks AI primes with kessils...

Them side grades...

Hard to pick a light when you can't just walk into best buy and play with them like a phone.

i’ve been leaning toward trying out orphek since my fav LFS has them over every tank (probably more than my yearly salary on just lights in this shop) but the cost is just insane, granted i really do like the spectrum and coloration some of their corals show with it

 

[Cichlid Dad]

 

[KQuillan]

I love my tank. I swore I would not start this hobby by using my CC. The joke was on me.
If my tank were to crash, even though I have most of the equipment, I doubt I would start it back up. The inside of the box is more expensive than the outside.

 

[Jimbo327]

Have you seen the prices of eggs? LOL. Life have just gotten expensive as hell, and that means luxury hobbies like reefing is probably the 1st thing to be cut back or exited.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

cost and exhaustive maintenance is why i won’t go over 100 gallons

I don’t mind the maintenance but the fact that I live in an apartment now after I divorced in 2018 and cost is why I can’t go too big. Man I miss my 120 gallon.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

I'm building my system back up but purchasing used equipment helps alot. Also Chinese knockoffs. I'd buy American more often (I actually do as often as possible) if they were built here and not just designed here. I am also progressing slowly so the costs are spread out over time. Of course, salt and electricity are still constant expenses.

Of course, buying used has its risks.

 

[Tamberav]

i’ve been leaning toward trying out orphek since my fav LFS has them over every tank (probably more than my yearly salary on just lights in this shop) but the cost is just insane, granted i really do like the spectrum and coloration some of their corals show with it

I like them because the app seems to operate well and they pared up immediately. They don't turn on at random times like Radion.

Photons, reefi's, should grow coral just as well. I would have went reefi but I actually won one of the orphek lights. Too bad I needed two more to cover my tank (ouch my wallet).

Orphek is infinitely better than radions though.

 

[Science/G]

Yes, aquarium supplies are expensive, but so are other hobbies. Taking my little Boston Whaler to the Everglades for a day is an easy $100, and that's not including the maintenance, and equipment costs already spent. I see reef aquariums and a siren. A magical force that lures people in with its beauty. The oceans beauty and the diversity within has fascinated people for millenia. I have been teaching Marine Science and Earth Space Science for almost 30 years. I crashed on the rocks long ago due to the sirens song, so to speak. I think people get sucked in. They can't duplicate the success they see around them, the money starts piling up and they cut their losses.

I think also, people go too big with their aquariums. I have had big aquariums in the past, and right now my 30 gallon mixed reef is my favorite of all of them.

 

[strep]

Time, money and patience.

 

[anablue]

I have been in the reef hobby for 15 years, but if there was one single thing where i wanted to leave I would say it’s been reef pests. Aptastia, Majono Anemoes, Vermitid snails, Spionid worms, Dinos, Byropsis. So much time fighting them, but never given up.

 

[Sfork]

The main thing with me is that during the last 4 years the prices on corals, fish, and equipment have quadrupled, it's a big spend money hobby now, and corals are being cut much smaller, will it ever normalize anymore.

I do miss being able to walk into a it’s and getting some browned out colony for cheap and seeing what it turned into

 

[reneeL]

inflation. crash. too much time and money and perhaps the work involved vs influencing isnt worth it.

LFS not giving good advice and people paying the price.
Perhaps paying a fortune for 1 inch of coral
Getting tiny fish when you expect bigger
Years ago you could get a nice coral piece for what they want for a tiny piece nowadays.
Not even finding a middle size coral piece for sale.
Expensive, expensive equipment, to much technology.
Hard to find just simple equipment that is good quality without all the technology.

People have less patience than in the past. I do miss the larger colonies of coral you could buy.

It seems that with the internet the information is available to help with the pests. Years ago it did not seem available. (1994-2016) I am really glad I have more information to help with these problems. I waited years to get back into this hobby, stayed in even though I got lemon RS. Sticking it out and even went larger, not red sea, not rimless. I now have a 180, 2 40 gallon, 1 20 gallon the smaller tanks are due to the RS failure. We knew it would take some months to get a new aquarium up and running.

 

[oliver1812]

Many reefers place too much emphasis on equipment and gear. You don’t need the most expensive hardware to be successful in this hobby. Lights for example, I’m using a Nicrew HyperReef Gen 2 on my nano and laugh all you want but it is very similar to a Radion but only much cheaper, let me rephrase that, more budget friendly.

I agree with this sentiment. I started reefing years ago on a budget and found a ton of good budget friendly gear and achieved really good looking systems. I made a conscious effort to not spend a lot of money on reefing because I didn’t know if I would love the hobby or not.

Money doesn’t have to be an obstacle. Just educate yourself and make the decision that best suits you.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I agree with this sentiment. I started reefing years ago on a budget and found a ton of good budget friendly gear and achieved really good looking systems. I made a conscious effort to not spend a lot of money on reefing because I didn’t know if I would love the hobby or not.

Money doesn’t have to be an obstacle. Just educate yourself and make the decision that best suits you.

You just have to be smart with how you spend your money! I like the way you word it! I definitely would consider myself a budget reefer. I don't have to have it if I don't need it.

 

[geologeek]

Seems every hobby has that small sector that is allured by the most challenging yet most just don’t have the time or patience. I’m that sector. Why I won’t be exiting although run with Dino’s almost had me going back to 70s FW

I'm the same, Dino's nearly broke me.

I went away for a week to visit family and came home to my display literally choked up with caulerpa (which I have never introduced, would never introduce) but it somehow just appeared from somewhere from the depths of my old live rock to literally smother the aquarium.

After a very long day and night I managed to get it all out and into the bin and then I inadvertently added tooooooo much lanthanum chloride to deal with phosphates and overshot driving it to zero and within 2 days I was plagued with snotty Dino's that near broke my will......

Thankfully using a slab of white floss in front of a wave maker, slowing the flow through my UV and dosing silicates was enough to get me back on track after two weeks.

But I will be honest with myself, I will never leave the hobby as it is literally an addiction for me!

 

[kamitera]

I gave up "not having any aggressive career & retirement goals nor wealth acquiring aspirations".
...so that I can upgrade to a dream tank...and buy a house that can fit that tank...

 

[oliver1812]

You just have to be smart with how you spend your money! I like the way you word it! I definitely would consider myself a budget reefer. I don't have to have it if I don't need it.

Exactly.!!! Only you the individual reefer get to determine what “success” looks like for your individual hobby experience. Not expensive equipment or tech. To some, Xenia, Kenya trees, and a few mushrooms are a significant success.

I remember when I started the hobby, the first time, when tangs were $30 and live rock was all you could get. I had some aiptasia show up on my live rock and was SOOO excited about it. To me it wasn’t a pest it was something that was alive in my own personal saltwater tank. To be honest it solidified my love of the hobby it was soo cool…yea…aiptasia did that.!

 

[GARRIGA]

To me it wasn’t a pest it was something that was alive in my own personal saltwater tank. To be honest it solidified my love of the hobby it was soo cool…yea…aiptasia did that.!

If they were purple and glowed like a 70s black light room they'd be expensive and likely suddenly hard to grow... :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing: