Reef Conversations: Do you talk to your friends and family about your reef?

[Peace River]

Reef conversations or brief conversations - how do you go about sharing your reef experience with non-reefers? I was on a phone call recently with a friend and they mentioned a new co-worker who has a saltwater tank - they added that they would like to occasionally ask about the tank, but they know it will be at least a 15 minute conversation. There is some interest, but not that much. Do you talk with non-reefers about reefing? How do you share without overwhelming the other person? Tell us about your approach and your experiences in the discussion below.

 

[Timfish]

I used too, but no one visits or calls or invites me to go do stuff anymore.

 

[Wiskey]

I used to do it allot more, but my ex wife used to really not like it and so I learned to keep my enthusiasm to myself. Now I will mention brief things to people that are interesting and short, and I also try to be really aware of who is actually interested and who is just being polite.

Whiskey

 

[Slocke]

I'm an emergency responder so I need my family to know how to take care of the tanks. Luckily they're pretty into it. Friends and colleagues couldn't care less.

On that note seems like my water quality is pretty terrible. Do I need a better skimmer?

 

[G Santana]

No one cared except my 10 yr old daughter, she could name all the equipment and how it works but that's it.
I wish my old friend would start up his tank again, we spent hours just looking at stuff that grew on the live rock we bought.
Yesterday I spent about 4 hours in the basement tinkering with the tank and when I went upstairs my wife asked what took me so long... lol

 

[doubleshot00]

I only talk to people that care about it. My 7yo constantly and only when my wife asks. Other than that I don’t talk about it.

 

[Gtinnel]

My family doesn’t care about the tanks and my friends aren’t into it either. So now I just sit there alone and talk to myself about the tanks.

 

[FourPawz]

I try to but after about 30 seconds I usually get a look from people like I am speaking Mandarin and they are no longer interested lol!

 

[jdpiii3]

One summer at reef camp. You wouldn't believe what happened.

Anyone willing to listen and even those that don't want to hear about the reef, hear anything reef!

Sorry, not sorry.

 

[Gtinnel]

I would also like to add that if I had friends and family that I could take to about the hobby then I wouldn’t spend nearly as much time as I do on this forum.

 

[Pale Morning1]

My tank is in my office at work and I regularly have clients in the office. Most conversations are general in nature and usually begin with “oh you have a Nemo”. Few clients do get into the specifics if they also have tanks. Lot of questions about the difficulty level of fresh vs salt.
Unfortunately my family at home have just about zero interest in the home tanks.

 

[WVNed]

My brother-in-law walked by my tanks and didn't even stop to look yesterday. The small grandkids like them. Not much interest in general. Occasionally someone will come to work on the house and be excited to see them. Usually someone that used to dive. I have met one other person that had a small tank.

 

[Mschmidt]

My family doesn’t care about the tanks and my friends aren’t into it either. So now I just sit there alone and talk to myself about the tanks.

we will listen to you.

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

I find that the vast majority of people who aren't actually in the hobby, are just being polite when they ask about the tank.

I'll start very high level with those individuals, and if they display further interest (asking more detailed questions, showing enthusiasm, etc) then I'll get more granular.

Other than that, I feel as though a great reef tank speaks for itself... As a newer guy I feel like it's pretentious/disingenuous to talk a big game when my tank has virtually no livestock...

 

[Mschmidt]

My 3 year-old niece loves to see the fish. More often than not she wants to call either the fish or the dog. other than that, a passing reference in conversation but I try to keep it low key.

 

[dennis romano]

My wife walked past my 125 FOWLR that has been running since December. She asked when did I set up the new tank.

 

[exnisstech]

Sometimes I feel like it's the only interesting thing I have to talk about well now that I think about it it is lol. Fortunately I'm somewhat of a recluse so I don't have to talk to many people. I do miss conversations with my Granddaughters who were really into the tanks but the family has moved out if state My dogs do enjoy listening tho. This is them when I asked the why the $#**&$ skimmer was overflowing yesterday

 

[AwakenedReefer]

I'm an emergency responder so I need my family to know how to take care of the tanks. Luckily they're pretty into it. Friends and colleagues couldn't care less.

On that note seems like my water quality is pretty terrible. Do I need a better skimmer?

Probably should start doing water changes too.

 

[MoshJosh]

I don’t really talk to people about reefing, but I definitely talk at people about reefing whether they want to or not!

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

Sometimes I feel like it's the only interesting thing I have to talk about well now that I think about it it is lol. Fortunately I'm somewhat of a recluse so I don't have to talk to many people. I do miss conversations with my Granddaughters who were really into the tanks but the family has moved out if state My dogs do enjoy listening tho. This is them when I asked the why the $#**&$ skimmer was overflowing yesterday

The best listeners!