Stranger Danger! How do you feel about people in your house?

[Borg]

if they show up to your front door wearing a gimp mask , No.

 

[4FordFamily]

I've visited quite a few members from R2R at their homes. @4FordFamily @HotRocks @Reef-Tank @vetteguy53081
All of them were crazy enough to actually let me in
But all were great.
I've had @Reef-Tank to my house twice.

I almost visited @revhtree at his home, but even I was not crazy enough to go in lol.

We all make mistakes LOL!!

 

[code4]

I also love talking with other aquarium geeks. The few that have been in my home I have met here. I know how to research folks also. Not hard today. I really wish there were more aquatic lovers near me. Casper Wyoming is off the beaten trail. If I get any hint of something being off it is a no go. I do not buy or sale out of private homes though. I have given things away though.

Shelley

 

[Smarkow]

Not a big entertainer, my wife and I just value the privacy of our home. I prefer to share my reefing experience in an online forum where I can have better control over privacy.

 

[FlexingFishSticks]

All strangers welcome anytime

 

[MurphyJ]

I was fine with having people over to buy frags till a guy really creeped me out. Was nice and polite but kept looking around and asking if my husband was home. now I sell to stores or meet some where else. I sell for room, not profit so store credit is ok by me.

 

[NashobaTek]

Nope, but only because of the bad experiences with livestock people who have ripped me off in the past.
My biggest nightmare was the sister-in-law who lied about everything and poisoned the tank twice, because of course she knew more about saltwater fish than I do. ( She's never had any kind of aquarium let alone saltwater, the closest she's ever been to saltwater was living in Florida). The German Shepherd doesn't even trust the woman and won't let her pet her. Lol I always trust my dogs. But I am also armed.

I don't sell anything from the house, I do have a website for my art work, but you order and it ships.
The only people who ever get in the house is family and friends. Well before covid anyway, right now, no one gets in but us.

 

[tigre44]

The reefing hobby is one of those things that MOST of us like to share with others. The problem is that many of our "regular" friends don't understand the hobby and really can't appreciate it like another hobbyist can. Reefing also involves being able to grow corals and with that comes the opportunity to sell frags to people....strangers. Many of these strangers will become local hobby friends but at first they are still strangers coming to your home to see your tank or buy something! Let's talk about that today!

1. How comfortable are you with allowing a stranger in your home to look at your aquarium or to buy things?

2. Have you ever made a life long friend meeting a stranger this way?

3. Do you have any horror stories?


image via @hbrochs

 

[tigre44]

On vacation I have trained someone to take care of my tanks. However if something serious would occur like an extended power outage they would not be able to do anything about it.

 

[Crashnt24]

I'm a pretty trusting and friendly guy. I am not scared of people or culture. Love thy neighbor and all that....

PS: I have yet to ever hear of a reef tank killer.. knock on glass to save your..

 

[jeffrey750750]

With the only blue living room on the street I'm sure someone is a bit curious to whats in the tank. We've had a few people over to buy our savannah kittens. I am very weirded out about strangers coming into my home. I watch the news alot, I see what goes on

 

[PokeFish]

not now...

 

[1stNoel]

I buy a lot from strangers.

I usually do 2 things: 1) research them on R2R to make sure they have a reputable history, and 2) I give a friend all of the relevant info (phone, address, R2R handle, etc.) prior to visiting the house. I then call the friend 15-30 minutes into the visit with a code word that means "all good".

Have never had any issues, but did pull-up to a house one time (not reef related) that I wouldn't have walked into if not for my "system".

 

[blasterman]

Area where I live does a lot of personal frag swapping. Especially with the demise of organized frag swaps, which I find stupid. Just make masks mandatory for crying out loud.

Anyways, I've been to dozens of homes and never once was treated badly. I'm pretty savy socially and make it a point to be extra polite to a wary significant other and never miss a queu to not over stay. Usually its the host who won't shut up and wants to socialize. One guy jokingly said his wife didn't trust anybody who didn't bring her wine, so I did.

Another guy with an incredible 450 gallon camped in his basement with his tank while his wife camped upstairs and they screamed at each other through the floor. She was a witch to. I stayed awhile since he obviously didn't have a life.

I've had the host tell me horror stories about weirdos camping on their couch and not leaving, etc. The money is good though. I know one guy who had a $100 buy limit and required appointments. He made bank on a Saturday afternoon and knew what he was doing.

Mostly now its porch pickups .

 

[McPuff]

I used to have a bunch of people that would come over and it never made me nervous... just took a lot of time chatting. :0) But now I do everything porch pickup. It's much faster and easier but it makes it tough to get to know more people.

 

[FishDoji]

I haven't had anyone in my house yet because I haven't sold anything reef related, but I have gone to someone else's house to buy. With any online transaction, I think there is a degree of stereotyping that goes into it.
I was going to sell something once and the person had lots of pictures doing various drugs on their FB page and I backed out of deal. If I wasn't able to creep on their social media pages, I probably wouldn't allow into my home.

 

[demonspeedn]

I sold some frags to a guy quite awhile ago, he was one of the nicest guys I've met in the hobby. A few years later I see him on the news for breaking into houses and hiding in the basements stalking numerous people and theft.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Depends on how long I’m going to be gone.

I’m leaving for 3 days in October. No one needs to check on things. I will be setting up a camera so I can view my tank from afar!

I will do a water change before I go and feed the fish before I go.

 

[radsdad]

Only at Halloween.

 

[mfinn]

I'm surprised people who see my profile picture on FB even agree to meet me at businesses, much less let come to their house.
Now with the covid thing, I haven't had a hair cut or trimmed my beard in months.
I could probably stand on a street corner with a cardboard sign and fit right in.