Things I Miss About the Hobby

[SeaScope Tom]

Hey Mike. Great review of the Reef hobby. I do look back fondly on the numerous trips over to see Dick at Tropicorium. Also the many MACNA and other conferences. I always appreciated your contributions to SeaScope during those early years. It brings back memories of visits with Julian Sprung, "Skip" and Barbara Moe, LeRoy Headlee, Bruce Carlson, Charles Delbeck, Scott Michaels, etc. etc. Maybe we need to run up to Romulus again, for old times sake.

 

[DeepBlueSomething]

I enjoyed this article and as someone new to the salty side in the past year -- am rather happy to report that my experience is not as dire. I have had several very kind reefers make great deals on equipment and meet up to swap frags or just give away items. Their experience and advise, as well as generosity is so very appreciated!

 

[aquariumreefers]

Thanks Mike for the read great thread was awesome to meet you in Macna DC

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Wow, great post!

I enjoyed the trip down memory lane. I had subscriptions to every one of those magazines

 

[maroun.c]

Amazing article. Brings out a lot of memories. I'm from lebanon in the middle east and have had many of those said road trips leading me to Europe and US whenever I could. Funny that you mention cleveland and Csea as between 2008-2011 I was in a training in Cleveland and got to meet with a group of reefers I was in contact with from the forums and we made a 2 days full road trips to many tanks in the area. Remember visiting The tank of the previous CSEA president aka Serpentman and seing his massive tank with huge colonies. Still remember picking up a frag of his 500 $efflo colony that I was after for years. And signing up to CSEA and attending a meeting that was on same night as well as a frag swap In a zoo somewhere there... For someone coming from a country with 5-6 marine tanks in total that was a first.
Amazing days and great memories.

 

[Dick Perrin]

Hey Mike. Great review of the Reef hobby. I do look back fondly on the numerous trips over to see Dick at Tropicorium. Also the many MACNA and other conferences. I always appreciated your contributions to SeaScope during those early years. It brings back memories of visits with Julian Sprung, "Skip" and Barbara Moe, LeRoy Headlee, Bruce Carlson, Charles Delbeck, Scott Michaels, etc. etc. Maybe we need to run up to Romulus again, for old times sake.

Hey, Tom: Mike's article sure got a nostalgic pang from me. What a wonderful, adventurous, exciting time that was for us to break into a new hobby/lifestyle. I always looked forward to your and Mike's visits and always learned something new from you guys. You sure are welcome to make another visit to Trop. Dick

 

[emmaleegrech]

It's not only those who've been in the hobby for a long time.

I've only been in the hobby for 5 years yet when I started, we used to meet up at a local reef club. Unfortunately I only had the pleasure of going about 3 to 4 times before it just didn't happen anymore.

I've made lots of friends in this hobby which I would share my excitement of new purchases with however lately it seems a little like it's every man/ woman for himself/ herself.

It used to be a lot more welcoming, however far too often now I see people being critical, negative, mocking and even getting personal on online hobbyist groups and forums.

I understand that a lot of people are passionate however a bit of kindness, patience and understanding never hurt anyone.

The trade side of things isn't any better.

I try to involve my son any way possible and i also speak at his school as often as they allow me to. I'm no expert, but the little bit i do know, I like to share and maybe one day they might try their hand at the hobby or even just be a little more aware of taking care of and preserving coral reefs.

It was the highlight of my day when recently a friend of my son's came over to our house and he said to my son, 'Your mum's job is so cool' and Theo cheekily replied with the biggest grin, 'Yes, it really is'

 

[etmanning1]

I just turned 18 today and have been keeping Reef tanks for ~ 4 years, so a very short time as far as most people are concerned.

I fell in love with this hobby after seeing a poster at school with a mandarin on it and thought, I need to have that fish in my house! So I converted one of my FW 10g tanks into some semblance of a Reef. I bought as many books as I could manage and subscribed to multiple magazines. That tank never was very successful, and I made countless mistakes fueled by a lack of money, patience, and experience. Nearly all my knowledge came from books or online forums such as this. My LFS was a big scary place that my dad took me to and I would pick something out and leave.

A few years down the road now I've gone through a few upgrades and have a 90g (170g system) and a sense of direction in this hobby and am able to create my own methods for reefkeeping.

I'm proud to say I have never bought any livestock online and although I appreciate the designer corals for what they are, I prefer my free leathers and classic euphillia.

This previous weekend I went to my first ever local club meeting and absolutely loved it. It was held at a store and about 18 people ended up stopping by. Everyone (myself included) brought frags and things to trade and food was ordered. I made new friends and got to finally talk to people who understand how I'm so drawn to this hobby. I stayed for 5 hours and ended going home with a ton of new stuff.

The store owner was there accommodating everyone and making crazy deals, he was working with us and making sure we got what we wanted at the best possible prices. On this one gorgeous wall hammer he had listed for $150 he just told me "I'll do 100 and throw that clam you've been looking at in (which was an ORA maxima listed @ $67). These pieces anywhere else would easily be $200-$300. I'm headed back there this weekend to get a 2" jack o lantern lepto for $15 and a member I met at the meeting is going to meet me there as well.

Sorry for this long winded, somewhat random post but I just want everyone to know that this hobby hasn't quite died down to the point everyone seems to think it has, especially in my experience. I think I've finally found a group of people who share my enthusiasm and are willing to help someone out.

 

[Trickman2]

Good article, I started my own first saltwater tank about 27 year's ago when I was about 12ish. With that said my father started before that and I remember those day's also. The hobby has changed a lot in the years but so has the world. I hope to inspire my little girls in the future to enjoy saltwater aquariums and to respect the oceans. In my opinion we are making some huge mistakes right now with movies like black fin and the real cost to the kids and society. Seaworld is turning into a roller coaster park and losing it educational value. Removing majestic creatures that captivate our young to care about the oceans and possible become Marine Biologist, etc is a huge mistake. Frustrating and sad all at the same time. We are on a very slippery slope in society at the moment and not just in this hobby. If they can do it to sea world, then it will be this hobby next, the zoo, etc. We need to be inspired and we need to inspire others to something other than to stare at facebook and play on their phones. :-(

 

[Ocean Lotion]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Mike. I too miss the old days. I managed Exotic Fish World in Dallas in the mid 80s. I only hired staff that were excited about the hobby. Most were kids that dressed and looked odd but if they were excited about the hobby I hired them. Customers would stop in multiple times a week to see what was new and share their experiences with their tanks. Punk rock store emoyees standing shoulder to shoulder with doctors, lawyers, construction layborers, exotic dancers... Nothing mattered except a shared interest. Our answer to keeping marine life alive was "more power." Little Giant pumps plumbed to large canister filters with a lot of carbon. Reverse flow under gravel filters were cutting edge. Worked 70 hrs a week and loved it. One day while acclimting a new shipment of salt fish I thought what if I put the fish in buckets, tied a knot in some air line tubing, and dripped it into the buckets? That became my sop. I showed it to my customers and the local wholesalers.
Incandescent lights were all we had. It grew beautiful blue green algae that the fish loved.
Clown tangs were available and I was able to keep them healthy in those tanks. Sponges, sea fans and worm rocks were the closest things to corals we sold. The constant flow of aquarists and their excitement was great. We have a small lfs that opened in Wausau, wi and I see some of that atmosphere there. Makes me smile.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Enjoyed your trip down memory lane.
[emoji3]

One thing I've noticed is the tanks becoming more like gardening with flowers.
Most active gardeners have something that is beautiful and colorful.

Wonderful, but very different from a 99% green experience walking through a forest.

Tanks are like gardens in the sense that most people like the most colorful or interesting creatures available.

Back in the day, when simply keeping toxic Paly's alive was an accomplishment, pale pinkish brown and dark olive green were the most common colors available for things that would live.

Most of those corals are now considered weeds or pest corals by a lot of people.
If the new colorful stuff propagated as fast as Xenia or Kenya Trees, they would be a lot cheaper.
Now we have colorful options (for a price)

The Internet search gives me 10 interesting answers to my original question. and sends me down multiple rabbit holes I didn't even know I wanted to visit when I asked the first question.

Fish can (and should) have a better survival rate.
Back when domino damsels were exotic,
"learning" about fish health included a limited survival rate.

Nowadays we have time to argue the merits of captive-breeding (former holy grail) vs local wages and a sustainable local industry.

We are fortunate to have multiple family owned LFS in our area.
Always something interesting to see or buy.
Always good advice over making a sale.

Reefing *well* is now more mainstream and accessible than ever before.

Loved the staghorn corals pics with just a few huge colonies!

 

[J Rog]

This was a great read to see how things were before I was in it. I really do wish there was more trading going on these days. I don’t think I have ever got a free frag that I was into or was able to trade for. I have been reefing for about 7ish years or so. The only “named” corals that I remember back then was just ORA stuff for the most part. I really don’t like the fact of people selling frags under an inch for so much money and sticking a crazy name on it. I am lucky enough to live in Orlando where I have a couple of nice spots to choose from. I have to try my hardest not to look at names or prices. I try to find coral that catches my eye first. Scope it out for a min. Then look at price and if it has a name.. it’s so easy to get caught up in the name game.. I like names because it gives people reference for the lineage of the frag and what it can look like under different conditions but don’t like the price on them most of the time.. The prices are just getting out of control and it’s not easy to come back from a trip to the store with an inch frag and some fish food and tell your wife it was a $230 trip..

 

[Mahogany Man]

Great Read,
It was Mike's book, that I saw in Walden Books back in the day, that forced me into this hobby!!
I read that book and followed it with great success back then.
Unfortunately, life took over, vacated the hobby until this past year, back in and running!!
Some of the new stuff seems odd to me, but a ton is great as well.
Thanks Mike

 

[Midrats]

Remember when Tunze stuff was brown? Eheim, hW, Tunze, Sander, Hawaiian Marine Imports had all the cool stuff. I miss books and periodicals.

 

[Don Lidtke]

As a new reefer I enjoyed the article because it gave me some background/historical information, as well as an appreciation for the current state of the hobby. Being a somewhat older fellow I too prefer books for general reading but as a geek I won't know what to do with Google.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

I started keeping marine tanks in about 2007 and a lot has changed since then. I have been out of the hobby for about 3 years and a lot has changed in just that time. Things I miss the most are having good LFS that have a good selection of dry goods, equipment and corals. I was a customer then later lucky enough to work for a great shop called About The Reef. The amount of inventory was great and the employees cared and helped as much as you needed. Now most good LFS are closed or have down sized on corals and equipment. I would rather go to a shop see and handle any equipment or live stock before buying. Now I have to order any equipment online without seeing it first hand. I also miss the great reef display tanks mosr LFS had, now most have smaller or no display tanks. One LFS had a 110g mixed reef with many sps and a large clam going for years then upgraded to a 800g system. Within a year that maturing 800g was taken down, sold, shallow stock tanks moved in and a 90g display setup with all new rock. I miss the awesome live rock we ueed to get. I used to have 4-5 types to choose from and 100s if not thousands of pounds to pick from to build a nice aquascape. Now its crappy live rock with no color or life from the LFS, fake colored rock or dry rock with no life. Many LFS woukd pressure wash clean and fully cure live rock before selling which resulted in clean fairly pest free rock. I also miss the local clubs, seems they have really died down over the last few years. Lastly frag swapping or selling very cheap. I used to trade frags or get/give free frags to local members. Buyi g frgas for under $5. Once my tank and corals are to the point I can frag I will continue to give free frags and trade to local reefers. We need to build that community again and we all need to do our part to help other reefers when we can.