What has happened to The reef hobby

[polyppal]

This isn't a cheap hobby, but it doesn't necessarily have to be excessively expensive either. There are tons of people who have budget/affordable builds with Aqueon tanks, Reef Crystals, Black Boxes and 20-30$ corals, vs the super technical/name brand automated tanks with $500 'designer' corals.

People get caught up in materialism and having the 'best of the best' or trying to impress somebody... but like any other hobby, its about how you personally balance the material aspect of the hobby vs the enjoyment aspect of keeping fish and corals. I tell people if they can't commit to starting with at least a grand, consider planted freshwater tanks that are much less expensive/maintenance and still very enjoyable like reefing.

 

[Tim617]

Who's building your tank??? Maserati?

Red Sea, Neptune, and EchoTech Marine, mostly. With supporting acts from JBJ, Pentair, Pax Bellum, ClariSea, and a few other usual suspects like Focustronic.

 

[Tim617]

This isn't a cheap hobby, but it doesn't necessarily have to be excessively expensive either. There are tons of people who have budget/affordable builds with Aqueon tanks, Reef Crystals, Black Boxes and 20-30$ corals, vs the super technical/name brand automated tanks with $500 'designer' corals.

People get caught up in materialism and having the 'best of the best' or trying to impress somebody... but like any other hobby, its about how you personally balance the material aspect of the hobby vs the enjoyment aspect of keeping fish and corals. I tell people if they can't commit to starting with at least a grand, consider planted freshwater tanks that are much less expensive/maintenance and still very enjoyable like reefing.

By the way. I now have my eyes on Tropic Eden Supreme Tonga Branch Rock from your build. Those look fantastic!

 

[polyppal]

By the way. I now have my eyes on Tropic Eden Supreme Tonga Branch Rock from your build. Those look fantastic!

Great stuff. Aaaand of course very expensive lol

 

[Tim617]

Great stuff. Aaaand of course very expensive lol

Well, I am done with paying for kid's college, so ...

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

For example, a Triton ATO container costs nearly 200 dollars for 10g.

Why?

Because you and others are willing to pay for it.

 

[Tim617]

Because you and others are willing to pay for it.

True LOL.

 

[hsosa]

I spent about 5k on my reef which is a 2x2 waterbox cube thats including livestock 8 fish and about 50 growing corals. I got back into reef keeping in 2019 before the pandemic . I reefed from 97 to 2006 -- back then there was no names. on corals . a torch was a torch .a mushroom a mushroom regardless of coloration .and alot of stuff was trial and error there no was internet there were books and mentors, reef clubs, internet was just starting out the most expensive item was the halide lightening. the fish were relatively the same price as today there were no captive bred fish. I think reef keeping has progressed now to the point where reef keepers have systems on par with public aquariums and now I think the next step forward is saving the coral reefs by growing corals and breeding captive salt water fish as much as we can . yes dog and cat keepers I think pay more because there s crazy vet. bill s etc

 

[BoneDoc]

I tbh we’re forgetting that a lot of the corals are now captive bred. So while they are more expensive short term, the much higher survival rate makes up for it. Of course I’m not talking about the high ticket items like HomeWrecker and Walt Disney’s.

 

[polyppal]

I have a complete custom build 68g, and Id guess on the equipment side, ive spent about $3500, and livestock $1500 including losses over the last 2 or so years. I thought that was over the top lol...

 

[Tim617]

I have a complete custom build 68g, and Id guess on the equipment side, ive spent about $3500, and livestock $1500 including losses over the last 2 or so years. I thought that was over the top lol...

How did you do it? This system below is just DT, sump, stand and lights, and it's nearly 3 grand. Custom built has to be more expensive, no?

Reefer Deluxe 350 System (73 Gal)

Red Sea Deluxe Reefer aquariums now come with Red Sea ReefLED 90 lighting along with Red Sea's RL90 mounting system all in a single package. Deluxe Reefer 350 includes 2x Red Sea ReefLED 90 Lights Over the past few years Red Sea has a lot of time dedicated to testing and researching LED...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Mikosreef]

#1 reason = greed!

 

[polyppal]

How did you do it? This system below is just DT, sump, stand and lights, and it's nearly 3 grand. Custom built has to be more expensive, no?

Reefer Deluxe 350 System (73 Gal)

Red Sea Deluxe Reefer aquariums now come with Red Sea ReefLED 90 lighting along with Red Sea's RL90 mounting system all in a single package. Deluxe Reefer 350 includes 2x Red Sea ReefLED 90 Lights Over the past few years Red Sea has a lot of time dedicated to testing and researching LED...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I did get a lot of deals and I bargain shop. Also I did get the tank for much cheaper than retail, I can't disclose exactly how much but definitely saved a good chunk of money on it.

Tank/ATO/Dosing (BIG savings)
T-Slot stand build was about 300$ (BIG savings)
Two Kessil A160s/spectral controller/mounts: 700$ (About Retail)
Tunze 9004 I grabbed locally for $100, Tunze 3152 100$ Tunze 6055 200$ (Maybe 150 Savings)
BRS Reactors & Pumps 250$ (Retail, Black Fri)
Eheim Jäger 35$ (Retail)
Tropic Eden Rock 300$ (Retal)
Sand/Misc 100$(Retail)

I guess I did alright
I am going to eventually put a controller on it, a Hydros, so that'll be another 6-700$

 

[damsels are not mean]

completely agree but with the turnover you have new people in the hobby every 6 months to pay. Thinking this is just what it costs.

Yeah I think hardcore reefers forget this is a hobby. People get bored. Even I got bored for several years. Most newbies will just go back to guppies or photography or something if their tank never succeeds. With no perspective on coral pricing or understanding of where these expensive overhyped frags are coming from (often chopshops) they feel FOMO on something nice looking and have to buy NOW.

 

[ZoWhat]

Beeeeeecause

Trophy wives, 4 bedroom houses and V8 sport cars are NOT CHEAP.

Gotta triple your money as a Reefing Entrepreneur

 

[iannarelli]

Re: made up names vs scientific, I would be tempted to agree, but that didn’t work w/plants. EVERYone knows the scientific names of these darn things and wants them still. See Monstera Albo Variegata…

That certainly looks like a cool plant, but you'd never find it in nature. It would get out-competed by the all green monstera and die. When I was picking plants to grow out of the top of my 75g South American biotope, I got caught up in all the designer pothos and things on Etsy. But then I asked myself why I'd go through all the trouble of getting aquatic plants that actually occur in nature for inside the tank just to surround it with lab created plants on the surface?

I'm planning a reef tank at the moment, and one of the bullet points I have in the outline for the build thread I'm going to keep is about all these cray designer corals that seem to have been named specifically to hype them up on social media. I just want natural looking corals that I'd see when I go snorkeling...

 

[Jeeperz]

I've been out the reef hobby for about 8 years now I used to have a 240 gallon cube and I've noticed a lot of the equipment has changed which is great for the hobby but I also notice a lot of the corals are the same with different names and crazy high I'm not sure what has happened over the last 8 to 10 years but I was considering getting back into the hobby definitely will not do it at this point.

Being cut off from wild stuff over the past few years by the governments of certain countries isn't helping. Hardware is just ridiculous with manufacturers price gouging because they can

 

[Jeeperz]

Beeeeeecause

Trophy wives, 4 bedroom houses and V8 sport cars are NOT CHEAP.

Gotta triple your money as a Reefing Entrepreneur

4 bedroom? Maybe at 12k square feet.

 

[Jeeperz]

I also have a 20 something head frogspawn. OO a trip o Hawaii.

Same, and a 43 head Duncan

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Honestly, I ignore 99% of the names and just buy what I think looks nice. I don't need names to know what I like and don't like, and if I do find a named coral that I like, I find someone locally selling it for much less than online. Why pay $80 for a 1" piece of hawkins echinata acropora, when a local reefer will sell me a 4" piece for $15?