What the USA hobby has that other countries don't?

[revhtree]

Pretty frequently I see posts on the forums or on other various social media outlets from reef aquarium hobbyists who live outside the US commenting on "how they wish they could get these types of corals or this type of equipment."

It got me thinking about the US and "how good we have it" when it comes to saltwater reef aquariums.

Is being a hobbyists in the US better because of what is accessible in this hobby or is this just really an unmerited perception?

Would love to hear some thoughts from those of you in other countries as well as industry people who are "in the know" about this subject. Also would love to hear from regular US hobbyists and what they think about the question.

PS. I think the aquarium industry as a whole could be so much better and so much more viable long term if most modern countries had more equal access to everything that is available in the hobby.

 

[Dsnakes]

I have never thought too much about it. We are such a diverse group here on R2R. It’s great to see different techniques to the hobby.

I would say the main benefit I see which is pointed out often, is the giveaways are mainly geared towards the U.S.

- Geared towards isn’t the correct way to put that. I realize that comes down to shipping and lottery restrictions.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

I said for some things it is. Jake Adams has done some cool interviews recently to go over what people are doing in other parts of the world. I also remember Inappropriate Reefer touring several stores in Hong Kong (I think) and pointing out how much better their overflows and return pump setups were compared to USA.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I think it really depends on what restrictions each government has on said country. In some places internet is restricted, I know my oldest brother said some parts of China doesn’t have yahoo or google and internet is limited. I’m sure other countries as well have either more stringent protections in places for marine species and or more relaxed. Most of the time people can only get what’s legally available to them in their country etc.

Do we have these easier, maybe it depends on what we want. I think we even here in the states, some of us have it super easy and others can only order online. They don’t have the luxury of looking at the critter first.

 

[mcarroll]

We're cut off from the animals and they are cut off from the equipment.....to paint it with a broad brush.

Let's trade!

(There are some "in-betweeners" with limited access to both.)

 

[reefwiser]

Knowing many hobbyists from around the world. Hobbyist in the US are not focused on the health of the animals like many European and Asian hobbyist. USA hobbyist are always searching for a magic bullet that will cure all their issues and make their tank maintenance free. The US hobby has a really high turn over of people where as in the rest of the world their are many long term hobbyist. One see's this on forums everyday people getting out of the hobby continuously when they are just starting if something difficult happens to their aquarium. When this is actually a learning moment for them they tend to run away from the hobby because it is too hard.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Pretty frequently I see posts on the forums or on other various social media outlets from reef aquarium hobbyists who live outside the US commenting on "how they wish they could get these types of corals or this type of equipment."

It got me thinking about the US and "how good we have it" when it comes to saltwater reef aquariums.

Is being a hobbyists in the US better because of what is accessible in this hobby or is this just really an unmerited perception?

Would love to hear some thoughts from those of you in other countries as well as industry people who are "in the know" about this subject. Also would love to hear from regular US hobbyists and what they think about the question.

PS. I think the aquarium industry as a whole could be so much better and so much more viable long term if most modern countries had more equal access to everything that is available in the hobby.

Europe better , look at the low stock of Triton here. And other merchandise

 

[BZOFIQ]

I've seen some amazing setups from Europe, always top notch equipment and attention to details that blows similar state-side setups out of the water. I don't think anybody there complains about lack of access or limited choice.

 

[lisafish80]

I can only compare Canada to the US, and from that comparison, I would say hobbyists in the US have access to a wider variety, especially when it comes to live rock. But being a small population up north here, can't expect the same variety of anything really when compared to our southern neighbors.

US has way more options for ordering live stock online as well, especially fish.

 

[Mortie31]

Interesting topic, I think in the main similar equipment is available in Europe as the US, one area I think we lag behind in especially in England is in the variety of cultured SPS frags available, we don’t seem to have a market at all. I see lots of threads and discussions on the various forums and Fb discussing with some awe and a fair bit of scepticism on the quality, colour, price and names of the cultured SPS you have in the states. As a generalisation I think we tend to want colonies either wilds or Maris and the growing out of a tank of tiny frags is something I rarely see in the UK.

 

[Sallstrom]

Hi from Sweden
I do most of the purchases at work(public aquarium). I can't think of anything more than Bayer and some broad spectrum medicines (not allowed in Sweden) we can't buy but that's available in the US.
Sure, might be some extra work with customs if we buy from China or US, but it's possible.
So if we can get it, so can the LFS's in Sweden and that way the hobbyists.

Or did I forget something?

 

[ddrueckh]

I think that "what is available in the US" holds us back. We are too focused on paying $1,000 for a new skimmer with a sexy shape than we are with the health of our tanks. We believe these sexy products will magically make our tanks beautiful. We are stuck on technology, wanting control of everything from our phones. We use this technology to set up a new piece of equipment and usually never use it again. My Radion light has not been touched in 3 years. I could change the color, intensity and photo period but never do. We don't really need all this control, but spend tons of money on it and think it will somehow make our corals grow perfectly and all our algae go away....it never does! Most discussions on forums are about equipment. What skimmer is best, what GFO should I use. If we focused our discussions on the biology of our tanks, instead of the latest equipment, our tanks would probably be much better than they are now.

I don't know how many times I have watched people set up tanks with the best equipment available, only to have the same issues many others have...Corals dying, algae problems and other issues. I have also seen simple, low cost, tanks that are stunning! This leads me to believe it is more important to use the equipment you have properly than it is to have the latest, most expensive, equipment.

I understand people in other countries wanting access to corals that are not available to them. We all do. At the same time, a tank full of low cost SPS can look just as stunning as a tank full of high end SPS. I'm not sure if I have even seen a tank full of high end SPS since everyone frags them when they get bigger than a couple of inches so they can sell the pieces.

After saying all that, I will admit I am guilty of all the above! Our society has turned into having to have the latest greatest. I don't believe that is what is best for our tank inhabitants. Maybe other countries are better off not having access to all the equipment and coral we have access to.

 

[ddrueckh]

Double Post

 

[ddrueckh]

Triple post...sorry. Not sure why it keeps duplicating itself!

 

[WannaBSpaghetti]

Freedom.

 

[2una]

Non US + Non EU here - I voted yes mostly on coral choice availability(SPS)
Out of interest tho:
If i buy tomorrow an Apex
BRS price $799
Where i must buy this & this is with the old classic energy bar & not the 832 - $997
+$200 & with an older model energy bar

Radion G4 Pro
BRS $749
Where i must buy - $1079
+$330

So yeah non US we eat it on prices.

 

[fabutahoun]

Almost all equipment in my tank were bought and shipped from the USA to Saudi

 

[mcarroll]

Interesting topic, I think in the main similar equipment is available in Europe as the US, one area I think we lag behind in especially in England is in the variety of cultured SPS frags available, we don’t seem to have a market at all. I see lots of threads and discussions on the various forums and Fb discussing with some awe and a fair bit of scepticism on the quality, colour, price and names of the cultured SPS you have in the states. As a generalisation I think we tend to want colonies either wilds or Maris and the growing out of a tank of tiny frags is something I rarely see in the UK.

You're seeing folks here working the economies of scale thing desperately hard.

Speculators.

Folks really do offer for sale - and buyers actually buy - corals the size of boogers over here beyond the pale.



Not everyone, hopefully not even mostly everyone...but it's an undeniable "market segment" here.

Speculation pretty much makes nice un-hacked corals 100% unavailable (or unattainable) for most of us.

 

[ZoWhat]

Daaaaah.....Econ101

Somebody beat me to it: Economy of Scale

U.S. has a LOT of consumers which drives competition and lower prices. Go try to do a Reef Tank in Russia....betcha its 5x as expensive yhere than in the U.S.

 

[andrewkw]

In Canada livestock is generally cheaper but the gap is closing, pretty much any higher end fish will generally cost less then the US. The same is true for corals although Canada is slowly progressing to a more US style pricing. With bans and whatnot who knows what the future has in store. There is of course more selection in the US as most of the big fraggers, farmers whatever you want to call them are US based. Of course Reef Raft started here and when they were just a simple retail store a lot of local people were upset that most of the good stuff was being reshipped to the US. Since the "brand name" corals come from the US even if they are from Indo, Australia / wherever, they are coloured up and grown in someones shop / house so those kinds of things are harder but not impossible to get here.

Besides the fact the US has more stores, sources and population one thing you have that can't compare to Canada is your distribution network. I live out in the middle of no where and can't get corals shipped to me because fedex, ups ect are unreliable here or flat out don't offer overnight delivery despite the fact distance wise I'm perhaps 5 times closer to Toronto then Vancouver is. Liveaquaria and all the other online stores don't exist here. When I order fish online from a place that will actually ship airport to airport to me since I can't trust couriers I look at a .pdf and have to exchange several phone calls and emails. This system has not changed since my first online fish order in 2006. There are a couple, maybe a couple dozen if you count people in basements online reef stores but in the US there are perhaps hundreds. Also there is no such thing as free shipping in Canada for heavy items (except amazon). Salt, T5 lights ect you are always going to pay shipping whether its one box or a pallet. Free shipping generally starts at $200 or so where as US big stores can offer free shipping on anything or very low min orders. It's more cost effective and convenient to order frozen foods to the US and go pick it up there then it is to get someone in Canada to ship it to me.

I am in a dead zone now, but when I lived in the Toronto area LFS were generally doing good. There are more reef stores now then 10 years ago. Due to logistics and the fact most of Canada's population is centered around a few cities they will probably continue to do well here longer then in the US. I see a lot of people complain about their lfs and most people are showing off corals they purchased online, I always think (and even more so now that I'm in the country) that going to the LFS is a fun time and you catch up with people, see things in person and maybe even learn something. Of course even before I moved a couple years ago lfs visits changed greatly since I started in the hobby. In the old days it was lining up before the stores opened on shipment day to go through 100s of random corals and buy a closed up colony or something with potential. Now if a store has 10 frags of whatever there is no sense of urgency to go get it since even if you miss it they will likely have more later.

 

[mcarroll]

I see a lot of people complain about their lfs and most people are showing off corals they purchased online, I always think (and even more so now that I'm in the country) that going to the LFS is a fun time and you catch up with people

I'm with you!

I've always taken online comments about local establishments with a LARGE grain of salt. I've never been sorry for having the policy either.