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

[ca1ore]

Nah... It says more about the state of Americans. Most have never been out of the country. Many haven't even been out of the region they live in. It's been my experience that most Americans spend very little time thinking about issues outside of their own little bubble.

Just guessing, but I'd say that's probably true of most PEOPLE. Regardless of nationality.

I think we are much more insular as a nation.

 

[Greybeard]

I think we are much more insular as a nation.

Not an unreasonable position. Partly true, anyway.

Part of that, IMHO, is the size of the nation. Here in MO, I might concern myself with things going on in Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa... but the left coast, the northeast, and the deep south are so far away they might as well be Mexico, or Canada. We've got an astounding array of geographic and cultural variety, right here at home. The same is not true in most nations. Ok, Maybe China, Brazil... but on average, US States are as big, or bigger, than most nations on the globe. If you're a couple hours drive from neighboring countries, you're more likely to spend thought on those nations. I'm 750 miles from the nearest international border. It just doesn't come up in my every day life much

 

[ca1ore]

...... and the fact that for most of folks lives the US has been the BIG DOG. Who cares what's going on in Holland ...... Is it even a country .....

 

[thediscobandit]

For luxury goods like saltwater aquaria equipment and tanks, you just can't beat the good ol US of A. That stuffs mostly shipped here from other places though.

I feel like asia has the edge in keeping endangered species though.

 

[Mortie31]

...... and the fact that for most of folks lives the US has been the BIG DOG. Who cares what's going on in Holland ...... Is it even a country .....

Not sure I like this statement at all.....

 

[Kyl]

As a Canadian, the US consumer market is so gigantic and the logistics network behind that market (including USPS) is un-matched by most other countries. @andrewkw hit most of my reasoning perfectly. I'm in the Vancouver area and we have one viable salt water LFS for livestock. For equipment there is basically that same LFS or an online shop out of Quebec.

 

[Moonfruit777]

Hello Germany here

Few quick things I want to say here:

1. Equipment:
As far as equipment goes; everything is available to us (maybe not the APEX so much but... ). EU tech, US tech, Asian tech...
BUT there are a LOT of US companies that make custom reef stuff... Gadgets and Acrylic works like sumps, filters and so on
In Germany there are very few companies that actually make custom reefing gear which is really sad IMO.

Over all I would also say, not the gear runs the reef tank but the reef keeper.
A beginner with the best gear available can still fail.
A well seasoned reefer with cheap equipment can still create a great reef tank.
Does not matter what country you are in.

2. Community:
- Forums:
I started really young in the hobby. About 10 years ago when I was 12 years old.
I was really into the hobby and wanted to get started and, as you would expect from a young boy with an AIO tank and a really bad LFS that only offers you one bad advice after the other, I made mistakes
lots of them...
Why? because when the first questions and problems arose I looked for help in a German forum.
Simply asking questions felt like a horror... Because -> If you already have a tank, fish and coral you have to know etc
Biggest mistake in my reefing career! Only mean people, none offering constructive advice, huge ****storms because of what i would now call small and common rookie mistakes
So I never searched for advice in a German forum again from there on out.
As my English skills improved from watching movies and playing games I started reading on R2R and other English forums. Still not sharing any of what happens in my tank but at least people seem to be much nicer here!
Nicer to beginners and nicer to people making mistakes.
Just my general experience and view
Other people I know now also agree, that they had the same experience and would never take part in a forum because of it...

- Conventions:
We don't really have any conventions to go to.
I know we had Interzoo not too long ago but that is not all about reefing.
I'd LOVE to attend a coral/frag/reefing convention.
A frag swap style event for example would be amazing.

- Reefclubs:
Also not really a thing here.
Maybe some online groups here and there but nothing fancy.
Sad thing. Don't really know why but what are you gonna do about it? :/

3. Corals&Fish:
We have lots of corals and fish available! Not going to complain about selection and amounts but...

Some corals seem to be only available or at least at lot lot more common in the US
Many acropora and montipora are impossible to get your hands on in Germany!

After years I am still looking for corals like Montipora "mystic sunset", "walt disney" or "pink lemonade" Acro, "bounce" mushrooms (although they start to pop up here and there; FYI WWC bounce 2k € ) just to name a few that come to my mind when I think about it really quick.
So if any of my fellow Europeans on R2R knows a place to get those, let me know

Many EU stores just name corals something they read on US stores to make some more money.
But almost every Acro, Zoa, Acan, Chalice is now called something fancy.
No real system behind it. Just random names to make €€€.

I was told that most "cool" unfraggable corals like scoly, trachy, euphyllia, clams and so on always end up in the US because people there are willing to pay more for them... true or not that is what i was told by multiple stores now.


Just a few things of my mind that I think fit the topic of the thread

In terms of community i feel like the US has it WAY WAAAAY better!
In terms of corals the US has a nice selection and somewhat of a system behind the naming of corals.
In terms of gear I think there is nothing one really misses out on :/

 

[ca1ore]

Not sure I like this statement at all.....

Which part? Mostly meant tongue-in-cheek. Plus, Holland actually isn't a country, it's two provinces of seven that make up the Netherlands LOL.

 

[Sallstrom]

Hello Germany here

Few quick things I want to say here:

1. Equipment:
As far as equipment goes; everything is available to us (maybe not the APEX so much but... ). EU tech, US tech, Asian tech...
BUT there are a LOT of US companies that make custom reef stuff... Gadgets and Acrylic works like sumps, filters and so on
In Germany there are very few companies that actually make custom reefing gear which is really sad IMO.

Over all I would also say, not the gear runs the reef tank but the reef keeper.
A beginner with the best gear available can still fail.
A well seasoned reefer with cheap equipment can still create a great reef tank.
Does not matter what country you are in.

2. Community:
- Forums:
I started really young in the hobby. About 10 years ago when I was 12 years old.
I was really into the hobby and wanted to get started and, as you would expect from a young boy with an AIO tank and a really bad LFS that only offers you one bad advice after the other, I made mistakes
lots of them...
Why? because when the first questions and problems arose I looked for help in a German forum.
Simply asking questions felt like a horror... Because -> If you already have a tank, fish and coral you have to know etc
Biggest mistake in my reefing career! Only mean people, none offering constructive advice, huge ****storms because of what i would now call small and common rookie mistakes
So I never searched for advice in a German forum again from there on out.
As my English skills improved from watching movies and playing games I started reading on R2R and other English forums. Still not sharing any of what happens in my tank but at least people seem to be much nicer here!
Nicer to beginners and nicer to people making mistakes.
Just my general experience and view
Other people I know now also agree, that they had the same experience and would never take part in a forum because of it...

- Conventions:
We don't really have any conventions to go to.
I know we had Interzoo not too long ago but that is not all about reefing.
I'd LOVE to attend a coral/frag/reefing convention.
A frag swap style event for example would be amazing.

- Reefclubs:
Also not really a thing here.
Maybe some online groups here and there but nothing fancy.
Sad thing. Don't really know why but what are you gonna do about it? :/

3. Corals&Fish:
We have lots of corals and fish available! Not going to complain about selection and amounts but...

Some corals seem to be only available or at least at lot lot more common in the US
Many acropora and montipora are impossible to get your hands on in Germany!

After years I am still looking for corals like Montipora "mystic sunset", "walt disney" or "pink lemonade" Acro, "bounce" mushrooms (although they start to pop up here and there; FYI WWC bounce 2k € ) just to name a few that come to my mind when I think about it really quick.
So if any of my fellow Europeans on R2R knows a place to get those, let me know

Many EU stores just name corals something they read on US stores to make some more money.
But almost every Acro, Zoa, Acan, Chalice is now called something fancy.
No real system behind it. Just random names to make €€€.

I was told that most "cool" unfraggable corals like scoly, trachy, euphyllia, clams and so on always end up in the US because people there are willing to pay more for them... true or not that is what i was told by multiple stores now.


Just a few things of my mind that I think fit the topic of the thread

In terms of community i feel like the US has it WAY WAAAAY better!
In terms of corals the US has a nice selection and somewhat of a system behind the naming of corals.
In terms of gear I think there is nothing one really misses out on :/

Good points about the lack of European reef aquarium events and frag swaps. I've looked around for years but haven't found any more then one thing, the MACE in Italy a couple of years back. But I haven't found any info if there will be any more. I couldn't go at that time
If anyone knows if there is any reef aquarium events in Europe, let us know!

 

[Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI]

for me the grass is greener from this side of the world
if you look at USA or Europe.
it's hardly easy to get any quality equipment and if it happen, prices are over 50% increase!
as for custom work, man I had opened a thread about it! it's 0 to none existing!

and when it comes to food or adjectives! it's like your in a whole different planet!
as none of what Reef Nutrition or Algae Barn offer!

for me it just killed so much enthusiasm for the hobby inside of me!

 

[kangadrew]

Not having read through the entire thread yet - I will say, I wish we had better access to the rare angelfish that come up. Seems that the guys over in Hong Kong always get to them well ahead of anyone in the states!
I love seeing them online though, it makes up for it

Drew

 

[lzrlvr]

No

 

[4FordFamily]

Disease seems to be SO much more prevalent in the states than say Europe, for instance. Sigh.

 

[CC13]

For luxury goods like saltwater aquaria equipment and tanks, you just can't beat the good ol US of A. That stuffs mostly shipped here from other places though.

lol you mean Europe right? Almost all of the high end lights, pumps, skimmers and reactors are EU made.

 

[Nano Doc]

I am not so sure we’re better off except in numbers. I see a lively discussion on dutch/ belgian reeferclubs , also indonesian Indofish club on Facebook,they have gorgeous corals and fish, naturally. The germans have excellent aquarium equipment and lights ,additives etc that we also enjoy, there obviously is a vigorous home market for them, not only export . We might be better off pricewise because we’re taxed less than most other countries. My 2cts

 

[Nano Doc]

I am not so sure we’re better off except in numbers. I see a lively discussion on dutch/ belgian reeferclubs , also indonesian Indofish club on Facebook,they have gorgeous corals and fish, naturally. The germans have excellent aquarium equipment and lights ,additives etc that we also enjoy, there obviously is a vigorous home market for them, not only export . We might be better off pricewise because we’re taxed less than most other countries. My 2cts

 

[CC13]

I am not so sure we’re better off except in numbers. I see a lively discussion on dutch/ belgian reeferclubs , also indonesian Indofish club on Facebook,they have gorgeous corals and fish, naturally. The germans have excellent aquarium equipment and lights ,additives etc that we also enjoy, there obviously is a vigorous home market for them, not only export . We might be better off pricewise because we’re taxed less than most other countries. My 2cts

I think with most consumer goods, the US market is usually pretty reasonably priced and selection is usually pretty good. I mean just the shear size of your population puts you guys right up there. There may be certain certain specialty items that are lacking, but I think on an overall basis (equipment, fish, corals, aquaculture, research, support), it would be very difficult to say the US market isn't #1.

 

[revhtree]

September BUMP!

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Reporting from Sweden.

I’d say nifty gadgets that makes your life easier, for example I had to order my eclipse overflow from the US. There was no way to get something similar in Sweden.

That and availability/price of livestock.
Most stuff is hard to find and dang expensive if you do. For example I was quoted around 800+ dollars for a golden dwarf moray a few years back.

 

[vetteguy53081]

US has CUSTOMER SUPPORT and better availability of products. Also the many trade shows such as RAP, Macna, etc

 

[Aquavaj]

One perk of being in the US is the huge second hand market. Fed by the people who sell and upgrade to the never ending new products to the thousands who start or repeatedly quit and get back in. This also means tons of options to get corals and fish other than from the LFS or online. Usually at much better prices and size too.