Is Reefing Dying?

[muffe]

The question seems self answering does it not? The mere supposition suggests it is. Does outsourcing customer service calls hurt customer service?

The fact is the hobby is still in its infancy. Until it becomes more mainstream, and more advancements are seen, it is always going to be a hobby for a select few.

 

[Paul B]

This hobby has been in the US for 46 years. It's not exactly still in it's infancy but many of the methods we use are due to the internet.

 

[Joeganja]

Want my two cents? I work for my pet store. I’m the aquatics specialist. I love my job. But when I come on places like forums and local groups I start to see a change from what brand new hobbyists or those are not so much aquatinted with reefing communities. I see the change where the love for the hobby starts to turn into a business or a status depending on what fish or coral and even now a days piece of equipment you have. Ive met some great hobbyists and I’ve also dealt with some not so good hobbyists. But that’s where I think the line gets drawn. You start losing the love for the animals and start focusing on a collection which is awesome we all love that don’t get me wrong but it’s all about I have to have this and this and then it’s like well where’d the original reason for me keeping these animals go? You kind of get lost and sidetracked and you start losing focus on what you want this hobby and these beautiful animals to give you and for you to give them. They give you peace, and beauty and you get to recreate a piece of the ocean and offer them a home and the best of your ability to properly house them. But I kind of took a step back and saw the whole picture. A lot of new hobbyists don’t know what a bounce mushroom is or that there are such things as aquarium controllers and they just enjoy the hobby as they see it. I think once we see what everyone else has then we start getting a bit jealous and although it’s pricey when it shouldn’t be but that’s how hobbies are. Some people do their best to get what they need and what they want with a little extra and some people can afford a 180 gallon rimless low iron glass with 6 radion xr30 pros g4s and basically investing a car into the tank. So for me I try not too be involved socially as I once so I don’t start to see things I want and “need”. In this hobby you do what makes you happy, find you place in it, figure out what you want in return. There are hobbyists and then there are those hobbyists who turn into making it all about business.

 

[Tweaked]

Franky killed the hobby!

 

[Donavon]

Well for me it's not dying, I've been reef keeping for 5+ years, and just getting my feet wet.
I always take a minimalistic approach, say what you want but my 90 gallon tank runs with a plenum and a refugium. I grow beautiful corals of all kinds from the easiest leathers, to acropora, and rarely do I run the skimmer.
I don't have any reactors, and don't dump a bunch of carefully measured stuff in my tank on a regular basis.
I talk to people in the hobby, I belong to a local club, and share my experiences on a few forums.
I would rather trade you a couple of my best corals for one of yours, or hang out all day at a frag swap letting all my stuff go for 10 or 15 bucks, than drop $85.00 on a 1 inch frag of radioactive super polyp.
Nothing wrong with all the bells and whistles, I just don't need a perfect tank and for me, the more stuff there is to look after the more chances of failure. I think that is why some people get out of it, it becomes extremely complicated if you let it.
I will continue to keep it simple and continue to reach out to a couple new guys to give them a couple free easy to keep frags so they can build confidence and experience without going broke in the process. And if they have success they will hopefully become more advanced and pass it on...

 

[NY_Caveman]

I am here fighting the decline. I am reentering the hobby after a long hiatus. Bought my tank last week.

Most of my information starting out in the 1980s came from Martin A. Moe’s books. I still have them. It was more one sided than a forum, but was one heck of a side. Those who read him know what I mean. He provided books with detailed experience and research that gave you room to learn and grow. All of my marine water chemistry knowledge started with him. The Marine Aquarium Reference was the Google search of my early reefing days.

I was in transition then and those tanks are long gone. Now that I am returning to this hobby I am more excited than ever by the new technology and livestock options. I cannot wait to apply these to what I learned from my past successes and failures. I am also lucky to have many good LFS around in NY and CT.

I have read many threads recently and have seen this a bit: start a tank, panic, then spend money chasing parameters until the lack of stability leads to failure. I sympathize, but there has always been high turnover in this hobby. The forums reveal it more perhaps than the old days and sometimes make it feel close to home.

The beginning is the hardest part. Newcomers can rarely understand how long it takes for a tank to approach stability. One simply has to learn it for themselves. If you can keep your tank going for a couple of years, you may learn this and truly enjoy your reef.

The two pieces of advice I would give:

(1) Be patient. Hard for people to take that as advice usually. Specifically, make a plan before doing or spending anything. Draw out how you want your tank to look. Write out an equipment and livestock list. Do it on a PC or device. At these prices, you need to have a plan. That solves so many early problems.

(2) Get excited to become an amateur marine biologist. If you really want to succeed maintaining a reef, you should want to continually learn about the environment you keep. The best reef keepers get to a point where their tanks “tell” them what is wrong. That is success.

Good luck to all! With this and the “Grind My Gears” thread today my mind has been racing about this hobby. Ha!

 

[Patrick.S]

I dunno... Take a look at the reef-a-palooza lines. I'm about a year in and I get a bit irked when I hear about the expense of the hobby. It's all about what you want. My tank is 10 gallons and cost me about 200 with all equipment. I have probably about another 200 in livestock and I have almost nowhere else to put coral. I've taken the approach that I want things that look nice, not things that are expensive. Befriend a reefer. I get free frags from a local pal. Befriend the owner of your lfs. I get corals that he breaks off or encrusting corals that he scrapes off the frag rack for a good price. Be okay with small frags. Watching them grow is half the fun. I plan to upgrade some day, but it's not out of any necessity. I could keep this awesome looking tank going indefinitely for around 10 bucks a month and some elbow grease.

 

[Mark Teitelman]

I don't know that there are truly any "cheap" hobbies. In my humble opinion, if it's worth your time, someone else is probably out there trying to make a living off it. But that's ok--there certainly isn't a rule that says you HAVE to spend a ton of money to be in reef keeping. Sure, it helps in a lot of cases, especially when you are starting out, but smart people on this forum and elsewhere are always pointing out how you can be successful without feeling like you have to mortgage your home to do it. Like anything, there are lots of different people in our hobby, from all walks of life, and that's the thing I love about it.

 

[Tommy Ray Oakley]

Thank you for your service! I wouldn’t even have tried freshwater tank while I was in. All the moves were killers.

Thank you for your support and your service to brother.

 

[ca1ore]

There are hobbyists and then there are those hobbyists who turn into making it all about business.

I decided to turn my aquarium hobby into a business .... long before it was fashionable to do so. The enduring learning from that was that there is nothing that kills the enjoyment of a hobby like making it a business. Never again!

 

[Joeganja]

I decided to turn my aquarium hobby into a business .... long before it was fashionable to do so. The enduring learning from that was that there is nothing that kills the enjoyment of a hobby like making it a business. Never again!

Exactly my statement. You start to lose the love for the hobby and the animals and focus on money money money.

 

[luisgo]

I think that all depends on the area were you live. I started with salt water aquariums in 1990! I have seen this hobbie grow. I live in Puerto Rico and now there are a lot of local stores. All the time complaining about internet sales but they still do business. People have not change. When I started there were people that stayed one year and others with many years of experience. I think the principal reason for not seen many people here at R2R and other reef sites is other sources of information like facebook.

 

[splix]

I’ve been keeping reef tanks since the late 70s
Used to have tanks in every room
Kept everything from blue ring octopus to emperors from juvenile to full adult

I took my last tank down a year ago and sold most everything, I miss it once in a while but I think I am out

What made you decide to do so?

 

[DeniseAndy]

Well, here is my two cents on the idea of reef keeping dying.

I travel to many schools and introduce many kids to coral reefs. Teachers and kids get super excited and some see the entire ecosystem. The kids I see are too young to set up a system on their own (mostly elementary kids). But it puts a bug in their ear. Gets them thinking.

Now, I look at my own kids. They love instant gratification. Their electronics seem to play a huge role in it. Everything comes so fast. Buy online and it is here in 2 days not our old 4-6weeks delivery (and I am not old).

I have gardens and plants and fruit trees and such that the kids do help me with. They see all the stuff I do for my many tanks. These guys will understand that things are not immediate. But, not all kids get that view.

Do I think this hobby will die. No. There are always passionate people to keep it up and keep it evolving. However, I do see a problem with the general population of kids as they age. They want fast. A sure sign of failure in this hobby.

I think those of us that have been doing this over 10+ years will keep coming back. We love the ecosystem as a whole and how it grows and changes. These are the hobbyists that will stay the long haul. I think new hobbyists with that passion will also stay for a long time. It is the ones that think they can make tons of money off frags, that are too eager to be patient and watch life grow, and those that do not listen to experienced reefers and simply find the answer they want are the ones that get out sooner.

If you cannot afford the high dollar frags, do not buy them. I do not think that has anything to do with getting out of the hobby. Mostly is is instant gratification to having that perfect tank that will never live up to what you see in a picture.