Just throwing out this question

[650-IS350]

Thanks guys, keep em coming.

When I view my tank now every day and I just don't have that umph or the burning desire for collection anymore or doing much with it anymore. I'm just doing water changes ( I used to be on spot with that but not anymore as well ), I used to go to every LFS in my area and drive 50+miles to another LFS across the bay just to glance at their new pieces but that feeling is also now gone. I used to go on ebay a lot to window shop or browse through my monster collection of online website for zoanthids and see what I want next ( Haven't done that in a while, guess due to soaring prices PP has killed it for me ), I think its a combination of things that has really killed it for me.

I still do enjoy helping fellow Z's and P's enthusiasts there in regards to ID, care/husbandry, problem solving etc.

I guess it doesn't help that I just got in to gunz ( ARs ) along with my Car fixing fetish.

 

[majorb]

I quit the hobby once. I started in 99' and quit in 2001 when my hobby became a P/T job. I was 23 years of age then, and thought I'd start a service/maintenenance business. After a year or so of late night calls to my cell phone about why a customers fish is swimming wierd or what is this green stuff, and just bad experiences, I had to quit. I let my own tanks go, and slowly, everything died. it was pretty sad, but I had no more passion for the hobby. I couldn't look at a tank and enjoy it, the bad experiences left a really horrible taste in my mouth.

After a couple years of quitting, I would always be reminded of how nice it was to have a tank again and what beautiful creatures I was able to care for. I would talk to friends, and they would say something like, "What happened to your service business and fish tanks?! I remember you had the nicest corals and fish. Your tanks were always so clean and colorful!!". Those comment's would always get my blood boiling, and I felt like starting a new tank, but I never followed through with my desires because I was really busy at those periods in my life. Then just recently, A month before my last birthday, I told myself I needed to treat myself to a new fish tank. So that's when I started lurking around here and other forums.

When I saw fellow hobbiest's pictures of their tanks, I was hooked again!! I could finally look at a fish tank and smile! I knew I had to buy a fish tank! I set off to buy a pico, just in case this was something I was wrong about, I wouldn't have felt too bad tearing down a 2 gallon tank and selling it. A couple days after buying a pico and setting it up, I knew I wanted a bigger tank! LOL! This is before I even had anything in the tank! So again, I'm researching the forums for the perfect tank. I concluded that the JBJ 28G LED Nanocube was perfect for me, so I bought myself one on my birthday! That was on February 28, 2010. I just finished cycling a 60g frag tank and it's already 30% filled. So the joruney continues for me!

The hobby has changed soo much since I was last involved. I couldn't believe the prices I was seeing for single polyps and chalices like the My Miami, I just didn't understand the hype at first. Now I find myself falling into the traps of the hype! lol! I've purchased multiple $100+ polyps. don't get me wrong, they're beautiful, but the price tag is pretty disgusting!!! I'm really excited and pumped up about collecting Z/P's right now. I didn't even care for Z/P's when I was in the hobby last! The hot coral then was Pulsing Xenia's!! Plus, the availabilty of Aussie corals is incredible! They're so beautiful!

It's very theraputic and good for my soul. Especially since I just lost 3 houses to foreclosures and my business to this bad economy. My girlfriend always get's mad at me because I'm always staring into my tanks, completely hypnotized! She say's I'm having sex with my fish tanks!! lol! And I am! hehehe!

I have a problem with online vendors taking pics that are only actinic shots. I understand they want they're corals to look the best, but those type of pictures are misleading because the corals won't look the same if you don't have the right lighting. It's very dissappointing when you thow the piece in your tank, and the colors don't look like what you saw when you decided to buy it. I know, it's happend to me a couple of times until I learned the hard way!

For the most part, I love the hobby and am really pumped up about it right now! it's changed my life around for the better. I'm a lot happier now!

 

[650-IS350]

Good for you man... as for me, i'm still teeter totting in regards to what I'm going to do. :squigglemouth:

 

[BlazinNano]

I love my Z's&P's but there has been a couple times that I almost gave up. I mean I had my for sale thread written up in my local forum and luckily my fiance told me not to hit submit. The one thing that is killing me is the fact that these prices are getting crazy for a single polyp. Just cause people get the first rock out of the ocean before the other stores get it does not mean you will be the only one with it. Now I know people will say if you can't afford it then dont buy it. So I wont buy it. But what about the guy who bought it for a butt load and he is gonna find out in 6 months it is worth half. He will be ****** off. The thing is even when I started 2 years ago I have seen the prices go through the roof. I know it is all supply and demand but how much does a rock of 20 polyps cost you to get transhipped to you? Seriously. I know it is bad but I have seen alot of the new guys coming in spending all the big bucks. I could not sell a 4 polyp frag of eagle eyes last week for $10 no one wanted it now if it was a polyp that was just found last week I would have people waiting for it. Sorry I had to vent.

 

[alex garcia]

I have had a tank now for 7 years and started really getting into collecting corals for the past year i have travelled everywhere picking up frags ,tanks ,skimmers so many differant places 2- 3 hours away just like it was a drug and i had to have it im starting to realize is that do i just want that coral because i like it or because someone else has it on R2R and the competiveness is comeing out in me .Ilove my tanks always will have at least one in my house kids love them,but i need to make sure to enjoy it and not make it an obession to have every coral in my tank just to compare my tank with other reefers.