Things I Miss About the Hobby

easternreefer · Feb 21, 2018

Great article.. I was in the Boston area when the sun tube tank came about.. that was a cool idea. we used to trade sand and rubble when you came to a meeting to increase the diversity of our tanks. I mentioned that at my new club and well I got a few strange looks. if you were new and had a tank you got a free frag of something from someone in the club.. just for showing up. its how I got my first coral. its a different time that is for sure. but you made me smile remembering what we had at that time.

tony'stank · Feb 21, 2018

I started my first saltwater tank in 1982. I am lucky that the local LFS that sold me the tank, delivered it and helped me set up is still around and has the same owners. I do lament the fact that 90% of the LFS have closed. I too remember when live rock was really live. I used to look at my tank after dark with the lights out and using a flashlight to see my hitchhikers. I am saddened that I never got to experience reef club meetings. When I moved back to MI after 10 years in AZ I looked forward to attending reef club meetings and making new friends, alas there were no meetings. I joined the state reef club and all I got were internet notices of frag meets but no live meetings. Even going to the LFS I really haven’t had the oppportunity to meet and chat with local reefers. We have gained a great deal with our new technology, internet availability of knowledge, animals an equipment, but we have lost a great deal that was valuable as well.

ca1ore · Feb 21, 2018

I still use all of the rock that I bought for my first reef tank back in 1988. It did spend almost four years in the woods behind my shed, so any life is obviously long gone, but it was fabulous stuff when fresh (and stinky).

SFKINNC · Feb 21, 2018

I started with a freshwater aquarium at about the age of 10 in ‘57 or ‘58. (Yes! I am a dinosaur.). I remember waiting eagerly for my monthly edition of Aquarium Magazine at the LFS and (later) at my mailbox. I remember my disappointment when Aquarium filed for bankruptcy and the magazine (along with my hard-to-get money) disappeared. There were plenty of LFSs and zillions of tropicals floating around, but saltwater was deemed an impossibility and almost never thought of.

Things developed. Ten years later, after college — in my very own NYC apartment — with my own hard-earned cash. I was introduce to saltwater — fish only — corals and inverts were for wealthy equipment tinkerer fanatics only — not for poor apartment dwelling slobs who lived in The Bronx. Prices! They have kept reef-keeping just barely within reach for most folks — if you’re willing to budget for it.

LFSs are disappearing. Summer 2016, one trip to Raleigh, NC, found my wife and I traveling to 9 locations (found and printed from online searches only the day before) only to find 9 LFSs that were closed and empty! Until Petco with its paltry selection of saltwater livestock and equipment opened in Fayetteville, NC, there was only one shop within any reasonable distance that sold saltwater anything. (AND I learned from sad experience not to shop there.) Online shopping is the only alternative, but overnight air shipping adds significantly to the cost and difficulty and friendly, neighborhood folks who actually dispense advice based on their wise experience are no more. The teenagers at Petco or Petsmart barely know the names of the poor creatures they net and put in bags. Online forums like R2R help, but sometimes no one is interested enough in your question or problem to bother to reply.

Enjoyed your article!

Nano sapiens · Feb 21, 2018

Speaking of live rock that was really alive, I remember my first piece from 1985 that was bought from a L.A. store. It looked like it had just been plucked the same day from the ocean with dozens of organisms (mostly large sponges with many different colors) completely covering it's surface. Must have been priority wet shipped which would have accounted for it's $20 price...which was a lot of money back then. Never going to see anything like that again, that's for sure!

Sea MunnKey · Feb 21, 2018

Mike Paletta ... by far the Best On Point statements about this hobby!! Everything that you've singled out is bang on and yes this hobby is "overexposed" to where it's not about the enjoyment & personal achievement but more like financial windfall & bragging rights to Most expensive & First To Own "rainbow" custom named corals destined for "chop-chops" ....

Thank you for the excellent write up and "vintage" pictures ....

biecacka · Feb 21, 2018

Good write up Mike, I too miss the old friendship and hanging out among buddies in meetings or tank tours. Now it seems local clubs struggle to have attendance to meetings and I'm not sure what the answer is to get more ppl out. We discuss it all the time in our club, the online presence has taken over and turned into a sales board for the most part.
But either way I still love the hobby!

Corey

Pbh-reef · Feb 21, 2018

As I research stuff to plan my first tank in over a decade, I definitely miss the books, I'm especially sad the Scott Michael reef fishes book series seems to be on permanent pause and that the best coral and invert books from the early 2000s have never been updated and it seems like they never will be.

scottbapilot · Feb 21, 2018

AJsTank said:
Back in 2000, I used to show up to peoples homes and they used to GIVE you a frag for FREE. That has gone away now and everyone wants something and it's sad. I understand that you want to recoup some costs, but realistically most of us don't have hobbyists stopping by our homes on a consistent basis. You stop by my home, you can get a piece of any coral for free. I never sell my coral in hopes that people in my area start giving back

I wish we lived closer!

Ferrell · Feb 21, 2018

I miss the LFS in Florida. Seems like there was one on every corner and first got me started in the early 90s. Lost of help and info and personalized help. Not that u can’t get that on the internet and r2r but face to face and friendships are less ....personal

stylaster · Feb 21, 2018

wow that brings back some memories, also back in the day (ie early 90's) called most coral by their scientific name none of this silly fairy dust fart acro naming

Sea MunnKey · Feb 21, 2018

fairy dust fart acro ...

Frogspawn74 · Feb 21, 2018

Thought I would throw a picture of the old school stuff.
Overgrown and natural

Roberts reef · Feb 21, 2018

TThank you Mike for your dedication and sharing. It was your first ,how to book that put on the right path and your dream book that gave me something to strive for . Not doing too badly now thanks again.

Bouncingsoul39 · Feb 21, 2018

Thanks for this. I agree on many points and can relate. I too really miss:

Destination LFS with accompanying road trip among reef buddies
Real Live Ocean Rock
Affordable Frags and hobbyists trading and sharing freely. In my neck of the woods it's cash only or only weed corals no one wants are given freely. Back in the day, a SPS frag over $100 was almost unheard of. Greed is not good folks.

Squamosa · Feb 21, 2018

From many replies I see we are very lucky here in the Western part of Australia, live rock is the norm with the dead stuff a rarity.

We are lucky to have collectors that will sell to the public and being there when the truck arrives from 'up North' gives one the same sort of feeling that Mike describes when he was opening up boxes in the store back in the day. Walking through the holding tanks with a trained eye and spotting something different, still makes the heart beat faster.

We are probably about 5 years way from the states in the naming and selling or auctioning of 'rare' corals but it is creeping in, like a cancer IMO.

Anyway, here is one holding tank at the collectors facility with hundreds of pounds of live rock just out of the ocean ready to go into tanks, just pick off the unwanted algae and you're ready to go, pistol shrimps, mantis and any number of other creatures included.

SFKINNC · Feb 21, 2018

Fairy dust fart acro stuff! Lazy people can’t bother to properly identify their livestock.

Scientific names assure me that I’m getting the animals and plants that I want and enable me to learn about them before I buy something I can’t care for properly.

coral21 · Feb 22, 2018

Good to hear you are still in the hobby Mike! Still have my tank and miss sharing boxes of coral with you. I just do tank cleaning now and love it. Would be nice to see you again! Earl-The Coral Connection