This is private...

[Hubtech]

TBH, i'm all for folks coming over. My wife is understandably more selective. I work from home so during the day if a local wants to come check it out, chew the fat, buy/trade some frags i'm all for it! Heck i've had folks literally drive 2 hours to come spend about 30 minutes checking out the tank and taking some goodies home with them.

 

[hatfielj]

I don't necessarily invite people over just to look at my tank, but if there are people visiting and they want to see it, I have no problem. My tank is in the basement though, so it's not obvious that I even have it. So, it's mostly been just close friends and family.

 

[maroun.c]

It's a very small reefing community here and most of us are friends. I try to frequently invite all to small gatherings in my place.
Some of the reefers I met over the years have become family friends and theyre frequently over with their families...
Neighbors are ecstatic about the tank and frequently they pass by to check it out, their kids as well. One of the neighbors had started a tank and another has pushed a friend of his to start a 300G
I've also had reefers from US, UK, Dubai and Saudi pass to visit and see the tank when they were in beirut.
I have been a frequent traveler for the past 15 yrs and met many reefers while on travel and it was always special to be allowed in their houses to check the tanks so I try to share the experience as much as possible with other reefers.

 

[SammieT]

The only sharing I do on my tank is pictures. Very private for me. Lots of my buddies have had tanks dosed with something that killed an entire reef system and left the hobby and some started from scratch again. Takes time to earn my trust

 

[ca1ore]

Not very social (very heavily skewed I on the Myers-Briggs scale) so I generally don't solicit visitors; nor am I particularly needing of external validation. If a local reefer wants to see the tank, that's fine (more often people want to see the sound system though). Always happy to help out when and where I can though.

 

[lolgranny]

My 180 is in the living room with a 10' window so everyone on my street knows about my tank lol. I love showing it off any chance I get

Haha exactly how it is over here. My 400g is in the living room and even though my house is 300’ off the street everyone sees in the 14’ window. I use to get “you growing weed over there or what??”

 

[siggy]

Family and friends that stop in for the first time are full of the same ole questions then nothing on the 2nd visit although they will always pause and look.
Now I have been told some people are scared to let people in or even tell them were they live in fear of theft and sabotage.

 

[saintsreturn]

Sorry I edited the thread and should clarify. The question was meant for other reefers. How private are you about letting other hobbyists come to your home to see the tank?

OOOOOHHHHHH.... In that case, pretty private. My wife doesnt want foot traffic in the home with people she doesnt know. So i share a ton of pics and support my locals as much as possible, but not in person in the room. Only a couple friends in the reefing group get the free pass.

Happy spouse, happy house and all that jazz... so its been pretty easy to leave this one alone.

 

[Captain Quint]

I'm very private. My door is always open to family and a do consider a couple of local hobbyists family as well and they may come anytime they desire.

If I do get a message, text or call from another hobbyist in trouble or need I will drop everything to help whether it's an hour or a day.

 

[JimSRT4]

No people thank you, it would mean I'd have to clean up! Actually though, I don't mind as the display is in the foyer. The wife and I are sociable but with both of us working and having three kids entertaining is a secondary thought. Our local Reef Club does have some of it's meetings in people's homes and seeing them can be fun and informative.

 

[Da Ghost]

The blue light glows form the family room and is very much visible form the street. So if i ever have a curious neighbor from the community that would like to take a look, absolutely (Caveat- we have a small community so its easy to know most of my neighbors) (If i don't know you and you just ring my doorbell expect me to be annoyed and ticked because we are probably very busy- I only had that happen once in my other home- I was less busy then and spoke with the guy outside my home for about an hour- after i was reasonably satisfied that he was not a threat to me i did invite him up to take a look).

I use to be very involved in the Groups, but since i moved i have not been as active so I have not had people over from group/clubs. Although I would not mind. Respect my home, respect our (my wife's) rules and keep your hands outta my water and we are fine. We can sit and talk for hours if you like. I have a bench in front of the tank where i sit and decompress at night.

Great hobby and love to share any tips and tricks i have if you need cheato I will probably give you a huge zip lock bag as I throw it out weekly. (yes, i know i could take it to the LFS, see above- very busy, the 10 bucks is not worth the drive or my time.

 

[Fourstars]

None of your business, And get off my grass!

 

[andrewkw]

I'm not a very social person at all, but if you are a reefer I will make an exception. Anyone is welcome to come check out my reefs and I actively encourage constructive criticism. It can be nice to roll ideas off other people, or have someone point something out that you won't always notice in a picture or even a video. That being said I live in the absolute middle of no where. I've only had 1 reefer come over in the 2+ years I live here but I do encourage members of the small semi local community to come pick up frags but 9/10 will want it delivered (I have to go towards the town for other reasons they aren't asking for specific deliveries).

I understand some people don't like others in their house for various reasons but if I'm picking up something from someone I hope they would invite me in to check out their reefs. In cases like this at least for me I probably wouldn't notice anything else in their house anyway since my eyes would be glued to their tanks.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I didn't put all that time, money and energy into my tank for others to NOT enjoy it

 

[JimSRT4]

But then they want frags! More work...

 

[SDK]

I have two super active school age kids, so my house is like Grand Central Station most of the time

I have several Aquariums and all are a magnet for kids and adults who visit. Everyone gets the #1 house rule when they walk in the door and all is then good.

“Look all you want, but touch it and die”...

 

[fish farmer]

The last time I showed off my reef tank was when the Kirby salesmen barged in...they loved it!

I'd be willing to open my home to club meetings, if we still had a club/members up here, although my parking is very limited during the winter when most of those meetings would take place. Not many folks around here reef and if they do they are 2 hours away.

 

[MTBake]

I'm pretty private myself. Family and friends mostly. If a hobbyist asked to see my tank, I'm 50/50 on if I'd let them.

 

[Hemmdog]

Y’all can come over anytime, see my tank, give me pointers, I’ll break off some fresh frags.

 

[Sallstrom]

"My" tanks are at a small public aquarium. So a lot of regular people (or what do you call non-reef aquarists?!) see our tanks six days a week.

The first time I invited a bunch of aquarists from a Swedish forum to the Aquarium I was really nervous! I cleaned the windows and tanks all I could. But they were so kind and didn't criticise the tanks at all ;Shamefullyembarrased
So that became a twice a year thing, which then turned into a reef meet with a frag swap, a couple of talks and behind the scenes mingle.

So I really enjoy fellow aquarists come and visit. Maybe I just like to talk about "my" tanks a lot ..