What did I get myself into ?

[vetteguy53081]

Now that you have bought all equipment and have a tank up and running, What is the one thing you know now that would perhaps have changed your mind about getting into the hobby ?

Been doing this too long but as a new hobbyist, I would taken a good look at livestock availability, LFS in area and where i purchase items needed.
Also would be testing and disease

 

[Cichlid Dad]

How hard it is to keep my wife from knowing the true cost of reefing!

 

[G Santana]

The biggest thing folks have to know is the amount of Continuous Dedication it requires to maintain a Reef tank.
How many posts have you seen that start off "I let my tank go and now I have to restart, regroup or break down"
This hobby requires money, time, patience and Continuous dedication.

When you slack off the pain is real and costs money, sometimes lots of money.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I don't regret getting into it, but one thing I didn't realize at first was how expensive the hobby can get haha

 

[rhitee93]

Been doing this too long but as a new hobbyist, I would taken a good look at livestock availability, LFS in area and where i purchase items needed.

I'm just coming back into the hobby after 20 years, and this is one thing that caught me by surprise. Nowhere near the local resources that were here when I last had a tank setup. Kind of has me nervous thinking about having to ship most of my critters.

 

[Rmckoy]

How hard it is to keep my wife from knowing the true cost of reefing!

Divorce is the only
True answer to this question … she will eventually find out .
My greatest fear is my wife selling off everything for what I said I paid

 

[fish farmer]

Now that you have bought all equipment and have a tank up and running, What is the one thing you know now that would perhaps have changed your mind about getting into the hobby ?

Been doing this too long but as a new hobbyist, I would taken a good look at livestock availability, LFS in area and where i purchase items needed.
Also would be testing and disease

There were definitely more LFS in my area when I started in 2000 and they were general hobbyist stores that weren't focused reef stores so I felt like they were making it work without decades of knowledge so it felt obtainable with softies and LPS. I feel that my local guy was impressed when I was bringing in xenia.

Currently if I walk into a reef store I need special glasses to see corals under natural light. If I was starting the hobby now and all I saw were deep blue, glowing blacklight aquariums.... I'd walk out.

 

[Rmckoy]

Now that you have bought all equipment and have a tank up and running, What is the one thing you know now that would perhaps have changed your mind about getting into the hobby ?

Been doing this too long but as a new hobbyist, I would taken a good look at livestock availability, LFS in area and where i purchase items needed.
Also would be testing and disease

You’re in too deep to look back now .
Keep moving forward is the only option

 

[vetteguy53081]

Divorce is the only
True answer to this question … she will eventually find out .
My greatest fear is my wife selling off everything for what I said I paid

Agree on divorce while Not recommended.
Since divorce, I get what I want when i want without permission.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm just coming back into the hobby after 20 years, and this is one thing that caught me by surprise. Nowhere near the local resources that were here when I last had a tank setup. Kind of has me nervous thinking about having to ship most of my critters.

Agree. I was the LFS in my area and since then, My minimum drive is an hour

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Divorce is the only
True answer to this question … she will eventually find out .
My greatest fear is my wife selling off everything for what I said I paid

The only problem is my wife is very awesome and I would have to go back to fresh water!

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Don't regret any of it. I love the constant learning.

 

[Dbichler]

I started reefing in 2006. One may call the golden ages of reefing, when corals were traded for other corals or sold at 5-10 $ no matter what from reefer to reefer. Pet stores sold those frags for around 25-40$ or so. If I were to have started now and bought all equipment without researching the other prices I would probably have returned all the equipment and said not for me.

 

[Rmckoy]

The only problem is my wife is very awesome and I would have to go back to fresh water!

“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission”

Actually thinking of it now .
that exact quote might lead to my divorce

 

[Rmckoy]

The only problem is my wife is very awesome and I would have to go back to fresh water!

If we were to create a bachelor vs married before and after post .
imagine the differences in tanks .

 

[JCM]

I started reefing in 2006. One may call the golden ages of reefing, when corals were traded for other corals or sold at 5-10 $ no matter what from reefer to reefer. Pet stores sold those frags for around 25-40$ or so. If I were to have started now and bought all equipment without researching the other prices I would probably have returned all the equipment and said not for me.

I started the same year. I sure do miss those $25 corals. It's crazy, we are aquaculturing more than ever and at the same time, prices have never been higher.

 

[o2manyfish]

I have had my own salt water tank (not family) since 1986. I moved into my house in 1993 with a 125 Tall Reef and a 300 Fish only. Around 98/99 I was trying to decide if I wanted to keep the 125 or upgrade when I got into SPS.

SPS became an immediate addiction. The 125High became a 300. And then there were (2) tomatoe bins out in my back yard. Then 4 tomato bins with a frag tank onto of each tomato bin. And frag points stretched out across my yard.

Being a cost conscious reefer, and also a very lazy reefer, I built everything as part of a single system. All the tank connected to one sump, one skimmer, on UV, One Heating System, One ozonizer, One Kalk Stirrer, One Calc Rx.

And in the big scheme this has worked out really well.

However, in hindsight I wish I would have run tanks independently. Over the decades there have been several wipeouts that were just devestating. With the exception of a power outage - which only killed fish inside the house, and those outside in the frag tanks survived unscathed - kalk disasters, topoff disasters - wiped out the entire system of corals.

So many unique corals lost which could have been saved if the systems had been more independent of each other.

Now with 25 years of the multiple linked tanks I can't say that having only one system to maintain was more rewarding than sufferring such substantial losses. But if I was starting my house - which is built around the aquarium system - over I would have built a fish room to house multiple filtration systems to seperate out growout from display.

Dave B

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have had my own salt water tank (not family) since 1986. I moved into my house in 1993 with a 125 Tall Reef and a 300 Fish only. Around 98/99 I was trying to decide if I wanted to keep the 125 or upgrade when I got into SPS.

SPS became an immediate addiction. The 125High became a 300. And then there were (2) tomatoe bins out in my back yard. Then 4 tomato bins with a frag tank onto of each tomato bin. And frag points stretched out across my yard.

Being a cost conscious reefer, and also a very lazy reefer, I built everything as part of a single system. All the tank connected to one sump, one skimmer, on UV, One Heating System, One ozonizer, One Kalk Stirrer, One Calc Rx.

And in the big scheme this has worked out really well.

However, in hindsight I wish I would have run tanks independently. Over the decades there have been several wipeouts that were just devestating. With the exception of a power outage - which only killed fish inside the house, and those outside in the frag tanks survived unscathed - kalk disasters, topoff disasters - wiped out the entire system of corals.

So many unique corals lost which could have been saved if the systems had been more independent of each other.

Now with 25 years of the multiple linked tanks I can't say that having only one system to maintain was more rewarding than sufferring such substantial losses. But if I was starting my house - which is built around the aquarium system - over I would have built a fish room to house multiple filtration systems to seperate out growout from display.

Dave B

Fish room on my bucket list

 

[c_healy]

The tank leak I had last year made me consider throwing in the towel but after thinking about it for all of five minutes, that wasn’t an option. My tank was looking so good and probably the best any of my tanks ever have. I love having my own little piece of the ocean in my living room and spend a lot of time looking at it. I’ll randomly get up while watching tv and go and check things out in the tank. I’ve got a lot of hobbies but this one is definitely my most rewarding.

 

[Rmckoy]

Fish room on my bucket list

Can’t wait !
the size of the room to fit your tanks will be similar to most apartments we are paying a small fortune to rent per month