What Has Surprised You About the Hobby

[Gumbies R Us]

This hobby is full of surprises. Maybe it is how in-depth the hobby gets compared to what you initially thought, maybe it is how a certain fish acts that surprises you. I'm just curious to hear what has surprised you in this hobby.

 

[mjw011689]

How much of a difference you can have from one tank to another, even when following the same methods and principals. It is extremely difficult to run 2 tanks the exact same way because each one seems to have a mind of its own.

 

[joepdiver11]

I was surprised at the new ideas about coral care after 10 years out of hobby. New equipment that is available.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

How much of a difference you can have from one tank to another, even when following the same methods and principals. It is extremely difficult to run 2 tanks the exact same way because each one seems to have a mind of its own.

That was one thing that surprised me too, no two tanks are ever the same even if they are set up almost exactly the same.

 

[o2manyfish]

How adapatable life can be - Corals are a fairly simple life form that has been around a gazillion years with very little change. The fact that it can be plucked from the ocean and moved 1/2 way around the globe and go into 1000's of different variables and thrive is pretty amazing.

And that as the coral, especially SPS, adapts to living in these different variables their appearance can change so much. What starts out as a 4 colored Rainbow coral ends up a single color coral. What starts as a single color ends up as a multicolor. What is purple in my tank might turn green in your tank.


The other thing that has surprised me is the diversity out in the wild that we didn't know about. I have been in this hobby for decades. I have been at the wholesalers at LAX for decades. I have seen 1000's and 1000s of green goniopora arrive. Then about 10 years back we started getting some blue/purple or metallic red. But now all of a sudden the assortement of rainbow Gonipora introduced into the market in the last 3 years is pretty incredible. There was no sighting of such colors for decades. And now Goniopora which were such an impossible coral to keep is not only thriving in aquariums but being being cultured/propagated in Mariculture, Aquaculture and home aquaria.

Dave B

 

[mjw011689]

That was one thing that surprised me too, no two tanks are ever the same even if they are set up almost exactly the same.

I think it just shows how many variables there really are, and just how much we still don’t have answered about the hobby and just reef life in general. You can apply all the science you want to certain things, and for whatever reason there’s still no explanation as to why it works (or doesn’t).

 

[Troylee]

The price of everything in this hobby! And how much people pay for this automated crap.. lol

 

[mjw011689]

I’d also like to add that I never realized just how much stuff real, natural, aged live rock provided for the tank. It was always kinda just “yeah it provides the bacteria for filtration and also some smaller life forms”. But I feel like we’ve come to realize just how much it provides now that it’s not really available and we are all using dry rock. Now we face all kinds of different issues (mostly algae related) that we didn’t used to ever see, and i think a ton of it is from the lack of life on dry rock. We no longer have naturally introduced varieties of copepods, which long term helped out with algae and ugly phases. Now, unless you’re dosing them to the tank, it’s hard to get a good population if you use dry rock.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

The price of everything in this hobby! And how much people pay for this automated crap.. lol

Yeah, the prices shocked me too!!!

 

[Propane]

That no matter how much you plan and prepare you will still make mistakes. I set my tank up 2 weeks ago and have already made mistakes and that was after a year of research.

 

[Hawgpharm]

That no matter how much you plan and prepare you will still make mistakes. I set my tank up 2 weeks ago and have already made mistakes and that was after a year of research.

I'm keeping a project diary this time so I can see exactly what I did, when I did it, how much was involved, etc.

It has already come in handy for the phyto experiments since I started with different parts of F/2 in each batch. I'm not exactly where I want to be but every week gets me closer and closer to that ideal amount for my water parameters.

It should also remind me when I haven't given something as much time as it deserves.

 

[Stephen8169301]

How nice people are compared to rude. I found people give more away at less cost and things for free. Rather then trying to strip every penny from you. They rather see you more successful and offer any bit of help.

 

[Northern Flicker]

The last time I was in the hobby everything was much much slower. I just started up again after 15 years and I am shocked to see people adding 10-15 corals to a 2 week old nano tank. That plus tanks having much much less rock.

I guess I have a lot to re-learn!

 

[doubleshot00]

How algae just grows out of nowhere.

 

[Waters]

Honestly nothing really suprised me only because I over research EVERYTHING beforehand lol.

 

[Rmckoy]

The rapid increase in prices for livestock

 

[Rmckoy]

The price of everything in this hobby! And how much people pay for this automated crap.. lol

I have never added anything to automate my tanks . Although I’ve questioned if it would make life easier . I can’t justify spending so much money that would essentially take the fun of the hobby away

 

[UtahReefer]

I have been reefing most of my life. I think the one thing that has surprised me is the nutrient issue. Going back as little as ten years and before, nutrients (NO3 - PO4) climbing were always a battle. Now it seems that many reefers battle (including me) to keep these nutrients in the system. I guess it's a testimony to how effective bacterias and equipment have become over the years.

 

[BlackiceClowns]

How genuinely impossible it is to get any marine animals in Australia.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Overall, what has surprised me the most?

How many reef supply companies have claims that cannot be trusted.