When do you consider yourself or someone else a "reefer"?

[George Villasenor]

Simply owning a reef tank can make you a "reefer."

 

[JonPhillips]

So long story made short; I have a handful of friends that are into this hobby, a few of them I don't really consider as enthusiasts, reef-keepers, or anything of that sort. I basically say they own fish tanks... maybe I am being too harsh!?

This stems from the fact that they have pretty nice tanks setup, with quality equipment, stocked with fish, decent coral, etc... but don't "DO" anything for or with their tanks. Maintenance (bi-weekly/monthly) is paid for, tests are rarely performed on their own if kits are even owned, and everything is basically purchased based on what they are told by these, for lack of a better word, salesmen.

To me at least, the biggest part of this hobby is the accomplishment of building your system and taking care of everything through the ups and downs. During all of these trials and tribulations you are constantly learning and gain a larger appreciation and understanding of the biology and chemistry if you will of what's going on in there. Next time "X" happens you think you know, or at least can assume, it's because of "Y", vs simply saying wow that looks bad or good but really have no clue what's happening so you call someone.

Does anyone disagree? If someone just owns a tank regardless of how beautiful it is, are they really a hobbyist if they don't personally maintain it? Does that make them any less of an enthusiast just because they do not take care of their setup? Can you still LOVE this hobby but not be fully invested (not meaning financially) in what it means to be the owner and in my eyes, the one that should be maintaining a saltwater aquarium?

Discuss....??

Tough call. Especially nowadays with ULM tanks. One could hypothetically run a tank they rarely have to touch. Auto feed. ATO. Auto water change, etc. let alone pay someone to maintain.

I’m a “home owner” but still have lots of stuff I have to pay someone to help maintain. Plumbing, sprinklers, swamp cooler, etc. am I still a home owner? Or do I need to cut and etch my own logging?

To me, there’s an enormous amount of skill involved in this hobby. You have to apply your knowledge in the right way to achieve results. It’s not just the right equipment. It’s knowing how things work, how coral is behaving, how fish behave, what action to take and when, when to let things go, etc. Many can’t ever get there. There’s a steep learning curve.

I’d almost lean more towards titles like newbies, novice, advanced, expert, and pro or something along those lines. Reefer almost seems a little too generic of a box for me. I see people not in or out of the box, but more on a continuum of growth if that makes sense. If someone is fine staying a newbie and paying for someone to take over, fair enough and if someone wants to fast track themselves to opening their own coral shop, get at it. Wow it’s late bed time bye haha