I have been in the hobby a very long time about 30 years reef, much longer just saltwater and freshwater fish. Most of the people I have associated with early on are still in the reef hobby. It has been the ones the last 10 to 15 years maybe a little longer that leave. Almost all my personal friends that I met in the hobby during that time have left and it is allot of them.. A few come back briefly...
I can tell you why almost all have left and there are several reasons.
For allot it is burn out. Too many got in way too deep to fast and burned out, It is easy to do.. So many set up too big of tanks, too many tanks, frag tanks or even businesses. The hobby can get expensive and too large of a tank or too many tanks can become allot of work.... Just in way over there head and when interest drops, have to work overtime, family issues or other things become important, they have all these tanks etc.
Another big thing is collectors. They spend so much money and then even when there is a little crash they lose so much money it is disheartening. I have seen a few that got in so deep it almost ruined them financially too..
Another issue is those that do not spend the time to learn biology and when something goes wrong they are in trouble. Allot of these people are the ones looking for a quick fix.. These are the ones usually with issues they can not fix or do stuff to make things worse. Allot of the people are more into equipment or corals. Early on it was about biology.
Paul you talk about bad advice and I agree there is allot of this. Allot of the advice is just parroting. Allot of the people that I consider advanced users (these are the people who have been in the hobby a while and proven them selves with keeping a nice aquarium for a decent period of time) have left the message boards..
They left because it is hard to give good advice anymore, too many are here looking to do something they already know they cannot or should not do.. Example I gave some advice the other day on some fish that should not be kept together, you know where 99 people have had issues and maybe one person had had success at least for now. Well that one person post yea I have had no issues and that person listens to that one person.
You go to help someone clear up an algae issue and instead of listening they dump some chemical in which makes it worse or solves it temporarily because someone said it worked for them...Frustrating..
I think equipment has made this hobby allot easier which allows people to move faster then they should. It also seems to become a crutch for biology. When something goes wrong people dont know what to do..
To me those that are going to survive this hobby take it slow, do not get in over there head and learn the biology... They also dont get too heavily into collecting..
Well Paul since we are bumping and my original post was in 2015 I think.
It does not seem like the exit has slowed but I Would like to add a few newer things that seem to affect some people since then.
The price of the hobby is increasing and some feel it has got to expensive. i know a few left because of this or went to fresh water.
Fish prices have risen with the shutdown in Hawaii.
Coral prices have risen since Indonesia ban.
Equipment prices still rising. Look at how controllers prices have risen. The cheapest now is the same price of the most expensive was just a few years ago. We lost DA Reefkeeper lite, Apex JR. and Apex lite. Yea it is just a example, you do not need a controller and yeas most prices rise. Prices of led light fixtures is huge. I just saw even the prices of like Jebao Pumps is rising like a third or something crazy because of the tariffs. I do not use them but their goes the cheap alternative.
I think coral prices are rising so much I think trading will become very popular soon. Reefclubs will come the thing again like they were for a while.
I think DYI is going to get popular again. We used to even make our own skimmers.
Lack of diversity. I know the stores around here carry allot less fish and coral. One it is harder to get since the bans but also it costs them more to get because wholesale cost have gone up. It is a risk to have more fish and it cost more if they die. The quality of fish has gone down since the ban in Hawaii too making it even a bigger risk. So the less the stores carry there is less to entice people to the hobby or keep some from getting bored. Even I go to the LFS less. I see so little new there and so few fish. I used to try and make the rounds every few weeks to see what is new.
I know a few left recently and it is just a few that think we are doing harm to the environment and have left.
I actually think the hobby may be shrinking now.. I would not have not said that a few years ago but look at forum traffic. Man There was a ton of forums before and RC so busy. I know there is competition from social media too and some private forums.
The turn over in the hobby started increasing I would guess about 15 years ago but even though more were leaving more were coming into the hobby. feels like the hobby maybe getting smaller.
. Set the bar low and you'll hit it every time. I've been playing with fish in tanks since around 1980 and had SW during the mid 80's and started reefing in 2000.
