Why do so many people leave the hobby?

[Paul B]

So I guess everyone calls you an old Sea Turtle then?

My Daughter does.

 

[Joe parrish]

I took a break when we had our kids just did not have the time

 

[srad750c]

New people can not get straight answers!

A few example questions that need facts for an answer;

I just spent $7500 on a 100g. system to keep SPS. Where should I keep my alk, nitrate, cal.?

I recently found bubble algae, will emerald crabs remove them?

Do peppermint shrimp eat aiptasia?

Do I have to have two tanks, I only have room/money for one?

My fish has Ich, can I deal with it or do I have to get out of the hobby for 76 days?

If you ask any of these questions you will not get an answer, you will get a lot of opinions. If you have been in the hobby for a while you can sift the the information and find what will be best for your situation but if you are new you just start going down the list of answers until something works or you run out of money/patients.

I feel this hobby should have better answers at this stage,...people have been doing this for a while!

Answers:

H2O chemistry suggestion

dKH - 8-10
Ca - 400-450 ppm
Mg - 1300 ppm
NO3 - 5 ppm or less
PO4 - 0 ppm

- Bubble algae
emerald crabs, rabbit fish, low phosphates for a start

- peppermint shrimp eat aiptasia

- one tank, you just spent all your money for now and the future on the 100 gal

- Ich is a problem, cross your fingers. I suggest you don't buy any more fish to add to tank. I don't think it ever goes away, your current fish, if the don't die will fight it off with proper nutrition. At least that's how it has worked for me over the past 20 years. If you want to tear down your reef to catch them that would be better. Always quarantine fish and corals before adding to main tank, trust me.

- Most of this advice is just that, every tank is different, some things are always true but what works for me won't necessarily work for you.

And it goes on and on and on.......

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

After 30 years of being in this hobby, I can honestly say that I stayed in simply because I still enjoy it. For me it is a labor of love as they say. I recently went "all-in" on my dream setup (with full backing from my wife) so they will be pulling the plug on me long before they ever touch my tank.

I love that we have the ability for hobbyists from around the world to share their own personal opinions and experiences. I feel it enhances the enjoyment of this hobby to hear and see what others are doing. And at the same time, I can certainly understand how some folks (especially those new to the hobby) might feel frustrated and confused by the variety of conflicting information they find online. What could be their best source of information to learn about the hobby (if used as a research tool) can also lead them to frustration (if used as a quick decision making tool).

I think it takes a passion for the hobby (to view the effort as enjoyment) and enough time to develop the experience you need to come up with your own personal approach to success. If you love it and you have confidence in your ability, you have the foundation to stay in for the long haul.

My 2 cents.....

 

[Brian wea]

im one of the newbies that has never had a fish tank and am now starting a reef tank.. I have time money and patience.. but most of all determination! if it all dies 5 times I will not give up. I did do research before I started and never stop trying to learn more.. im here to stay and look forward to sharing my succeses and failures with those that can guide and teach me what I do not know. thanks to all who have helped!

 

[beaslbob]

Once everything is set up and balanced out it is really boring as all you can do is look at the tank. So people start doing things and adding equipment to make it better. then things crash again, people move or get unemployed and quit.

One thing I thought was interesting was Paul's 1957 chevy Malibu. Didn't know that Malibu's were available in 1957.

 

[Paul B]

One thing I thought was interesting was Paul's 1957 chevy Malibu. Didn't know that Malibu's were available in 1957.

I actually don't know either.

 

[beaslbob]

I actually don't know either.

As I remember the Malibu was a matured 2+2. or something like that.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

848 people looked at this thread. Don't any of you have an opinion? I want to hear it. Maybe from only 600 of you.

Dam I almost cried. Still about to. Cant really say much more than thanks for all your work. Ive been reading it for a long time and found it inspiring.
I hope know how many people you have touched.

People leave the hobby from following bad internet advice and when odd this odd user Paul B gives advice on forums and they ignore him and just get a bigger skimmer cuz its new bigger and better. Ooh and it lights up too.
It weeds out those looking for a swimmy piece of furniture but sets back those who really have a passion for animals, nature and learning.

 

[bairdimusprime]

I thought i was leaving for good because hurricane sandy took my house and tanks with it but im still back, honestly i think its about the time an money that goes into this nd people get excited nd are thrilled with the first 3 4 years into it then probably get bored after a while

Lost my house in Sandy as well, got back in when we got a new home and have no intentions of leaving!

no as for the question at hand there are a lot of deciding factors, from finances, family issues, lack of time to dedicate to the hobby and so forth.

 

[Paul B]

Thanks Saltyfilmfolks, (If that is your real name) I love this hobby and always will. It's in my blood. You should see the Foreword my Daughter wrote at the beginning of my book. It really makes me look like a fish which is fine with me. Right now I am making stuffed calamari so I not only watch fish, I also eat almost nothing but them. I even know that calamari isn't a fish but work with me.
Here is a video of some of my fish at their feeder. This is one aspect that keeps me interested. One of these bluestripes is pregnant as is the ruby red. These are supposed to be "difficult fish", but the fish don't know that because they are getting fed as they should.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks Saltyfilmfolks, (If that is your real name) I love this hobby and always will. It's in my blood. You should see the Foreword my Daughter wrote at the beginning of my book. It really makes me look like a fish which is fine with me. Right now I am making stuffed calamari so I not only watch fish, I also eat almost nothing but them. I even know that calamari isn't a fish but work with me.
Here is a video of some of my fish at their feeder. This is one aspect that keeps me interested. One of these bluestripes is pregnant as is the ruby red. These are supposed to be "difficult fish", but the fish don't know that because they are getting fed as they should.

My second tank, the first mixed reef was specifically for the mandarin. Researched for months to find out how to built a habitat specifically for them, and then did our best to fill in the ecosystem with the correct workers to keep it going. With your help, Melev's and Bob F's(dont tell Bob it was a 20g please), we had him for 3.5 years. and a couple blue stripes as well. We did get into a 30g later. (chiller connection breaking started a crash I couldnt stop.)
My 2 current reds are pretty happy and fat. But she doesnt seem to be that into him.

My name is Jason. Its a pleasure to virtually meet you.

 

[Paul B]

I virtually thank you.

 

[Valkyrie]

Very interesting.

I'm new to saltwater, but not fish keeping. I'm 53 years old and I've had freshwater tanks most of my life. That said, I've not taken care of a tank of any kind for the last 9 years although I have had a 300gallon stock tank outside with a few goldfish and koi. Stock tanks are what cows drink out of, not a 4 sided glass box. In that time I've bought a house, changed jobs twice, got back into parrots and lost several pets to old age or cancer; dogs, cats, ferrets, rats, birds, etc. Confession, being an LVT I tend to take in the surrendered & unwanted pets. My first tanks were when I was 6 years old and my father bought every tank he could find in the classifieds. Freshwater only. We had every imaginable fish you could get in 1968. When we moved, dad was military, he'd sell most everything and restart when we settled into the new location. When I was 16, I was able to talk my dad into letting me keep cichlids, they weren't very popular where we were in 1978 and getting reliable info was challenging. We moved our fish from Maryland to Virginia, that was interesting. I did well with my cichlids, had babies several time that I raised and sold in the classifieds.

Once again we moved, this time from the east coast back to home in WA state. One of those tanks from 1968 was actually in grandma's attic when I was 18 and I dug it out, set it up in my little basement "cave" that I had in my parents home and cared for them. Moving them from the cave to my own apartment, where I was informed that I had to get rid of it due to living on the 5th floor of a 70 year old building. So I sold my set up. The manager was worried it would crash through the floor. Whatever! Moved to a house a few years later and immediately found someone giving away a tank and got things rolling. Lost several of those fish, except a Jack Dempsey. Jack went through one more move and lived for about 8 years. Just before we bought our house he died. That tank has remained empty since. It will be my SW hospital tank.

In the mid 70's I saw my first saltwater fish tank in a fish store located in Baltimore, MD. That's when I went home with my cichlids. It was a compromise with my parents. Because dad always said about SW, "NO!, too difficult to keep, not worth the money, too expensive," blah blah blah
A few months ago when he learned I had my heart set on finally having a SW tank, he said the same things. For the past year I've been reading books, magazines, online articles about the subject, hanging out at the local saltwater only fish store in the area whenever I was in town and lurking in saltwater, reef, and marine forums. As well as picking the brains of sw keepers I know personally. It was one of them that gave me the 29g set up w/fish. 2 weeks ago.

Bored? Never. I have several other hobbies and I work full time.

Bored? If I haven't gotten bored all these years, it's not likely to happen.

Sorry folks, you're stuck with me. I probably won't post a lot, but I'll probably be here, reading. Unless of course, like the koi forum I used to frequent, ya'all disappear and the forum closes. That sucked.

 

[osras1]

I did FW for 4 years ..all the breeding and stuff..it got boring..went to africans-alot of fun, but I wanted more. Ive been in the SW hobby for 8 years now . I started with a 75 and I think that was the most fun. the size fit my financials.. but as you say I upgraded to a 120.. some more money but good. I got a 180 cheap..but it turned into a job, because I cant afford the equipment to run it.Butt.....Im still in the hobby.. downgraded to 120 the price fits me with some equipment I had before. I excited its like starting over it will be all new fish, new corals and I will use the mistakes and experiences I had along the way.. to help me. I started a fish club....Our club runs the largest conference in New England..OSRAS(see announcements) time is a problem sometimes but a great hobby..But as you have said..its too bad alot of the advanced hobbyists have left the forums..I think they would be able to take the frowns and frustrations from the hobbyists getting out and turn them into smiles and keep them here

 

[Paul B]

Today I added 2 Luft pumps to my skimmer which has been working very anemically for quite some time. Luft pumps put out 7lbs of air pressure compared to most pumps which run about 2 Psi. Even though I built this 5' tall skimmer to run on a homemade venture valve it still requires an air pump because it is so large. The skimmer is going nuts and doesn't know what to do with all the skimate. It drains into a five gallon bucket which has an automatic, DIY shut off switch in it so it doesn't overflow and screw up my floor as it did once when 24 local New York urchins decided they all needed to spawn on the same night. I think I had the Miss Universe pageant on the TV but I can't remember.

 

[reefwiser]

Paul I use to use a Piston air pump on my skimmer. It was so loud I put it in the basement and ran an air line up to the tank. It could really put out the air pressure.

 

[Paul B]

When the hobby started all there was were piston pumps.

 

[beaslbob]

I thought the hobby started before there was electricity.

 

[FlyinBryan]

I think people get out because of the lack of patience, lack of research, lack of understanding the cost of time, $, and effort.
Life events also make an impact.
I did research, but I lacked patience and reacted and over-reacted to every little thing.
One of the mgrs of a local lfs in Chicago area helped me to develop a much more laid back approach. That helped tremendously!
I travel like crazy, flyin-bryan is an understatement really. If I weren't chill on things I wouldn't be able to do it!
Also as someone else mentioned, you cannot do this hobby cheap. There's just very very few who can have a great thriving tank on the cheap. Especially long term. I think this also drives people out when they discover this.
I have close to $20k in my 150g!
Taking off now!