it's ok Lance she uses that alot NEVERMIND :mrgreen:

Really :twised:

ROLMAO leah is in a bad mood

Why lol!!!!!

I am in the process of getting out of the hobby as we speak. I have sold my fish and corals and am blacking out my tank to kill off the hair algae growth. I am getting out for four reasons: (1) $$$ it costs a fortune; (2) too much time and effort is required; (3) tired of fighting algae and other such nuisance stuff; and (4) I, too, do not want to spend money on something that is depleting natural coral reefs. I still enjoy hanging out on the forum and seeing everyone's beautiful tanks and creatures but after I sell what I have left I cannot see getting back into it being in my future.

I havent really noticed too many people getting out of the hobby where I live. The big change is that not many people are getting into it. Back in 2006 I think there were 4 people setting up tanks over 200gal in PG and I think only 1 person has done that since. Many of the people around here who have been getting out of the hobby are those who just recently tried to rush into it without taking enough time to let things mature or researching enough.

For two of the six years that I've had a reef tank I've been a student living under the poverty line with little free time. So sometimes I have a tough time believing that people cant afford or dont have time for this hobby. Maybe they cant afford a 100+ gallon tank but nanos are relatively inexpensive and dont require a lot of time.

Well, whatcaneyedo I simply listed my reasons for leaving the hobby. Any reef tank is a commitment of time and money and once you lose interest you might as well get out of it.
I actually got a DVD set for Christmas (Undersea Explorer) and it is horrible how people rape the natural reefs for a profit. I don't want to contribute to that whatsoever.

Another thing - we should have researched more before we got into salt. We were big into freshwater and did very well at it. When we got into reefs we were too willing to take advice at the stores - causing us to buy creatures we could not possibly maintain and then watching them die. That really took a lot of the fun out of it for me. We have of course gotten smarter about it but I truly lost enthusiasm within the first year.

It's shocking the methods and destruction used... not to mention people buying set-ups and not having the full drive and commitment necessary to care for their tank. Fish and reptiles are treated like disposible pets by some people and it feeds this industry, hence why even with me taking the utmost care of my tank I have trouble supporting any suppliers or LFS

I sure hear you on that. I made sure all of my fish and corals had a good home. They moved from my little 28 gallon into a 120 gallon set up so that probably feels like the ocean to them by comparison!

That is something I can definitally understand. If you're not 100% into keeping a saltwater tank then its really not worth it. I vividly remember every single specimen that I've killed and if it wasnt for the fact that I've become much better at keeping things alive I certainly wouldnt be in the hobby anymore either. Fortunitally I often have a lot of free time between jobs to read and play with my tanks.

I find around christmas and mid to end summer.. the christmas cycle is when people realize how much there tanks are costing them as they don't have much left over to buy what they wanted to.. and the summer one is after the heat waves come and there are big die offs.. then you have to decide to start again or quit.

has happened every year for the last 9 or 10 that I have been watching.

Steve

Perhaps a Salt Creep (get the reference?:mrgreen:) would be a better term?

ya i get it man good one :biggrin:

I sometimes wonder what I would do without all the work and effort I put into my tanks!
Oh and the freedom!

Personally once you get by the start up costs its golden and worth keeping. I tried to get a nano thinking i could budget it in with school. yep that didn't work out lol. But i have thought about shutting down the 60gal and than i relapse about how its not worth shutting down. For the money you get back, its more a "why did i do that" than anything

I know of people who have followed me into certain hobbies and it really comes down to the love of it. It keeps me sain.

I agree with Lorenzo in terms of start up costs. When we had about 600 gallons of water in our condo the only real cost after the tanks were stocked was electricity. The frag sales pretty much covered the running cost of the tank as corals grew.

I did find myself missing the hobby for the 4 1/2 years that I got out. I didn't plan on getting out but kids happened.

I'm glad to be back in now. I've spent a few thousand getting my new tank up and running (even using a lot of equipment that I had from before). But now I'm sitting back and watching everything grow and enjoying it. The major cost was the cabinetry and livestock, so those costs aren't recurring.

Using cheap china bulbs helps too for the halides. I am fine with the colours and growth that I'm getting so for now I'll stick with those bulbs.

Dez, guess I could flip over to your build thread, but wondering what you're using for bulbs?

I really don't know what bulbs they are. They are from Marine Aquaria. I think you can get them for $60 or something like that. I bought a whole bunch (I think 6 of them - so 2 years worth since I like the color and they were cheap). I asked the owner for a little bit of a break since I bought so many. I've thought about trying those $20 from Ebay.

My personal opinion is that I think a lot of people get into the hobby with really high expectations and then when those expectations aren't met, they are crushed, demoralized and get out. Just over the past couple of weeks I have had a couple of people PM me telling me that they are just getting into salt and want their tanks to look exactly like mine. That's all fine and wonderful and I'm flattered, but my tank didn't just happen over night. As others have stated here, there was a lot of time and money involved.

It is fine and great to set goals but they have to be realistic and manageable. Really no different than any other hobby or endevour. You can't expect to go to the gym for a couple of weeks and then come out looking like a model (unless you are already a model :P ). Again, time, money and a commitment are requirements.

The hobby is also what you want to make of it. It doesn't cost that much money to have a tank full of salt water, some rocks and a clown clown fish or two. Very low impact on the environment as well. Or you can spend more time and money if you so wish to get some corals and more exotic harder to keep fish. Ultimately the hobbyist has to decide where to draw the line right? Again, too often I see new hobbyist coming in and going full throttle to get that massive nice looking mixed reef with expensive hard to keep corals and fish. That should be something to strive for in the long term, rather than a starting point. That's not what new hobbyists usually want to hear though. :neutral: They want to hear how easy it all is. :lol:

Anyway, just my humble two pennies.

Possibly, but there are sometimes even positive "reasonings" to getting out too. The bottom line though, been at this long enough to see that it is cyclical and fairly bursty in nature. Just by coincidence alone, a number of people will get into the hobby and a number of people will get out. Sometimes it's burn out, sometimes it's just time to try something else or redirect the funds to something else. The reasons for getting out are as varied as the reasons for getting in.

I said that in confidence man. Sheesh.

Well said Tony I agree and offer up my past 2 builds as proof.

Agreed too. And really, I think all reasons for getting out are positive reasons. If you want to get out for whatever reason, that's your Prerogative. You as the hobbyist has made this decision based on factors in your life, not that of other hobbyists. Others might not agree with your reasons, but ultimately it is your time and money, not ours. I don't think there are any bad reasons for getting out.

It's a good point. Although there are sometimes people are a little too hasty to sell off stuff and then look at buying some of it back. Done a bit of that myself. I had this halide pendent that I owned at least two times, (ie. in a non consecutive/non contiguous kind of manner). :lol:

well said. I got out of drifting because the cost was exhausting almost all of my funds to the point where i didn't do anything with my life or go anywhere. Once i sold my car i picked up this hobby (which is ALOT cheaper) bought my bike, started buying things for around the house, paid off most of my debt (lol till i decided to go back to school).

But your second last point is very well said. Do it cause it's what you enjoy. No one elses opinion matters but your own, esspecially on forums. ramble stops before i start going way off topic

If worse comes to worse and I have to leave the hobby for some reason I know I will come back eventually so the equipment stays but the livestock have to go (as much as I don't want to part with them)