[BMW Rider]

I have found the cost of reef keeping to be steep also, but not to the point where it would make me quit. Also, it can be done for much less cost than many of us have chosen to put into it. I am finding it easier now that the tanks are becoming established and my equipment setup is better (though I have a few toys on the list yet).

I have suffered algae issues and felt it would be easier to quit, but persevered, and triumphed over it. It is frustrating having to constantly remove unwanted algae, having it choke out your prized corals, trying to find something - anything that will help controll it. I was just too stubborn to admit defeat and throw away all the money and time spent to build the tank to let the algae win.

The thing that I find most difficult to deal with is extended absences from home. I have my tanks able to run self sustained for a week without attention (though they need a good glass cleaning afterwards). I've not yet been away for much longer than that, but I would like to be able to do so, and that means having someone to come in and look after a few things. One of the main issues is TO water since I rely on resevoirs that I manually refill. At this point in life, I would have few opportunities to extend vaccations much beyond a couple of weeks, so It wouldn't be a great stretch to make it work. Eventually though as life progresses, I hope to travel for longer periods, and that would be a much different matter.

So for me if anything, it would be the constant demands of maintaining a reef that would prevent me from continuing. I suspect that that is the biggest reason others get out of the hobby. Sometimes life just can't accomodate such a time consuming and constantly demanding hobby. So many things can go wrong when not monitored (damn you Murphy) It would be devastating to come home to tank full of dead livestock. That would certainly make me stop and think hard about rebuilding or just quitting too.