Where is everyone going?

[bulletsworld]

Originally Posted by michika

I just don't remember so many people getting out of the hobby last summer, or the one before that. I guess it must be because a lot of the people who are leaving now I've known for longer.

Yeah maybe hey. I find it goes in cycles. But even though they sell there tanks, they usually have a nano hiding somewhere and there still peaking on the boards.

[Bryan]

Maybe the skyhigh price of housing has driven people to cut out entertainment and hobbies to pay the mortgage

[Delphinus]

I agree with Lee that it does seem to be in cycles. I'm nearing the 10th year in the hobby now and I do get a little sad some days thinking about the people I don't get to meet up with anymore... That said, there seem to be a few hard-core old-timers who just refuse to give up and I do keep in touch with some of the friends I've made in the hobby even if they don't keep reeftanks anymore. Guess life just happens and interests/focuses change, or people need breaks.

I don't think I could go for long without some kind of tank now though. I've thought of throwing in the towel a few times the last two years or so but never in terms of permanently - only in terms of "I could use a break." So sometimes you scale back, just as sometimes you scale up. Ebbs and flows abound.

Still, I'm sorry to see people move on, and for most people, I secretly hope they'll be back one day. Addicts need company darn it!

[andsoitgoes]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I agree with Lee that it does seem to be in cycles. I'm nearing the 10th year in the hobby now and I do get a little sad some days thinking about the people I don't get to meet up with anymore... That said, there seem to be a few hard-core old-timers who just refuse to give up and I do keep in touch with some of the friends I've made in the hobby even if they don't keep reeftanks anymore. Guess life just happens and interests/focuses change, or people need breaks.

I don't think I could go for long without some kind of tank now though. I've thought of throwing in the towel a few times the last two years or so but never in terms of permanently - only in terms of "I could use a break." So sometimes you scale back, just as sometimes you scale up. Ebbs and flows abound.

Still, I'm sorry to see people move on, and for most people, I secretly hope they'll be back one day. Addicts need company darn it!

having been back in the hobby for less than a year concurrently, and weeding out pretty much everything FW, I can understand - and if I have to go through he double hockeysticks this summer with my main reef tank, I can most certainly appreciate the drive to remove oneself from the hobby.

However, I'm still naive enough to think that the world is a cuddly place, and that the Kyoto Protocol is just a fancy name for a drink.

My kids are just 2 and a bit, as time goes on and life becomes more hecitc, I'm sure there will be a point that I may say "Whoa now. I don't want to be like Mel Gibson at the end of Braveheart"

It's just a question as to if and when. If the tank stays stable as it is now, no problem. It's day to day.