Time in..

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Myka

I remember reading somewhere awhile back that the average reef enthusiast has been in the hobby for 18 months. Of course, when polling an online community you don't get a real accurate representation. I think you will find a good many on here over 5 years.

Ya, it seems we have a lot of 5+ members. But from what I've seen, I see a lot more leaving in under 2. Maybe they just stop coming here (not that I think anyone would not want to come here!!)

[Madreefer]

Had to ask my wife. Time flys spring of 1999 for me.

[whatcaneyedo]

I just hit 10 years as of this month.

[Leah]

1 break-up, daughters graduation + 1 year, too many tanks to count, a couple of up grades, a few new pets, a few less pets, many grey hairs...to sum it up 5 + years for me and no intentions of giving up now.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ya, it seems we have a lot of 5+ members. But from what I've seen, I see a lot more leaving in under 2. Maybe they just stop coming here (not that I think anyone would not want to come here!!)

Brad, I think that might be because people have a reasonable handle on their tank by year two, and don't need daily advice such as, "What are these bugs on my glass?!?!" I've found most reefers are quite happy keeping a basic reef with a bunch of softies and some fish.

[Dearth]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ya, it seems we have a lot of 5+ members. But from what I've seen, I see a lot more leaving in under 2. Maybe they just stop coming here (not that I think anyone would not want to come here!!)

I love using the forums it is a great way to keep in contact with people, learn new ideas and new tech, learn why some things work and not others, keep abreast of news related to the hobby and even though get xx amount of questions on basic IDs daily/weekly I enjoy it because people new to the hobby are worried and I rarely tire of answering those simple questions.

Also many people are worried about getting yelled at or ridiculed or may have limited knowledge of using forums and their search engines(Case in Point...Reef Central)

For every person that posts on an average forum there is an average 5-7 people who lurk which when you think about it is a huge number of people who browse but rarely if ever post.(BTW this stat comes from online gaming community which is a pretty standard representation of most of the popular online forums)

As to the hobby if you get past the 18month to 2 yr mark I think it is a fairly safe bet that the person will be in the hobby for many yrs to come. Many people as it was stated earlier get frustrated by prices, crashes, basic husbandry and then get out of the hobby mostly because it I believe is a lack of proper knowledge and asking the wrong people for advice.