The Top Five Reasons People Quit the Saltwater Hobby, and why you shouldn’t!
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2024
- I think about this often: why do people quit? In all the years, even when tanks leaked all over the floor, I never wavered nor considered taking a break. The animals I keep are relying on me and I’m here for them.
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I can speak for my personal experience, I was in the hobby for over 25 years but lost my job and had to moved to Florida and couldn’t bring my tank with me so I gave it away, now I’ve been thinking about starting one but with this economy and the prices of corals are becoming so expensive that it just a matter of priorities to me, I really miss my hobby
It’s so sad to see how expensive these corals got. Hopefully one day you can come back
I started my first saltwater tank in 1964. I lived right on the ocean and it was a slate bottomed, steel framed glass 30 gallon tank. I replaced the fish and water about every two weeks and the fish and invertebrates were native species that I captured in my various nets. I left the hobby because we moved away from the coast and I went off to college.
I started back up in 84-85' with a 75 gallon fish only under gravel filter tank and kept that for about two years when I began a series of job changes and moves. During that time I always kept freshwater tanks and gave away the fish every time I moved which was about every 3 years.
Fast forward to 2017 and I setup my first SW fish only tank and proceeded to get into corals which were unheard of in the 80's. I have learned a lot from website such as Marc's RUclips channel. Marc has hit on some valid reason for folks giving up the hobby but I would had a couple more.
(1) Pests: This has at times made me consider leaving the hobby. Aptasia in particular. I had to take one tank down completely because it became impossible to get them under control.
(2) Misinformation: A bit different than "Lies". There is so much misinformation, and folks who act like experts and spout off inaccurate advice that a beginner can get easily led down the path to failure. When I started in this hobby one could count the number of books on the subject with one hand, now there is an abundance of information and a large amount of it is just inaccurate. Geez Marc sorry for the long post...
Great video and accurate reasons as to why people quit. Hobby now is ridiculously expensive! To start reefing in this economy would be brutal. Even those who are deep in, are struggling to maintain their reefs due to the costs.
I'm so glad I never completely gave up. And YOU have definitely been a major factor in keeping me from quitting. Thanks, Mark. 💙
Switched back to fresh water after 25 years of reef keeping. Reasons: couple catastrophes ( power outage, fish diseases, algae outbreaks), tired of maintenance time, marine fish have become extremely expensive, wife did not share the passion so I felt pressure for my time and money. Freshwater plants and fish have come a long way and are satisfying my aquarium passion.
Fresh water fish don't compare to saltwater fish, yes the prices for saltwater fish are expensive but it can be worth it when you have that dream tank with all your favorite saltwater fish in your living room or better yet your bedroom.
Best way to enter the hobby is to buy used. Say a 10-20 gallon either with livestock or not. Buy livestock from other hobbyists and see what you can keep alive. I have 3 small tanks a 10, 15 and 25 gallon. One has only soft corals, another has LPS only and another is a mixed reef. Used equipment can be slowly changed and the old stuff used as a backup when things fail. Change heaters every 2 years and use an inkbird. 2 small pumps are better than one big one in an AIO
I left the hobby 6 months ago after 10+ years solely because my family takes a few far away trips per year. Year after year, I couldn't enjoy my vacations because I was too worried about something happening while I was away. Having someone tank sit wasn't an option either. I love the hobby but that's why I had to leave it behind. Sometimes I get an itch to start something again but ultimately I don't miss how consuming it is. I can enjoy it from a far.
After 7 years of keeping my fluval 12 Gallon reef going i almost quit few weeks ago, i thought i will not have time for it after moving to a new house and all. But i realized i just spend it on a wrong things. And decided to do a little upgrade instead of getting rid of it.
I had seahorses and compatible tank mates for about 4 years when in the middle of winter we had power failure and I lost them all. I always wanted to add corals, but years ago that was frowned upon because they said the corals needed warmer water and a stronger flow. Now years later I'm learning differently and have started another tank. I'm thrilled, but forgot about the challenges of going away. My husband, who bought me the new tank as a gift, said he didn't think about going away when he bought it. We're retired and wanted to take trips and this has put a bit of a damper on it. Still love it. Though wish there was a solution.
Ive been in this obsession for 20 years now. Ive had tanks split seams. Ive crashed my 400 due to not paying attention to my dosing. Ive considered quitting many times. However. Every issue has taught me something. Its a journey of learning. Succeeding and being able to teach others how to succeed. I cant imagine not being in this hobby. ;)
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That’s an awesome collection of coral!
some people get into it because to some it is really a status symbol to have a huge saltwater tank, others actually just love that type of thing.
I stopped due to time mainly and space. Just took too long making the RODI water, then mixing then doing the water change. Plus all the water tests and storing all my equipment to make, mix and perform a water change. it gets to be a lot of work. Especially when I live in a 2 bedroom house and have a little 2 year old daughter. I went back to keeping and breeding spiders and dart frogs 😂
I went through this fail cycle in the late 90s. Got back into it a year ago and did a mixed reef. Within 6 months I had a case of velvet take out half my fish. Total tear down and reset and it’s better than last time. Having about a 90% success rate with corals. RUclips has made all this possible. The massive amounts of information has carried me through. Knowledge is the key. I didn’t know anything the first time, was pre RUclips.😂
I started keeping species-specific aquariums and breeding nudibranchs to see a different side of the hobby. It's been keeping me engaged. :)
I was killing corals before I started using All for Reef from doser and Kalk plus 2 from stirrer. I am growing nice softies and some chalice and others. It is easy. Nice video.
I loved the hobby- divorce took me out in 2012. Better off now than I’ve ever been but just can’t bring myself back to salt water… nice to watch you continue on Marc!
After 5 year I had my first major die off. Lost all my sps and many torches.
Now just trying to get back to the norm before filling up the tank again 😊
good stuff ty for the breakdown :)
I'm glad some quit! lol I just picked up an extremely clean, new condition Geos Reef 618 calcium reactor with Sicce pump/plumbing/tubing and the Geos 618 chamber for 150 bucks today!!! Someone recently broke down a large reef tank with all the bells & whistles. 6 months ago, I picked up a used Trident for 200 bucks...that owner also got out of the hobby unfortunately.
lol - valid point.
And I'm hooked I'm a reefer 4 life. I try to get tha best equipment I can but I still luv to b hands on and know what's goin on in my peice of tha ocean I'm try to create and luv all tha knowledge I get from ur videos.
Catastrophe. Lost electricity due to tripped power strip when I was out of town. 4 years later tank finally back thriving.
Great video! We are loosing to many reefers these days.
That Desjardini Sailfin art at 2:10!!! I need it!!!
LazyCoffeeDesign on IG.
Unfortunately this hobby is all about the money now and not the animals which is why most people quit. Very unfortunate that all the vendors like top shelf and wwc lost site of what’s really important. Instead they rather sell a 1 inch frag for 2000$
I've seen people leave the hobby due to coral prices. Especially for beginners. They show interest, but get turned away when they see a torch for example go for $600. Prices on coral vary due to trendy names or when vendors/lfs put "ultra rare" on it.
Ugh Dinos! Protocentrum specifically😫 I joined J.Mack’s group and following his protocol. But it’s been a long 4 months of learning. Needed to hear this!
First time I stopped the hobby, I just felt I could never be successful. I had no process. Nothing ever worked. This time I almost quit because of how aggravating it was to do maintenance. But I decided to upgrade and make it easier to keep up the maintenance thru automation.
Marc gotta get the anemone tank going. Can’t wait to watch you set it up again !
One aspect you've overlooked is health reasons. Too much to take care of and physically can't maintain it. Has happened to me, 30 years in the hobby came to an end because of my health.
I unfortunately had a new job force me out, i had no one at home to make sure the tanks yes tanks would survive. Only had one major powerfailure in the 5 years my tank was running and it survived that. But the job took me away 2 to 3 days at a time and didnt want to kill my livestock in my absence
I've an aquarium as long as I can remember.... But.... the older I get the harder it was to maintain the system, due to health reason... it was one of the hardest decisions we had to make breaking down our tank.... it was a great ride while it lasted....
#1 is the prices of livestock and equipment. WWC and Top shelf’s are ruining the hobby. Look at their prices and you’ll see
oooh where can I get those day-glo uv prints?
I quit the hobby because we had so many expenses from having kids and my health. I started in 03 and stopped in 2016.
I've lost a lot of corals and fish, but kept going because of my love for the ocean. I didn't find dfwmas until my last 3 years in the hobby. I'm glad I found it, since when I got out I had about 12 dfw rose bta's and was able to give them to others before I left.
This being said, I see this as a pause and not quit. I think 2024 is the year to start and knowing how to start the better my chances of being successful.
I still have all my equipment.
"I've lost a lot of corals and fish, but kept going because of my love for the ocean" ameeericaaaa
@@thomasturbato7021 i guess. I had parasites, and hitchhikers, and also a wrasse, but sure. It pushed me to do research and this was in my early years of keeping a reef, but in the final 5 years I didn't lose anything anymore and it was just too costly. So sure, fail and then get better and better, that is America.
@@thesuperzfamilyvlog6607bullshits... lies on lies on lies, u prolly still dont even know how to cycle a tank.. there's nothing to fail (kill living animals bcz u got money for buy aother and who give a fuck..?) there's a lot of thing to study and learn from pro in EU...
aaaameeericaaaaaa
I, like most people it seems in these comments, am thinking about getting out for the money aspect. I’ve been doing this for 17 years so I remember when frags used to cost $5-$10. These days you can’t even get several frags for $100. Also, the size of the frags factors in. The olden days frags used to be huge compared to what they are now. We used to get several heads for $20 or you could get sps colonies for $60. I know, I know, prices go up and all that jazz but it’s hard to justify the cost these days.
Been at this a long time and don't plan on quitting anytime soon. But.... Seems to be a lot of price gouging going on by manufactures and vendors that are chasing off younger aquarists.
My tank crashed back in October the first time since I started back in 1987
That’s incredible. Sorry to hear about the crash but what a great run. Nearly 40 years!
I've been in the hobby for 30 years. There has always been a 90% ish attrition rate. I've had amazing success over the years and my current mixed reef runs on a bit of filter floss and a water change every 6 months, behind achieving that simplicity is a large amount of knowledge and mistakes over the years. I just find most people don't want to listen or they argue with you when you try to help them. I've had a few that have listened, though, and they now have beautiful reef tanks. I prefered the days when there was a central authority with accurate quality information like juian sprung, etc. These days, I see a lot of well-meaning people giving out all kinds of disperat un rounded advice. I sometimes wish there was a recognised qualification in the hobby, and you couldn't provide educational content without it. If the quality of information improved, I think we might see more people staying.
Love this!
Over the past few years the prices went up by a huge margin, enough to make people deprioritize the hobby, the cost of electricity alone is a deterrent.
#1 is Dino for me. Been in the hobby for 28 years. Been dealing with dinos for 4 years straight haven't given up yet but really close. Talk to a ton of people tryed every remedy on the internet. Still have them. Help? I challenge anyone to fix my problem.😢
Try using Florida live rock. If you started your tank with the dry rock that has been popularized in modern reefing, it is so much more difficult to achieve a stable tank. Back in the live rock days, there was practically zero issues with dinos.
@@trevor852 sad thing is I started with 15 year old live rock from my 220 and when I put it in the 500 it went downhill.
@@gt500shelby9 are they brown dinos? Those are easily solved by bumping up the temp to 81-82 and running UV
@@trevor852 I actually have three different types of dinos.
My tank failed and No Money 💰 😭
To me a it’s a combination of failure and boredom
lol keep a empty tank just incase i get another tank crash i have 2 uv a phlizon 165 wat 2 subpumps 2 wavemakers a medea reator that i,m figering out a old apex monitor on my 28 gallon nano cube so i know it cost and very hard i,m putting a 33 gallon with very littal rock butt it my backup tank i just keep it running just incase i need it
Bad advice from LFS the y jus want to sell and not help
5 ways tht ppl quit imo before I watch this video:
-money
-money
-money
-money
-money
This is very true in the sense that much more can be overcome if it cost a lot less to work their way through the inevitable issues and setbacks, let alone more and better gear to begin with.
3. Catastrophe, Catastrophe! What a Disaster! Catastrophe, Catastrophe! What a Disaster!
i just want fer pricis on the bacik to keep my pets alive i don,t like to pay somone to steel from a stor i like butt not going to overpay just cuss he think i have no other opsions
My first saltwater fish only tank was 5 years old when I lost it with Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 16 years later I went to my LFS got a new system 10 months later lost it with Hurricane IDA restarted it 5 months later been going strong even sence just a side note my first tank was the forbidden size 10 gallon was told many times it would never work I think 5 years was with the same fish thinking I did ok But I never quit
To much for every thing coals over price big time
Expensive Saltwater
I cant quit because I cant afford to start it in the first place😂
ppl quit bcz they are not real... they just want nice things, but an acquarium is not a phone is not a car, u need to buy a good book and study... this is not just an "hobby" is not a game...
petstors ar killing the hoby
Go broke