why people give up reefing?

[XPeriment 626]

I don't honestly know if I will be in the hobby a decade from now.... can you?

IMO, this hobby may have more financial pressures than others... and touch wood, when my priorities change, something must be sacrificed.... "goodbye darling... heee heee.... "

wow the day AT gives up reefing... think the rest of us might as well give up too! good thing I have the marine aquarium screensaver on my pc

[seamonkee]

It was the question I asked AT when he came to my house...

What happens if his baby comes along.... liao liao....

Personally, I gave up the hobby because it is a never ending spiral of problems... I have invested $8000 since I started my new tank in Feb and gave up in less than 4 months due to other new arising commitments.

Dun be too quick to judge or pass remarks, this is my input. I was against people giving up halfway over this hobby as well in the past but then again, until when you have other commitments or priorities cropping up, then you will realise the hobby can be consuming in time and money.

I know of people who lost their jobs and have to give up their tanks as well... Think about it, for a proper tank to sustain, you need good equipment and husbandry... AT, in his recent newspaper write-up, quoted he spent around $300 maintaining the tank... phew....

[FuEl]

Missed out on some important points as well..

1) Overseas education

2) National service

3) A paranoid mind. I shall elaborate on this...I used to have a 4ft 6mm marine tank...I was cautious each time I changed water and told myself not to add too much water. Everyday I would be looking at the back glass to see if it was warping. One day I could'nt take it anymore I just tore the tank down.

[kschew1498]

I think the main factor is the time and finances!

Its not about poor planning because you just dont know what is going to happen 2-3 years down the road! I dont have a kid now and who knows I might give up once my factory start production!.......same same for AT......no kids also......

Actually I admire you guys with childrens and yet can still spent so much time and money on this hobby.

Honestly I am also beginning to feel the pinch on the amount I spent on my reef tank!.....7k and still counting (excluding the 2k I spent on my initial 2 footer setup).......but then my passion to it was keeping me going......

Now I just maintain my tank with the most conservative methods......dosing Kal....change water more frequently.....buy 2nd hand equipments......and avoid SPS.......which I am beginning to admire.....but then.....its just to costly and time consuming to maintain..........hehehe

Bo pain.......just have to admire people's tank lor......

[yijing55]

I guess many that 'jumped' in end up realise that the hobby actually takes up much more time, efforts & $$ than they expected.....so they quit....

I believe there are also quite a number who were CON~vince by LFS that reefing is actually very 'simple'.....

[Eric]

It was the question I asked AT when he came to my house...

What happens if his baby comes along.... liao liao....

Personally, I gave up the hobby because it is a never ending spiral of problems... I have invested $8000 since I started my new tank in Feb and gave up in less than 4 months due to other new arising commitments.

Dun be too quick to judge or pass remarks, this is my input. I was against people giving up halfway over this hobby as well in the past but then again, until when you have other commitments or priorities cropping up, then you will realise the hobby can be consuming in time and money.

I know of people who lost their jobs and have to give up their tanks as well... Think about it, for a proper tank to sustain, you need good equipment and husbandry... AT, in his recent newspaper write-up, quoted he spent around $300 maintaining the tank... phew....

I think Financial is the main reason why most ppl give up.............if not for the sponsors from my soccer analysis on the corals and equipments, I would have given up long ago too.........but right now ok lah, tank stable liao, almost fully packed liao, so only need to support around $70/mth for tank electricity bills & $30/mth for food/additives/water change..........if dont lose job or switch hobby, the tank will stay for good.

2nd reason is getting bored of the hobby...........keep seeing the same old LS growing bigger and fatter, Challenge slowly decreasing..............no more adrenalin rush from seeing the color myth............etc Lazy to rescape or redo the setup.............wanna upgrade to bigger tank for more challenge, but permit not approve by the lady boss.

Eric

[jc85]

Financial and other commitment is the main issue, imho.

I'm currently also at a cross road. Will be getting married soon and move into a new home. Have been thinking if its really worthy to re-start a new tank, the amount of $$ I need to re-invest to this new tank (with build-in cabinet) will be a big amount since my current tank is not suitable (from my fresh-water tank). And this is on top of the other

expenditure like renovation and funiture.

Been thinking maybe I should juz give it up.

JC

[acidjazz]

I think most of the reasons are already stated. The first time i started reefing was five years ago, and what did i know then? just a 2ft tank with those cheap $30 overflow filter and a sanders skimmer and the result: crash n burn. I quit after 6 months due to other commitments, but here i am starting all over again. I have to admit the initial start up cost is tremendous, but the satisfaction from it is priceless.

[untouchables]

my reason was space and environment... this is subjective since each has their own tolerance for comfort and mess.

equipment wise, u need at least a footprint of at least 8x2 if u take into consideration a sump, chiller, skimmer, cr, fr, etc. then u need good ventilation for chiller and mh lights. in addition, lights from marine tank may be too bright if put in living room area so how???

i have seen many reefers who keeps their tanks even in their room but my tolerance is low for such matters. even on a normal day, i already cannot stand the heat, talk about all those other heat sources from marine tank!

and i seldom see a marine tank in a neat house due to equipment everywhere. even if it is neat, it probably occupies a large area like a room (think AT). and with govt building 3 bedrooms flats only, assume you have 2 kids, is there any place left???

so i sacrificed my reef tank for a more comfortable living. it is all about priorities in life and unfortunately, marine is not ranked top 3, after all, it is just a hobby.

cheers!

[Achilles Tang]

Yes, it is a hobby. But some hobbyists do take it TOOO seriously.

[weileong]

They take it so seriously that you can see them cheong iwarna for new SPS shipment buying many pc but yet 3 days later declared clearance sales cos closing down tank.

Dunno impulse cheong SPS or impulse close down tank.

[blueheaven]

They just want to be part of the crowd

You know, the "herding" instinct

Sometimes I also wonder, do some ppl decommission their tank just because they see many other doing that?

[Eric]

They take it so seriously that you can see them cheong iwarna for new SPS shipment buying many pc but yet 3 days later declared clearance sales cos closing down tank.

Dunno impulse cheong SPS or impulse close down tank.

I know some will kaisu buy buy buy then go back discover a bit stn or colour not as expected to be then use excuse of closing down tank faster sell sell sell...........

Eric

[weileong]

I know some will kaisu buy buy buy then go back discover a bit stn or colour not as expected to be then use excuse of closing down tank faster sell sell sell...........

Eric

Eric, how you know har? lol

[cyclop]

While Reefing is indeed a challenging hobby it can also be a very stressful one. I take my hat off to those of you who have the determination and 'never say die' spirit to persist and be successful in maintaining a beautiful, thriving and fascinating reef tank. That is a great achievement!!!

I know because I started a reef tank just a few months back and am still struggling to reduce the attrition rate of my corals and fish. Sometimes, I find my job in managing a workforce in an organisation much easier, in the sense that I have more control over whatever I do. In reef keeping, sometimes for no rhythm or reason (could be due to my own ignorance, being a green horn) something dreadful just happened and I don't know what to do.

No matter what, reef keeping is still a great hobby in that it is a real test of our resolve, analytical abilities and damage control capabilities. If we fail and give up it's ok - try again next time. There is a saying " It's better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all". It applies to reefing too. If we succeed, its certainly a great achievement.

Reefing is definitely not for the faint hearted.