Health of the Reef Hobby

[Bouncingsoul39]

Just reading a ReefBuilders article and Jake said: “The reef aquarium hobby has experienced explosive growth in the last couple of years”
This is news to me. I’m just getting back into it after a couple years away but my last impression is that the hobby was struggling due to various restrictions on collection and export. Also, Skyrocketing costs, and lack of interest. Do you agree with the above statement based on your own observations?

 

[74rus]

IMO, hobby became more popular during pandemic. My LFS says that they sold more last year than ever before.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

IMO, hobby became more popular during pandemic. My LFS says that they sold more last year than ever before.

That makes sense. Thanks for chiming in.

 

[WVNed]

Things are booming. That's why all the LFS are closing up. That's why you have to have a large tank custom made now.
I think what's booming is the number of people keeping 2 clownfish and 3 corals in a tiny sterile tank. Also booming is the number of people that are running a home frag tank.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Things are booming. That's why all the LFS are closing up. That's why you have to have a large tank custom made now.
I think what's booming is the number of people keeping 2 clownfish and 3 corals in a tiny sterile tank. Also booming is the number of people that are running a home frag tank.

I’ll take that as a “No”

 

[LordofCinder]

the boredom of the pandemic brought me back into the hobby after an 8 year hiatus, from what I see on this forum there are so many that are just getting back into the hobby recently, same as me, , so yes it seems to be a boom right now.

 

[PeterC99]

I’ve only been in the hobby for a little over one year now so don’t know if it’s booming.

What I am curious about is the Hobby’s dependency on the economy? Market & economy have done pretty well in the last few years (S&P 500 at all time highs). Does this hobby slow dramatically during economic downturns?

 

[Pntbll687]

I wouldn't necessarily say the hobby is "booming" but instead, has an influx of new reefers. I would only call it a boom if more than half of those who joined in the past year make it to the three year mark.

 

[Pntbll687]

Things are booming. That's why all the LFS are closing up. That's why you have to have a large tank custom made now.
I think what's booming is the number of people keeping 2 clownfish and 3 corals in a tiny sterile tank. Also booming is the number of people that are running a home frag tank.

You are right that there are more people keeping smaller tanks.

I'll also agree with the frag tanks. I have one, I prefer to trade frags than to sell them.

Large tanks are in short supply from Aqueon/Marineland right now simply because they aren't producing them. For every person on r2r that wants a 180 or 220, there's probably 200 people that walk into a petco/pet smart and want to buy a full 20-55g setup. The companies put production into what was going to drive margin, and sadly to say those big tanks aren't driving sales and margin.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Was NanoBox a victim of the pandemic economy?

 

[Pntbll687]

Was NanoBox a victim of the pandemic economy?

I don't think so. That happened before, and was mainly because people were "stealing" lights by purchasing, and then disputing the charges.

 

[srobertb]

Just reading a ReefBuilders article and Jake said: “The reef aquarium hobby has experienced explosive growth in the last couple of years”
This is news to me. I’m just getting back into it after a couple years away but my last impression is that the hobby was struggling due to various restrictions on collection and export. Also, Skyrocketing costs, and lack of interest. Do you agree with the above statement based on your own observations?

The IC testing of water, automatic water change systems, and overall improvement and refinement in nutrient export systems have allowed us to dial in our tanks. 10 years ago the idea of adding nitrates and phosphates to our tanks was insane!!

Advancement in reef controllers will be the next big thing. There was only Apex and a few smaller eco-systems for aquarium control and within the next 6 months we will see 3-4 different companies launch their own/start rounding out their existing systems. If the average person could spend $3000-5000 for a complete system including automatic testing systems and check it all from their phone, I think you will see more and more people in the reefing community.

The last piece will be larger and more robust aquaculture and mariculture facilities that can mass produce corals as so many countries are shutting down exports and limiting harvesting (which I think is probably a good thing).

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I don't think so. That happened before, and was mainly because people were "stealing" lights by purchasing, and then disputing the charges.

That’s terrible. They made a great product. Wonderful people to deal with.

 

[Pntbll687]

That’s terrible. They made a great product. Wonderful people to deal with.

Yeah. I went to buy one and they were out of business, and did a little digging on it. Really terrible that it happened.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Yeah. I went to buy one and they were out of business, and did a little digging on it. Really terrible that it happened.

Same here, but as far as I dug was looked for a recent post on their manufacture page here. That’s too bad, I had one on my IM peninsula and broke it when I moved. Went to buy another and well, my tank is sporting a Prime….

It’s inexcusable no matter the size of company you do that to. But it is down right shameful to do that to a working man. That was a mom and pop boutiqe type of business. They didn’t just take his lights, but they literally stole someone’s dream.

 

[blasterman]

Again, the OP is making declarations about what we do in the hobby and its just as myopic as the prior polls.

I got into the hobby to have a heavy coral stocked tank, not fill my tank full of wild caught fish and kill them every time my params get off. I could care less what happens with fish bans. All my corals are cultured and swapped with other reefers.

The average reef beginner that fails and exits the hobby in 24 months spends 10x on their tank than I do. Because people buy tanks too large to care for and spends a fortune on gear due to yiutube videos isnt a litmus for the state of the hobby.

 

[BanjoBandito]

For me it's about the long term...I wanna know how many "new" hobbyists stick with it, because reefing can be extremely difficult at times and frustrating.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

For me it's about the long term...I wanna know how many "new" hobbyists stick with it, because reefing can be extremely difficult at times and frustrating.

I’ve been in again and off again since the early 2ks. It’s no secret that I had a lot of failures in the beginning. When it works, it’s worth all the stress, the money, time, energy and headaches. I need something to lose myself in. It’s the one hobby that actually clears my mind. The fact that I’m successfully keeping a thriving slice of the ocean that some people don’t even know exists in the ocean is quite rewarding as well.

 

[BanjoBandito]

I’ve been in again and off again since the early 2ks. It’s no secret that I had a lot of failures in the beginning. When it works, it’s worth all the stress, the money, time, energy and headaches. I need something to lose myself in. It’s the one hobby that actually clears my mind. The fact that I’m successfully keeping a thriving slice of the ocean that some people don’t even know exists in the ocean is quite rewarding as well.

I'm not trying to be elitist or snobby, because lord knows this hobby has it's share of that, the fact is the more people that are invested in this hobby long term, the better it can become.

 

[SauceyReef]

Let’s be honest here. The pandemic sent out lots of money to many middle class and low class Americans. For a while this hobby has been a rich mans hobby, but the 5 trillion dollars sent out evened the game a bit. I had 3-4K extra $ cuz the stimulus and decided it would be a good time to get back in. I think MANY people are making this decision like me because the small amount of extra funds. Plus the pandemic kept us all indoors, bored, and thinking of new projects.

I also agree with others that small tanks are booming because this large increase is from pandemic $ and economy rise. It will be interesting to see how many new hobbyists make it out of this. Personally I am
lready planning on getting two new tanks when I move but both nanos! My rental places don’t let me get big tanks.

Oh and clearly technology ha gotten better! 10 years ago I didn’t see hlf
This stuff. Plus LEDs are huge now