old hands thoughts on hobby

Spslvr

Spslvr

New member
just curious as to how the "veterans" of this hobby of ours think about the way its developed, pros and cons...

obviously the tech side of things is something I consider a pro.... lighting, wave making technology, skimmer media reactors etc
while some of the things that irk me are the way a lot of hobbiest treat their animals like pokemons funny names etc, the advent of photoshop and pics under heavy blues, also this massive pest hysteria! anything not introduced by the hobbiest is a pest.
 
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Pros:
access to affordable technology;
YouTube channels;
Lots of open source electronics for advanced DIY;
Plenty of husbandry methods to choose;
More aqua cultured options;

Cons:
easy entry for careless people;
Facebook killing forums with a worse solution;
Over expensive brands



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Old hand here, been reefing since '89. Biggest advancement imo is LED lighting. I started out with 6 x 40w tubes, then 14k mH with actinics, then 20k mH/t5 combo...now running Kessils. Programmable, cool running, efficient and I love the shimmer. It used to be very difficult to find much info on corals back then, a few books available..but HUGE difference now is the internet and sites like this. Information galore.

Here are some of my old tanks, first one is 1990:
io7Outu.jpg


FOWLR
CCo59ga.jpg



My current 2 yr old 55 gal mixed with the Kessils:
pxfCP9u.jpg

Q9to7og.jpg
 
I started out saltwater in 1972.I remember I had a few sea horses,in one set up and another with my first Lionfish.I remember it eating my first Tomato clown too.I have been in and out of the hobby over the years. The technology and knowledge base has increased immensely. I remember early on there was limited,confusing information,available,mostly by word of mouth. No internet.Limited books. If someone told you something and you didn't believe it,you could jeopardize your livestock,if you were a poor judge of character. For example,Even then,there were people promoting regular water changes,but they ( usually) owned the LFS,and back then you wondered if they weren't just trying to sell you more salt...HA HA....but it was true.I worked at a LFS @ 17 in 1974.I remember the mgr. insisting that we sell the salt water fish quickly,to people,before they became a problem for the fish department.Back then copper was about the only thing available for treating fish,and that was tricky.It is not economically viable to have stock die in a pet store. I also think LFS have for the most part have become more ethical,since then. I remember starting to grow coral in 1988.Back then all you had were T12 fluorescent bulbs from holland,that did not suit SPS.They were better for growing tulip bulbs.Not many cities had salt water fish,or coral back then at pet stores. So I think the hobby has only gotten better.The only con for the hobby,and always has been,for everyone I think,and that there is a definite learning curve,to getting successful at it.If you don't start off carefully,and conscieniously,and go slow, the livestock tend to suffer.
 
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Pro's, internet and youtube

con's, I've been in the hobby since 93 and you just made me realize i'm old.....
 
ComforablyNumb said:
Old hand here, been reefing since '89. Biggest advancement imo is LED lighting. I started out with 6 x 40w tubes, then 14k mH with actinics, then 20k mH/t5 combo...now running Kessils. Programmable, cool running, efficient and I love the shimmer. It used to be very difficult to find much info on corals back then, a few books available..but HUGE difference now is the internet and sites like this. Information galore.

Here are some of my old tanks, first one is 1990:
io7Outu.jpg


FOWLR
CCo59ga.jpg



My current 2 yr old 55 gal mixed with the Kessils:
pxfCP9u.jpg

Q9to7og.jpg
Click to expand...

im sure ive seen one of those pics in an old book....lol
 
Mine from 95, undergravel filter, airstone skimmer, 6500k halide and 2 phillips 03 actinic t8s, almost no flow, how the hell did we keep any thing alive! oh yeah and a seachem calcium test kit you needed a degree to use lol

fb90137e0a810ada769486521df85c40.png



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Seriously makes me feel old. been in the hobby nearly 18 years.
Pros: Advancements in aquaculture to the benefit of the hobby and our oceans (I hope).
The advancement of tech. but it's all relative to time. still cant beat the old MH and
T8 actinics. I still long for that purple color.

cons: Super accessible to short term people interested in a long term hobby.
Coral prices remind me of the real estate market lol.
Too many company's trying to break into the market with big promises and very
little payoff. but its too bad that company's have a hard time
coming to market with awesome ideas and get shot down by the nay-saying
chitter chatter of forums and youtube.
Tech prices $$$$$$
 
Pros are all the hardware advances.
Cons are the prices eraser sized pieces the flavor of the month coral bring. People paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a single polyp, mushroom, frag because they are claimed to be rare and people are hoping to cash in on it just sad. Segments of the hobby are looking more like a get rich quick scheme. In the end I think it just turns a lot of people off of the hobby.
 
I agree with what most on here say.

pros: new tech makes things much easier.

cons: People are still being told they need X, Y, Z to keep a reef when most people don't need much of anything... depending on what they intend to keep. (biggest example is a sump and a skimmer, or the latest most expensive gadgets/pumps, or way more lighting than they need, most would do fine with a pair of T5 lights)
 
First reef tank in 1988 .....

I will fully demonstrate my age by lamenting the demise of good books on the hobby. I still have just about everything that was published and the youngest volume is now 15 years old. Sure, online is a more timely resource ..... but I miss books :lol: Heck, the final volumes in the Scott Michael Reef Fishes series were finished but never published. Bummer.

While I appreciate anyone's right to make a profit off the hobby, it does annoy me. I trade but do not sell frags. And don't get me started with the whole blue light/photoshop thing.
 
Pro's: Access... You couldn't get anything for a reef tank in many places back in the day. Now it's easy. I remember moving to Rapid City, SD in 1984. I couldn't even buy a Damsel... and there wasn't anything within a 5 or 6 hour drive in any direction!

Cons: It's all good. The Dark Ages have passed. We can run our tanks in any manner we desire and can find someone who knows how to help us do it.
 
Simon, I agree regarding books. I miss them.

The internet is, on the whole, a very positive thing for hobbies. But it's a double edged sword, like any technology. In the "old days" your source of information was well vetted. If you wanted to learn about reefkeeping, you'd buy a book. That book took a LOT of effort to publish, and went through many hands before it got to a reader. Contrast that with Youtube, where anyone with a charismatic personality and good camera skills can be (mis)taken as an expert, dolling out advice to the throngs of eager fans.

I feel similarly about aquaculture. It's really awesome, and IMHO it's necessary for the hobby to survive the next few decades. That said, again, it cuts both ways. If we get to the point where aquaculture is sustaining the hobby, will we lose sight of conservation of natural reefs? What about programs designed to help local communities understand the value of the reef and incent preservation efforts when they're combined with sustainable harvest? Will we reach a point where the success of aquaculture causes the decline of those efforts?

Also, I love a good old fashioned frag trade. I feel like when the internet first showed up, it made it possible to get in touch with other hobbyists. You'd be super excited when 4 people showed up for a trade day. Then as the popularity of online communication grew, things exploded. Suddenly there were 60 or 80 people showing up. It was great. You'd see corals you'd never even heard of, and everyone was chatting and learning. Then, I feel like in the last 5 years or so, things have gotten SO easy online, and it's become SO pervasive, that the popularity of face-to-face meets has declined. At least in this area.

Those are my thoughts. I suppose there could be discussion about specific equipment advances but I don't really think there's much exciting there to talk about. Other than LEDs. LEDs are awesome. :D
 
Technology aside, the only differece is the salt IME. Ones husbandry "should" be the same, no? The salt is basically the only difference... Don't think too much. ;)
 
Been around for what I consider to be a long time, which is about 20 years.

Pros:

- Widespread availability of DC-powered, controllable pumps
- LED lighting
- Significant uptick in aquacultured and maricultured corals -- hopefully we see a day where the hobby is close to 100% aquacultured and is giving BACK to the oceans.
- Huge advances in the understanding of the core elements and their balance needed
- Rimless tanks
- Dramatic improvements to aquarium controllers
- Many products, even across manufacturers, work very well together.
- An incredible variety of corals and color morphs that didn't used to exist in the hobby

Cons

- The hobby may seem more accessible than it really is and end up with people who aren't willing or have the capacity to really do the work, with tragic results.
- A lot of snake oil...
- Aquarium controllers are severely over-priced -- it's a big bubble.
- The definition of "frag" has been boiled down to a ridiculous level. "Frag" used to mean you get a chunk of an existing coral, but now it means you get the teeniest, tiniest viable size from a coral glued to a plug. Many "frags" don't feel like a proper colony for years...
 
Pros: The internet, LEDs.

Cons: The internet. No more books. No more magazines. No more fish stores. Frags.

Established 1987
 
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