Reef Hobby Satisfaction Hobby

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I thought it would be interesting to take the pulse of RC hobbyists and how they like the hobby. :)

All comments are appreciated

[scrmbld33]

love it !!!!! just need more money to fuel my hobby


donations can be sent via paypal :)

[AquaReeferMan]

I love it, my wallet doesnt.

[LeslieP]

I love that my tank doesn't cost too much because it's low tech, I love that I won the hair agae battle a few years ago, I love how my tank looks and the responses it gets from everyone who comes in the house, I love anticipating what my next tank will be once my husband has a real income (poor grad student) and I can get a bigger tank!

[xJake]

For me it's all about knowing what you're doing. Most people who are discouraged from the hobby are so because they have a problem with their tank and don't know how to solve it. With RC at my disposal as well as a huge database of bookmarks that I have collected over the past few years, I have the confidence to say that I think this hobby will always be a part of my life through the good and the bad. What can I say? I'm addicted. :D

[DLANDINO]

I love it, my wife is another story but is warming to it. My daughter absolutely loves "her" fish tank.

Dave

[silvers]

I love this hobby, other than my family its my only other love and passion. my wife and wallet hate it though.

[A sea K]

Love/Hate for me.
At just under 2years I'm still new and even though I truly enjoy the hobby and strive hard to provide the needed care for my tank, I have found some very trying and discouraging times along the way.

It has been mostly love and I'm looking forward to smoother times as I gain more knowledge and experience.

[hyperfocal]

I think people with a positive view of the hobby are more likely to visit RC, and far more likely to respond to this poll. Plus, I like cake.

I predict an overwhelmingly positive result ;)

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think people with a positive view of the hobby are more likely to visit RC

Yes, I agree that is likely. :)

[sk8rreefgeek]

It's funny, when I had my FOWLR setup, people would say and ask "Isn't it really hard to keep a SW tank?"
I'd say "NO!, it's just as easy as a freshwater tank, it's EASY"

yet, here I am still learning SO MUCH over a year later, with a never-ending amount of knowledge and experience still to be gained.
It will never end, which is one of the reasons this hobby is great. and the more you learn and accomplish, the more amazing your tank is to stare at and enjoy.
I'll probably have a SW tank when I'm 80, if I live that long lol

The fact that is costs a lot just makes it more of a challenge, and thus more of an accomplishment, so I don't complain about the cost

It's like Love: If it was easy, everyone would have it

[meschaefer]

What I find amazing about this "hobby" is just the overwhelming amount of information to be learned. As long as their is something new to learn, I will be involved.

Still learning after eight years.

[Playa-1]

:smokin:
This hobby is gr8. I find it to be very rewarding. Like many hobbies it is expensive up front. If you do your homework, then It's not all that expensive to maintain once your into it.

[Nano Chris]

Love it, a great learning experience and helps you relax (cept for when things go wrong lol.)

[hawkeyes]

I love the hobby, but sometimes I worry about the impact on nature. :/

[victor_c3]

I voted "pretty good, but not perfect"

As was mentioned above in someone else's post, a few problems that I have are limiting me from saying I'm all out nuts about it. Over the last 18 months I've learned a huge ammount of information. I'm definately enjoying it more now than I did a year ago. I'm finally having success with SPS (i.e. they are coloring up nicely and getting noticable growth week to week) and I'm starting to win the battle against hair algae.

To be successful in this hobbie you need to invest an incredible ammount of time to learning the finer points of tank maintenance, husbandry, and individual species biology. Getting yourself over that hump takes a lot of "stick-to-it-iveness" but is well worth the struggle. I'm finally starting to be able to say that I know what I'm doing.

The thing I think I enjoy the most about the hobby is just sitting in front of my tank with my wife watching our fish and enjoying the corals. We have names for all of my fish and inverts (ranging from bullwinkle, peanut, burt, to peppie [the peppermint shrimp] and shrimpie [the cleaner shrimp] and we talk about what they are doing as if it was a soap opera. "So and so are fighting today for burt's love...", "did you see what El Greco did to shrimpie?"

It is definately my tank and I'm way more into it than my wife, but she supports me and my hobby tremendously. Its nice to see her enjoy the tank almost as much as I do!