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Unread 02/21/2020, 06:47 AM   #1
Scrubber_steve
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Topic of the Day

Is your interest in aquarium keeping fuelled by interaction with other hobbyists on internet forums?

Would you even continue, or bother to keep marine organisms if you didn’t have anyone else at all to share your interest with, either on forums, a LFS, a local aquarium club, or even a person who lives around the corner?

What if you were the only person to ever lay eyes on your aquarium?


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Unread 02/21/2020, 07:40 AM   #2
Misled
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Mine is my zen. I was a diver when I was in the military. When I got out, I went to aquariums. Hawaii is too far away now. I would still have it, no matter what.


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Unread 02/21/2020, 12:48 PM   #3
abrian
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While my wife appreciates the tank and enjoys watching it mature and the corals grow, she certainly doesn't appreciate the nuances of maintaining and nurturing it. Having local hobbyists to geek out with about this or that aspect of reef keeping is very important to my enjoying the hobby, and reading forums is a part of that I can indulge in with a world-wide community.

I would still be in this hobby and enjoy it without that interaction, but it certainly adds an important element to the experience.


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Unread 02/21/2020, 01:32 PM   #4
lbannie
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My husband could care less about my tank....on the other hand he says if it makes me happy do it! I’m upgrading to a bigger tank with custom stand and canopy and he drove me 3 hours away to pick up the tank! I have it for me because I like it. I do like when people come over and look at it though! Lol


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Unread 02/21/2020, 05:20 PM   #5
Scrubber_steve
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I was out of the hobby for about 10 years.
Started my present tank in 2011.

There's no local club & I have no friends in the hobby.
The wife and kids have no interest in my tank.

Then, around 2015 an in-law started reefing, & we started talking reefing, & I realised how much enjoyment this gave me... having someone to talk about it to, face to face.

This really piqued my interest in my own tank & I started interacting with others on reef forums for the first time in 2016, & doing a lot of reading online also. Learnt a lot, compared to when I first started keeping marine in the 1990s.


The in-law is now an ex-law so I again I have no one to interact with about reefing. So I'll just come and annoy others around here instead


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Unread 02/21/2020, 05:23 PM   #6
Scrubber_steve
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lbannie View Post
My husband could care less about my tank....
I care


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Unread 02/21/2020, 05:27 PM   #7
Scrubber_steve
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Quote:
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Mine is my zen.
Yep, my tank takes leads me away into other dimensions


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Unread 02/21/2020, 05:28 PM   #8
Scrubber_steve
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abrian View Post
Having local hobbyists to geek out with about this or that aspect of reef keeping is very important to my enjoying the hobby
I imagine that would be really enjoyable.


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Unread 02/21/2020, 06:35 PM   #9
lbannie
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Quote:
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I care





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Unread 02/22/2020, 06:22 PM   #10
abrian
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I have been buying all my acro frags from locals who post on our local reefer forum, or I post a 'want to buy' post and people respond. Either way, I end up going to their house to pick up the frag and always end up drooling over their tank and talking equipment, placements, etc. Sometimes this ends up with me admiring a particular colony that they they frag for me to pick up later. Which means a return visit when it's healed and ready. This is how I get to meet local reefers and start to build a network of sorts.

Much happier to stock my tank this way than through a LFS.


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Unread 02/22/2020, 07:00 PM   #11
Scrubber_steve
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abrian View Post
I have been buying all my acro frags from locals who post on our local reefer forum, or I post a 'want to buy' post and people respond. Either way, I end up going to their house to pick up the frag and always end up drooling over their tank and talking equipment, placements, etc. Sometimes this ends up with me admiring a particular colony that they they frag for me to pick up later. Which means a return visit when it's healed and ready. This is how I get to meet local reefers and start to build a network of sorts.

Much happier to stock my tank this way than through a LFS.
Sounds great, & I'd imagine cheaper too?

I heard that a couple of local reefers had home frag tank set-ups in their garage & were advertising on facebook, etc. LFS' complained about this, not being licensed business or something or-other, & had them close down.

You're very lucky.


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Unread 02/22/2020, 10:58 PM   #12
Michael Hoaster
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I was amazed how much I enjoyed RC! It has added a whole other dimension to the hobby. My family has no interest and thinks I'm a weirdo. I occasionally hang out and chat at my LFS, but RC is where I go everyday. We've got a great community.

Yes, I would continue without it. I went 20 years without it before. But I'd rather not. I'm having too much fun and learning stuff to boot!


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Unread 02/23/2020, 06:11 PM   #13
motorslave
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While my family has appreciated my tanks and enjoyed watching them evolve, its purely a selfish thing for me. My obsessive nature fits well with the design, build and continued challenge of keeping such a complex thing going. I love showing the systems to others but I find my true enjoyment from the act of reefkeeping and I get lost in it all on my own.


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Unread 02/23/2020, 07:40 PM   #14
texdoc77
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My interest is not fueled by online interactions. However, on some level I suspect without those online interactions I would be less successful and that would make this much more daunting and I would probably be very bad at it. Which would not be fun. So indirectly I do feel the online interactions, mostly the educations ones, are directly related to my interest in the hobby.


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