People who leave the hobby

[Altohombre]

I check several websites daily and it seems like everyday an established reefer leaves the hobby completely. Now I know that many many many people join the hobby each day, but it is those who have spent countless hours and money and passion on their tanks that baffle me when they leave the hobby. Sometimes they mention why they are leaving and others do not. What do you think is the main reason most people leave?

1.) Need quick cash
2.) Keeping up with cost is too high
3.) Maintenance burdens / time away from family
4.) Moving
5.) Overall lost interest overtime
6.) Other

[dustin_P74]

with the economy the way it is now a days its mostly a majority of 1 and 2 i would think

[NewbReefer]

could be a bit of all those but I would think 1 & 2 are the big ones.

[daugherty]

i think that a lot of people quit because of loss of interest. a lot of people see a tank than they must have one after a year or so they find something else that they must have. i dont really think that a need for quick cash really plays into much but the burden of cost does.

[RyanG]

I think that alot of people get into the hobby without much research and think its going to be simple like freshwater. Add salt to water and voila you have a reef. When the maintenance and cost of things start to add up or they kill everything its time to get out. Some people just get bored with it too just need to take a year or two off and start fresh just too keep it new.

Cost is major factor though

[daugherty]

i could handle the cost of killing fresh water fish compared to salt. how many fresh water fish are over 20 dollars a fish. when a person starts killing 10 fish a month that is at least 100 dollars to even a few hundred dollars.

[Mtrueblood]

I believe that it is money and that people find out that it will take a lot more time and effort than they were willing to give forth. They come in and it is cool at first but then fish money corals all start to add up and they just cant handle it. I have even seen people leave fresh water as well just because of the time and effort that has to be put forth to take care of such a beautiful hobby.

[cthegame]

For me, if i ever did quit this hobby, it would be because im just worn out from all the maintenance. The up keeping of the hobby. After years and years, id imagine some people just get tired of doing it. Its easy to get burnt out with something that requires your attention all the time...

But i think its a little bit of all that you have mentioned.

[Bifferwine]

In my area, people seem to leave the hobby because of pest infestations or disease outbreaks that they can't seem to get a handle on. Stuff like red bugs, velvet, ich, brown jelly disease, etc. that happen from time to time, cause a lot of death in their tanks, and they just get fed up and frustrated from having to deal with these diseases and the huge loss of livestock that results.

[reeffreak]

The most I hear are people with expanding families who don't have the time/money for a system anymore.