Sad to see

[bribo12]

I used to be very active on this forum as a member of the reef community. I’ve come back a few times but it seems to have become a 99% fw forum. Still see a few familiar names but I never see reef related posts. Sorry, just mulling over the good times from when I first joined! Here’s some reef pics!

 

[Colin_T]

It's a combination of forums losing members to other forms of social media where people can get a one sentence answer in an instant, regardless of if the answer is any use. And the pandemic along with the war and climate change, which has seen many people reduce expenses due to massive price increases across everything, and that includes salt and fresh water aquariums.

In Australia a heap of people got pets when the pandemic started. Now it is presumed to be over (it isn't over, just the virus does less damage now), people are out and about and spreading the virus and aren't spending the same time with their pets. There has been a massive surge in dumping unwanted pets during the last few months since restrictions were removed. Animal shelters are inundated with dogs, cats, birds and fish. Various government departments are getting phone calls from people asking how they dispose of unwanted fish because the local pet shops won't take them. Lots of birds are being released, and they usually become food for birds of prey or animals.

It's a sign of the times and war, climate change, the pandemic, and inflation are all taking its toll on fish forums like this one.

Forgot to add, nice tank

 

[Andy Sager]

I used to be very active on this forum as a member of the reef community. I’ve come back a few times but it seems to have become a 99% fw forum. Still see a few familiar names but I never see reef related posts. Sorry, just mulling over the good times from when I first joined! Here’s some reef pics!View attachment 324155View attachment 324156View attachment 324157

Good to see you again. The tank looks really nice.

For what it's worth, this was never really a big saltwater site during my time here ( since 2011) which is a shame imo . There were a few who really kept that part of the site going but with so many marine focused sites on the web these days, it's possible they just went towards those sites. ?? Hopefully, more SW people will make posts here to keep that section active.

 

[Dary421]

I’ve been here since forever and it kinda sucks that a lot of our star saltwater members have moved on to other forums or have just left the aquarium world altogether.
For me personally, I always enjoyed this forum immensely when Doug aka mr.x was a constant voice here ,… I’d often laugh with his sometimes brutal approach to things but his knowledge was unparalleled,..Greg aka coyote greg seemingly disappeared from our forum ,…both of these 2 guys taught me alot over the years about maintaining a marine setup,…not to say there’s not just as bright members here in the marine aquarium field that I haven’t learned from but for myself I considered those two disappearing was a real blow to the forum.
I guess over all the years I’ve learned enough from everyone here to know the basics of keeping my little saltwater world going but I’m not as active here as I used to be for sure .
Sometimes tough times or just changes in your priorities take over your daily routine and you just move on to other venues….
I still love this forum and I’ll alway be in the background somewhere but that’s just my 2 cents on the subject .

 

[Andy Sager]

I’ve been here since forever and it kinda sucks that a lot of our star saltwater members have moved on to other forums or have just left the aquarium world altogether.
For me personally, I always enjoyed this forum immensely when Doug aka mr.x was a constant voice here ,… I’d often laugh with his sometimes brutal approach to things but his knowledge was unparalleled,..Greg aka coyote greg seemingly disappeared from our forum ,…both of these 2 guys taught me alot over the years about maintaining a marine setup,…not to say there’s not just as bright members here in the marine aquarium field that I haven’t learned from but for myself I considered those two disappearing was a real blow to the forum.
I guess over all the years I’ve learned enough from everyone here to know the basics of keeping my little saltwater world going but I’m not as active here as I used to be for sure .
Sometimes tough times or just changes in your priorities take over your daily routine and you just move on to other venues….
I still love this forum and I’ll alway be in the background somewhere but that’s just my 2 cents on the subject .

I agree, those guys had some great info they shared. And the tank pics
They helped keep me up to date on new equipment and ideas since my leaving the marine fish business. Always like to keep up to date even if I don't have a marine tank anymore. That said, many forums like this one have seen a decline over the years. New ones pop up or new formats ( such as Facebook) become the latest, greatest thing and everyone feels they need to be on them. The sad thing is that I have found that any new site has the same " Big shots" and "Know-it-alls" who know very little but say an awful lot which turns people off to continuing. I don't see a lot of that here anymore and hopefully it stays that way. As I go around to pet shops and internet sites selling fish and corals, I have a hard time seeing how many people can afford to keep these anymore. Granted I'm spoiled from being in the business for so many years but I get sticker shock and close my wallet. I only hope that as tank breeding of marines gets further along, prices will eventually come down as they did with freshwater fish.
I still check the new posts daily so I can answer most questions.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Bribo! I hear you… this forum definitely used to be my go-to for help, chit chat, and other reef keeping banter. It seemed to fizzle out here. While I am slightly involved in other forums, it’s not nearly as social as this was always was. I remember having actual conversations through this platform, both on the forum, as well as direct messaging, and it definitely had a community feel. No other forum is like that, in fact just the opposite it seems. I really try to rely on other friends with reef tanks and my local shop for advice these days, and fall back on larger forums really just for research purposes and don’t engage much.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Anyways, here’s what I’ve been working on…

 

[Andy Sager]

Anyways, here’s what I’ve been working on…

Nice tank.
Please post the top picture in the "New Tank, no sump?" thread. I've been trying to explain the benefits of using a sump over not using one. Your picture is a perfect example of how using a sump can open up so much space inside the main tank without taking away water volume.

 

[bribo12]

Looks great flaxon! I to remember Greg and mr x. Definitely learned a lot from guys like that as well!

 

[Jacky12]

Bribo, those are beautiful tanks! I have 11 freshwater tanks and you are putting ideas in my head.

 

[Jacky12]

Dang, Andy the sump on your tank makes the one on mine look primitive by comparison. It’s a 20 G below a 90 G tank, all freshwater.
Very nice setup you have there.

 

[Andy Sager]

Dang, Andy the sump on your tank makes the one on mine look primitive by comparison. It’s a 20 G below a 90 G tank, all freshwater.
Very nice setup you have there.

That's Flaxon-Waxon's tank, not mine. But the pic was just a perfect example of why a sump in a marine tank is such a good idea since it opens up so much space in the main tank.
Most of my sumps were very " function over form" types. lol Would never be great sellers but boy did they get the job done.

 

[Jacky12]

I like my freshwater sump. The stand is homemade. It had a nice canopy on top, but it made the cabinet over 6 feet tall, & I needed a ladder to feed the fish, so removed it.

 

[Jacky12]

Why did my last two pics come in sideways? The previous ones did not,

 

[Andy Sager]

Why did my last two pics come in sideways? The previous ones did not,

I had the same issue a while back. I just changed the direction of the source picture by 90 degrees and they posted fine. Not sure why it happens in the first place tho. :^/

 

[Jacky12]

Ok, thanks, I’ll try rotating

 

[Ziggy953]

I used to be very active on this forum as a member of the reef community. I’ve come back a few times but it seems to have become a 99% fw forum. Still see a few familiar names but I never see reef related posts. Sorry, just mulling over the good times from when I first joined! Here’s some reef pics!View attachment 324155View attachment 324156View attachment 324157

Hello there old friend! I do miss the good old days of SW and all the frag talk!

 

[Jacky12]

You guys make me wanna go saltwater even though I have 11 FW tanks. Major obstacle is I like the tanks in my living space & those areas are wall to wall tanks.

 

[Andy Sager]

You guys make me wanna go saltwater even though I have 11 FW tanks. Major obstacle is I like the tanks in my living space & those areas are wall to wall tanks.

Have you SW aficionados tried Facebook? I’m in a few groups there, & it’s ok, but I’m thinking fish chitchat is not my thing. Same people saying same things that I can found better said elsewhere. Or demonstrated on YouTube. Seems to me some fish forums are not so much fish forums as chat rooms for those who like fish. Some go far afield on nonsensical games, but hey, whatever floats your boat. Let the kids and narcissistic elders have their fun. I have a PhD in biology & prefer less levity in fish forums/groups. Twitter is my go to for fun & games.

Be careful what you wish for. Saltwater keeping is different ( and more expensive) than freshwater.

 

[Jacky12]

Oh, cost won’t be a factor. I plan on starting off small.