In retrospect, I babysat in my pre-teen and early teen years to buy a horse. I accomplished that. :biggrin:

I went on to raise and train some decent quarter horses. I thought it was the ultimate hobby. The only thing that tore me away from that was a marital breakup. Well, that and my body was broke in a million places....
:razz:

Things change rapidyly sometimes, for whatever reason. I still miss the horses.

I have to agree with Gary, that most come back. At least I have, many times over the last 30 yrs. :lol:

There are times when other priorities are just more important, as mentioned a few times in this thread. I have also found that many aquarists, {including myself}, find out that larger is not always better and downsize. Going large also frustrates some to the point of leaving the hobby.

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Alan,
I had in mind myself and a couple of people I know but not from Canreef. Also, I shouldn't have restricted my comments to just salt water. In the past, before I really got the bug for salt water I was in and out of fresh water for many years, and for many reasons. I never had the passion for fish keeping until I went salt. I don't have to tell some of you how scarey it can be when you first take the plunge, and I'm not knocking anyone's reason for leaving except this one. Does that make sense?
Anyway, its this respect that makes the hobby rewarding and keeps us in it long term. This seems to be lost on those who just want a pretty glass box in the living room. For those people this is just a fad. I compare it to a common New Years resolution to go to the gym, where half the people aren't there after March.

I hope this makes more sense and sorry if I offended anyone, that was not my intent. :neutral:

PS. For the record, I'm going to have a son by summer. I hope I can use my tank as a learning tool and an activity that we can share. I think its more productive than watching T.V.

I got out of the SW hobby some 15 years ago as my life had made some large change. now that my kids are grown I am back into it. my kids are 12 and 15 and are now able to help with my addiction. Sometimes you just have to put things on pause for a minutes or 15 years :)

Very true, and I am glad you stated it. I've been pondering forever about upgrading to 240g or so, but when I think about future family and career, it's probably wise to just maintain what I have for now...atleast until I make my first million. :mrgreen:

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I totally agree, my upgrades have been from a 28 gallon to a 54 gallon and now to a 65 gallon. I'm in the big time now baby! :mrgreen:

Yup, I'm in the bigger is not better gang. I've changed my lifestyle considerably over the last year or so and don't have as much time to dedicate to a large tank. I spent a year pondering he reefing future and rather than get out of something I do really enjoy, I'm just downgrading tanks size. This lets me get out more and attend to my other interests, especially with summer just around the corner.!!

how does have a smaller tank lead to less work? i can see going from a 600 gallon to a 50 saving time but wouldn’t you basically spend the same amount of time if you had a 180 or a 70? you still have all the water changes, cleanings, checks, feedings, top offs and everything else you have to do right? the only thing i can see you saving is some money, less bulbs, less power, less equipment expense...

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Time is money, just as money is time.

Thats it in a nutshell. :biggrin:

Plus things like less fish, so less feeding, water changes are smaller thus less RO water is needed.

You are correct on the most of the same things that need doing and its also likely that large tanks are more stable........as long as enough of the proper equipment is purchased, used and maintained.