Time in..

[Coralgurl]

One thing that has kept me in rather than giving up is the amount of money invested is too much just to walk away. The first year I think is the most challenging and if anyone was like me when I started - zero research. Wasn't until AFTER we had set ours up and things weren't going well did we start researching (5 months after set up). I also think people don't realize how much this hobby actually costs to set up and maintain especially when most newbies as some point make mistakes that are costly to fix or suffer substantial livestock losses. Easy to give up and throw in the towel. Thank goodness for forums (esp Canreef) with good people always willing to offer advice and help!!

Interestingly though, the poll shows a lot of long timers here, not a lot of newbs....

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Interestingly though, the poll shows a lot of long timers here, not a lot of newbs....

Yes, poll shows only 9 people with less than 1 year in the hobby. You would think the 1st year would be higher. Maybe it is because some newbies still haven't discovered Canreef?

It would have been interesting, too, to see the yearly poll increments extend beyond 5 years. I think at some point, people do get bored (or life gets too busy) and get out of the hobby, at least for a while. Unfortunately, the poll doesn't capture all the people that drop out, since they are also not likely to be on Canreef and participate in this poll.

If I was an LFS, I would pay attention to this as well, with what advice and support I provide to newbies. I think the temptation to make sales can backfire in the long run, if the newbie drops out of the hobby.