Jestersix

Back in hobby after away for 15+ years

Bolo156 said:
I recently got back into the hobby and definitely agree that a lot has changed as far as tech and processes. I basically have to relearn a lot, but nonetheless it is fun and I am excited.
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yeah, price information and help from forum that we don't have before. I pretty much forgot everything and have to relearn. I'm really excited also, one thing I notice is the price of the fish got a LOT more expensive.
 
Bolo156 said:
What isn’t expensive nowadays lol
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I was also out for awhile (around 12 years) and restarted last winter. I agree fish got a lot more expensive, but I feel like other stuff got a lot cheaper. It might be actually being in a better, not-just-out-of-college, disposable income place, but I feel the stuff that you can get now is dollar for dollar much better than back in the day.

You can find a 40gal tank with LED lights, DC controllable skimmer, mp10s, rimless with Starfire glass for definitely under $1k.

I also think people are crazy with their purchases of $500 corals, but you can get all sorts of amazing frags the $10 racks. Superman montipora, rainbows, ricordea of varied colors, acans, ... I don't remember that stuff being that available and this cheap.

The new high end definitely got crazy expensive though. Don't get me started on how insane the prices of controllers and such are.
 
richiev said:
I was also out for awhile (around 12 years) and restarted last winter. I agree fish got a lot more expensive, but I feel like other stuff got a lot cheaper. It might be actually being in a better, not-just-out-of-college, disposable income place, but I feel the stuff that you can get now is dollar for dollar much better than back in the day.

You can find a 40gal tank with LED lights, DC controllable skimmer, mp10s, rimless with Starfire glass for definitely under $1k.

I also think people are crazy with their purchases of $500 corals, but you can get all sorts of amazing frags the $10 racks. Superman montipora, rainbows, ricordea of varied colors, acans, ... I don't remember that stuff being that available and this cheap.

The new high end definitely got crazy expensive though. Don't get me started on how insane the prices of controllers and such are.
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Solid point on a lot of the common corals. The more we grow things out, frag them, and share, the more common and cheaply available they become.
 
richiev said:
I was also out for awhile (around 12 years) and restarted last winter. I agree fish got a lot more expensive, but I feel like other stuff got a lot cheaper. It might be actually being in a better, not-just-out-of-college, disposable income place, but I feel the stuff that you can get now is dollar for dollar much better than back in the day.

You can find a 40gal tank with LED lights, DC controllable skimmer, mp10s, rimless with Starfire glass for definitely under $1k.

I also think people are crazy with their purchases of $500 corals, but you can get all sorts of amazing frags the $10 racks. Superman montipora, rainbows, ricordea of varied colors, acans, ... I don't remember that stuff being that available and this cheap.

The new high end definitely got crazy expensive though. Don't get me started on how insane the prices of controllers and such are.
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Coral reefer said:
Solid point on a lot of the common corals. The more we grow things out, frag them, and share, the more common and cheaply available they become.
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Some things are definitely cheaper- Today at the swap at Cali Kid there is going to be your choice of many thousands of dollars of coral, proven to grow in tanks, available for free with no entry fee, and a free tri-tip lunch!
 
My daughter just had a fever last night (103.8). Too bad I'm unable to attend. Would love to get some starter coral to start filling the tank. Oh well, maybe next one
 
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Welcome back to the money hole.. ahem.. I mean hobby! Ready for some more fun and throwing cash at the newest greatest whatever… yeah me neither.. You’re reaching out to the right people here everyone’s friendly and willing to help. Are you interested in a 15 to 20 gallon tank to do quarantine or perhaps some good and completely cycled live rock? Let me know I’m happy to give as much as you need and might be willing to drop off in San Bruno to you. I suggest you add some live rock and perhaps try a little more bacteria my preference being Dr. Tim’s or Bacter7 by Brightwell. You can easily get a bottle that is past the shelflife and not very active if you buy it at retail that’s why you don’t see these brands available on all shelves, you should order fresh bottles as you need them from the source if possible.. I think Dr. Tim sells direct or I would try a large place like bulk reef to get fresh products..
Other than that hurry up and wait.. lol
Test for nitrite and nitrate and when nitrate shows above 0 and nitrite is at 0 you’re good to go.. and add one fish.. lol
I would also feed the tank something for about a week after showing a cycle and before adding fish best of luck
 
fishdoctor said:
Welcome back to the money hole.. ahem.. I mean hobby! Ready for some more fun and throwing cash at the newest greatest whatever… yeah me neither.. You’re reaching out to the right people here everyone’s friendly and willing to help. Are you interested in a 15 to 20 gallon tank to do quarantine or perhaps some good and completely cycled live rock? Let me know I’m happy to give as much as you need and might be willing to drop off in San Bruno to you. I suggest you add some live rock and perhaps try a little more bacteria my preference being Dr. Tim’s or Bacter7 by Brightwell. You can easily get a bottle that is past the shelflife and not very active if you buy it at retail that’s why you don’t see these brands available on all shelves, you should order fresh bottles as you need them from the source if possible.. I think Dr. Tim sells direct or I would try a large place like bulk reef to get fresh products..
Other than that hurry up and wait.. lol
Test for nitrite and nitrate and when nitrate shows above 0 and nitrite is at 0 you’re good to go.. and add one fish.. lol
I would also feed the tank something for about a week after showing a cycle and before adding fish best of luck
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Thanks, Really appreciated. My tank is fully cycled now. 0 and 0. have 2 fish, a maroon and recently got a coral beauty, just found out today the coral beauty is beating up the little maroon.
Hopefully they'll work it out
I do have some dead rock I started and did add maybe around 30% live rock. I also added fritz turbostart 900 to start initially. I think this thing rock. Maybe good idea to get some more rock for the maroon to hide. I'll pm you
 
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Joseph Lee said:
Welcome to the club. Believe it or not, you can still purchase SeaClone or Coralife skimmer LOL.
My first tank was 5g reef with two 50/50 compact fluorescent bulbs back in 2005 :)
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I forgot what I had back then, but I think my old one was a berlin hang in the back
I bought a aquamaxx from bulkreefsupply during the labor day sale, small one just enough to fit in the old wetdry, suprisingly it didn't cost much more than 15-20 yrs ago when I first got my old skimmer
 
Welcome back to the hobby. I also just started back up after a 10 year or so break. So much has changed. My tank has been up for 7 months. Having some struggles for sure. Everyone here is so helpful.
Good luck with the new tank!
 
Definitely a great group of ppl here. I just realize a lot of things I were doing back then is wrong. Pretty much have to relearn everything. Which I think is good.
There's really not much information besides reading books and listening from LFS owner back then.
Now there's tons of information on internet and forums.
 
Welcome... I'm also relatively new back to the hobby. Restarted my dead tank back last Dec. after basically a 10 year hiatus after first child was born. I did notice fish was more expensive and live rock seems to be not as much of a thing anymore (I was told using Xport Bio Cubes and seed bacteria in a bottle is better).

I haven't done too much with my tank since then, but after this past weekend's frag swap I'm hoping to get some momentum going again!
 
JVU said:
If true, I think that’s an unfortunate change. Doing a full QT on all fish is tough on retailers but so awesome for the hobby.

@dioworld - Welcome! Be careful when a store says they do QT, many say they do but they don’t because it’s difficult and expensive. Or at least not enough QT process to actually rid their fish of disease.
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@JVU tell me about it, lol! But not only is it good for the hobby but also gives the animals the best chance at long term survival!
 
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