Feels like this hobby is dying, so many important things out of stock all the time.

[2Wheelsonly]

So today I have a bit of a panic, reborn seems to be out of stock at most go to places and has not been back in stock for a long time. Parts for my equipment, same issue, bulbs for my UV, no stock in sight. Even fish seem hard to come by these days...

I am honestly thinking about shuttering this 600G tank and moving on, too much stress and I feel like less and less new stuff/products are hitting the market.

 

[Dan_P]

So today I have a bit of a panic, reborn seems to be out of stock at most go to places and has not been back in stock for a long time. Parts for my equipment, same issue, bulbs for my UV, no stock in sight. Even fish seem hard to come by these days...

I am honestly thinking about shuttering this 600G tank and moving on, too much stress and I feel like less and less new stuff/products are hitting the market.

I wonder if the economy is behind this rather than a loss of interest in the hobby, though to us it might look and feel the same.

 

[VintageReefer]

So today I have a bit of a panic, reborn seems to be out of stock at most go to places and has not been back in stock for a long time. Parts for my equipment, same issue, bulbs for my UV, no stock in sight. Even fish seem hard to come by these days...

I am honestly thinking about shuttering this 600G tank and moving on, too much stress and I feel like less and less new stuff/products are hitting the market.

What new stuff are you looking for? Personally I don’t need or want any stuff. I want the tank as minimal and independent as possible. I’ve never used uv. Reborn is in stock at melevs reef if needed.

Do we really need more expensive automation to become dependent on then fail, or gimmicky false claim products to stay interested?

Fish also are seasonal, some times of year certain ones are more available than others. Some times of year have better shipping survival rates.

I’d rather spend money on corals and fish than equipment and additives.

What is it that stresses you the most with the tank? Maybe we can help point you in a different direction

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Huh, I must say that as a reefer based in Europe I haven’t experienced this what so ever.

 

[fishywishy]

I haven’t had this problem, but i mostly buy from big retailers and amazon so maybe that’s why.

 

[Kmst80]

What new stuff are you looking for? Personally I don’t need or want any stuff. I want the tank as minimal and independent as possible. I’ve never used uv. Reborn is in stock at melevs reef if needed.

Do we really need more expensive automation to become dependent on then fail, or gimmicky false claim products to stay interested?

Fish also are seasonal, some times of year certain ones are more available than others. Some times of year have better shipping survival rates.

I’d rather spend money on corals and fish than equipment and additives.

What is it that stresses you the most with the tank? Maybe we can help point you in a different direction

Absolutely agree.
I am on the minimalist route as well, let nature do it's thing wherever possible.
Here in Australia it seems the other way around, plenty of reefers and shops.
And yes over here you'll get certain fish only at certain times, just another case of impatience?...seems to be the norm these days.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

If you need more Reborn, just reach out to Julian @ Two little fishes. He will either sell it to you direct or let you know who has it in stock.
But yes, Covid is over. The Hey Day for reef retailers is over. some have to cut back on stock.

 

[taricha]

My sense is that as a general trend there's some amount of consolidation, and various different things being bought up by fewer entities - and then they inevitably narrow their product lines and and their selection to less variety and more profitability. So if you have certain special things you like, you may not in the future always be able to get them through big hobby retailers. You might have to get them independently. Or find plan B's

 

[ieatbugman]

I haven’t had this problem, but i mostly buy from big retailers and amazon so maybe that’s why.

Same here

 

[cobraz]

I believe the same as other have said. Consolidation is to blame here and online retailers vs box stores. Let's face it we shop places like Amazon for convenience vs walking into a box store in many cases. Thus the little guys can not compete with the pricing.

Also as an example, I went to Home Depot and Lowes looking for a bathroom mirror as we are remodeling a bathroom... the choices at both stores were less than 10 and 50% were duplicates..and we did could not find a simple standard oval framed mirror with wood framing. Ordered online.

That being said..I think prices of reproducing corals have sky rocketed to ridiculous prices these past few years...including from hobbyist.
But there's another thread on that one.

 

[unclejed]

So today I have a bit of a panic, reborn seems to be out of stock at most go to places and has not been back in stock for a long time. Parts for my equipment, same issue, bulbs for my UV, no stock in sight. Even fish seem hard to come by these days...

I am honestly thinking about shuttering this 600G tank and moving on, too much stress and I feel like less and less new stuff/products are hitting the market.

Everything is on Amazon.

 

[VintageReefer]

reborn seems to be out of stock at most go to places and has not been back in stock for a long time.

Reborn Reactor Media | Melev's Reef Inc.

shop.melevsreef.com

And

There’s 5 places combined with the small and large packs of reborn in stock ready to ship.

What else do you need help finding?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So today I have a bit of a panic, reborn seems to be out of stock at most go to places and has not been back in stock for a long time. Parts for my equipment, same issue, bulbs for my UV, no stock in sight. Even fish seem hard to come by these days...

I am honestly thinking about shuttering this 600G tank and moving on, too much stress and I feel like less and less new stuff/products are hitting the market.

I’m curious to know which parts you need for your equipment.
What is causing you stress with your tank?

 

[Doctorgori]

What online stores do you frequent?
Sorta surprised Premium Aquatics doesn’t have what you need

 

[VintageReefer]

More places with reborn so I really don’t understand

 

[Sump Crab]

Or you could just simplify your tank.

 

[Reefer Matt]

So today I have a bit of a panic, reborn seems to be out of stock at most go to places and has not been back in stock for a long time. Parts for my equipment, same issue, bulbs for my UV, no stock in sight. Even fish seem hard to come by these days...

I am honestly thinking about shuttering this 600G tank and moving on, too much stress and I feel like less and less new stuff/products are hitting the market.

I’d ask around about supplies instead of assuming the worst. Is there something else going on that is making you want to quit?

 

[Dr. D]

When things are out of stock I take it the other way— that the hobby is popular and others have bought up the stuff I want, not that the hobby is is dying.

 

[areefer01]

Few comments and thoughts.

Reborn stock had issues last year or the one prior. If you do a search they talked about it. Product change or something and CITIES permitting due to it being a coral skeleton. Video below that talks about it.

While not directly related WWC has been doing a lot of content lately showing displays using reborn or similar sized media as the reefs foundation. In short using calcium reactor media as their substrate. It could be that supply is in higher demand as a results of social media and trends.

As mentioned earlier there is some business consolidation that happened be it merger, acquisition, or other and as a results some products are starting to be discontinued. Neptune WAV for example is discontinued. I don't believe reborn falls into this as TLF is still its own entity or so I believe. Just noting it as product overlap and company role(s) are being reviewed.

Supply issues for odd parts. I've seen this a few times with the vendor having a back order on parts used for products. Can be hardware and chemical. Neptune NP reagents just came out of a low inventory / out of stock as they waited for a few things to make the next batch. I've seen it with a few other products unrelated to Neptune as well.

TL; DR - In my case because I've run into this a couple of times now or have read others being hit I do my best to plan ahead now. Reagents. I order them then set a calendar reminder in 30 days to re-order. If it is a additive like All For Reef or something similar I calculate how much the container makes, how much I dose daily, then set a calendar reminder at the halfway marker.

Basically set a reminder halfway so that I have enough time to reorder. It has worked for the most part but still not perfect.

Hope your day is well.

Edit: TLF video / reborn - sorry:

 

[SonOfaGoat]

It can be frustrating when you need a specific item asap with your livestocks well-being at stake. I've been there when dinos smothered my corals and tank out of no where.

You also have a giant tank so you have challenges and investment beyond what many of us have. I have a 25g and my tank still takes up time everyday.

If the tanks feeling more like a chore maybe you can automate a few things, hire help or down grade to a smaller tank. There's definitely highs and lows!