Do you circle the dates for coral sales and frag swaps, but forget birthdays and anniversaries? Or have a frag tank filled with frags, yet there is no chance that any of these frags will make it into your display tank because it is already filled with corals? Are there more pictures in your phone of corals than of family members or do you have boxes and shelves filled with every aquarium magazine you have ever looked at? If so, this may indicate that you are a coral hoarder rather than a coral collector.
Being considered a hoarder of anything is a touchy subject as it is not something that is often readily discussed. Not many hobbyists will readily admit that they are hoarders or have hoarding tendencies, instead, they consider themselves collectors. So, let’s talk about some of the differences and how to reduce our need to be hoarders.
As you may know, hoarding is listed as one of the criteria for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. While we joke that being obsessive is often a necessary aspect of being a good reef keeper, sometimes we can take it a bit too far. For some of us, this can manifest itself in a number of ways beyond just keeping lots of corals. It can include constant testing and chasing numbers so that all of our tank’s parameters are perfect. Or it can be shown when we frequently move corals around to try and find the perfect spot for each one all the time.
It may also be shown if we are frequently adding to our tank the coral that is the current “hot” coral. Or lastly, it may be indicative that we are obsessive when we constantly change what we are doing to follow the fad of the month and unfortunately in this hobby, there is seemingly always something new to try to make our tanks perfect. Not to cast aspersions on others, but when looking at these criteria I probably am a coral hoarder or at the very least have some compulsive tendencies, so as I discuss this hopefully you will realize you are not alone with these tendencies.
Some of the criteria that differentiate a collector from a hoarder is that a collector looks for very specific things to collect they do not collect a vast array of things. This behavior often starts when you are young and could be shown if you collected Hot Wheels or Barbies, but did not collect every toy car or every doll. Collectors also tend to put great value on the items they collect and try to showcase them when they display them. They are proud of their collections and enjoy sharing them with others. This sounds like most reef keepers, as I do not know of any of us who do not love to show off our tanks and point out any new or unique fish or coral that we have in our tanks. But a collector will only point out a few highly prized pieces while a hoarder will tend to want to point out every fish or coral in the tank.
A hoarder on the other hand is different than a collector in a number of ways. Hoarders tend to gather random items because they like everything in the group of things they hoard or they are on sale or they think they may be useful or worthwhile to have in the future. Coral frags on sale seem to fit into all of these categories. They also tend to be disorganized in how they place them and they save everything as they feel it may be useful in the future. How many of us have boxes or cupboards full of old equipment that we keep thinking that we may need in the future or that may be critical for a future tank?
In the same vein how often are we reluctant to remove a problem coral or adequately prune a coral to make space and when we do prune it we have trouble sharing the frags? Hoarders also view space in their tanks differently in that a bare space may cause distress so they may feel the need to have every space filled with something.
Hoarding is not just on a single level but there are actually five levels of hoarding. It is considered a serious problem when it impedes your daily ability to function. If you are constantly buying more corals or equipment even though you have no more room or have no use for the equipment this can be seen as a problem. Similarly, if there are boxes of old equipment that take up more space than your tanks do this may also indicate that there may be a problem. This may also be the case if you have lots of old boxes of dead coral skeletons that you keep like old love letters. Sadly, I know all of this from personal experience.
Another indication that you are a hoarder or are on the road to becoming one is if you frequently are upgrading to bigger and bigger tanks, or if you are seemingly always planning the next move up. Having been down this road I know it is not pretty and you have to fight the urge to go bigger so you can have more corals. I say this coming from my own experience in that over the past forty years I went from my initial 60-gallon reef tank in 1984 to a 120 in 1987 to a 240 (which I kept through the next two tanks) in 1989 to a 540 (which I never should have moved up from) in 1994 to a 1200 in 1997 then due to major life changes down to a 300 in 2009 and then back up to a 500 in 2019!
All of these changes and upgrades were due to my desire to have more and more corals. What I have now finally come to realize after making all of these changes and moves is that adding more corals or having a bigger tank so that I could have more corals did not add to or increase my enjoyment of the hobby, especially when I went to the 1200-gallon tank, which contained more corals gallon for gallon of any tank I have ever had. I have only gone back to the 500-gallon tank because the first time I had a 500-gallon tank it was and still is my all-time favorite sized tank.
While most of us, especially if we are hoarders, are constantly planning an upgrade, my advice is to find a tank with a size that you love and stay with it. It is unnecessary to constantly move up in size to get more corals. Instead, I suggest that you let the corals grow out and if you find a coral that you absolutely have to have, get it and then take out a less desirable coral. I know getting rid of a coral may seem like getting rid of a favorite pet, but you don’t have to feel bad about getting rid of it. Bank it with a friend, or give it to someone who is starting out and who will be forever grateful for the gift, or in the worst case trade it with a shop for something. Don’t become a slave to having to have every coral you ever had.
It is now much easier to become a coral hoarder than it used to be because now most of us get our corals as frags rather than as colonies. As a result, we have more space to hoard as we can seemingly always find a space for that one last frag that we just have to have. Plus, at least to my eye, frags, especially online or at shows, always are shown with their utmost potential, so the draw of adding them is just too great as they look like little jewels, at least to me. Add to that the enjoyment we seem to get when we are the only one of our peers that has a certain frag and it adds to our hoarding tendencies.
Sadly, I feel that this increased hoarding in the hobby has taken away one of the fun aspects of the hobby that was one of the key tenets during the early years: sharing or banking frags with our friends or nearby hobbyists so that we all shared the wealth. Along with this, even when we do share frags, the frags are often so minute that by the time they grow into something an OG reefer like me may not be around to see it. I’m just kidding, but only slightly. By hoarding we take away one of the fun aspects of the hobby and from my experience increase the likelihood that a rare or beautiful coral will be lost if it is not shared. Sadly, I have seen this occurrence far more than I would have liked.
Collecting corals, fish, or even old aquarium magazines can all be fun endeavors that add to our enjoyment of the hobby. But when it becomes problematic and affects our family life or finances or just life in general, we need to step back and assess how we can get it under control. Sadly, for some, it means getting out of the hobby completely, but often this just leads to a new obsession replacing this one. A better solution is to understand that it may be an issue and then to work over time, (it won’t happen overnight,) to get it under control.
The one thing I have learned and try to keep in mind when my hoarding tendencies start to get out of control is this: you can’t have them all. After having every sized tank and just about every coral I have ever wanted I know that there will always be one more coral that I seemingly have to have. Now that I understand my hoarding tendencies, I now know that I can live without it, so there is no need for impulse buying. I also know that by sharing frags and enjoying the camaraderie of the hobby rather than the need for more corals the hobby is more fun again. Hopefully, this article will help you to keep that in mind.
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