What made you want a REEF aquarium?

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ive always loved aquatic animals, i had a goldfish in a 3G hex (we all did it) and won my schools science fair with an experiment i did with it (just observation, nothing more) and then a friend had a few fish he was getting rid of, so i took them, they had ich (no clue how deadly it was at the time) but they all died besides my goldfish, which i dont remember when he died.

then i had a betta in a bowl and loved him to death, then many years later i got my turtle tripod, he was in a 10G until he got too big, then it was a community tank with danios and opalines(still have them, about 3 1/2" now) and wanted to own SW so i read up and asked for a biocube 14 and have been loving ever since!

now i have 2 turtles, 2 gouramis, 3 bettas, an oscellaris clown, firefish, neon blue goby, and a blue/green chromis. i have 2 coral now but will add more later when i have money i can spend
 
I've had FW for a while now, and I wanted to take the plunge to saltie land. Plus the colors are amazing, and who doesn't want a clownfish :p Corals are pretty fascinating too. I would have started out with SW, but I heard of how difficult and costly it was and went for FW. I was a noob back then, so it's probably a good thing.

--Adeeb
 
I wanted a reef cause I loved the colors and life it has you can't get that from a freshwater
 
After watching Duce Bigelow, the idea got started. Finding Nemo and a swim at Orlando's Sea World Discovery Cove sold me on getting my first tank.
 
Got a job at Petsmart in the fish department with absolutely no experience. I was really interested by all the technical terms and the chemistry of the water so I started reading up on it. Always trying to be the intellectual I started looking up anything I didn't know online and spent many work time hours just reading fish magazines when it was slow. Eventually found some pictures by takashi amano and was immediately enticed. I thought about how having a tank like that in my room would look and had to try and replicate it. Got my first freshwater tank and spent like 5 hours aquascaping it with some lava rock. I kept on reading more for about two years and then got a job at Petco as the aquatic specialist. At this point I had freshwater down pretty well but now I was working with SW too so I once again felt like a total beginner. About 5 months later I'm starting to feel more secure and can't wait to set up a reef tank.... Already planning a 120g I'm going to set up when I graduate college lol
 
ChizerBunoi said:
After watching Duce Bigelow, the idea got started. Finding Nemo and a swim at Orlando's Sea World Discovery Cove sold me on getting my first tank.
Click to expand...

i live near there and went once, man the water in the saltwater area was COLD, and the stingray pool scared me (even though i knew they didnt have stingers) but man was it a completely fun and interesting experience!
 
Here's a good one for you. I have had a freshwater water tank for the last 7 years. Some friends went out of state to work. I started "babysitting" their 75 gal reef tank at their apartment. They decided to move across country and gave me the tank. Been learning a whole lot in a short amount of time. Still trying to get all the gizmos for the tank. Just set up a sump in the basement. The tank is on the main floor right above it in my kitchen. I have a huge kitchen and it was the perfect place since I spend a lot of time in there. Still adding corals to the tank. Love the reef tank. Very facinating creatures.
 
i don't know if i put my salt story up here a while ago or not, but i always had fresh tanks, since i was about 10. i would keep them up and running for about a year or two with some oscars or some other type of cichlid, until i got bored with it and tore it down. the last time i had a freshy tank up my wife's (now referred to as the ex btw) friends had a salt tank running. i really hated those people. anyway, i was doing my usual break down of the freshy tank and she said "why don't you try salt water?". i said, eh..it's too hard...all the different stuff you need to do". she then said "well, dom and sherry can do it". i then thought to myself " if those bozos can do it so can i". little did i know how addictive it was.
i feel i wasted a lot of time with fresh water tanks.
naturally, the reef tank shortly followed. so, it was out of spite that i got into this hobby..LOL.
true story.
 
mr_X said:
i don't know if i put my salt story up here a while ago or not, but i always had fresh tanks, since i was about 10. i would keep them up and running for about a year or two with some oscars or some other type of cichlid, until i got bored with it and tore it down. the last time i had a freshy tank up my wife's (now referred to as the ex btw) friends had a salt tank running. i really hated those people. anyway, i was doing my usual break down of the freshy tank and she said "why don't you try salt water?". i said, eh..it's too hard...all the different stuff you need to do". she then said "well, dom and sherry can do it". i then thought to myself " if those bozos can do it so can i". little did i know how addictive it was.
i feel i wasted a lot of time with fresh water tanks.
naturally, the reef tank shortly followed. so, it was out of spite that i got into this hobby..LOL.
true story.
Click to expand...

great story X lol, you should direct me to any pictures of your tank, or a build thread of some sort(even if the tank no longer exists), its been a mystery to me for quite some time now lol
 
mr_X said:
i don't know if i put my salt story up here a while ago or not, but i always had fresh tanks, since i was about 10. i would keep them up and running for about a year or two with some oscars or some other type of cichlid, until i got bored with it and tore it down. the last time i had a freshy tank up my wife's (now referred to as the ex btw) friends had a salt tank running. i really hated those people. anyway, i was doing my usual break down of the freshy tank and she said "why don't you try salt water?". i said, eh..it's too hard...all the different stuff you need to do". she then said "well, dom and sherry can do it". i then thought to myself " if those bozos can do it so can i". little did i know how addictive it was.
i feel i wasted a lot of time with fresh water tanks.
naturally, the reef tank shortly followed. so, it was out of spite that i got into this hobby..LOL.
true story.
Click to expand...
lol i practicaly had the same story axcept i didnt tear down the freshwater. I still have a 72 with some oscars. They are awesome fish
 
i adopted a 10g fresh water tank from a friend, my interest kept growing and i was fascinated with all the new info i was learning. the 10g escalated into a 20g long and after i was happy with the set up and low maintance of the tank, i either wanted to go with a bigger freshwater tank or go saltwater with my 20g long.

a few xmas presents later and i was on in the saltwater game! tank is still cycling now so keeping my fingers crossed for a low budget/maintenance/successful future!
 
I bought a 46 gallon bow front about 3 years ago. I had it set up with FW at the beginning. I moved across the country and moved the aquarium to my parents for a year where they took care of it. Once I moved back and bought my new place I moved it to my place. Everytime I did a water change I swear I would kill at least one fish, so darn fussy in FW. Once I killed my last fish I said F it and went salt water. From there on the rest was history. So much nicer to look at and much more interesting.
 
I have a friend who has, literally 8 tanks in his house. Two fresh water and six salt water. Every time I was at his place I was just staring. He bought and sold equipment and convinced me to buy a 35 gallon hexagon tank with a magnum 350 canister. I did, plunged into saltwater and am just now setting up my upgrade, a 65 gallon with a sump and skimmer. The hexagon tank is still running for the time being though. haha, don't do saltwater in a hexagon tank with a canister. It sucks....
 
Started off when I was a teen. My brother and I started FW fish tanks together. Needless to say, I took more pride in mine and studied and studied the habits and behaviors of different fish. We ended up buying a piranha. Later that year we moved across town and gave our fish away. After years of going to our LFS for years and seeing their show tank I fell in love with SW. I bought my 55g and started my journey into SW. After about six months I had and ich outbreak which totaled my tank. I gave up on the hobby. 5 years later I started back up. My brother gave me a 30g and soon after I bought a 46g bowfront. Later this year I plan on buying 100+g after I move again.
 
I had a 10 gallon freshwater tank when I was a kid (14-18 years old) and between me and my best friend we had about every kind of freshwater fish you can have during that time. We even eventually got into brackish water fish. But I never thought any of the freshwater fish were anywhere near as beautiful as the saltwater fish I would see at the fish stores. And I don't care how brightly colored your gravel is, it's nothing compared to the amazing colors of a nice coral reef tank with good lighting. There's also nothing like the personality of a bogy, or the relationship between a pair of clowns hosting an anemone or coral.
 
I've always seen the pictures of these beautiful tanks, and finally after research, I decided I could do it. So now I'm saving up for my first saltwater tank!
 
Since I was a kid my father have a 33 gallons tank, then when I have the age to do it (like 9 years) I restarted that tank and I re-have the love for this hobby, ending with 3 tanks: 90 gallons saltwater, a 30 gallons and another 10 gallons (freshwater this last 2). I need to close those for my University (was very demanding).
Then I moved to Montreal Canada, and I just started a new 33 gallons SW.
Since now, I think that this is the best hobby that you can have, also it is a relaxing and enjoying experience!!!
 
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