New to the forum, figured this was as good a place as any to say hello.
And let me say I'm entirely impressed with the information I've been able to soak up from this site, these forums. I'm going blind, I've read so much as of late.
How I got started. I'm convinced it was in the womb. ok but really. I got my first aquarium when I was about 7, your basic 10 gallon deal. Had freshwater fish, though I remember loving sea horses desperately, in the '70s the very notion of setting up a saltwater tank set you back the price of a small car.
By the time I was 10, my father had to make a rack to hold my 9 tanks. I bred livebearers for the local little fish shop. I bred angels. Yes, I was a social outcast and had just a lot of time on my hands at 10. I still loved sea horses. I wanted a saltwater tank more than anything. I made up for this lack of satisfaction by sheer number of freshwater setups.
My mother sold all my aquariums, equipment and all, when we moved when I was 16. She sold them....9 full aquariums ranging from a 5 gallon sick tank, to a 50 gallon.....all of them, for $20. I still don't forgive her for that.
Fastforward to my 20s. Had a 60 gallon, 45 and 30, all still freshwater. From what i read and was told, saltwater was too expensive. Was too hard. I still wanted those sea horses. And clownfish. God but I could watch those for hours in a store. Kept those for years, loved them, but wasn't what i really wanted. Kept cichlids in the 60 gallon, was the closest to saltwater i could get.
Two weeks ago, being now 7 years without fish, I caved and treated myself to a 30 gallon setup. The guy (store is a local fish only place with a huge section of saltwater) starts to talk to me about how the cost of setting up a saltwater tank isn't what it used to be. I'm no fool, I've had fish my whole life, so I talk to him, see if he knows his stuff or just trying to get me to spend money. My work deals with this store and other teachers who have fish, praise this place. Say it's hands down THE best place in Boulder. So after most of my life spent longing, I'm sitting beside my very first saltwater setup.
Terrified. Of course. It's still cycling, so it's not all that exciting right now. Well, to me it is. But anyone else just looks inside and says "where's the fish".
I'm not stupid, I know I have a very very long way to go until I have (tank-raised) sea horses. I'm going to take baby steps until I know a whole lot more about what I'm doing. But eventually, I want my sea horses. When I know I can keep them alive.
/takes a bow.
bought gouramis to add to the 4 neons he got. but then a week later i got 5 zebra danios and 5 tiger barbs, then i had to have snails, and lyretails mollies, plecos to combat the algae (what do u mean i'm exceeding the bioload? what the heck is a bioload anyway?), 2 convicts which decided to have babies (how could i be a mother again my husband had a vasectomy?) 8O but no worries the Jack Dempsey i bought took care of most of all that 
