What made you want a REEF aquarium?

[Montanarocknree]

Hi All! What led you to this awesome hobby? Here is my story:
It started like a lot of others with a small fish bowl and a goldfish! I have always loved animals and we lived across the road where hundreds of boys went to summer camp and my brothers and I collected all the animals for their nature lodge. We collected frogs, snakes, lizards, etc well you get the picture! I loved watching reef shows on TV and I started a 29 gallon reef tank over 30 years ago. It consisted of lava rock, a hang-on filter, CC bed and underground filter and I had a jawfish, a flame scallop, 3 predatory anemones and a cleaner shrimp. I had this tank for almost 2 years and then it got damaged in a resident change and I could not afford to start another with raising a family. Five years ago I made the mistake of going into a LFS and they had a 500 gallon reef tank and the rest was history. Johnny

 

[reefrunner69]

About 13 years ago, my wife and I were having our first Christmas together, some friends of ours had just gotten a S/W fish tank, and my wife decided she wanted one. Now I wanted no part of this. I was dead set against it, but being that my wife tends to win in these kind of arguments, I bought her a 20g kit at Walmart and a bag of salt from the LFS.

Christmas morning....we set up the tank, complete with UGF and about 25lbs of crushed coral. Well, the quality being what it is when you get it from Walmart...it leaked. Tear it down, return it and start all over again. I really did not like this hobby! Set up the new kit, let it sit for a day and guess what...this one leaked too!

We are not doing another kit! Go to the LFS, buy a 30 gallon tank and stand, set it up, let it run for 24hrs and then start to cycle the tank with damsels. (yes I know that is not the best way, but remember that was 13 years ago) The first night the tank had fish in it, I sat in the living room watching it , well pretty much all night. I was hooked. Reefing was sure to follow. Haven't looked back since, I've spent more money on this hobby than a luxery car!!! But it has been worth it, to me.

 

[fishfreek]

Well my story goes like this....

• When I was a kid I would go off to camp and catch minnows and put them in a little cup. They would usually live for a few days and then die. We lived about 40min from the closes pet shop so it was on a VERY rare occasion that we would be even close to a pet shop so I did not have an opportunity to purchase a tank or anything like that as a kid. (I did not even know what WAL-Mart was until college!!! Thats how far out in the country we lived.)
  After I graduated college in 1996 I was living in an apartment and decided one day that I would buy a 20 gal aquarium kit from wal-mart. I kept freshwater fish and plants until the winter of 2000. This is when a roommate of mine purchased an setup a used 90 gal tank. He decided he did not want all the work it took for saltwater so he made it fresh. At that same time I decided this would be a great opportunity to convert my 20 gal to saltwater. So in Jan of 2001 I added the first cup of salt to the 20 gal tank. In March I purchased a used 45 gal show tank setup and then in the summer of 2001 I purchased an 80 gal show tank setup. So now here I sit telling you about my addiction into this hobby.
  I currently have a 20 gal mini-reef, a 80 gal micro-reef, a 45 gal (currently in transition) and a 29 gal freshy tank.

...well that is what I call my addiction. My wife gave me the name fishfreek back when we was dating.

 

[donkeykong]

WHile growing up we always had animals but things in water always interested me . I first had a turtle for about 2 years and he got to big for the tank and we set him free in a local park pond where he found a mate and lived happily ever after. My dad wanted a water fall so we combined our interest(how sweet we bonded) and made a pond out side. 50gl plastic molded pond with a nice water fall, and two pond comets for me. Well my dad like the fish so much he wanted a bigger pond for them. No arguements here. we built a 18ft long 4ft wide and 3ft deep pond. Nice. with some sweet plants and a good assortment of fish. Well when i got married we rented a house so no digging up the back yard for my ultimate pond. My gandma gives me a 20gl tall and I figure this will hold me for awhile. It was fresh water and i went to a lfs(very bad lfs) that sold me two puffers and a snowflake eel after I had told them i had a FW. Realizing my mystake I switch everything over in a hurry and started researching. well I lost slim the eel during the cycle but puffers made it and the 20gl that was going to hold me over for a while lasted 4 months then turned into a 80gl with the works. The hobby dug into me and I am loving every minute of it

 

[Montanarocknree]

Excellent stories guys! Anybody else? Johnny

 

[Jacob Morgan]

Hey, When I was like 10 or so I wentin our local LFS(when they were decent) and they had this awsome tank that had all these colorful things and a clam that had electricity in its mouth etc. I was like I want a Saltwater tank my dad is like no blah blah blah money blah blah blah. .soo my dad continues with his non salt tanks. and we go in one day (when I was either 13 or 14) to get something and hte manager is there and I talk to him and he got me to buy a bag of salt so I went home and put together a 10 gallon tank. I had alreayd been reading up but I was soo happy to of talked my dad into it. So I filled it up got a selinity tester it was perfect blah blah and now almost a yr later I have a 29 gallon tank.



Also anenomes just FACINATED ME...So thats my goal to get a anenome and keep it. I need more lighting and I wil have it when I Get a larger tank. Also I want a Tang


Jacob

 

[EMS503]

Reef tank

Hi all. My story begins like the rest. The part of NJ I live in use to be country (no more), I use to catch Turtles and Bluegills and try to raise them. Then cars and girls came along,. After I got married my wife won a 10 gal. tank at a Chinese auction from a LFS. After seeing the different fish, we graduated to a 20 gal made alot of mistakes but learned from them. Then what I thought would be a real challange a 29 gal plant tank. That went so well I felt I was ready for a reef tank. My wife was ready to give me the boot. But I purchased a 75 gal. tank and had my reef.
Pics in the gallery. Well I didn't get the boot my wife took over the 29 gal. and my son has a 55 gal. plant tank. Of all my hobbies this one I love the best.

 

[SleeplessLwd]

I started with a 45 gallon fresh water tank several years back. I got rid of that because I didn't have time to keep up with it. Then several years later I tried to win a 10 gallon tank for my friend's son at a chinese auction. Instead she won it. After watching them set it up, I decided to get a small tank myself. I started with a 5 gallon tank, but it was too small. Then went to a 10 gallon tank. Then I decided I wanted a bigger tank, so I got a 20 gallon hexagon tank. I'd never reccomend one of those to anyone. It was a disaster. Then I got a regular 20 gallon tank. But I still wasn't happy. So I went to a 30 gallon tank. Then I decided the problem was I didn't want fresh water I wanted salt, and not just fish I wanted corals too. It was more attractive. So I started my 30 gallon reef. I've had it up for 2 1/2 years now. It's the perfect size. Not too much work and just enough in it to make it look good.

 

[BettWalker]

My first fish was "Popeye" a beautiful fantail goldfish and I was six. It was my full responsibility. Well, many more goldfish followed thru the years of growing up. When I became a Mom, when my youngest son was old enough to accept the responsibility, we each got 10gal FW tanks. When we moved, many years later, (my son was gone to college) I bought a 29gal FW. This tank went back & forth from my house to a friend's for years as each of us would tire of the hobby and the other one would take the tank back. All during these years, I wanted to try a SW, but was afraid to begin. Finally took the plunge 4months ago. Really enjoying. Have a lot to learn and you guys are so much help.

BTW, it's fun reading all the posts on this subject.

 

[reefrunner69]

This topic has been made a sticky, so it will sta at the top of the forum. Great topic Johnny, good work!!

 

[jupiter]

$40

I got $40 for Christmas one year and I wanted to spend it on something. Voila!

 

[tyler]

what made me want a reef tank? you bastards, that's what. i think i may start a nano coming up here. i think nano's are delightful, and i have nothing but time to give it. i'm actually going to take my time on this one, but i'll keep you guys posted.

 

[reefrunner69]

what made me want a reef tank? you bastards, that's what. i think i may start a nano coming up here.

We're here for ya Dawg

 

[glstine]

I've always had fish, since as long as I can remember. My mom bought me a tank (must have been about 5 gallons) when I was probably 6 or 7 and ever since I have had fish, always freshwater. I'd always wanted a saltwater tank since the first time I ever saw a trigger fish in a LFS. I always imagined they were to difficult and expensive, and nobody ever seemed interested in fish. About 3 weeks ago, my wife and I were eating in a seafood restaraunt and she was admiring their tanks. She innocently said the words, "we should do a saltwater tank". The next day I was getting an old 30 gallon tank out of the attic and moving our cichlids upstairs into my son's room. Last saturday we put some damsels and live rock in the tank and we are both excited. What was really exciting was my wife said if we were successful with this we could try a 100+ gallon setup. I think that was only because she wants an eel. Anyways, even with just the damsels and live rock I spend a great deal of time staring into the aquarium. I can't wait till the cycling is over.

 

[Toomanyfish]

Been keeping various freshwater since I was a kid, then about 2 1/2 yrs ago, I just felt I was ready to try. I've been getting various fish mags for years, so I ended up going through old mags and reading all the salt articles again.....
I set up my first SW tank 2yrs ago and I love every minute of it!

 

[MaggiesGame]

Growing up "on the water" started this for me as a very small child. We lived on the Gulf, and I started shrimping with my brother at age 9. I LOVED IT. But everytime that net dropped on the deck of the boat, instead of seeing shrimp, my focus was always on the dead fish, the many seahorses, starfish, and puffers. That always broke my heart to see. One day (I was married by this time) I actually came across a seahorse that was alive. Instead of putting it back, I decided I was going to try and keep it. A friend had S/W tanks, so I took it there for them to raise. Well, 3 days later, there were babies everywhere! I was hooked then, and that was 22 years ago.

 

[Silentrob21]

Ever since I was a little kid Ive had fish. Like everyone else I started with goldfish in the little round bowls. When I like 8 or 9 I got a ten gallon aquarium at a yard sale and kept various wild fw fish in it. Then later down the road I bought a ten gallon tank from Wal-Mart, it turned out to be a bad deal so I brought it back and went to a lfs and bought a 20 gallon tank (which I still have in use) and made it a fw tank. I conquered fw and decided to move up to the bigger challeges of sw. So I converted my fw tank to sw. About 2 months ago I was given a 55 gallon tank with all the goodies and Im workin on turning it into a sw tank. My tanks are coming along fine and Im hooked on aquariums for life!

 

[hisc1ay]

I always liked fish, but never kept any. Then I got a 5.5 gallon from my uncle when I went away to college. He had some guppies that he needed to move, so he let me have his old tank and the guppies. I took them to school, and bought a few neons and a betta from WalMart. Vinny (the betta) was the best fish I ever had. He used to kiss me through the tank. It was adorable.

I've had a tank pretty much since. I stayed with that 5.5 for a while, and then in summer '01 my cousin decided he wanted to get into saltwater, so he gave me his old 10gal freshy. I kept that for a while with some mollies, tried my hand at keeping plants (the mollies ate them all), and then graduated this past May. When I got back home, my other cousin gave me another 10 gallon. I'm working on that one now, and I'm gonna try the plant thing again.

Two weeks ago, a guy my dad works with said "I have a 20 gallon tank and a stand in my garage. If you want it, come and get it." So I did. It's a long, and I decided I wanted to try to get a mini reef going in it. I just got all the 3-year-old rocks and crap out of it, now I have to clean it all up and make it look new. Then I get to start my adventure! I'm glad I found you all when I did, too. You'll save me from many mistakes, I'm sure.

-j

 

[New2Salt]

Both my husband and I grew up with aquariums in the house, and the funny thing was both our fathers had oscars. After our first child was about 3 we decided to get him a couple 7 cent gold fish knowing that wouldn't last long, well the first one didn't last long at all, but the other lasted 5 years, he outlived all our fresh water fish. We went from having a bowl to 3 aquariums, one had cichlids that populated so much it was hard to clean the tank for fear we'd vacuum one of them up. We finally got down to one tank after remodeling our downstairs and got a nice stand and wouldn't you know it about 2 months after buying the nice stand the goldfish that had lasted 5 plus years and was in a 29 gallon tank by her or his self (never did figure out what sex it was) and being that the fish had gotten about 8 inches long, it died. SO, I told my husband, lets try salt and after a lot of reading here we are, we are finding it hard (the waiting part) and exciting, and yes it's expensive especially when you have two small boys but it's fun and educational for them and us!

Thanks for putting this up!

Kaurene and John

 

[kribbz]

first i made a stupid buy with a 10 gallon tank and an oscar. i learned really quick that he wasn't going to last long in a 10 so i bought a 75 gallon for him. then i went away to college and came home one weekend after i had just gotten a paycheck. me and my girlfriend went to the lfs and i decided i would start a saltwater tank. so i bought a 20 gallon tank and some live rock and there you go. now its an ADDICTION!!!