A little about yourself

[Mr Fishface]

I got to thinking; wouldn't it be nice for our secret santas to know a bit about us? What are favorite brands are or a little bit of info about who we are? I thought I could kick us off and perhaps you can join below!

A little about me. Well I am a 27 year old married man living in Idaho. I love Idaho very very much. I enjoy doing all things outdoors like hunting, fishing, snowshoeing, hiking, camping and I used to love backpacking before my hip surgery. I am an art teacher at an elementary school so I teach kindergarten through 8th grade. I do love art and find it to be a relaxing side hobby. The bad part of being a teacher is the pay LOL. Things take me a long time to save up for and, when I do, I still have to get off brands or used items. I love BRS and watch them all the time. So some BRS swag would be a sweet treat Oreos are my go to snack. I love the limited flavors and try the new things they come out with every now and then. I play a video game called Runescape in my free time. I've played it for over 15 years now and still love it!

Some goals of mine: I am trying to fill my tank with corals. I am lucky if I can afford a single frag a month so it's taking a long long time to fill my 125g. I am trying to save up for a used apex or something similar one day. I have also been trying to save up so I can get a small school of anthias fish. They are one of my favorite fish along with blue/green chromis. I just love fish that can show a schooling effect and ironically I have neither. Another goal is to get a longhorn cowfish. Love those little guys but every time I want to place an order online they are never in stock! I have had a boxfish for quite a while now and just adore him. I find additives to be really helpful but they suck the money right out of me. So Another goal would be to stock up on some part 1 and 2 additives or things like carbon, biopellets, and GFO.

I hope this helps my secret santa! What kinds of things would you like your secret santa to know about yourself?

 

[Santa Claus]

This is a great idea!! Thanks for starting this thread!!

 

[Zos4me]

I'm 46 and a parts manager at a jeep dealer. I have a 40 breeder and I love softies. Torches hammers and the like. My tank is still new(long story) but I'm getting there. Still learning . I have a davinci clown and a sailfin tang.they get along well. My next purchase will probably be an anemone for the clown but we will see. I love zoanthids as well and want my tank to be dominant with those eventually. I'm not sure what to expect with the secret santa thing but it sounds really cool to me and I want to participate. Always better to give.
Thanks

 

[motortrendz]

I'm mike, I'm married and have a 1 year old daughter and an american bulldog named nitro.. I'm a dealer tech for chevrolet, I love automobilia, old signs and garage art. As a hobby o make live edge river tables and decorative pieces. I have a 90ish gallon corner tank and I'm a big acropora fan.. my other hobby is cooking. I'm a semi professional chef, self taught but love learning new recipes and experimenting with rubs and marinades on grilled meats.

 

[Zos4me]

I also run gas and nitro powered RC boats

 

[Suggsreef]

I’m Ally, I’m 25 and have autism so I get disability (pay sucks). I’m always making a deal to get a new piece for my tank. Besides my tank I enjoy getting tattoos, I have my ears stretched. (Yes I look like one of those new age punks.... but I’m really one of the nicest people you will ever meet, would give a stranger my last dollar).
I have 4 cats (Karma,Voodoo, Peach and Lucky)
2 dogs (Nola and Dude)
I’ve had all kinds of pets from hedgehogs to bearded dragons to rats.... it always comes back to the fish.
Even on a budget I decided I wanted to do secret Santa this year because it would be awesome getting a gift from someone who knows the hobby besides myself. Plus I always look forward to mail and packages.

 

[Reef-junky]

I’m Ally, I’m 25 and have autism so I get disability (pay sucks). I’m always making a deal to get a new piece for my tank. Besides my tank I enjoy getting tattoos, I have my ears stretched. (Yes I look like one of those new age punks.... but I’m really one of the nicest people you will ever meet, would give a stranger my last dollar).
I have 4 cats (Karma,Voodoo, Peach and Lucky)
2 dogs (Nola and Dude)
I’ve had all kinds of pets from hedgehogs to bearded dragons to rats.... it always comes back to the fish.
Even on a budget I decided I wanted to do secret Santa this year because it would be awesome getting a gift from someone who knows the hobby besides myself. Plus I always look forward to mail and packages.

Hey if you don’t mind I would love to have your input for this post as my son has autism as well.

Thanks

Autism friendly activity’s

My son being on the spectrum and people not knowing about all the things you can do made me think to start place where we can post things. https://disneyaddicts.com/seaworld-orlandos-aquatica-first-water-park-designated-as-a-certified-autism-center-273678/...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Stang67]

Hi all! My name is Becky and I am a Newbie. I started my first SW tank 29g in April. I am working on upgrading to a 60g low boy in the future. I live in Cleveland OH and the weather here just started to get crappy. I am looking forward to my first winter with my reef tank. I love zoas because of all the different colors but also have a little bit of everything in the tank right now. Excited about getting the 60g set up so i have more room and can get a few more fish. I only have 3 at the moment. One thing that is on my wish list is one of those magnifying viewers that let you see your coral better and some frag racks. I recently just fragged my first zoas so i need some more room. I am not married no kids and live on my own with my cat, dog and salt/fresh fish. Winters are hard on my and so are the holidays so this will be fun for a change. I cant wait to join in and have some fun. Let me know if i can answer any other questions for you!

 

[EmilyXLC]

Hi all!

My name is Emily! I have been in & out of the hobby for around 16 years now. I set up my very first saltwater aquarium with my father when I was young & to say the least, I was captivated. I now work in the industry, which has blessed me tremendously with so many resources for everything hobby-related. My team is my family and my hobby is literally what puts food on the table.

I am VERY into instagram (my username is mother._.puffer) & it’s something that I look forward to posting on as often as I am able. I like to share things about our resident pufferfish, food & nerdy things.

I live in central Florida, but I was born & raised on a 250+ acre farm in northern Alabama— just minutes from the TN state line. While my favorite fish is, & I cannot stress this enough, literally every pufferfish ever, my favorite land animal is the opossum.

I am SO excited over the opportunity to make new hobby friends so please don’t hesitate to reach out! I promise I don’t bite.

 

[don_chuwish]

Hello all Santas! I've been in the hobby now for enough years that I've lost count. Originally set up a tank for my young daughter at the wife's suggestion. They both like the tanks but I'm the one that ended up obsessed.
I like my systems simple - well at least relatively simple. DIY stand, Aqueon 120G, basic sump, filter socks, skimmer, lighted refugium, dosers, Apex Lite, and a semi-DIY LED-T5 hybrid light setup. No crazy expensive lights, no 'reef ready' out of the box setup, no calcium reactor or auto water changer.
I like the fish and corals but also get a kick out of the system design and upgrade stuff.
Looking forward to this whole Secret Santa thing, but I should be careful that I don't put more thought into the gift than I do my own family's gifts! Could be tricky.

 

[don_chuwish]

Hi all!

My name is Emily!
I live in central Florida ...

So jealous of you Floridians in the hobby! Not only close to the beach but also all the great suppliers in the business.

 

[EmilyXLC]

So jealous of you Floridians in the hobby! Not only close to the beach but also all the great suppliers in the business.

Ohhhh, yes! It’s been less than a year here but I really do love it. I spend quite a bit of time at Living Reef Orlando & Worldwide Corals! Unfortunately my beach time has been minimal but I do hope to change that soon.

 

[TN_Huskymama]

Hi y’all
I am a 45 year old single mom of 4 human kids (ages 13 to 28), 1 fluffy kid (Siberian husky), a snake, a bearded dragon, and 3 fish. Also grandma to 2 more fluffy kids (a Siberian husky and a mix breed husky/lab).
I work for the Dept of Veterans Affairs in the sterile processing dept and have been in healthcare since I was 16.
I took on the reef hobby 5 months ago and while challenging, I still love it! It just brings me so much pleasure to sit and watch my tank evolve!
Outside of work, kids, and the hobby I don’t really do too much. The kids and I are alittle adventurous and love to travel or find some crazy odd things to do like touring Waverly Hills at night, Ohio State Penitentiary (where Shawshank was filmed), water falls, hiking, kayaking, etc.

 

[sfin52]

Hello my name is Stefan. I'm married to my lovely wife Heather for 17yrs. I'm 40 according to my youngest, I'm old but not grandpa old. We have3 kids. 15g,14b,12b.

I work for orkin as a commerical tech. Reason for my tag , so many bugs so little time.

i have three tanks. 50g fw 75g reef and a 55 fowlr.my reef tank is full of leathers. Im starting to fill in the gaps with zoanthids for color. Heather gave me my 75g reef for Christmas back in 2014.

 

[X-37B]

62 year old stick head. Started in the late 80's.
Live in northern ca.
19 years chemical engineer in silicon valley.
13 years automobile sales and management.
Currently class A driver for a shipping company going on 7+ years.
Current 120
45 frag tank almost ready
3 cats
10 snakes
Hunt, fish
Trained german shepards in the schutzund sport in the past.
Motorcycle enthusiest since pre licence age.
Last bike 03 cbr954
Miss that bike.
18 year old daugher
Wife is an artist who dose weld art, drawing, painting.
She has been at it since she was 4. Very tallented.

 

[MrWheelock]

I'll join in and bump this thread up #SecretSanta2019
I'm Glen, 30 years old and i currently reside in Florida but grew up in Wisconsin.
I've been in the military since 2007 and am currently a H-60 Blackhawk Technical Inspector.
I also work for an electronics company that makes electronics for defense contracts.
I started reefing in 2016 and I can say it is by far the best hobby I have ever had.
My wife also enjoys reefing, and will be helping me with some secret santa gifts as I'm currently in Iraq on my 3rd deployment.
Cant wait to see who I get paired with, reading through gives me so many ideas on what to give!
I did make a decent wishlist on the elfster app, but dont by any means expect everything.

Happy Reefing and Merry Christmas!
Glen

 

[Jon Fishman]

John, with an “H”

Turn 41 tomorrow......

Never had a fish of any kind until this year..... jumped in pretty fast I guess

Always gravitate towards the unusual/different. Have a couple of dogs (Dogo Argentino and Boston Terrier named David Bowie and Boy George). Had a 14’ Albino Burmese, Ferret, Chinchillas, etc over the years. Plan to get an Ocelot from a breeder once the dogs are not in the picture but that is many years away.

I have 2 kids that I know of, and It’s time for school, so that’s all I have time for this morning!

 

[Aldemirgen]

Hi I'm Cagdas 36 years old and living in Izmir,Turkey working as Software developer around 11 year now.
i do have a lovely Zoo veterinarian wife and 2 years old Lil daughter really love to watch and talk about our new reef tank even she love watching working Conch's in ugly state oh have 2 beaded dragon and 1 dachshund(Wiener dog gonna be better may be?) furry boy

i never have saltwater aquarium till last month but i finally find courage and jump in so really newbie but i really like here and read around all the time for information i am the guy kinda obsessed with hobbies when i want to do something i want to do best way in possible so will see i am going to sell my house for reefing or not for more budget even my daughter start to recognize R2R website because it is open all the time "mommy daddy looking fishes again" yells time to time

except our new hobby as a family we really like to go camping or go around with RV and travel if i am at home and everyone sleep it is gaming time for me i really love gaming

 

[MrsBugmaster]

This is my first secret santa and I'm excited to participate.
My name is Amanda and I have been in the salt hobby for 11 years now. I'm married to my wonderful husband for 20 years now. (Second marriage) I have a daughter who is a senior in high school and twin grandkids (8yrs old) that live in Florida. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, but since 2011 it is now a very difficult time of the year for me (see my signature) but I still love this time of year and the giving spirit. I use to work in accounting and office management until I married my husband and have been a stay at home mom ever since. I also dog sit in my home and all of that money gets to go to my fish tanks!

We love to travel and spend time with family. We have a dog, African Grey parrot, and a budgie (parakeet), along with my 34 gal reef tank and 180 FOWLR tank. I would have to say that acans and anemones are probably my favorite corals. Not sure if this classifies as a hobby, but my husband and I enjoy going to different breweries and trying all the new wonderful beers available.

I do have fairly good wish list up on elfster, but keep thinking of more and more things I could add. lol

Merry Christmas to all.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I'll join in and bump this thread up #SecretSanta2019
I'm Glen, 30 years old and i currently reside in Florida but grew up in Wisconsin.
I've been in the military since 2007 and am currently a H-60 Blackhawk Technical Inspector.
I also work for an electronics company that makes electronics for defense contracts.
I started reefing in 2016 and I can say it is by far the best hobby I have ever had.
My wife also enjoys reefing, and will be helping me with some secret santa gifts as I'm currently in Iraq on my 3rd deployment.
Cant wait to see who I get paired with, reading through gives me so many ideas on what to give!
I did make a decent wishlist on the elfster app, but dont by any means expect everything.

Happy Reefing and Merry Christmas!
Glen

Thank you for your service!