Hi everyone. I’ve recently jumped back into R2R after disappearing for much of the last four years. I was about to start getting back to welcoming new members when I realized there are many new faces in the “welcome crew” and R2R in general. So why not re-introduce myself again.
I’m from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Fortunately, my wife is very supportive of the hobby… though that may not be the case if she knew exactly how much I’ve spent over the years. I have an 8 year old daughter who takes up much of my free time and two goldendoodles.
I started my 90 gallon mixed reef back in 2018. I’ve learned quite a bit over the years and still have much to learn. My tank hit its peak in the later summer of 2023. Then that fall, I lost three fish while away on vacation due to equipment issues. It started a slow domino effect and coupled with a decline in maintenance due to tearing my MCL, ACL, PCL, and meniscus last year, I experienced my first ever crash last summer. At the end of everything, I was left with 2 soft coral and 3 fish.
I gave up. I had made my mind up to start shutting down and revisit the hobby later in life. I started selling some unused things, but then I made a complete 180 in January. I think having the pain of the tank crash further behind me helped motivate me again. I’ve decided to not only revive my tank, but set up a dedicated coral quarantine tank and a separate frag tank rather than using my main tank.
Looking forward getting back into the fun at R2R and learning about everything I’ve missed over the last 4 years. Hope nothing is more shocking than the prices of fish and coral these days.
I’m from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Fortunately, my wife is very supportive of the hobby… though that may not be the case if she knew exactly how much I’ve spent over the years. I have an 8 year old daughter who takes up much of my free time and two goldendoodles.
I started my 90 gallon mixed reef back in 2018. I’ve learned quite a bit over the years and still have much to learn. My tank hit its peak in the later summer of 2023. Then that fall, I lost three fish while away on vacation due to equipment issues. It started a slow domino effect and coupled with a decline in maintenance due to tearing my MCL, ACL, PCL, and meniscus last year, I experienced my first ever crash last summer. At the end of everything, I was left with 2 soft coral and 3 fish.
I gave up. I had made my mind up to start shutting down and revisit the hobby later in life. I started selling some unused things, but then I made a complete 180 in January. I think having the pain of the tank crash further behind me helped motivate me again. I’ve decided to not only revive my tank, but set up a dedicated coral quarantine tank and a separate frag tank rather than using my main tank.
Looking forward getting back into the fun at R2R and learning about everything I’ve missed over the last 4 years. Hope nothing is more shocking than the prices of fish and coral these days.
