Been too long...Glad to be making my way back into the hobby

Ruben's Reef · Oct 10, 2019

!!! Welcome to R2R and Welcome to Tampa @waywardreefer !!!

Daniel@R2R · Oct 10, 2019

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

smartwater101 · Oct 10, 2019

rodney · Oct 10, 2019

Thank you for your service!!! Welcome to R2R!

Bryson.bobby · Oct 10, 2019

Welcome to R2R

Jeto2004 · Oct 12, 2019

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Way to go.....collecting gear like Pokémon or nuts like squirrels for the winter....

reef lover · Oct 12, 2019

Welcome to r2r!

P-Dub · Oct 12, 2019

Welcome to R2R and thank you for your service. Reefkeeping becomes so much easier when you retire and don't have to PCS all the time. Good to have a cohort in the hobby and hopefully your wife will get into it as much as you. It sure makes any future deployments more manageable. Looking forward to the build when you finally get a round tuit.

waywardreefer · Oct 12, 2019

P-Dub said:
Welcome to R2R and thank you for your service. Reefkeeping becomes so much easier when you retire and don't have to PCS all the time. Good to have a cohort in the hobby and hopefully your wife will get into it as much as you. It sure makes any future deployments more manageable. Looking forward to the build when you finally get a round tuit.

I'm definitely looking forward to the future stability of retirement for sure! I'm just glad the job in Tampa is a 4-yr controlled, so I have that going for me.

Mastiffsrule · Oct 13, 2019

Welcome. Great pix and info. Can never get enough pics.

R0nald_J · Nov 29, 2020

waywardreefer said:
Thanks for your service and congrats on the new assignment in Florida. I just got stationed at GFAFB and I have decided to start my new tank here in housing. I am also a gym rat, but not nearly as dedicated as you are. I am just getting started back into the hobby since leaving Germany, and I am having a hard time finding reef support in the Grand Forks area. Did you ever find anyone here that was into the hobby? The only saltwater/coral LPS in the area is in the mall, but it is very limited. I would be interested to see how your tank progresses as we are both transitioning from FOWLR tanks to the reef world.
Best of luck to us both...

G Santana · Nov 29, 2020

Welcome aboard from an old soilder!!!

R0nald_J · Nov 29, 2020

I like the picture. I was just reading up on dosing copper a few days ago.

ShepherdReefer · Nov 29, 2020

waywardreefer said:
Hello everyone! Glad to be starting back in the hobby and happy to be a supporter of R2R and partner as of this afternoon.

I'm active duty military and move around a lot. I started the hobby when I was stationed in Hawaii with a 55 gallon FOWLR I bought used on the island (2012). After my time in HI was done (2013), I was stationed in Colorado and that's when/where I got my first reef tank. When I was at MACNA in Denver (2014), I was able to pickup an IM30L from the AI guys on the floor and it all started from there. I spent some time with the crew from the Southern Colorado Marine Aquarist Society while there. Toward the end of my tour in Colorado I had to breakdown everything, sell it off, and move...divorce..etc...etc.. Since then I have been stationed in Grand Forks in North Dakota and haven't had the chance/opportunity to setup a tank yet due to deployments...

NOW I'm about to head down to Tampa for at least the next 4 years and its time to start a new build and a new tank! New wife, new life, new base, new reef! I've been slowly collecting equipment like pokemon and will hopefully be starting a build in early spring of '20 once I have moved (~ January).

Some tidbits about me:

Married my best friend. She's amazing, my rock, and absolutely supports my reef bug

In between my tanks, I got into photography for a while...I'm looking forward to syncing the two up together...there was a ton of great info out there in the Photography Forum...definately check it out if you haven't already. Since I haven't had a tank after getting my camera, I practice a lot at Zoos...way easier than people for sure...here are a few of my favs...

I'm a gym rat...wasn't always that way for sure...but gotta get it in! Not young anymore, so had to make some better life decisions in my mid 30s...so turned it around and never looking back. Open to fitness/nutrition advice for anyone interested. I'm getting my Masters in Exercise Science & Sports Management #carnivore #steaksnotcakes #zerocarb #meatheals

And had the chance to ran into these two icons at Denver MACNA back in '14 @Ryanbrs

My old MACNA haul...since I lived in Colorado Springs at the time, they let me take all the free water I could carry off the floor...came out of there with an IM30L w/Stand, Reactor, Ghost Skimmer, Neotherm Heater, & 60 gallons of water for $400 cash...sweet deal at the time

An old shot of my first FOWLR when I was back in HI

Glad you are back, tank super nice