Curiosity kills the cat, what makes people want to start a reef tank?

[Sabellafella]

Hello all my friends,


So this forum has been truly amazing and aspiring, (I would say much more, but those who read my posts know it would turn into a novel). I have seen everything from builds, to sickness, to meet and greet, to you can make it, except one thing.

I see and talk to all these wonderful people, who have a vast amount of knowledge and are all very gifted. But, one thing I have yet to see, and I have seen very few and that is; What inspires one to have a reef tank? What prompted them, what lit the spark, the drive and excitement? How did all these wonderful people start into this amazing hobby? I think it would be awesome and Inspiring to new people and experts to see different reasons and views, which may open new doors for others.

As some may know, my love started with my sophomore year in high school. My advanced placement biology teacher choose to set up a saltwater tank for the class room. The week prior we studied ecosystems and we spent a lot of time studing the Great Barrier Reef. By the end of it; every student was amazed, and just had to have one. Do to the cost, the teacher bless her heart actually purchased one for the class room.

If memory serves me correctly, it was only 75 I believe could be wrong but I know for certain it was smaller than a 90. She made all of us, (split into groups and we all had a special task). Since sadly I was the nerd of the group, lol every group ended up coming to me for help. This is what really started the spark in the dry twigs and toilet paper (save my life little fire).

My teacher noticed that I was spending more and more time on it, in which she gave me further information etc. She was able to get me passes to the aquariums and I spent lots of time at the library. When summer csme, between summer classes, I volunteered at the aquarium where my love grew even more. When our classroom tank stated it’s own life, I was mesmerized by it. I did most of the work (main things before and after school, I took it on as my own).

After about 2 months, most of the other students still liked it, but had other interests. Another girl and I, were the first to start putting coral in that our parents bought for us. By the time I graduated, it had turned into a gorgeous reef tank. At that time, I was off to college and honestly it broke my heart i couldn’t be part of it any more. As a sophomore in college (yes I skipped my whole freshman year, took all those classes in high school) I was still required to live in the dorms.

Now living in the dorms, well enough said but my parents noticied how badly I missed the saltwater experience and all my critters. So they pulled some strings for me to move off campus. Once they did this, they told me I was moving off campus so I could have more privacy for my studie. When they showed me my new place, they had a surprise for me. ( earlier my dad and I went shopping for the giggles of it). We went to the local fish store and I saw a used 125, with everything needed except lights for 300. Basically I was like a little girl on Xmas morning. Well when they showed me my new home, he had bought that for me. From that moment on, my love for this hobby has only gone up.

I hope to hear how others became so in love with this hobby. Of course lol it doesn’t have to be a novel like mine, but just makes me wonder what started the spark, the drive to have a small ocean in our homes.

Sarah

I really enjoyed reading that Lol! I had a few local stores around me when I was growing up. Sitting in the store for about 3 hours at a time and it all just fascinated me, still does. Had a little break in the hobby during college. Now I'm positive I'll always have a reef in my home. I'm still the kid that thinks its Christmas Everytime I go to a shop, that excitement alone is just one of the small amazing parts of the hobby that keeps it going.

 

[fish farmer]

I'm a fish geek, been a fish geek since the mid 70's when I was little. I saw Jaws when it came out in the theater! I was fascinated with sharks and the ocean.

A family friend who happened to be science teacher started unloading his class tanks on me around 1980 when I was 10. I had metal framed/slate bottomed fresh tanks well into the early 90's usually keeping local baitfish, crayfish, and sunfish. The first saltwater tank was bought for me by the same person in the early 80's. It was a 20 gallon high, UG filter/hang on filter. Most fish died, locally caught crabs and minnows did ok. I brough whatever I could back from the beach. I even found a baby skate once. The most success I had with this tank was buying an octopus for $30. She did fine for a couple of months dining on all my crabs. She laid eggs in her conch shell in October...and they hatched! For a few days I had baby octos floating around my tank. I even brought eggs to the LFS and one hatched in front of them. My Mom called the New England Aquarium for advice and told us to try brine shrimp nauplii. Of course they didn't have a chance in my system and were gone in a couple of days. The adult died on Halloween. I tried another octo later that winter but it didn't make it so I converted the tank into freshwater.

My next attempt at saltwater was in college, late 80's. I was studying Aquaculture and Fisheries Technology at the University of Rhode Island. Dorm limit was 20 gallons, so I set up a 20 high again. I stocked it too heavy and ammonia got out of control. I moved off campus and tried again with a 38 gal. The tank sprung a leak while I was away for winter break. My house mate rescued what he could, but I shut things down for the next semester. The final semester was when trickle filters were all the rage so I set up a new 38gal with a DIY trickle filter and started packing it with fish. It did really well. I tore it down in 1991 when I started travelling for my career. During my college years I had taken a trip to DC. I got to check out the Smithsonian Institutes Coral Reef Microcosm that Walter Adey had running in the late 80's, I was blown away. This is what I wanted to build when I grow up. There were some other aquarium displays at the other aquarium in town, that were equally inspiring.

I started my current reefing hobby in 2000, starting with the 38 gallon again and DIY trickle(pulled the balls this time). Many would think I would tire of fish stuff since I work at a trout hatchery, but saltwater is different than trout, especially in Vermont. We are several hours from the ocean, although there is a fossilized coral reef a few hours north of me in the Champlain Valley.

 

[dede]

Admired a family member's tank and wanted to get my own. One year now in the hobby now.

 

[andrewkw]

My sister wanted to get fiddler crabs. I was helping her research there care and found out they are actually brackish not freshwater like how the pet store sold them. She lost interest I turned that 15 gallon tank into a nano reef, and that was 13 years ago and I haven't looked back.

One final note is that 15 gallon eventually did get fiddler crabs. I used them as feeders for an Octopus.

 

[Sarah24!]

Lol Good morning all,

This thread just keeps getting better and better, as I read. Love the stories, truly simply amazing on how each person remembers exactly how they became involved. A lot of these stories are so funny, I look back and wonder gosh did I do that as a kid also?

(@ Fishfarmer and Andrewkw) I have always wanted an octopus, badly but really badly after the movie finding Dory. The only problem is they are escape geniuses. Anything they can fit their arm through, and they are on the run, lol just like in the movie. But still a strong passion to get one.

Gosh I look and read theses posts and I was born in 93 (can’t believe I just said that) but when I see people starting this in the 80s lol and 70s lol. It shows that this has been a passionate hobby for decades. Oh and gosh seeing the movie Jaws on a huge theatre most have been terrifying.

I have dreamed of going to see some of the aquariums by the DC area and NewYork area, it will happen soon. It would be amazing to check out the Smithsonian Institute’s coral reef.
Everytime I have volunteered at other major Aquariums some have had things that were on loan on display from there.

Awesome experiences I love reading them all, everyone lol maybe I wasn’t the only fish nerd when I was 12.

 

[ca1ore]

I think it involves a particularly insidious form of madness.

 

[andrewkw]

Lol Good morning all,
I have always wanted an octopus, badly but really badly after the movie finding Dory. The only problem is they are escape geniuses. Anything they can fit their arm through, and they are on the run, lol just like in the movie. But still a strong passion to get one.

Not to go OT but it's your thread. Not all species are escape geniuses. I kept 2 different O.Briareus and neither showed any inclination to escape. I had a screen on top with 2x4's holding it down but if they wanted out they certainly could have gone that way or through the overflow. They were great at hiding especially as babies but I never worried about them getting out once they got established.

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

My husband always said he wanted an aquarium. I wanted to get him something special for his 50th. Bought him a 20 gallon aquarium from Petsmart. Got all the decorations filters etc. He decided he wanted saltwater. Took everything back and bought a 55 gallon instead. I knew absolutely nothing about this hobby. Thought we could fill it with water, add some salt and add fish and anything else we wanted. We asked a lot of questions and I did a ton of research. Made a lot of mistakes but 4 years later, we both still love the hobby.

 

[cracker]

My Senior year ,1979, we all had science projects. My partner Mike & I decided to show that live oyster could filter & an aquarium. we went to the ocean & collected a big cluster of oyster Etc well the experiment was a total failure LOL .The oyster all died & destroyed every thing ! Iv'e been keeping aquariums of some sort since then !

 

[Sarah24!]

My Senior year ,1979, we all had science projects. My partner Mike & I decided to show that live oyster could filter & an aquarium. we went to the ocean & collected a big cluster of oyster Etc well the experiment was a total failure LOL .The oyster all died & destroyed every thing ! Iv'e been keeping aquariums of some sort since then !

Lol Omg that is sooo hilarious lol reminds me of the movie from the 80s My science project. That is truly awesome lol crashed and failed and never looked back or gave up. That’s truely aspiring. I’m curious as to what your teacher thought of all this lol, not to mention fellow classmates.

@Mommalovesherreef, your story is adorable lol and we can all tell by your name that you still love your reef. I bet he cherishes that special once in a life tie gift.

 

[crayon]

In 1992, middle of the recession, both of us are self employed, one kid in diapers and a second on the way. I can still remember the night. It was pouring rain, we had 600.00 cash between us, which was all the money we had in the world to live on, pay the mortgage and buy diapers. We went out to purchase a chest freezer, which happened to be right next door to a Lfs.

We came home with a salt water reef system and no freezer. Idiots. An impulse purchase that we have never regretted.

For us, it became a way to enjoy life and not worry about being broke. Eventually we did get a freezer and eventually the recession stopped.

We are now planning our next build, a custom 11’ tank, close to 800 gallon system.

 

[cracker]

The other students got to grade others project. We got an A for effort but terrible over all ! LOL

 

[MTBake]

My parents kept Oscars and ciclids when I was younger. So I've always had aquariums in my life in one for or another.

What really got me interested in saltwater was the Shed Aquarium in Chicago. I always liked going there for the marine tanks. Especially the beluga whales and seals they had. That was soooo cool to me.

While waiting for a pizza one day, I wondered into a saltwater only fish store and was just blown away by all the colors and corals and fish. I ended up eating the pizza at the store with the owner and a couple employees. I left with a full stomach and the gear required to setup a 65 gallon tank. That was in 2004 and I've kept a tank ever since.

Great thread btw!

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello as I make my bowl of lucky charms yum,

@crayon, your story is awesome and makes people realize that you just have to live life. Instead of buying the freezer thingy, you had a chance to live life, and it has been a great memory for 20 plus years. I’m personally glad you went home with the fish tank lol. It was your good luck charm and now look at you , life works in crazy ways.

@MTBake, I have not been to the aquarium in Chicago but it’s on my list of things to do soon. I was addicted to the Monterey bay aquarium, and San Diego aquarium lol as well as the one in San Fran and Seattle. Loved all the critters
And it only enhanced me further. I’m glad you made this decision specially with pizza.

Also thank you for the lovely comment, and @cracker lol if you make me laugh again while eating lucky charms, and I get a marshmallow stuck up my nose, I’m blaming you.

 

[jrwoltman]

Masochism.

 

[ThunderGoose]

I'm one of "those nerds" who started keeping freshwater in 3rd grade. Since then I've barely been without a tank (I think I missed one year when I was in college) and I've kept up to 6 freshwater tanks at a time. Now I have a 120 planted tank that almost runs itself.

I tried saltwater in college but I had no idea what I was doing and it didn't work out (it's embarrassing to admit this but I tried keeping a lionfish in a 20 gallon - no wonder it didn't work! I still feel a little guilt for that guy. But then I see how invasive they are in the Caribbean and Atlantic and... no so much).

Skip ahead to 2016 and a guy I follow on twitter was posting shots from his tanks. I commented on how hard it was and he let me in on the fact that technology has come a long way. So research, research, research and finally in November I pulled the trigger and ordered my RSR 250 (55 gallons in display). Then I had to get a nano for my desk. And I'm thinking about setting up a species tank for a mantis shrimp...

 

[Why-Me]

Funny how things snowball like that. On top of the 50 cube and my daughter's 20 tall I have yet to set up, I just found the perfect 2g jar for a desktop pico. It now seems all encompassing and never ending lol. Help I need an adult!

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Lol I need help from an adult also getting the lucky charm marshmallow out of my nose lol Urgh. Between you and cracker, I’m gonna turn blue thanks to the little leprechaun and his tasty marshmallows. Yes this hobby is very addicting but everyone’s stories has been amazing. I’m so glad people have responded definitely keep them coming. In light of how funny some of these are, I’ll finish my cereal first.

 

[Don Lidtke]

Having been a lifelong learner thanks to a profession that choose me sysadmin, that required I learn all sorts of OS's, VAX/VMS, SunOS, Solaris, HP/UX and of course many flavors of Linux, along with Mac OS and OS X. I was looking at retirement, trying to figure out what to do now that I had grown up, well gotten older, when my lovely woman reminded me of the fish only tank I had run 26 years ago. Due to family and work I had shut that tank down and gave it to a friend but I always wanted to get back into this hobby.

With moving to a new state and a new house, to be closer to our grandson, with an unfinished basement I had the opportunity to reconsider setting up a tank. Thanks to R2R, YouTube, and well, the internet, I was able to start researching what it would take to setup a reef tank and continued the process of of learning.

The fish room is complete, meaning the basement has been finished, and quarantine tanks are setup so now it's time to focus on the display tank. I have been using the QT's for trial and error on a smaller scale than a DT hoping to limit that number of screw ups I will make on the DT but what's life without mistakes.

Like the time I blew away an entire system thanks to a known "feature" (This is not a bug. It is simply an operational lack of functionality.) in a OS that copied everything from a floppy drive to the hard drive, but only after formatting the hard drive first, because of a null string in the command line. That's when I learned the value of backups, however that is a discussing for another time.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

This an awesome thread!!

I am a certified fish and coral addict lol. I started with freshwater way back in Jr. High and have been keeping reefs since the early 90's. I have always been a nature lover and I think my interest in aquariums started with wanting to keep some of the little sunfish I caught fishing. I love trying new things and I have kept so many different freshwater fish over the years. Then I decided I need a challenge and started researching saltwater and have never looked back. I have often wondered why there aren't more women in this hobby. I am often the only woman at club meetings so it is cool to see so many posting on this forum.