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

[Night_shift_reefer_]

My love for saltwater came from actually working as a Wastewater treatment operator. The systems are so similar and it helps me become better at my career and have a passion for cleaning water even more. Love being able to clean water knowing it will eventually reach the ocean.

 

[curiouser]

I enjoyed watching nature and wanting to understand the "why" since I can remember. As a "senior citizen" now I see some kids also asking why. Maybe that curiosity is inborn. Then there's a hook that grabs attention and produces joy. Maybe for reefers that hook is the astonishing beauty of the reef, or a slice of reef in our tanks. Or maybe the desire and the tools to understand the mechanisms underlying that beauty. Or likely a combination of all of the above. One's curiosity can dive in as deep as one desires. With a strong background in science one can investigate the physics, chemistry, biology, behavior, etc of one's piece of reef in one's tank. Without a strong science background one can still investigate whatever about the reef fascinates them, and still get the same joy as the science lover.
Beauty and curiosity and the joy of finding things out tie it all together for me. And to top it off we can make changes in our reef tanks and see the results for ourselves. We become the creators of the new, hopefully even more beautiful, reef. We see our ideas show themselves in the resulting reef. Like painting a beautiful picture.

 

[Seahorse man]

My parents kept a 55gal freshwater ever since I was born. They had no clue what they were doing, so they went through quite a few fish.;Meh
Then we decided to visit LA last January. We flew down there, planning on spending a few days at the beach, and a huge storm hit. We decided that we would go to the aquarium for a few hours to waste a day, and I didn't really enjoy it at first, until I saw this one tank. It was probably 800 gallons, and it was filled with seahorses. Those amazing creatures are what started it all for me. I stared at them for close to 3 hours, and when we got home I started to research them, because I wanted some of my own so badly. I never did get any, but i will do it! Now have a 55 gallon reef, 3 10 gallon freshwater, a 45 gallon saltwater FOWLR, and a 5 gallon nano/qt tank, and it's been barely a year. My parents are supportive, but I've been officialy cut off from getting more tanks!

 

[Forsaken77]

I started when I was 15 with a freshwater South American Cichlid tank that was all predators. This was before the internet and I had so many cool freshwater fish that were violently aggressive (wolf fish, black piranha, snake head, ect..). Sadly, the tank was neglected as I was to busy out partying at 17, and everything died, or the piranha ate them, then died.

Then at 22, still before good internet, I missed my fish tank and decided to go into saltwater predators. And just how pet stores don't tell you how big a fish can get, I had waaay to many fish in a 72 bow tank. I figured that pet stores wouldn't sell fish that couldn't fit in a tank and they didn't tell me any different because they were all baby fish.

I had a volitan lion fish, a panther grouper, blue-lined grouper, a harlequin tusk, long-horned cow fish, dog faced puffer, porcupine puffer, clown trigger, niger trigger, picasso trigger, a wrasse, and a frog fish all in that tank. I even hatched a baby cat shark from an egg in my sump.

I never had any issues with the fish, all my parameters were spot on despite minimal maintenance. The more unusual the fish, the more I liked it. I fed them live glass/ghost shrimp and flakes. And all of those predators ate flakes, lol.

The tank was up for 3-4 years and then sprung a leak at the bottom corner seam when I was out. I came home to 70 gallons of saltwater in a carpeted, finished basement. My mother was sooo mad because rugs had to be ripped up, ect.

After that I took a very long break. Lived life, established myself, and came back to it. I'm not a coral person, it's the fish that interest me, obviously predator fish because they have so much more personality than community fish.

So now I have a 180 that's almost finished and some fish in a 93 cube. I may end up putting some NPS corals in there. But I've been slowly buying all the best equipment along the way.

So that's my story.
And you look exactly like my younger sister, to a T, except she lives in NYC.

 

[Mkus]

I’ve also been a fish enthusiast for as long as I can remember my planted 29 gal was awesome!
Then I got my first nano 2008 which now has become my 24 and my clown is now 10 years old! And most of my coral is around that age age or older frags from friends.

 

[Mkus]

Hi I’ve always kept fish as long as I can remember lol my favorite freshwater was my 29 planted with angels and tetras of all kinds then I got my first Nano 10 years ago and never looked back my clown is over 10 years old and most of my coral the same age or older frags from friends.

 

[Mkus]

I’ve always been into fish as long as I can remember my 29 planted was my favorite freshwater tank then I got my first nano over tens years ago and just upgraded to a bigger nano my clown is 10 years old same with my coral been in the tank that long and I’ve added some too

 

[Ksmmike]

I had fresh water tanks as a kid. I got another 30 gallon freshwater tank after college and kept it going for a few years. Last year I had heart surgery and part of my rehab was
to walk the beach most mornings. I decided I wanted a saltwater tank and set up a 29 gallon biocube. Within weeks, I wanted a larger tank and after a few months set up a 120 gallon.
I wanted the larger tank so I could get better fish and harder to grow corals. I'd say for me it's partially for the challenge to grow a new environment and partially to see the beauty of owning
a piece of nature that I helped to create. Yes, it's a lot of work in the beginning, but well worth the journey.

 

[Eggpaul]

I caught my first small fish out of a wash and kept it in a bowl when I was about 9 years old. Each day I would ask my mom if it was still alive coming home from school. About a week later it passed away. My parents got me a Beta. Kept it for 9 months. I still remember the final night I fed it. In the morning I woke up to feed it and it was dead (it wasn't swimming around too much for a few days.). I still remember the scene, hugging my mom and crying. A few days later I come home and my parents have a 30 or 40 gallon fresh water aquarium. I loved my fish! I was young but understood a lot about them. At the store I would always see the clownfish and I was so interested. The employees told me it's too much to handle for me. I got older, got married, had a kid. I watched the show Tanked. Suddenly all the love and memories came back to me. I thought, hey, maybe I can get a small aquarium and get a few fish. Plan was a biocube 14, and instead I got a biocube 29. I suddenly started buying coral also. 5 years later, I have a 150 gallon tank I just finished building! Love it!

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I love all the stories coming out and experiences that people are having. Definitely keep them coming, and I will touch on the ones that have recently posted. They all have made me smile and go ahhhhhh.

 

[Dragon52]

Freshwater fish colors 30 yrs ago eeh, saltwater fish colors WOW. Had the usual freshwater to start to long ago to remember then started working at a fish store in my 20s & was hooked. Started with a 55 salt then moved to 135 got married & then was out until about 5 yrs ago, picked up a 120 now have 185.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I was looking for a way to get rid of as much money as possible... I found it!

 

[Sarah24!]

Lol @SawCJack00 lol get rid of money, well your definitely get an A in finding a hobby that’s amazing, awesome, and depletes some of the deepest pockets.

@Dragon52 thats awesome you have been in it for so long. Have you posted pics of your 185, hint hint . Do you have a reef or fish only?

@Eggpaul I’m sorry your beta died, but glad you stuck with it. What do you currently have now, and what’s your favorite fish?

@Ksmmike your story was very interesting to read. What are some of the sps corals you have started to grow and what are your future plans with your tank?

@Mkus first off your pics are amazing and thanks for sharing. Of course we want more to see as well. Do you still trade with a lot of your friends still?

@Forsaken77 lol wow what an amazing story lol I’m so glad you shared it with us all. Hmm this is interesting, I have never been told I look like someone before. It may finally be true that I have a twin, yay is she 25 like me .

For those I haven’t touched on I’m making a list lol, but adore all the stories. I’m glad everyone has been sharing, it’s something new and different with every post. Just makes you want to keep reading and reading. I love it

 

[Dragon52]

Reef & I have posted some pics here. Had the Black Hawaiian sand & switched over to white because the black was to coarse for some of the fish I wanted. I need some work on taking pictures. lol
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-new-185-gal-reef.294763/#post-4632898

 

[Eggpaul]

@Sarah24! My cycle was just completed so over the weekend I purchased a regular clown, a snowflake clown, and diamond goby. They are thriving and loving the size of the tank. In my previous tank I had a pair of clowns, purple firefish goby, blue Caribbean pygmy angel. I had a flame hawkfish that jumped and died. I love that fish! My plan is to add a foxface soon. A yellow tang or Naso tang after that. A few other small fish also. In the end I plan to either get a Blue Jaw trigger or Cross hatched trigger!

 

[Mkus]

yes I do trade with friends A friend has an incredible 320 gal reef he goes about reefing believing in small continuous water changes his reef is one of the nicest I've ever seen!
His tank is all automated with a dedicated IPad!

 

[Sarah24!]

Wow I’m so glad things are working out for @Eggpaul you will have to post some pics. In regards to trading @Mkus it would be nice to trade with friends, I just don’t know many here where I live.

@Dragon52 when I get some time I will go through your build thread. It will be exciting to see all that you have done and accomplished so far. How do like the new change?

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

So I have loved and adored all those who have posted, and figured why stop here? As we have all shared what made us start this wonderful hobby, and we have all seen it grow just crazy advanced. What are some thoughts in where it should go in the next five years possibly, or changes that we all think would help and benefit the hobby? Of course, for those who have not posted yet, would always love to hear your exciting stories.

Sarah

 

[jd371]

I've been an animal person all my life, from dogs to snakes I've always had a pet in the house. The only tank I had growing up was a freshwater tank with a few fish in it that we kept for a few years. At that time whenever we'd go to the Mall there was a store there called Ed's Tropical Aquarium that I would visit no matter what. I loved to go in there because they had great selection of fish and they kept the lights dimmed in the store so the light from the tanks would pop, at a young age that place was magical to me and the place was always packed because of it being in a Mall. This is the place I saw my first saltwater tank. I couple of tanks with clowns and few other fish, no live rock just bleached coral skeletons as ornaments and some fake plants. I just remember the tank being so white that the fish really stood out. Those tanks left an impression on me and I knew someday I'd have my own saltwater tank. Little did I know it would take 40 years later to come to fruition.
So, I'm sitting watching TV at my Sister's ski lodge in the Pocono's, because everyone else is skiing and my sister and I don't so we're just chilling at home. I'm feeling kind of down because I had just euthanized my dog recently, when This TV show comes on that piqued my interest into a saltwater aquarium again... that show was Tanked, yes Tanked is what got me into all this mess. I spent the next 3 months researching and in August of that year I started my reef tank.

 

[fishybizzness]

To start, my wife tells me I'm obsessed! Lol. My grandfather and my father were commercial fishermen so guess what I became!! I fished commercially full time from about 16 years old until I was 40. I then got a job with the federal government due to so many restrictions not allowing me to make enough to support my family. I still fished part time until I lost all my gear and my boat last year for hurricane Irma. I always respected the ocean and love being out on the boat. I got to experience the ocean in ways most people never will. I saw whales, dolphins, sharks, rays and many other creatures on a regular basis but it never got old. I always had freshwater tanks but always thought saltwater would be too hard to maintain. I ordered a 55 gal upgraded for my 30 fw in late 2016. When I got it home this crazy idea got in my head to start a saltwater tank. I forgot to mention that my wife works as an aquarist at the local aquarium. When I told her she said fine but this was my project and she would give advice but maintained tanks all day and was under no circumstances coming home after work to do the same..lol.. fast forward to the present... My locally caught gobies just spawned and I just added new lights!! Things are going good. I am learning more than I thought I ever would. I'm going to start adding softies and some lps soon.. and yes, I am already planning to upgrade to a scaquariums 150 within the next year!! It's been a bumpy ride but I haven't fallen off yet and I see myself in it for the long haul!!