Hello from Michigan!

CoralB · Apr 28, 2025

Welcome !! :cool:

vetteguy53081 · May 6, 2025

Reef Regeneration · May 6, 2025

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

BryanM · May 6, 2025

7rabbit said:
Hello to all, I'm back in the reefing hobby after a 10 year hiatus and, WOW, things have changed! Reef keeping is far easier than it used to be, and I would give most of the credit to the online hobbyist community like this one. A big thanks to everyone who has contributed their knowledge and experience in this incredible hobby.

For me, it all started in 1992 when I won a goldfish at the town fair. The next year I had a 75 gallon freshwater tank full of plants collected from local water sources and the few plants that the LFS sold. My older brother in law worked at a LFS store in a different city and helped me learn the "ways of fish keeping" and eventually helped me talk my parents into starting a reef tank. I got my first job at 16 years old so I could pay for my new lifetime obsession. Throughout the years I have kept dozens of various glass boxes full of life from around the world, with various freshwater breeding setups and plant growing systems. I have a special love for gourami's and wild betta and currently have 8 breeding tanks. But we're here for the salt!...

My first saltwater tank was another 75 gallon with a canister filter....only. It had a few pieces of live rock, some beach sand, a single Domino damsel, and some brown mushrooms. There was only one LFS in my area at the time and they had very few corals to choose from, let alone me being able to afford any of them. But I stilled loved my big beautiful brown "reef" and was obsessed with fish keeping. So much so that I got my first apartment a block away from that LFS so that I could go there basically every day to look at their tanks and hope for something new and cool I could afford. A few years and 5 reef tanks later, MANY mistakes, money lost and lessons learned, I was finally successful at keeping a reef for more than 2 years. Again, mostly thanks to the early online hobbyist community! That tank was a 125 gallon peninsula style with a 20 gallon sump. It was packed full of corals and fish, even had some birdsnest and Monti cap! I was quite proud of myself! But all good things come to an end and I had to move to a much smaller apartment. That's when Innovative Marine came out with the Nuvo AIO. I got the 20 gallon and started my first nano reef, which was also a success but that thing was a pain! It lasted a few years until I eventually got tired of the daily hands on upkeep of a tiny little box of water. And while yes, I have had "successful" reefs in the past, they were definitely not without problems. But to me, correcting these problems; algae wars, aiptasia monsters, or mysterious coral and fish pests, are all my favorite parts of the hobby.

Now it's been 10 years and I'm back in the reefing game! I started a 40 breeder this time only because I haven't had a 40 breeder REEF yet and have always liked the footprint.
It has been running since January and is now a little over 3 months old. I will be starting a build thread soon so stay tuned! Until then, Thank you for having me and I am looking forward to getting to know you all!

Happy Reefing,

7Rabbit

Welcome back to the hobby!