How long have you been in this hobby?

AydenLincoln

Pufferfish lover!
View Badges
Joined
Mar 27, 2022
Messages
4,883
Reaction score
7,229
Location
Easton
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I’m reaching one year with my tank really soon and I’m looking forward to many more….so I’m curious to how long have you been in the hobby? It doesn’t have to be straight and not including gap years without a tank!
 

Gtinnel

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
21,075
Reaction score
29,650
Location
Charleston, WV
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
15ish years. I started in the very late 90s when I was still in high school and kept a tank or two until around 2010. At that point between working long hours at crappy jobs and having 2 kids I couldn’t keep up with it and got out of the hobby. Then almost 4 years ago my wife suggested I get another tank, she says that is the biggest mistake she has ever made.
 

tsharpe129

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 15, 2021
Messages
347
Reaction score
348
Location
Ohio
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Since 2002, I was working on someone’s house that runs a saltwater shop.
I started doing work in exchange for setting up a tank which back then was a 58 gallon oceanic. Easy way for me to get into the hobby. Or should I say that was the start of money flying out of my wallet,lol
 

homer1475

Figuring out the hobby one coral at a time.
View Badges
Joined
Apr 24, 2018
Messages
11,677
Reaction score
18,662
Location
Way upstate NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
40 years overall......

First 10 as a young kid was in FW, then slowly gravitated toward the salty side. About 20 years ago we lost power for over a week, lost the entire tank. Still had FW, and FOWLR. Turned the "reef" tank into a terrarium.

Fast forward another 10 years(still had a FW, and FOWLR for all this time) went on vaca to myrtle beach, SC and went to the Ripley's Aquarium and fell in love with the "reef" side of the hobby again. Been back in for the last 10 years
 

dirty_south87

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 26, 2022
Messages
430
Reaction score
315
Location
North Carolina
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I’m reaching one year with my tank really soon and I’m looking forward to many more….so I’m curious to how long have you been in the hobby? It doesn’t have to be straight and not including gap years without a tank!
Little more than a year for me. Started with a 13.5 gallon then moved to 55 and now I’m running 180 gallon bowfront tank
 

CrunchyBananas

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 25, 2016
Messages
360
Reaction score
740
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Got started in Freshwater in about 2003, started salt in 2006, founded the aquarium clubs at my high school and college, got my Marine Bio degree and worked in finfish research for a couple years. Now My full time job is Installation Manager doing high end installation and maintenance for a company with 175 customers.
 

vlangel

Seahorse whisperer
View Badges
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
5,489
Reaction score
5,371
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had 10 g freshwater tanks as a teen, college student, and newly married. Then in 1986 my husband and I bought the house we still live in and put a 40 g XH tank in the wall. Ha ha, that was a big tank in those days! Anyway around 1998 we converted it to salt and even added a few soft coral. I still have a cabbage leather from that time. I have transferred my rock and coral several times into different tanks over the years but have always had one,( or two or three) running. Now in my 60s I am very happy with my 56 g mixed reef.
IMG_20230126_145224897.jpg
 

Fishnut

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 18, 2018
Messages
613
Reaction score
973
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Got my first fresh water tank in 1970. (30 gallon with under gravel filter.) Moved into salt FOWLR soon after falling in love with Lion fish. Now running a 300, 125, & 55 gallon tanks. Still going strong 53 or so years later.
 

acabgd

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
207
Reaction score
228
Location
Europe
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm in my 11th year now. Many ups and downs at the beginning of course, but it's both fascinating and challenging. After some 5 years you get the hang of it ;)

Producing some great results nowadays, can't complain (photos from 2yrs ago but same now, just bigger).

korali-2020-12-18-04.jpg


korali-2020-12-18-14.jpg
 

theMeat

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 1, 2017
Messages
3,036
Reaction score
2,487
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Four decades, with a few years off here and there. Amazing how far it’s come. While the internet pretty much killed the in person Saturday morning lfs pow wows, where hobbyists would gather to exchange ideas and knowledge. The internet has really taken the hobby to a whole nother level with the ease of sharing
 

homer1475

Figuring out the hobby one coral at a time.
View Badges
Joined
Apr 24, 2018
Messages
11,677
Reaction score
18,662
Location
Way upstate NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Four decades, with a few years off here and there. Amazing how far it’s come. While the internet pretty much killed the in person Saturday morning lfs pow wows, where hobbyists would gather to exchange ideas and knowledge. The internet has really taken the hobby to a whole nother level with the ease of sharing
Remember those days! Hanging out at the LFS all day on a saturday to "pow wow" with fellow hobbyists. Only way besides actual paper books to gain more knowledge back in the day.

Practices and fundamentals were so regional back in the day. What we did in our little group, was something totally different then what some other group was doing just a couple hundred miles away were doing.
 

The_Skrimp

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
520
Reaction score
658
Location
Georgia
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I started my first tank around 2005 or 6 and ran it for a few years before moving. My wife and I bounced around a bit and moved a few times since then so I ended up not setting a new tank up till years later. My current tank is almost 3 years old now.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 66 51.6%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 67 52.3%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 32 25.0%
  • None.

    Votes: 29 22.7%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 7.0%
Back
Top