How many of us are out there?

[Bob Weigant]

I’ve

Me my first personal tank was right around 86, had thanks up until 2001 the took a break. Back into it 2015 with my current tank.

I would say there are more then 10 and less then 100,000,000 reefers. Another good question would be what is the average size of reef aquarium, then calculate the total amount of gallons of water the are salt the aquariums

ive always had big tanks. Now I’m playing with a 225 reef , 180 FO and another 40 FO which I may upgrade to a 150 or another 180

 

[Tahoe61]

Since 1987. This is the first time I have been without a tank for a long time. Fresh water since I was old enough to carry a water container but moved on to SW in 87.

 

[ca1ore]

30 year reefer as well. I'd be shocked if the mean or median cost of a SW setup were anywhere close to $2K. Maybe for reefs, but how many of the marine tanks are actually reefs? Even polling folks here won't help because the majority of SW owners aren't here.

 

[Kayotic5011]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-fish-tank-adventures.358287/

Thats me right there, this is my passion...and im back in the game with a 120 gal

 

[PEP12]

here in the UK I am in the south of England and where to obtain coral locally is very sparse there are a few LFS selling coral and a couple of which are very well stocked but to get more choice one has to troll the internet to get a more varied choice, for the best equipment I find it best to hunt on the Web for good choice and cost, as this hobby is expensive for the best results, I have had my marine tanks for 3 years now and will continue to keep them as I am well into the thrill of keeping every thing to their best, you in the US seem to have a lot more choice and also conventions to go too than we do, that is my on opinion I may be wrong

 

[tony'stank]

First saltwater tank 1982

 

[Nezmo]

Mister long in the tooth here! We've been keeping saltwater tanks since 1975.
Here's what it was like back in the stone age:
If you are wondering what a salt setup was like in those days...it started with an undergravel filter with crushed dolomite as the gravel to keep the PH in balance. This also served as a home for the bacteria colonies making up the biological filter. The filter was basically a slotted raised plate that covered the entire tank bottom, with about 3 inches of the dolomite on top of the filter. There was an attached lift tube in the back on each side of the filter that had an airline from a Silent Giant air pump with an airstone at the bottom of the tube. The raising bubbles from the airstone created a suction as the bubbles lifted, and pulled water through the filter and created a flow through the gravel and provided the necessary oxygen for the bacteria in the gravel bed.
As I best recall, we cycled the aquarium with crabs and anemones and pencil urchins, that we just fed and waited for the filter to cycle. When the cycle was done, we took the cycling crew back to the store, and could at last add our first fish!
The rule back then was that you could add one fish every 3 weeks, so we made a 70 mile run to a store that sold saltwater fish every 3 weeks to anxiously get our new fish. I remember one day that they had this new-fangled thing called a powerhead to replace the silent giant and the airstones to power the undergravel filter, but they were out of our price range. We kept 3 tanks successfully for years with this set-up, and really no available information about what we were doing. We have had tanks continuously since then.

 

[Grelby]

I am going on 4 months! I wish I started sooner.

 

[Birkej]

Our first tank was in 1972 with very little knowledge. Did a 70 gallon in 1974 in Chicago and moved it back to Iowa in a station wagon in 1975. After 40 years it appears the hobby through time has created many local community fish stores until presently the numbers have significantly decreased. However the internet truly has created an information bonanza for the hobbist.

 

[Birkej]

Mister long in the tooth here! We've been keeping saltwater tanks since 1975.
Here's what it was like back in the stone age:
If you are wondering what a salt setup was like in those days...it started with an undergravel filter with crushed dolomite as the gravel to keep the PH in balance. This also served as a home for the bacteria colonies making up the biological filter. The filter was basically a slotted raised plate that covered the entire tank bottom, with about 3 inches of the dolomite on top of the filter. There was an attached lift tube in the back on each side of the filter that had an airline from a Silent Giant air pump with an airstone at the bottom of the tube. The raising bubbles from the airstone created a suction as the bubbles lifted, and pulled water through the filter and created a flow through the gravel and provided the necessary oxygen for the bacteria in the gravel bed.
As I best recall, we cycled the aquarium with crabs and anemones and pencil urchins, that we just fed and waited for the filter to cycle. When the cycle was done, we took the cycling crew back to the store, and could at last add our first fish!
The rule back then was that you could add one fish every 3 weeks, so we made a 70 mile run to a store that sold saltwater fish every 3 weeks to anxiously get our new fish. I remember one day that they had this new-fangled thing called a powerhead to replace the silent giant and the airstones to power the undergravel filter, but they were out of our price range. We kept 3 tanks successfully for years with this set-up, and really no available information about what we were doing. We have had tanks continuously since then.

 

[Birkej]

Also do you remember the charcoal canister on top of the air lift tubes and cleaning out the gunk from underneath the filter plates on the bottom every year or two- things have changed !

 

[Nezmo]

I try to just remember the good things, but you're right, the UG filters were a huge pain. I went from them to a fluidized bed sand filter, and life became a lot easier.

 

[mdbronco]

I started marine in university in 97 in Canada and have gone through phases - mainly due to time and location. Next phase was California in 2004 and now I'm looking to get at it again from Sweden after a 10 year break. Crazy how much stuff has changed (and how the prices reflect the change)!

 

[pagoda1958]

51 years for me

 

[64Ivy]

Started in 1979 and began maintaining reef tanks in the mid-80's thanks to George Smits article in FAMA. That was a magazine, by the way. Came once a month. Made of paper. You read it.

 

[Fin]

Official member of the undergravel filter club here, before the reverse undergravel filter came into fashion. The days of serious salt creep, caused from the air pump driven uplift tubes. First saltwater tank was in 1983.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Good read:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/saltwater-hobby-stronger-than-ever.336366/

 

[Robert Schneider]

I have been keeping saltwater aquariums since 1978. The best hobby anyone can have. There are a lot of saltwater enthusiasts that have never posted before. There are more than one thinks.

 

[CarChase]

My first Marine Fish only tank was 1993. I got into reef keeping in 1996. Switched back to fish only in 2004. I then left the hobby for a while but now I'm back.

 

[stylaster]

Ive been in the hobby since 1990 so 28 years now. I have been a hobbyist, a clam breeder, importer and even got to go collect on the reef a few times