richfavinger
Community Member
My name is Richard Favinger Jr.
I’ve been an aquarium keeper since around the age of 10 or so I suppose. Keeping your basic freshwater tropical and goldfish. In 10g to 75g tanks.
I made the move to saltwater when I was about 14 and learned so much from the evil Damsel fish. I was introduced to reef keeping by a LFS owner who was extremely knowledgeable and a no BS kind of guy. He got me set right and the journey began. When I finally made the move to reef I went from Saltwater Fish Only in my 75g to reef in my 125g and live rock basically bought 1 peace at a time (hey I’m a kid, no money… LOL).
When I was in 10th grade I did an extensive report for my 10th Grade Biology class final and the teacher from hell (she really was the teacher from hell, and was pushed out the next year)… My Goniopora coral had budded, and thats what my report was on… it’s growth. (100% on the report, and 97% on the final, one of the highest grades in the school.)
Life happens and you loose interest. The tank was down graded to my 75g - but not for long. Some time around 2005-2006 I got the bug again. Ordered 80lb of new (real) Live Rock from Marine Depot (ya, they use to sell livestock ya know)… The rock came, and the tank was cycling good and… and an unfortunate plumbing mishap while trying to setup a closed-loop-system NUKED my light ballast. - With out having money to invest into a new and more powerful 3-lamp metal halide system. I oped for 2-lams and 48†- and again moved every thing over to my 75g - where it is today.
The tank ran great for nearly 3+ years. Then for reasons unknown it crashed. I was getting more and more busy with photography and the tank lay dormant for almost 2 years.
In that time I met my soon to be wife. Kit… Kit who I met at a SCUBA diving event for disabled divers is nearly totally blind from a very rare condition. That we know of, Kit is one of PA’s only fully certified IAHD Blind SCUBA Divers.
Kit’s dive story as seen on NBC10 “Game Changers: A Mission to Swimâ€
About 2 years ago I decided to fire up the halides once more to appease her curiosity. Yes the tank was actually running with no light, and one Green Chromis and one Purple Damselfish… The smell of old halides filled the air again.
This is where we are today… Some new aqua-scape, full cleanup crew, removed Purple Damselfish (sorry, he had to go!!!), and new fish… Pink Spot Goby, Lawnmower Blenny, the lone Green Chromis (yep, he’s the original!), Yellow Eye Kole Tang, Copper-Banded Butterfly, Long-Nose Butterfly, Fire Shrimp, Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, SPS/LPS Corals.
With the wife’s blessing, and the completion of some much needed home repairs. I’ve got the OK to build another tank! - Likely 48â€-60â€, and have my eye on a 105 Rimless. But my options are open. - Stay tuned!
Our engagement story as seen on NBC10: “Game Changers Find that Love is Blind[/UL]†:bounce:
Watch the videos... you know you want to...
I’ve been an aquarium keeper since around the age of 10 or so I suppose. Keeping your basic freshwater tropical and goldfish. In 10g to 75g tanks.
I made the move to saltwater when I was about 14 and learned so much from the evil Damsel fish. I was introduced to reef keeping by a LFS owner who was extremely knowledgeable and a no BS kind of guy. He got me set right and the journey began. When I finally made the move to reef I went from Saltwater Fish Only in my 75g to reef in my 125g and live rock basically bought 1 peace at a time (hey I’m a kid, no money… LOL).
When I was in 10th grade I did an extensive report for my 10th Grade Biology class final and the teacher from hell (she really was the teacher from hell, and was pushed out the next year)… My Goniopora coral had budded, and thats what my report was on… it’s growth. (100% on the report, and 97% on the final, one of the highest grades in the school.)
Life happens and you loose interest. The tank was down graded to my 75g - but not for long. Some time around 2005-2006 I got the bug again. Ordered 80lb of new (real) Live Rock from Marine Depot (ya, they use to sell livestock ya know)… The rock came, and the tank was cycling good and… and an unfortunate plumbing mishap while trying to setup a closed-loop-system NUKED my light ballast. - With out having money to invest into a new and more powerful 3-lamp metal halide system. I oped for 2-lams and 48†- and again moved every thing over to my 75g - where it is today.
The tank ran great for nearly 3+ years. Then for reasons unknown it crashed. I was getting more and more busy with photography and the tank lay dormant for almost 2 years.
In that time I met my soon to be wife. Kit… Kit who I met at a SCUBA diving event for disabled divers is nearly totally blind from a very rare condition. That we know of, Kit is one of PA’s only fully certified IAHD Blind SCUBA Divers.
Kit’s dive story as seen on NBC10 “Game Changers: A Mission to Swimâ€
About 2 years ago I decided to fire up the halides once more to appease her curiosity. Yes the tank was actually running with no light, and one Green Chromis and one Purple Damselfish… The smell of old halides filled the air again.
This is where we are today… Some new aqua-scape, full cleanup crew, removed Purple Damselfish (sorry, he had to go!!!), and new fish… Pink Spot Goby, Lawnmower Blenny, the lone Green Chromis (yep, he’s the original!), Yellow Eye Kole Tang, Copper-Banded Butterfly, Long-Nose Butterfly, Fire Shrimp, Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, SPS/LPS Corals.
With the wife’s blessing, and the completion of some much needed home repairs. I’ve got the OK to build another tank! - Likely 48â€-60â€, and have my eye on a 105 Rimless. But my options are open. - Stay tuned!
Our engagement story as seen on NBC10: “Game Changers Find that Love is Blind[/UL]†:bounce:
Watch the videos... you know you want to...
