Poll: Was there a single fish or coral that brought you into the hobby?

Did a single fish or coral bring you in to the hobby?

  • Yes - I saw a particular fish and was hooked - (Describe in thread)

    Votes: 69 19.4%
  • Yes - I saw a particular coral and was hooked - (Describe in thread)

    Votes: 19 5.3%
  • No - Nothing particular - just always wanted a tank

    Votes: 231 64.9%
  • Other

    Votes: 37 10.4%

  • Total voters
    356

JaimeAdams

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I had a Betta (FW) in a vase on my coffee table that my mother had bought me. Gin no Tenshi got fin rot (from being kept at 72mdegrees on a coffee table. I went to a fish store to get him meds and fell in love with a Fuzzy Dwarf lionfish. I had a buddy at the time that I knew used to have a tank so I asked him how hard it really was. After church I stopped by his house and picked up a 12 gallon eclipse tank. Followed by going to the store and spending $20 a pound for some rocks. The rest is history and now I have a tank in every room of the house, work full time in a fish store and on reef squad and am the president of the local marine aquarium society.
 

this is me

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It was Nemo. Seriously, thought I would just set up a 29gallons with a pair of "Nemo". Well, look what happened now.
 

40B Knasty

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Green mandarin dragonet. Picked up a Spotted mandarin that ate frozens to satisfy my need for a dragonet, because of all the fuss to own a green one. Then the spotted dragonet passed. So I went for it and bought a green mandarin. So easy to care for if you know what you are doing.
 

NY_Caveman

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It was a cloudless summer day in Dallas Texas. The kind of day you can see the heat waves rising from the blacktop. My aviator sunglasses were having trouble denying the searing Texas sun as I walked into the fish store that fateful day in 1975. Once inside the store, I removed my sunglasses and paused for my eyes to adjust. Waiting for me, in the center of the store, was a 36-inch diameter round acrylic tank. The only two things in that tank were a Snowflake Eel and Pinnatus Batfish. I was hooked. I ogled that rig. I looked at that setup the way a fat kid looks at the last piece of chocolate cake. I wanted it. On some level, I needed it.

I’d never owned a fish tank in my life. I didn’t have any idea how to keep a fish alive. But on that day, none of that mattered. I had to have one. Like most college students, I was heavy on want and light of wallet. Alas, that rig would escape me.

Later that year, I would setup a 29 gallon saltwater tank with a hang on the back filter. That would be the beginning of a life-long love for the hobby. Now my son and his son both have reef tanks.

As a side note, I never did get the Snowflake Eel and Pinnatus Batfish. Like the gorgeous red headed girl with the emerald green eyes that sat next to me in trig class, I will forever have their beauty in my memory. Right along side the haunting thought of what might have been.

Wow. I have not thought about batfish in many years. Are they still available? Never really see them.
 

Dancingmad

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Inverts all day, every day. They're so freakin' cool. I like to imagine I perceive the world like one of my anemones and wander around the house very slowly with my eyes closed and arms wailing about like tentacles hoping I catch some food or liquor by chance.

The wife and dogs generally don't like this game.

Cucumbers, starfish, shrimp, crabs, anemones - AWESOME!!!111one. Inverts need some love too.
 

NY_Caveman

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Inverts all day, every day. They're so freakin' cool. I like to imagine I perceive the world like one of my anemones and wander around the house very slowly with my eyes closed and arms wailing about like tentacles hoping I catch some food or liquor by chance.

The wife and dogs generally don't like this game.

Cucumbers, starfish, shrimp, crabs, anemones - AWESOME!!!111one. Inverts need some love too.

I think I have a new game to teach the kids now. Sans the liquor of course.
 

wesman42

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Mine was something much less....a type of algae. Coralline algae actually got me into this hobby as weird as it sounds. I thought it was so fascinating that a type of algae was actually desirable/uncontrollable.
 

rob G

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I don't remember the exact fish that caught my eye, loved the panther grouper and french angel, coral beauty and copper banded butterfly but don't remember which stood out the most. I had a South American cichlid tank and an African cichlid tank in middle school which were cool, but I always walked through the saltwater section thinking, "man, these fish are really different" (I did finally try saltwater in high school years). Yes they are more brightly colored and more active, but look at how they move and examine the rock in the tank. They seemed more intelligent and much more interesting to watch than the freshwater fish. Not knocking them (freshwater) they are really neat in their own way but there is with out a doubt a different thing going on in the mind of a saltwater fish. Fast forward 25 years and I am still fascinated with them.....and coral....my poor wallet....
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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