"THIS" drew you in and keeps you coming back for more!

[revhtree]

I'm consistently amazed at how many new people come into the hobby daily. Something about this hobby draws you in for the first time and there are many things that keep you coming back for more. The "something" and the "things" are going to vary from person to person and I think it's very interesting to see it playing out, day to day, here on Reef2Reef! So today let's chitchat about it!

What DREW you into this hobby and what is IT that keeps you coming back for more?

Robert from @Neptune Aquatics

 

[revhtree]

I had a very similar poll more recently that I forgot about but with all the new folks coming into R2R as of late I think it will be ok to let this one ride!

Also don't forget to let us know what IT was that got you hooked to reefing!

 

[MoshJosh]

Probably clown fish in nems and flowing corals. . . also the challenge a little bit too.

 

[Slocke]

The fish and the people

I like to find cool critters and even more enjoy talking to people who also love the cool critters.

 

[rmorris_14]

I choose people and other. The "other" is why I got back into the hobby. My oldest wanted either a cat or a clownfish. So obviously clownfish..... No brainer

The "people" is what keeps me coming back....Ive meant some really amazing and entertaining people, who have helped me learn through my mistakes, encourage me when I'm frustrated, and make the hobby fun.

 

[Peace River]

The challenge and the community are what continue to draw me to the hobby. There is always so much to learn, discover, and share!

 

[ChiCity]

scolys

 

[i cant think]

The inverts keep me in the most however the fish and coral are a VERY close second.
I’ve always had a love for the clams and bivalves in this hobby. A couple years ago I owned a thriving Flame Scallop (I believe this was the later 2000s). This was years ago and I lost it due to what I believed was old age as I kept it alive for I believe 5 years.
Now I own two clams! A Tridacna maxima and a Tridacna deresa.

Some of the other inverts that I love are the Tuxedo Urchins and Fire Shrimp. Here’s the two I currently own In this tank I also have a Randalli Pistol Shrimp which is a close second to the other two.

 

[Dburr1014]

The colors.
I had fresh water for a while but the colors of the Reef.... Ahhhhhh

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Mandarin Dragonette. And as of late, urchins

 

[steveschuerger]

Last summer I got my first aquarium in 9 years. A 90 gallon acrylic. I thought about reef, but my wife convinced me to stay with freshwater. I wanted to get something challenging, so I went with a Discus tank. A bit later in October , I decided it was time. I wanted to attempt a reef tank, and I got myself a b-day present of a 16 gallon bio-cube LED. I’ve always loved the ocean and corals and voraciously ate up documentaries on diving and reefs. And now two upgrades later I have a 60 gallon shallow reef system that even with some recent struggles I really love. I’d also like to say that the Reef2Reef community has been wonderful and inviting.Here’s my tanks that ive had and have now,

IM 60SR

IM 30l Nuvo Pro

‘Bio cube as Reef when I started the reef journey

bio cube as pea puffer tank

90 gallon discus
including my freshies. Still have bio cube, use it for pea puffers.

 

[Montiman]

I started this hobby in the 8th grade and I had no money. My mom had always wanted a saltwater tank and she took me along with my younger brothers to all the LFSs while she considered setting up a tank. Ultimately she decided not to set up a tank but then I really wanted one. I went to the library and got Bob Fenner's book The Conscientious Marine Aquarist and read it over and over again before saving all of my birthday money, lawn mowing money and everything else I could get to set up the tank.

I recently read through Bob's book again remembering him since he recently passed. I miss old-school reef tanks. I miss getting excited by more than just sticks. I love fish, all the fish. I love reef tanks with parrotfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish, angelfish, and eels. I love inverts. I remember being super excited to see oysters, lobsters, feather stars, scallops, and clams. I love the variety of corals, not just 50 shades of acro. I miss pipe organ corals, blue ridge corals, gorgonians, Hydrozoans, and the giant elephant ear mushrooms we used to see.

I guess what keeps me coming back is the amazing ecosystem that is a reef tank. I am not here to collect frags like colored marbles. I want to set up a miniature ecosystem that highlights all of the amazing animals in the ocean. I look at my tank now 15 years later, and it is like I have forgotten all of these animals that started my passion in favor of collecting frags.

 

[Chunky94]

I wanted more character from my fish. Love my buttikoferi cichlid but he likes no decorations in the tank he's very picky with tank mates too. It got boring. So I wanted clowns so they would interact with Me. Now I have a very excitable female who loves to bite me haha. Kinda got sucked into the coral side too I keep buying more. Also just found a love for rock flower anemone so I'm going guess I'll have more of them soon. Anything that will let me feed them shrimp I'm a little obsessed with, acans are my current favorite. but I just got two hammers that are awesome

 

[mfinn]

Back in the early 80's when I started it was all about the fish.
Not much in the way of corals were available at the time.
There were a few but fortunately the only store I knew of at the time had employees that stressed on me to get the fish keeping down before going on.

 

[shakacuz]

corals, fish, and the people!

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Voted fish and others.
FISH, as I was amazed to discover how varied they are, and how much personalities they have. I used to think fish were boring.... well not anymore.
OTHERS, because I am fascinated by the changes occurring in my aquarium, the surprising hitchhikers and the progression of the tank, even though my tanks have no corals, my tank is continuously evolving. The inverts too are interesting.
I do not have corals, and though they are beautiful, I am not very interested. I am trying instead to grow Macro Algae, which can be very pretty too, but not as easy to do as I thought it would be.

 

[revhtree]

scolys

OH MY!!

 

[Dbichler]

The fish because that’s all my wife likes. If she didn’t like the fish I would have to be done.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Fish started on the journey, but these days, it's just as much the corals and the fun of fine tuning the system to be the best possible Ecosystem it can be

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Definitely the fish, corals, inverts, and macroalgae for me. All of them are extremely interesting and I love diversity in the tank. I also don't like having to have 1 of everything, and am trying to recreate more of what I'd see when I used to snorkel all the time.