What First Pulled You Into Reefing?

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

There's something that pulled each of us into this hobby…maybe a reef tank caught your eye, a particular fish or coral you had to have…or saltwater seemed like the next step deeper into the hobby after fresh.

What first got you interested in keeping a reef? And is that still the part you love most?

BONUS POINTS: Tell us the story of how you got started. What was the moment you knew you were hooked?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

For me, it was seeing tanks that had a bunch of corals and fish in them. I thought," That would be neat to do at home," and here I am.

 

[X-37B]

1989 wife bought me a 55 hex because I was reading a freshwater magazine.
I went to the lfs for a stand, saw the marine section, went home and got the hex and traded for a 55 corner overflow.
Still at it today, lol.

 

[13rodo]

There's something that pulled each of us into this hobby…maybe a reef tank caught your eye, a particular fish or coral you had to have…or saltwater seemed like the next step deeper into the hobby after fresh.

What first got you interested in keeping a reef? And is that still the part you love most?

BONUS POINTS: Tell us the story of how you got started. What was the moment you knew you were hooked?

My kids’ cartoon had a pistol shrimp episode. I didn’t think it was a real thing. Upon googling one of the first posts was an r2r post about keeping them and their symbiotic relationship with gobies. Naturally I started a tank and have a goby/pistol shrimp pair.

 

[DeepDiver55]

Was a landlocked scuba diver and enjoyed warm water diving - reefs etc. I needed a fix. In 2002 I wandered into a great lfs in Portland, Or. with plenty of used tanks for sale. Bought one, they plumbed it (wish I could do such a good job). I found out the original pre-plumbed aquarium was the cheapest part… Took it home, set it up and here I am. On my 3rd & 4th ones now.

 

[MizzouMark]

I was an avid scuba diver living in Chicago. In 2010 I decided I wanted to have a piece of the ocean in my home year-round and starting my reefing journey with a 225 gal tank.

 

[MC Blowfish]

My original tank was FOWLR. I was working at Petco, and was in charge of the aquatics area. I was working with saltwater for a few months before I decided to jump into the hobby.

When that tank crashed, I gave up. Last year, my family and I went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. They have a saltwater area, and I remembered why I loved saltwater.

I started an aquarium with the sole purpose of being fish only again. Then I started looking at people's tanks here, and decided that I wanted to try corals.

 

[exnisstech]

When I was a kid I saw a Picasso trigger in a store and always wanted one. A few years into the hobby I added a small one and it was total jerk. The fish was about 3" but a total terror. It would defend the nori clip against tangs twice his size. I lost a 30" zebra moray when the trigger started nipping at it anytime the eel came out. The eel eventually stopped eating and died. The trigger ended up getting eaten by a large green haddoni. Good riddance.
2 lessons learned, Picasso triggers don't play well with others and don't add a haddoni to a tank with fish unless they're clowns. I also lost a powder blue tank and a foxface tongue nem.

 

[Baldyreef]

for me it was constant trips my uncles sailboat in San Diego, i would catch blennies from the side of the dock and keep them with a hang on back filter in a small tank some sea water rocks and and some macro algae,tunicates and other little critters I would find, then years later a lfs opened up near where I lived and they had Wyoming white clownfish, and that's what got me formally into the hobby

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Awesome stories! For me it was a vacation to Naples, FL where I picked up some fighting conchs and a couple of queen conchs from the beach and decided to set up a tank for them. That was 2012...