What got you here today?

[clowns101]

How did you get into this hobby?Really,our hobby is diffirent,unique,and not one that every body knows of,its not like this is a paint ball hobby,its a fish and coral hobby.

I have thought about it for a long time,and for me its because I had to have that tank,that looked like nemos home...LOL

Ever since I seen the 2 little clownfish in the 12x12x12 tank at the pet store,I knew I had to have them along with the whole reef.So,I bought them and look at where I am today.Almost 8 years ago,it was a 10 gallon,now its 125,and next a 300.What about after that?I dont know yet,but maybe a,umm,tank like one in Bass Pro shops?Ya thats about right!

And again,we have alot of younger people in this hobby,how did you guys get started?Its not like we all know about it,there is an urge to keep these style tanks,and to spend the money that we spend,so think about it,What got you to this point that you are into today?

Just never knew what got others here,and I think its odd how there are so many of us reef keepers since alot of people say SW is hard to care for,guess it was the chalange right?

 

[drainbamage]

My brother had always had aquariums of some sort, and my mother was always fond of a goldfish in a bowl. I wasn't that keen on his setups as they always seemed a bit either dirty/noisy/simple, etc.
So now I'm 16, have essentially dropped out of high school, am working full time as a stockboy, and my brothers old 35 gallon hex is out back. I'm bored, so I set it up as a basic freshwater tank. Get some stuff in there, can't even remember what now, but was never really interested in it. Got really into the filtration and water chemistry, wanted to understand how it all worked, and got into some breeding. Realized how easy breeding of the simple stuff was, and wasn't that keen on getting into the trickier stuff (pleco's and whatnot) but I still had some 40hr/week paychecks coming in and no drug habit to support, living rent free in a somewhat troubled household. So I kept expanding the fish stuff, purchased a 55 gallon, picked up random used tanks, and just kept trying to learn and expand. Always was interested in SW, but the consensus was that it wasn't realistic and didn't really think to challenge it that quickly. But after stuffing the 55gallon with all the cool bottom dwellers I could, I realized I just wasn't into any of the stuff and was just collecting the cool things and not really sitting back and enjoying it.
Emptied out the 34 hex and turned it SW (all within my first year of getting my hands wet.) And just sort of kept going from there. At 17 I started working at the biggest local pet store in town (also a notable LFS) and just kept getting more and more into the hobby. Took over managing the fish department when I was 18, started collecting all the weird oddball fish I could, also started breeding chameleons, poison dart frogs, crocodile skinks, etc, just got way in over my head. Left the fish store and kept some of the collection, but getting back into college I skinnied down the collection until I finally got rid of the entirety of it all.
Eventually swapped jobs again and was working with Bio-Nut, so needless to say we'd be talking corals and writing out chemical compositions on drywall sheets trying to deduce how water reactions were going. Got a freebie red sea max from a hookup who works in one of the big box's corporate office, and from there the addiction restarted. I'm now 26 and there's 5 aquariums in the apartment as I'm working on figuring out how to upsize my 34 main tank into a 90 gallon cube abouts. The size of the tank has never interested me as much as what to do with it. Some people who've come by wonder if I'm a nano guy as all my tanks are "small" right now, but it's been more .o0(hmm, I wouldn't mind throwing a tank together designed with lower light to see what colors I can pull from Acans and Zoas in contrast to how they appear in the high light tanks, there's a 20 gallon out back, have some spare rock in a bucket somewhere and can pick up a cheapy aquaclear) and thus I now have my chalice/flatworm tank.

Constantly throughout I've always been interested in the "farming" aspect of it. Just watching things grow and cultivating them has always been an interest in mine. Someday I wouldn't mind starting up a legit business doing just that, but my priorities are on my degree and the field it's in. I guess my interest in growing and cultivating is reflected in the way I start up tanks-no real end plan, just start with the seed of an idea and see how it grows.

I never got into SW just because it was SW, nor was the money on my mind- it was always just following what captivated my attention and figuring a way to make it work. The system for keeping the critters alive and thriving was the same as for financing it all:know where my goal was and figure out how to get there.

 

[swannyson7]

I always had goldifsh as a child and eventually graduated to freshwater tropical fish in high school in a (what seemed huge at the time) 30 gallon tank. At one point I tried my hand at saltwater, but had no luck running a fish only 55. While I was in the Army, one of my roomates got me hooked on saltwater and introduced me to a few reef forums. After a ton of lurking in those forums, I set up my 55 as a LPS & softie dominated reef when I got out of the Army. Years later I upgraded to a 125 and now I'm running a 180 until my next upgrade...

 

[aalvarado87]

at 22 a friend had an aggressive set up nothing special really crappy now he sold it to me for 100 bucks... as soon as i found a lfs and saw the possibilities it snowballed... 55 gal to a 72 bow which i got an incredible deal with mhs then to my now 100 gallon starphire which i am completely happy... I have always wanted a saltwater fish tank just never really knew about a reef. Between this and college a lot of my money goes here i cant imagine whats going to happen once i get a degree and a job muahahha

 

[SlackTide]

ouch! I started out with a chrome framed aquarium right after Noah grounded the ark, it was tough back then, no internet, had to walk uphill both ways to the lfs, red slime was the color of the day, who knew some joker would start selling pet rocks for $6.00 a lb

 

[Speg]

When I was really little, my parents took me to MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry). One of the times we went, they had a huge freshwater/saltwater exibit going on and I saw a tank with two small clownfish. Even though I was small, I said that one day I would have a tank with two clownfish.

Years later, I got some tax return money and got a 46 gallon bowfront and 2 clownfish....the clownfish soon died and I decided that I had better learn about the hobby so I wouldn't let anything else die. Well, deaths still occured, but I'm sure much less than if I didn't decide to research and continue learning.