What got you hooked?

[RichWise73]

What got you hooked on the reef hobby? Was it a trip to a public aquarium? Was it a friend or family member? Was it a documentary about natural reefs?

We all got hooked somehow. What was for you?

 

[smitten with ocean life]

my brother- sigh.:winking-face: ive always had freshwater and he had the salt. he kept at me until i finally caved and jumped into it! it always looked way too complicated to me. he'd make a great salesman!!:squinting-face-with-tongue: i usually call him after a shipment of corals(or something else expensive) and whine about what hes gotten me in to.:grinning-squinting-face: but im loving it!

 

[Reefing102]

Finding Nemo. I started researching shortly after seeing it in theaters in May 2003 and then first salt tank started back in October of 2003. I was a poor 13 year old then. Now I’m a poor 33 year old lol

 

[crazyfishmom]

I was supposed to get a fish tank for my kiddos to help soothe them and I figured fresh water would be the right way to go but then I saw a picture of a reef tank and said to myself “wouldn’t that be cool”… now I have 3 reef tanks and a fresh water tank. It’s addicting for sure. And I love love love it!

 

[metro6775]

I had freshwater since I was a kid. I knew about saltwater but it was expensive and complicated with those weird wet/dry filters. Then one day I'm in the pet store and see a tank filled with rock, gsp, and a six line wrasse gliding around the tank. The way the GSP waved in the current and the wrasse effortlessly gliding around is what set me on this money pit of a journey. I guess it is cheaper than buying a boat.

 

[Peair]

What got you hooked on the reef hobby? Was it a trip to a public aquarium? Was it a friend or family member? Was it a documentary about natural reefs?

We all got hooked somehow. What was for you?

I got hooked on freshwater in the mid 60's when my parents bought me a 50 gallon, and then when saltwater finally came around it was almost natural for me to get that way again.

 

[kindafun]

When I was a kid there was a local "tropical fish store" that had fresh and salt water fish. The spectacular colors of the salt water fish were highly desired, but I just had a freshwater tank.

Years later, while in college, I ended up in a building looking for a classroom. I came across coral reef tank, fish and corals. It was fascinating! I stayed and looked and watched what was going on in there. I went back again and again. I was hooked.

 

[danenelsen]

Snorkeling in the Caribbean! After seeing all those amazing fish, I knew I wanted to try a saltwater aquarium! Never looked back!

 

[BrokenReefer]

My Dad had several tanks when we were kids, I liked to watch the fish swim around; never liked any of the other bits back then. Now I realize just how much work it is. Still worth it though.

Except now my daughter is asking me why I killed all my fish :( “because daddy is goofy boots sometimes.”

 

[jimfish98]

After freshwater tanks for 20 years, I honestly was bored and needed a change. SW and Reefs were something new, a challenge, and very different. It refreshed my joy of fish keeping.

 

[littlefoxx]

What got you hooked on the reef hobby? Was it a trip to a public aquarium? Was it a friend or family member? Was it a documentary about natural reefs?

We all got hooked somehow. What was for you?

My dwarf fuzzy lionfish and my eels :) always had fish tanks but those fish are what have me hooked on saltwater! Love interacting with them. Especially the eels! They recognize me and come out to see me :)

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Seeing all the colorful livestock you can put in a tank is what got me hooked

 

[Serpentman2024]

I've been hooked since I was a young kid visiting the ocean. Even took my obsession to get a worthless undergrad degree in Marine Biology lol. Useless because I didn't want to go for an advanced degree.

Anyway, rather than play in the ocean (I live in Ohio), I brought the ocean to me.

 

[Doctorgori]

Always had SW fish so in the 80’s Gulf of California stuff started showing up in Phoenix area fish stores and I got started on rock flower anemones and caulerpa, it only got more expensive from there

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

For my family, it was Finding Nemo that got the ball rolling:face-with-tears-of-joy:. For me as an adult, the nostalgia is what keeps me hooked. There was always a tank in my home since I was about 4 years old. Having one now is like having a piece of my childhood in my living room. There's something comforting about it!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I grew up around fresh water tanks that my mother always had. She had always wanted a salt tank, but costs and availability ( mid 1980's) made that very tough, so I guess I did it mostly in her honor. But I absolutely fell in love with the hobby.

 

[Keywest99]

What got you hooked on the reef hobby? Was it a trip to a public aquarium? Was it a friend or family member? Was it a documentary about natural reefs?

We all got hooked somehow. What was for you?

What got me hooked was my first vacation after I got married...Destination Bahia Honda Key at the end of the Seven Mile Bridge. This was back in 1976 when a campsite was $6 a night. The entire island is a state park and our first night there we were the only ones on the island. Now you have to book close to a year in advance. We went snorkeling every day on a beautiful white sand beach with palm trees. I got hooked the first day of snorkeling, brought home some urchins hermit crabs and some type of blenny and a sargent major. Thinking back I'm sure that isn't legal, but hey, I was a young kid. Doughnuts and beer for breakfast. Bought a cooler and a battery operated air pump and brought them home in a 1969 Volkswagon bus with almost no heat. They survived in a brand new 55 gallon tank. Been into salt ever since!