What got you into the hobby?

[Nor'easter Reefer]

I had family members who had reef tanks. plus my dad had one when I was a little kid. So I guess it just runs in the family, haha

Im trying to raise my son to be a fish dork just like his dad!

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

When it comes to hobbies i really enjoy i can get a bit carried away.

Oh same here haha. The wifes always "what else could you need!?" When new packages show up haha

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Im trying to raise my son to be a fish dork just like his dad!

I'm sure our son will end up being one of those fish people too, haha

 

[tsharpe291]

I can't be the only one... my kids are kind of to blame, finding Nemo.
but then again im the one who had them watch it so.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

i was out 18 years. shut my last tank down when my oldest daughter was 1. went cold turkey when i got out

for my 40th my wife and kids bought me a 13.5 fluval. i think she regrets it. within a month i had a 75g cycling, 6 months later a 125 in the garage. sold our house this past FEB and instead of moving the 125 i upgraded to a 300G. Been back in the hobby since DEC 2023.

When it comes to hobbies i really enjoy i can get a bit carried away.

I am the same way with hobbies! My wife makes fun of me because whenever I decide I want to get into a hobby, I do a ton of research before I get into it. I guess I like to know what I am getting myself into

 

[luis angel]

Did you send some of those fish away? I dont remember seeing a hippo tang in any of your other pictures. I really like the cubes in that size range

I gave some to my dad who has a 4 ft and took others to the LFS to exchange them for credit to buy other fish and corals. This is how the tank looked before having the Pro Clear 90 I have now

 

[PPBlimpy]

I am the same way with hobbies! My wife makes fun of me because whenever I decide I want to get into a hobby, I do a ton of research before I get into it. I guess I like to know what I am getting myself into

yes exactly!!! I choose my hobbies wisely. This one I get to enjoy at night mostly. we have a small farm also. so daylight hours are in short supply after work. during summer months the tank has to mostly be on autopilot.

 

[MintyMan]

Dad had a couple catfish farms when I was growing up. Alot of pop up fish farms back in the day due to subsidies back then. Learned to drive on those levees and ride in the back of the truck truck after church cottonmouths

 

[DarthRaiderBob]

My parents and I always kept freshwater. I always wanted a saltwater tank but always got told no they're too expensive. About 3 or 4 years ago my wife and I were going to buy our assistant pastors tank and lo and behold they gave it to us!! So that's how I got here and why I'm now poor.

 

[EliMelly]

I’ve always struggled with addiction. Something out what’s under and in the ocean always calmed me down. Used to watch blue planet all the time and this was an extension of bringing that serenity into my life. Helped ground me a lot.

 

[X-37B]

I started the hobby with a reef tank setup.
Out of the blue, in 1988, with no real interest in aquariums my then wife bought me a 55 hexagon acrylic tank.
I took it back to the lfs to.get something smaller, lol
While there I saw the reef tank setup they had and looked at all the live rock and various corals they had for sale.
Went home with a standard 55 and have enjoyed the hobby ever since.
That 55 had a 150 watt pendant halide and actinic bulbs, live rock, and a sump. .

 

[56longroof]

Seems like that'd be an interesting story to hear about

It was mostly due to alot of misinformation coming from the store owner. That combined with a high mortality rate of everything that was bought from there. He would push if you have algea your tank is healthy. One of his tanks was full of cyano and he claimed it was a copper resilient strain of algea. Being new it took me a while to catch on to his BS. But I do owe him some credit. Thanks to him I don't dive into anything with doing ALOT of research on a subject. When I got interested in reef keeping again I read tons of books and internet articles. Probably 6-8 months of research before I even put water in the tank.

 

[akma]

I used to be into freshwater in the late 80 and 90's
Would catch minnows and sunfish and raise them in 10 gallon tanks. Also, had a pet bass.

2003 was my 3rd year in college and a buddy of mine had a Nano cube. He had a pair of clowns and a small naso tang. Went to the store with him one day to look at fish and I was hooked.

Started off with an Aquapod with Sunpod metal halide light. I used to drive all over the east coast for 20-50$ coral. I think longest I drove was 4.5hrs to pick up an acan. I'm so happy we can ship all over the states now!

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

I can't be the only one... my kids are kind of to blame, finding Nemo.
but then again im the one who had them watch it so.

Everyone needs a Nemo!

 

[cloak]

My parents had a tank in the late 70's. I was a kid and that fluorescent bulb looked like a lightsaber... (may the force be with you) :)

 

[Flame2hawk]

My Dad was a doctor and I think he wanted to teach me about the reproduction system. The obvious example was a 10 gallon with a guppy trio and boy did I learn about the circle of life! Then I was re introduced again when my kids and I won our first goldfish at a carnival. That started my path towards eventually getting discus in a 125g. Then took the family on vacation some 30 years ago and snorkeled in Hanauma bay in Oahu Hawaii. Feel in love with the colors of the fish and upon return, converted my tanks to saltwater. Snorkeling has now turned into scuba and while I can’t keep a whale shark in any of my large FOWLR DT’s, I did get to scuba with these gentle giants in Maldives and the Georgia aquarium. Pure delight!

 

[Redbird5]

I jad kept freshwater fish since I was 10, probably longer than that and decided in high school to research saltwater fish. It took 25 years, before I started my sw aquarium, I went from a 2.5 gallon aquarium to a 45 gallon aquarium in about a month. I've learned more in the last 3 months than I did reading books. I've had a blast learning about this hobby and I have tons more to learn.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Recovery. This helps with my idle time.

 

[Jacek56]

What got you into the hobby?​

My wife. We started in september 2006, long time ago but I still learning how to run it stable.

 

[Ooh fiddlesticks]

I’ve been a fish keeper for as long as I can remember. My mom bought me a goldfish when I was very young and I was fascinated by her 15g aquarium that she had in her office.
Anyway, in the early 90s I was about 10, we were in St. Pete at the upside down pyramid at the end of the pier eating at some restaurant.. Cha Cha Coconuts perhaps? They had an aquarium in there. Whether it was a reef tank or a fowlr tank with coral decoration I can’t say for certain but they had a royal gramma and I’ve been hooked ever since.
A decade later I bought my first drilled tank, a 65 gallon. A short time later I bought a 125,
Then, after a divorce and a move I bought a 25 gallon cube, upgraded to a 65, had a flood and lost everything, bought a 40b and now have a Red Sea tank. I’m already making plans for a bigger tank, just don’t tell the misses.