What inspired you to get into the saltwater hobby ?

[Paul B]

My Dad owned a seafood market and I grew up playing with dead fish. We also sold live lobsters and crabs so I used to set up my plastic army men on the saw duste floor and let the live crabs run over them. I also used to shoot the crabs with the cannons loaded with toothpicks. Crabs hate that.

I was surrounded by fish all my life and had a tank since I was probably 4 or so in like 1952

 

[Tim'sReef]

I was always interested in the ocean and coral reefs as a little kid. Watched all the documentaries and almost 3 years ago I saw Jake Adams his video on setting up a Red Sea max nano.

When it was clear to me you could do this in your own house began researching how to do this. And bought my own Max Nano a couple of weeks after that. Been loving it ever since and soon I will upgrade for the 3rd time to a bigger tank.

 

[jdpiii3]

I always remember helping my dad when I was young caring for the fish, feeding the Oscars by hand. Visiting the pet stores and seeing all the fish, learning at a very young age how to care for creatures smaller than us. The hobby gave me appreciation of all things living.

I truly wish my dad could have seen the development of my 400 gallon natural reef.

 

[WarChief]

I dabbled with Freshwater for years. I always admired the salt setups for the vibrant colors of not only the fish but the coral. There is nothing more beautiful. So I have always wanted a tank and I am full tilt into it now.

 

[nothing_fancy]

Mom had a freshwater tank for years, when I was old enough it was my chore to clean it. We had an algae eater named Axel Rose, it's name was inspired by the way it swam on the glass...I'll let that be an indicator of the time period when I started getting into fish stuff. I loved cleaning that tank. Later on I had a cichlid tank that unfortunately blew out and flooded our basement. I believe that was the inspiration to try SW tanks, my LFS was keeping some saltwater fish that I was interested in for a long time. So I started a small saltwater tank in high school with a clown fish and anemone, I had an old desk lamp halogen fixture that was able to be taken apart and screwed into a box frame for some lights that were decent enough for the NEM. It wasn't a very clean setup though but I really enjoyed that. I didn't get into coral until after college around 2006. It amazes me how much has changed in the hobby in just this period of time alone. I still have a couple of old books on aquariums but the amount of information and availability of equipment and livestock still blows my mind when compared to even just 10 years ago.

 

[Slocke]

A lot of things led up to it but I think this video got the idea in my head. I wanted to start with something easier and cheaper than epaulettes and have been horribly sidetracked since.

 

[Wakenbaker420]

Covid...had extra time and money. The waterbox 130 has been up and running 2yrs. Went deep down the rabbit hole with the saltwater adventure and loving it.

 

[Budman93]

Probably going to the aquarium as a kid and having a freshwater fish tank. Always thought it was cool

 

[kevgib67]

After visiting lfs for my fresh water cichlid tank the colors of the salt water fish blew me away. I bought a 40 gallon tall for a fowler tank, I didn’t get the attraction of the plant like things and loaded it with coral skeletons and large barnacle shells. Started seeing the mixed display reefs and slowly those plant like things started becoming intriguing and you know the rest of the story.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Mom had a freshwater tank for years, when I was old enough it was my chore to clean it. We had an algae eater named Axel Rose, it's name was inspired by the way it swam on the glass...I'll let that be an indicator of the time period when I started getting into fish stuff. I loved cleaning that tank. Later on I had a cichlid tank that unfortunately blew out and flooded our basement. I believe that was the inspiration to try SW tanks, my LFS was keeping some saltwater fish that I was interested in for a long time. So I started a small saltwater tank in high school with a clown fish and anemone, I had an old desk lamp halogen fixture that was able to be taken apart and screwed into a box frame for some lights that were decent enough for the NEM. It wasn't a very clean setup though but I really enjoyed that. I didn't get into coral until after college around 2006. It amazes me how much has changed in the hobby in just this period of time alone. I still have a couple of old books on aquariums but the amount of information and availability of equipment and livestock still blows my mind when compared to even just 10 years ago.

Wait til the next 10 years- I can only imagine.
I'll take a robot that cleans and feeds tank for you

 

[X-37B]

As a kid we used to go to Stienhart Aquarium in SF. Loved the ocean and my great grandfather was a Master Mariner for over 50 years.

So around 1988 my ex wife bought me a 55 hex, what?
Never even mentioned a fish tank.
I went to the fish store and saw the reef section. Took the hex back and got a regular 55 and am still reefing today.

 

[NkSde]

Freshwater fishes lack of color brought me to saltwater. Tropical fishies are so pretty snd have so much character

and the chemistry practical application

 

[nothing_fancy]

Wait til the next 10 years- I can only imagine.
I'll take a robot that cleans and feeds tank for you

Haha, you're right, wait till AI gets its hands on reef keeping...

 

[Jasonak]

Won a goldfish at the fair and that got me started on tanks. First job was at a place called the coral reef back in the early 80s. Owner was way ahead of his time doing live rock and trying to raise coral way back then.

 

[Jasonak]

I was always interested in the ocean and coral reefs as a little kid. Watched all the documentaries

I always thought Id grow up to be Jacques Cousteau and work on the Calypso ....if anyone remembers him

 

[snorklr]

i'm pushing 70...had freshwater as a kid and when the LFS first got saltwater i was amazed by the colors...especially against the stark white dead coral decorations at the time...at that point SW became the holy grail i would pursue for the next half century, basically without the money to really do it correctly...i really dont see the appeal of designer clowns as the color pattern of a "normal " clownfish is so stunning that the morphs look less amazing to me

 

[j.falk]

I was bored after having several freshwater tanks for several years. I wanted to try something new and exciting. Saltwater still excites me to this day. I love the challenge of it and the sheer diversity of livestock that is available. I can never go back to fresh.

 

[curt]

A friend had a fresh water tank that I liked to look at. So me and my girl friend at the time (wife of 32 years now) went to get a tank. Left the store knowing it was going to be saltwater. That was about 38 years ago. And wow a lot has changed since then. Still going though.

 

[EricR]

I already posted but forgot to mention an angle that I'm surprised I haven't seen in this thread (yet):

Jr. SCUBA certified at age 10. (NAUI in the late 1970s)
Mostly diving southern California (Catalina, La Jolla, etc) through my late 20s so nothing exotic but still a key root for my interest. (((years away from it now)))

For semi-local family outings I prefer Sea World over Disneyland and similar but lose that battle a fair amount of the time.

 

[X-37B]

I already posted but forgot to mention an angle that I'm surprised I haven't seen in this thread (yet):

Jr. SCUBA certified at age 10. (NAUI in the 1970s)
Mostly diving southern California (Catalina, La Jolla, etc) through my late 20s so nothing exotic but still a key root for my interest. (((years away from it now)))

For local family outings I prefer Sea World over Disneyland and similar but lose that battle a fair amount of the time.

Cool! I forgot I got certified in Scuba when I was 12 with my mom.
Monterey was nice. Northern CA water is certanly not tropical, lol.
Did dives for abalone with the family in those days. Also jumped for smelt in the surf.