What's your reefing story and how would you rate reefing at this point?

[Shazbop07]

My dad grew up in Sri Lanka with concrete tanks in the backyard. Used to breed bettas and gourami's. Rainfall for water changes, no heaters!
In Australia as a kid growing up (me), he had a tank with fancy guppies and loved his fish so i caught the bug off him. At 18 I bought a tank and had 1 Oscar who was an absolute character. Over the years progressed to having numerous freshwater tanks.
With my own kids and husband, we go on holiday up north of West Australia to a place called Shark Bay that has a tourist attraction called Ocean Park. They have marine tanks with locally caught marine fish there. It sparked my interest and after 10 yrs of visiting there, one day we came back and my 15 yr old said " mum you really should go marine. You've been talking about it for yrs". With that, sold off my 6x2x2 and bought a Waterbox 135.4.
I'm happy with my decision. Reefing is hard at times. I've been thru the usual ups and downs and steep learning curve. I really wish I had more disposable income to throw at it though!! It makes me proud though in a way that I've accomplished it. And I have met so many great people in the hobby. Reefers on a whole are a very supportive bunch.
Oh, and my 16 yr old is into freshwater aussie natives, grows his own plants under co2 injection...etc etc. he's a smart kid and helps me with my tank.

 

[gotmesalty77]

I got into reef keeping back in college when a party house i used to frequent started to neglect a spotted dragon moray eel. Ive always loved creatures of all types and couldnt stand to watch it. Basically the kid who actually knew how to take care of it flunked out of school amd the tank quickly looked horrible and i assumed it wasnt getting fed properly. Id never kept a salt tank so i had no idea what i was getting into but i am confident and capable guy so i figured id give it a better life no matter what. Now the actual "owner" wasnt exactly on board with me taking the tank and not getting any compensation so i had to um..... persuade him it was in his best interest. His roomates also saw the light and told him they thought it would be best for everyone involved. Now im not exactly proud i strong armed a kid for his set up but im not going to watch an animal trapped in a small tank be mistreated by some drunk kid. Turned out the otber kid had paid for everything anyway. After several months i just had to go deeper into the hobby. It was an immediate addiction.

Right now I'm only not as satisfied as i could be because it's taken me months to get things the way i want them to be after taking over an established tank. Also i wish my tank was more filled with life. I know it takes time but man i cant wait till it lools like i picture in my head! Soooooon....

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I was just born to be wild... Always have been fascinated with living things, spending an absurd amount of time out doors flipping rocks, photographing and keeping animals from all walks of life.

I've loved being in the water for as long as I can remember and A trip to hawaii when I was younger showed me the beauty of the ocean. I became a certified free diver shortly after so I could spend more time enjoying the life below without clunky gear and bubbles scaring everything away.

I've only ever worked in pet store and was always around salt water but was content with my various freshwater catfish until rather recently. I found myself rather frustrated how useless I was with helping people with saltwater and had long been fascinated by the oceans life, the fluorescence of corals etc. I also want to get a better understanding of how the oceans worked and thought a reef tank would give me some idea of the fundamentals.

Over all I really enjoy the steep learning curve, challenges, endless colours of coral and the satisfaction of giving living things what they need to thrive. Recently with getting my first corals I've been enjoying the biodiversity that makes it through the dip.

 

[Tastee]

I bought my first SW tank as a 50th birthday present to myself (with my wife’s ok). I have kept FW since I was about 8 and grew up on the east coast of Australia so was always interested in SW fish and other inhabitants. I did a lot of research before installing the tank and ever since and have learnt 1000% more in the past 2 years than I did in the prior 40. I’m now surprised as many of my FW fish survived as they did.

Satisfaction level is now great. I spent 12 months battling GHA which is now gone. My learning was (I think) really more about tank balance than it was about the Algae. My 65g tank is going well - not perfect of course but ok, and I am planning a 120g second tank.

 

[Bbfishb81]

1. I started mine as help with stress. It's definitely helps but also caused some stress in the beginning. I also learned a little more patience and not to stress over what you have no control of, just take preemptive measures and hope for the best.

2. I'm absolutely loving in my reefing abilities.

 

[LisaMarie]

I grew up on Monterey Bay and got to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium on a field trip before it was open to the public (so old lol). I married a paratrooper and had to leave so reef aquariums were a way of taking a piece of the ocean with me wherever we went. Am I satisfied? With my tank....yes. With the hobby as a whole....not really. I'm not a fan of the current "designer coral" nonsense and I'm disappointed in having to buy ridiculously overpriced equipment that is garbage that I always have to fix and modify for it to work properly or for any length of time. The "money racket" part of it really annoys me. I guess it makes me old school lol.

 

[Bastray]

When I was 12 or so my grandpa and I set up a Fish Only saltwater tank. We had a great relationship and this was our hobby that we did together. I got older and went to college and the tank was taken down. Fast forward about 4 years and a fight with addiction, I got sober and setting up a new tank was a good way for me to get out of my head and helped me relieve my anxiety. I had that tank set up for close to 3 years.

After the birth of my first daughter my tank went downhill and I just didn’t have the time to care for it. I went without a tank for the next 5 years or so. 3 years ago I set up a 20 gallon AIO tank and grew out of that quickly and got a RSR 425xl 2 years ago.

I am very satisfied with my current state. Things are not perfect, but I love this hobby. It is great for me mentally and I have a ton of passion about this hobby. I love the constant pursuit of perfection and the fact that this hobby is hard. It makes me think and it never gets boring or old to me.

 

[Just Jenn]

My sisters and I always loved going to public aquariums. We've been to many over the years. Our middle sister (Jen, of Just Jen) had a severe stroke several years ago, and nothing seemed to excite her other than going to the aquarium. You could see it in her eyes. We all live together and take care of Jen
As time has gone on, we are all too old to drive ( I'm 70, Jen is 68, and Beth is 66) and could tell Jen wasn't enjoying anything anymore, so I've researched, been reading a lot on this and other reef keeping sites and decided to take the leap.
Started just over a year ago in a 6 gallon tank. I seem to have pretty good success (a few set backs, but who hasn't had one of those? We just upgraded to a 40 gallon breeder tank. Everyday Jen seems to beam as she sits by the tank.
This journey has been very exciting. I can't wait to see what's around the corner

 

[Hair Algae Wizard]

I'm battling hair algae in a new tank, so my satisfaction is a bit skewed at the moment!

 

[Stevel]

I have alwa

Today let's talk about how it all began! Each of us have reasons as to why we first purchased a tank and got into this wonderful hobby of keeping a saltwater aquarium in our home. Some stories are pretty normal while others may be unique. Some may even be a bit embarrassing like my story...aheem...Finding Nemo. No matter what your story or your reason the fact is that we all got here somehow.

So I have a couple questions for you today!

1. What got you into keeping saltwater reef aquariums?

2. How satisfied are you right now in keeping a reef tank?


Beautiful reef tank via @Ericsalt

marveled at the beauty unearth the waves of our oceans. Raised in the Midwest far from any ocea I read as many books as I could find at our local library. My first tank was a 20 gallon with only some rock a couple anemones and some damsel fish. Wasn’t much to today’s standards but to me it was my own little ocean. Now over the years with knowledge asking questions and reading my tank is amazing to me. I enjoy watching coral thrive in my tank. Thanks guys for making this possible

 

[stanleo]

I put somewhat satisfied cause my husband won't let me spend more money!!!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I put somewhat satisfied cause my husband won't let me spend more money!!!!

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

Growing up I always had small freshwater fish tanks. Never anything fancy, just tetras, cichlids...you know, all the common stuff. When I was 12 or 13 my mother was taking classes in Knoxville,TN so my brother and I spent a lot of time running around town with dad. During this whole time frame, we discovered quite a few aquarium stores. The one that caught my eye was "The Coral Reef". While we had seen other stores with some pretty SW tanks, The Coral Reef was exceptional. They had living coral, which I had never seen before growing up in the mountains. There was tons of equipment, books, foods, wall to wall tanks full of fish and inverts- the true epitome of what you want in an LFS. Among the many people there was a tall bearded guy with glasses named Chris. Chris took the time to teach me about absolutely everything I had questions about. I attribute his candidness and kindness to my success and love of the hobby. All that being said, I could not afford any of it except for a book by Bob Fenner call "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist". Chris told me to read and study it like a bible and I would have success. I had no idea where to come up with the funds for one of these tanks, that is until I scored an under the table job bussing tables at a country club in town. I worked as hard as I ever have for months, scraping and saving every penny for a reef tank. Then we took a special trip to The Coral Reef just for me. Having only 300 dollars in hand, Chris made his recommendations and I walked out with a brand new 1st generation 12 gallon nano cube (old school hood with PC VHO square pin fluorescent bulb), 12 pounds of aragonite, a box of instant ocean, an old hydrometer, and 2 trochus snails he threw into my sand. My grandmother had an RO system hooked up to their water system, but that was 45 minutes away. Every week my dad would take me and my 2 culigan jugs to fill up with clean water. I didnt have any rock until Christmas came around that year. My grandfather gave me a 100 dollar gift card to the LFS and I spent the entire thing on,what is still, the most beautiful premium Fiji and tonga rock I have ever seen. I kept that tank up and running until I joined the service, paying for it by fragging zoanthids and mushrooms with the help of garf.org . I dealt with all the ups and downs, bacterial outbreaks, algae issues, hitchhikers, etc all with the help of my book and the LFS. Mostly because there weren't forums to get answers from.

I dont think that either my parents or myself realized how much that tank would shape my future. I dont think Chris realized how much his helping an annoying kid would give him the confidence to take on such a big project. That tank, that store, the people who helped me, led me to a career in marine biology.
I lost contact with Chris many years ago, but the Coral Reef is still in business. I still have my copy of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, autographed, and Bob is now a good friend of mine.

It's really something to see how far this hobby has come.Some things have changed while others have not.
I would have to rate the current state of the hobby at an 8 out of 10. The new technology makes keeping certain specimens much easier and, without it, some would have been seriously impossible 20 years ago. I am also a huge fan and proponent of the amount of stuff that is aquacultured. "Back in the day" nothing was! The few points I left out are for the money grubbers that want nothing more than to TAKE from the ocean and sell to someone who will hike the price through the roof, essentially TAKING more from hobbyists. Also the lacking in a perfect rating are the know-it-alls. The problem with technology now adays is that you dont have to know anything. Pull up Google and get an answer. Theres no trial and error, thus, creating a breed of hobbyist common among forums, that think they know everything because they read it online and regurgitated it without having any experience on the topic. Also not really keen on the naming of things. I understand why it's done, but it drives me crazy. I guess it's because I grew up using scientific names for species, because there wasnt as broad of a selection. Not trying to be a Debby-downer, just tossing out my opinion.

 

[Timfish]

It all started for me just a few years ago when I was 7. On a family vacation my older brother and I were going through our treasures we found at the beach when we found a tiny crab in a ball of algae. In hind sight I'm afraid it died a pretty horrible death with our attempt to make saltwater from tapwater and table salt. Even though I now have systems, corals and fish decades old what drives me is what do I need to do to keep my animals alive for at least their normal life expectancy.

 

[ajhudson15]

I loved fish and tanks as a kid but only had freshwater. when my wife and I got together we lived with her parents and I started a freshwater because they used to have tanks also. as I was setting it up they all said you should do salt. I obviously knew how expensive it was and said no but they talked me into it. 6 years later I love this hobby, have some of the top f the line equipment, do this expensive corals, and spend a lot of time on it. needless to say my wife and her parents regret making me do salt 6 years ago lol.

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

One of the things I've noticed about the hobby... freshwater tanks are gateway drugs!

 

[KrisReef]

Five years ago I promised my wife an aquarium as a Christmas gift because she has a Ph.D in fish behavior and currently works as a biologist (not related to fish). After a lot of research I learned that there's a lot to maintaining a proper reef aquarium, so I put it off for several years. But last year when I retired from my 30 year career in IT support I finally had the time to devote to doing it right, so I ordered the aquarium and started on my reefing adventure. Now it's my obsession and she hardly pays attention to it.

I’m very satisfied with my tank and the extensive automation I’ve set up with my Apex. After doing IT work for so long, I’m very used to programming, testing, and documenting my work. I put that to use when writing my 8-part Apex programming tutorial series here on R2R: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials-part-1.685/

I also get great satisfaction from helping others out, so this tutorial series is one way I’m trying to give back to this great community of reefers.

“Retired” from IT and proceeded to write 8 pages of IT support for Apex users.

Nicely done!

 

[flsalty]

For me it was just an extension of keeping freshwater since I was a kid. My first SW tank was a 65 hex, fish only. I had those awful dead coral decorations that were in probably every fish store (one white, one blue, and one red). Then I started reading articles about keeping coral, using live rock, the Berlin method, etc. That really appealed to the kid in me who used to catch critters in the creek behind my house.