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Nicelly done travelerjp98.
"HAHA. This is proof to my parents that I actually do good in this hobby. LOL." how is that your story is about how you dump water all over your parents living room rug? LOL 
Journeys to Reefkeeping are Fraught with Mistakes
I've kept fish for most of my life, but it wasn't until the recent forays into the SW world that I really invested in the process. I started the journey at 10 years old with a 10 gallon tropical tank. It's almost funny when you put all responsibility for maintaining a tank in the hands of a 10 yr old. I mixed bettas with guppies and a variety of algae eaters and tetras and weird catfish and angelfish and cichlids (when I had enough money) and mollies and barbs and sharks and on and on. I must've had 25 different fish in that little tank. Of course, cleaning the tank was fun! Mom or Dad would say, "there's too much algae on the tank. Clean it!" To a 10 year old, that means taking out all the fake plants, catching the fish with a net and putting them into a bucket (the fun part), then emptying the water (spilling it all over the carpet), taking it into the bathtub and scrubbing the sides with soap and water. Simple..... and disastrous. Strangely enough, I didn't always lose the fish via the cleaning. Then again, if it wasn't the cleaning, then it was the outright aggression, overfeeding, or plain bad conditions that eventually killed them. While I may have been the worst kind of aquarist at the time, I have certainly become more educated and continue to learn and grow in my advancing years. But, I will never forget that first night after setting up the tank with a few neon tetras, turning out the lights in my bedroom, turning on the fluorescent bulb in my tank, lying back in bed and seeing the wonders of the aquarium world open up for me. Aquarium keeping really is a journey, and it has the power to transport you to someplace you never imagined. Being part of that journey is a privilege that should be considered as such.
Well although this is a saltwater site and I have a saltwater tank that I have had for several years, I'm going to talk about the coolest, most therapeutically relaxing tank I have had; a freshwater tank in Iraq.
I set up a freshwater tank in southern Iraq when I was there in 2009. There were a few stores on base owned by locals where someone could purchase bootleg items on a daily basis. One day I went in the store and asked the store owner if he could get me a fish tank and a filter. He gave me a strange look and then told me he'll see what he could do. A week later I went in and he sold me a scratched and beat up 30-ish gallon tank and bio-wheel style filter for $50. I took it back to my room and started setting it up. I used water from the bathroom to fill it and used bottled water for the daily top-offs. There were 5 of us in our tent, 2 of which were interpreters that went home (downtown) every weekend. They left on Thursdays and returned Saturday night. A week or two after running the tank with nothing in it besides water I gave one of interpreters $20 to get me some fake plants, fish, and fish food from the local pet stores. He came back Saturday night and I was up and running. We had several mollies, guppies and 2 goldfish. After every rocket attack I would return to my room and make sure the fish were fine. It might not sound like therapy to you, but for me it was like a little piece of home in Basra Iraq. I kept that tank set up for about 3 months before I had to go back to the MOB (Main Operating Base). When I left it was still running. Hopefully someone else got the same relaxation I got.
Last month, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house, like the previous year. (LOL... another Thanksgiving story..) My uncle, aunt, and cousin drove 2 days from Florida to come stay with us for a few days. A couple of days before they came, I got a new fish, a green Chromis, for my tank. My cousin is 3 years old. Obviously, she was fascinated by the tank. We spent hours in front of it, and I was more then happy to explain everything to her (Well, as best as I could in 3 year old language). It brought both of us a lot of joy and happiness, and it gave everyone else some time to relax. She's an active little one. One day while we were looking at the tank, my new chromis decided to die the same second that we were looking at the tank, right in front of us. She started to say "fishy dead?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"... so I quickly signaled for my mom to keep her distracted while I got the fish out of the tank, so she didn't see. After that, it took a lot of explaining... and a loooonnnnnggggg night.
Hope you guys enjoyed my story!
Who won for December? Happy New Year everyone. May your corals grow and your Red slime die (if you have them).
John
My January Story.
16 Year Upgrade
Well just like the title says this took 16 years to up grade my 30 gal to a 135. Months after all my fish were killed from my birthday present, the house we were living in sold and we need to get out. Good timing for my tank, it went into storage while we looked for a new home. While my wife was looking for a house I was looking for a bigger tank. She always said once we moved into a permanent home I could have a bigger tank (she said). Well as good luck was shinning on me the LFS was up grading to multi compartment tanks and getting rid of there display tanks. I purchased my first large tank, a 135 with wet dry filter; this was custom built tank and filter one of the first of it kind. The wet dry was a series of glass trays that held crushed corals with a shallow tank below. Before I could even get the tank and stand off the truck my wife said that ugly, rusty stand is not going in my new house. So in the garage it went right next to my work bench. I comparing the cost of stands vs have furniture for our living room and I was over ruled. Also my handy work would never get past my wife, so there it sat. I threw a blanket over it so not to remind me of the huge tank sitting in my garage. Every time my tank came up in conversation I would say “If I never get it set up it would make a great coffin.” So one day while working in the garage I uncovered my tank just to gaze, then I decided to see if I could really fit inside it. While lying there, my wife happen to come into the garage, well the look on her face, priceless. After 16 years sitting in the garage (3 kids; 3 bedroom sets; washer & dryer; several cars; etc) my youngest brother turned into a mighty fine furniture builder and I talked him into building me a stand and hood. The old wet/dry was replaced with a new style wet/dry with bio balls.
Awesome story. Thank you for posting it.
markc212 is the winner for December!!! Please continue to share stories and let us know what is going on with your tank. Was it in tip top shape for the holidays? Thank you for telling stories about your reef keeping experiences.
'gratz Mark!
My January Story.
16 Year Upgrade
Well just like the title says this took 16 years to up grade my 30 gal to a 135. Months after all my fish were killed from my birthday present, the house we were living in sold and we need to get out. Good timing for my tank, it went into storage while we looked for a new home. While my wife was looking for a house I was looking for a bigger tank. She always said once we moved into a permanent home I could have a bigger tank (she said). Well as good luck was shinning on me the LFS was up grading to multi compartment tanks and getting rid of there display tanks. I purchased my first large tank, a 135 with wet dry filter; this was custom built tank and filter one of the first of it kind. The wet dry was a series of glass trays that held crushed corals with a shallow tank below. Before I could even get the tank and stand off the truck my wife said that ugly, rusty stand is not going in my new house. So in the garage it went right next to my work bench. I comparing the cost of stands vs have furniture for our living room and I was over ruled. Also my handy work would never get past my wife, so there it sat. I threw a blanket over it so not to remind me of the huge tank sitting in my garage. Every time my tank came up in conversation I would say “If I never get it set up it would make a great coffin.” So one day while working in the garage I uncovered my tank just to gaze, then I decided to see if I could really fit inside it. While lying there, my wife happen to come into the garage, well the look on her face, priceless. After 16 years sitting in the garage (3 kids; 3 bedroom sets; washer & dryer; several cars; etc) my youngest brother turned into a mighty fine furniture builder and I talked him into building me a stand and hood. The old wet/dry was replaced with a new style wet/dry with bio balls.
LOL...Poor dear, she owed you big time.
Yes she did, Flower. She was the one who bought me the wet/dry for christams. Then she couldn't understand why I need a $100 pump to make the wet/dry work.
Deton8it, if that was derected to me thanks. If it was for markc212, yes agree "Aquarium keeping really is a journey, and it has the power to transport you to someplace you never imagined."
gratz Mark! 
LOL...my story for January's submission
While purchasing live rock for the first time, I bought it a little at a time over a month…On the last batch of rock to be purchased, the owner of the fish store said…”Oh look, you got a little button anemone there for a freebee” I noted where the little guy was on the rock so as not to hurt him. When I got my new rock home, I made sure my button anemone was right near the top of the rocks so I could enjoy watching him. There was nothing in the tank except the live sand, live rock, and the saltwater.
To my delight after a few days the little critter emerged happy and healthy, my husband and I watched it grow day by day…then it split and became two, and in a few days it split again and became three. We were so excited and certain we must be doing something right since our little coral (I didn’t know an anemone was an invert yet) was spreading.
Some time after the cycle, I went to a different LFS, where I spotted a starfish, called a chocolate chip starfish. I asked the kid working there if it was reef safe and he said “yes”. Well I took my new critter home and acclimated it and within minutes it was moving through the tank and went right for my little group of button anemones. The little critters bent way over, my husband said they were trying to get away and couldn’t …as we watched, to our horror it ate the first one…then moved over the second one…before I could get it out, it had eaten all three.
In a rage I went back to the pet store with the CC star in a bag…and I demanded to talk to the manager. It was not a reef safe star. They returned the $25.00 for that but would not compensate me for the button anemones it had eaten, they insisted they never heard of such a thing and wouldn’t pay for it. I described what it looked like because maybe we called it by the wrong name…It was tan color, with a stalk and a little bumpy top and could recoil into a tiny little button within itself. But nobody seemed to know what we were talking about, and we would not be getting any money for them. I was so outraged and hurt. The only thing alive in my tank that I had raised from a tiny baby was now gone, all because of a stupid kid who didn’t know if a critter he sold was reef safe.
Sometime later, I found out what my little “button anemone” actually was called….majano. That CC star had done me a service. Also, I no longer go to either pet store.
Wow! Didn't really expect to win, but am humbled by the honor.
Big thank you to everyone at Saltwaterfish.com. That includes the mods and all the contibutors too. I don't know how I would survive this hobby without the wealth of knowledge and expertise provided by the board.
The tank is doing well, but I'm concerned that a recent purchase might've been the wrong choice. LFS sold me on a Feather Star that was gorgeous. Such a fantastic and interesting creature, but from reading the board, I've discovered that its success rate in a DT might be marginal at best. So far it seems to be doing well, as I'm trying my best to keep up with phyto feedings, but I'm afraid it may be a long and futile attempt to keep it from starving. I hate when I don't follow the sage advice of folks on the board to research before you buy, and end up in this position.
Mark
Like many children on the autism spectrum, my son Charlie (7 yrs) tends to fixate on one thing and become obsessed with it. As such, my wife and I decided to get he and his brother a freshwater aquarium last xmas, figuring it would be a positive influence. It has taught them so much - from the empirical knowledge of varied species and how to care for them to the experiential knowledge of the ebb and flow of life. It's been an amazing year with my budding ichthyologists- lots of pond fishing, crabbing on cape cod, trips to both Seaworld and NE Aquarium, and an endless stream of library books on every aspect of marine life. This fascination was especially apparent on a recent trip to his school. As we sat in the lobby waiting for our appointment, I noticed something on the large world map. Taped off the coast of Ireland was a drawing of the anglerfish. We recognized the artist immediately and smiled to ourselves.
So this past xmas when I got the token 5 scratch tickets from my mother in law, the boys did the honors of scratching. Well, by god, doesn't Charlie win $1000! Since he had already gotten his blue betta, his first instinct was to ask everyone else what they might want. To reward his unselfishness and peer awareness, we decided a trip to LFS was in order.
As we made our way through the aisles of amazing marine creatures there it was - the sargassum angler! The fact that Charlie had been printing pictures of this species off the computer for weeks made the sighting that much more surreal. It felt great to be able to reward that smile with a beautiful biocube 29, 15 lbs live rock, live sand, 2 damsels, a LTA, a crazy CBS, some feather dusters and algae, and of course the sargassum angler. This aquarium is a huge source of pride for my kids and we often gather around it, laughing at the CBS as he sneaks off with a fish head or marveling at the angler's tactics as he tries to dine on the damsels.
I know everyone involved in this hobby understands and appreciates the beauty our world has to offer, and how easily the balance can be upset. Seems like we are not fur collectors here, rather stewards of life gaining inner peace through our underwater zen gardens. That is something I really like.
I hope you like our story
best,
Chuck S.
Like many children on the autism spectrum, my son Charlie (7 yrs) tends to fixate on one thing and become obsessed with it. As such, my wife and I decided to get he and his brother a freshwater aquarium last xmas, figuring it would be a positive influence. It has taught them so much - from the empirical knowledge of varied species and how to care for them to the experiential knowledge of the ebb and flow of life. It's been an amazing year with my budding ichthyologists- lots of pond fishing, crabbing on cape cod, trips to both Seaworld and NE Aquarium, and an endless stream of library books on every aspect of marine life. This fascination was especially apparent on a recent trip to his school. As we sat in the lobby waiting for our appointment, I noticed something on the large world map. Taped off the coast of Ireland was a drawing of the anglerfish. We recognized the artist immediately and smiled to ourselves.
So this past xmas when I got the token 5 scratch tickets from my mother in law, the boys did the honors of scratching. Well, by god, doesn't Charlie win $1000! Since he had already gotten his blue betta, his first instinct was to ask everyone else what they might want. To reward his unselfishness and peer awareness, we decided a trip to LFS was in order.
As we made our way through the aisles of amazing marine creatures there it was - the sargassum angler! The fact that Charlie had been printing pictures of this species off the computer for weeks made the sighting that much more surreal. It felt great to be able to reward that smile with a beautiful biocube 29, 15 lbs live rock, live sand, 2 damsels, a LTA, a crazy CBS, some feather dusters and algae, and of course the sargassum angler. This aquarium is a huge source of pride for my kids and we often gather around it, laughing at the CBS as he sneaks off with a fish head or marveling at the angler's tactics as he tries to dine on the damsels.
I know everyone involved in this hobby understands and appreciates the beauty our world has to offer, and how easily the balance can be upset. Seems like we are not fur collectors here, rather stewards of life gaining inner peace through our underwater zen gardens. That is something I really like.
I hope you like our story
best,
Chuck S.
I love your story, I got little happy tears as I read it...a BIG HUG for Charlie. My grandson is autistic...I really like the underwater zen garden thought.
Wow!! so many great stories.
Mr.Limpid, your story was hilarious.
Csangler - Great story as well, warmed my heart.
Mark - those pics are amazing... it would be awesome if they were just filter feeders... I would have gotten one in a heart beat.
I may post one too as well.
I just don't want to bring everyone down in the process. :/
As I promised here is a story from me.
I am terrible with corals and I am ashamed to admit that I did my share of coral killing in the past due to my ignorance of it's surroundings (had a menace wrasse) or bad placing etc.
Apparently it runs in the genes.. Before I get into the story, let me explain the back ground details.
I do alot of mailing in my occupation and for my hobby and my house always has these protective bubble wraps.
My wife loves to pop them, which is a pet peeve of mine because I bought them so that I can use them not for her to destroy it making it use less.
My little boy would always watch her and get fascinated and decided to join in on the fun. Yes, double trouble for me.
In the end, I caved in bought a separate wrap so that they can both play with.
Fast forwarding the story now.
I went to my local fish store and saw this beautiful green metallic colored bubble coral and I immediately wanted it.
I purchased it and drove immediately home so that I can acclimate the thing so that I can put it into my DT.
I, then put the coral into a bucket, started the drip acclimation then turned my back and started to get my dogs ready for their walk. I hear giggles then I heard my son cry. Panicking, I rushed over to find him next to the bucket crying with a small boo boo on his little finger. My little boy, the curious little monkey that he was, went over to the bucket while my wife and i was occupied, checked out the coral in the open bag within the bucket and thought it was his popping toy.
He popped nearly every single one then on it's dying leg, the coral managed to fight for it's life and cut my little boy's finger with his skeleton.
It was a draw in the battle of coral that day but in the end, I lost.I was short on my money, lost a beautiful coral and had to settle my son down after cleaning and treating his cut.
Bottom line conclusion, coral compatibility within people is generic as you can see from here the trait shows from very early age.
On the serious note, keep your eyes open at all times when children are around.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
As I promised here is a story from me.
I am terrible with corals and I am ashamed to admit that I did my share of coral killing in the past due to my ignorance of it's surroundings (had a menace wrasse) or bad placing etc.
Apparently it runs in the genes.. Before I get into the story, let me explain the back ground details.
I do alot of mailing in my occupation and for my hubby and my house always has these protective bubble wraps.
My wife loves to pop them, which is a pet peeve of mine because I bought them so that I can use them not for her to destroy it making it use less.
My little boy would always watch her and get fascinated and decided to join in on the fun. Yes, double trouble for me.
In the end, I caved in bought a separate wrap so that they can both play with.
Fast forwarding the story now.
I went to my local fish store and saw this beautiful green metallic colored bubble coral and I immediately wanted it.
I purchased it and drove immediately home so that I can acclimate the thing so that I can put it into my DT.
I, then put the coral into a bucket, started the drip acclimation then turned my back and started to get my dogs ready for their walk. I hear giggles then I heard my son cry. Panicking, I rushed over to find him next to the bucket crying with a small boo boo on his little finger. My little boy, the curious little monkey that he was, went over to the bucket while my wife and i was occupied, checked out the coral in the open bag within the bucket and thought it was his popping toy.
He popped nearly every single one then on it's dying leg, the coral managed to fight for it's life and cut my little boy's finger with his skeleton.
It was a draw in the battle of coral that day but in the end, I lost.I was short on my money, lost a beautiful coral and had to settle my son down after cleaning and treating his cut.
Bottom line conclusion, coral compatibility within people is generic as you can see from here the trait shows from very early age.
On the serious note, keep your eyes open at all times when children are around.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
Oh the things we teach our kids and never even realize it. Bubbles were for popping...
You can't turn your back for a second....
I made the mistake of laughing at my 3 yr old daughter when she dumped baby powerder all over her 1 yr old brother. He looked so funny all white and just his little brown eyes peeping out...fast forward a week, the next powder she dumped on him was nestles chocolate...he was teething and chocolate dripped so gross from his mouth. The clean up was horrible chocolate was everywhere, and when I tossed the playpen out a year later...as I let it fall into the dumpster...I noticed a small puff of chocolate dust as it landed.
Alright, here is one more to get things going in this thread!
As many of you guys know from here.
I have a thing for a trigger fish. May it be the weird shape, looks, vibrant colors or it's unique personality, it's a great sturdy fish for any one in the hobby and I had my share of these awesome fish. Here is a story of my epic fail and how trigger saved me.
This is when I first moved into my house.
I had downsized my 72g bow front by giving away rocks left and right to make the move easier and also to give my big fish more room to swim. (I had an issue with over stuffing my tank) I left 3 big rocks and very small pieces and gave away all of my rocks. I only had like 4 or 5 fish at the time but BIG fish that always swam in front of you constantly begging for food. Any how, this was a time when I was still very diligent on up-keeping the tank and I decided to my rock cleaning. I got my center piece rock out which my wrasse and trigger constantly made mess of and I particularly love this rock because it looks a giant coral (had hard corals growing on it before it was cured and died off) and it has nooks and shelves like place where my emerald crab hides time to time. I took out the rock and put it on a little basin with very small water to just to wash off the debris off the tooth brush. As I was doing my center piece rock, my wife calls me and asks for a quick grocery trip and being a good... wait... let's rephrase, "smart" husband that I am, I gave her the final say in the matter which was "yes, ma'am" and left for the groceries to pick up whatever that she and the baby needed.
Fast forward close to 30 something minutes.
I come back home and head back to the tank, trying to finish what I started. I sit down and look at my tank and I notice something.
Something was missing... then it hit me.. my water puppy huma was gone! I looked at the two remaining rocks to see if she was hiding somewhere and couldn't find her.
Shifted the sand, fearing for the worst but nada. No trace of her.. Then something hit me and I went to the center piece rock that I was cleaning which was out of water for about 40 mins. and lo behold, there she was wedged in between the rock in between one of the shelf half dead. Panicking, I immediately put the center piece back in the tank. Pace around for a long time checking for her vitals every other mins. She didn't come out for several hours and I figured that I would have to take her out in the morning and give her porcelain burial but to my surprise and delight, she was out and swimming in the morning.
I was glad that my carelessness didn't kill the beautiful fish and people weren't kidding when they said if you kill a trigger due to a negligence you need to get out of the hobby.
She has been my longest surviving fish which lived through 2 ich out break, 1 month of static electricity running through the water, heater incident, bad batch of water and became part of my family. I was definitely a fan of this fish and would recommend to any one who has a fish only tank. (mind you, she will kill all inverts and create sand snow effect for you)
