How did you get started?

[kogle]

I'd like to start a fun thread on here finding out how everynoe got invloved in saltwater. It would be fun to know what started your interest in the hobby..
I'll start.
A guy I work with walked up to me and asked me if I'd like to buy an aquarium. I said no, I have never had an aquarium. He then said I'll sell it to you for $100. I said ok and that same night I was helping him drain the water and we were moving the tank to my house comeplete with sand, some rock, minimal water and all fish still in the tank.
Keep in mind at this point in my life the closest thing I had ever had to an aquarium was keeping a carnival goldfish alive in a butter bowl for 2 years feeding him nothing but bread crumbs. (don't be a hater I was like 10)
Well anyhow, long story short, after killing 4 out of the 5 fish (keep in mind these were damsels that could survive a nuclear blast) I started to get things figured out. A few years later and a few "K" later I've evolved up to a 180 reef tank. The thing that keeps me interested in this hobby is the endless biodiversity and great dedication needed to be succesful at it.

 

[reefkprz]

heres how I got started.
For years I kept every critter imaginable (still do) also I had 60+ freshwater tanks all accumulated in under a year, mostly 10G's (I have no Idea how I afforded this) I had every species of fish that was leagal in my state at one point or another. one of my friends had been pestering me to start saltwater so I could trade stuff with him. I always said nah its too hard. after a couple years I caved in bought an overflow stuck it on my 20G bought a coralife light (still one of my favorite PC units ever) and dumped in sand rock and a psuedochromis fridmani. one cycle and a dead psuedochromis later I almost quit. then I started researching and I realized what I did wrong. after a while in tyhe hobby I realized its tougher to keep FW fish alive and their tanks healthy than it is to maintain a decent marine tank. now I have two of each marine and FW. (along with a whole bunch of critters)

 

[pontius]

when we were building our house in 2003, my wife said we should have an aquarium. my dad had always had freshwater tanks with fake plants and plastic divers, which I didn't find interesting at all. I had just seen Finding Nemo, so I went to the lfs and found SW fish to be more of a "challenge", so I went for it. my wife has regretted making the aquarium recommendation ever since.

 

[reefkprz]

Finding nemo, inspires us all, where else will you see a moorish Idol in with a puffer, a puffer in with a cleaner shrimp and a tang that likes bubbles? plus the aquarium is completly hidieous and set up like a freshwater tank.....

Finding nemo is still one of my favorite movies.

 

[martinc909]

i was walking through the swap meet. and i saw this beautiful 55g. with stand and canopy. i asked my mom if she would let me borrow money and she said okay. ended up taking it home. and that night i went to the lfs. i was undecided if i would start saltwater setup. i was such a newbie. i went to the store and i decided to spend 30bucks on a bag of salt. my god wat did i get into

 

[scotts]

I had a FW tank. I distinctly remember walking into the lfs thinking "I wonder what kind of gray fish I will buy today" A week later I jumped off the deep end and converted to SW. Then found this site, learned so much more than listening just to the lfs.

 

[renogaw]

I got the 75 gallon tank and a POS stand for free. My father in law has a wood shop in his basement. I helped my father in law cut, sand, etc the stand panels. we used the old stand frame but beefed it up some.
while this was going, i started a 20 gallon that was collecting dust, thinking i'd use it as a QT when i really got up and running.
i too wish i had found this website before getting everything, but i actually started my 75 gallon using the info i got here

 

[kogle]

Man it's good to know I'm not the only one that went into this deal blindly.

 

[kanicky]

Nick bought me a custom stand and canopy with a 45 gallon tank for Valentine's Day. He said he had walked in the living room the week before and saw me laying on the floor, staring into our wee 10 gallon tank of FW fish, and knew I was "in love," so he wanted to get me a bigger tank that I could enjoy...
We went to the LFS the next day, expecting to get everything we needed for a large FW tank. We looked around at all the fish, and were mesmerized by the SW fish. We spoke with a very helpful, knowledgeable employee for a couple of hours, and left with most everything needed to start a SW tank.
Two months later and I'm obsessed! I'm already talking about getting a couple of species tanks (one for a Mantis and one for seahorses) as well as eventually buying his buddies' 210 gallon :happyfish
I know many people keep SW tanks as a hobby, but for me, this is a lifestyle. And what a great one it is!

 

[carter3]

My ex moved in and hd a saltwater tank w/ one rock and a hob filter. I fell in love with his grouper then bought a sfe I also fell in love with. Now I know why fish died he only had small piece of lr, cc and never checked any level other than salt levels.Of course I'm at a much better start then he is & I don't have a fish yet. Btw I miss the fish more than I did my ex

 

[rad]

I always thought SW fish were cool, mind you this was wayyy before finding nemo so Im an OG of sorts. I lived in Hawaii and would go and catch small fish from under the boat docks with tiny hooks and what ever meat my mother had available in the fridge. At the time the best I could do is keep them in a bucket while I fished then I would dump them back in the water when I was done. All of them were totally sweet and I would have loved to keep them in a tank but I didnt even attempt it because of how difficult I heard it could be. Before this last x-mas I got a new corporate account at a LFS who do mostly salt and inquired about the price and feasability of taking up the hobby. The guy gave me a 10 minute run down and I was hooked. I needed a tank of my own. I decided that I would buy a tank after x-mas so I could assess the damage of the holidays, then to my suprise the old lady some how figured out that I needed a tank for x-mas so she bought me a 12g. Had I bought one it would have been a 24g. A month and a half later my LFS had a display 24g that they were selling dirt cheap (what a hobby, where else would you find someone saying that a couple hundred dollars is "dirt cheap") So I bought it. Good thing too, because the 12g is pretty much full, and I havnt looked back since.

 

[reefreak29]

i was 15 years old with a 36 gal.freshwater tank.Iwent to the lfs one day and saw seahorses in betta bowls for 7 bucks and i felt really bad so i broke down the fw fish tank and set up a salt water tank and bout 2 seahorses .i had a ugf and ran carbon and thats it

 

[triggerphish]

My friends started getting into freshwater aggressive tanks so I jumped aboard. My first tanks were freshwater, piranha. Then I got a job at the lfs and became obsessed. Then i maintained muliple aquariums fresh and salt from 10 - 55 gallons, some coral and fowlr. I had to drop out for about 3-4 yrs and now I am 6 weeks into phase 2 of aquarium obsesions!