Origins, How did you get started in this hobby?

[flukes]

I have been wanting to post this thread for quite a while now. I hope that others will post their stories here as well.
A few years ago was the first time I have ever been to the ocean I was completely amazing with all of the awesome life that was there. The fiddler crabs that was running around on the beach, all of the cool things that was washed up to shore, such as hermit crabs and jelly fish. Me being an idiot I decided to bring some of that life home with me. I packed up as much sand and ocean water that I could (I didn't know that it was illegal to do so at the time) and some fiddler and hermit crabs and brought it all home with me. My wife thought that I was nuts but I couldn't help it I just loved the ocean so much that I need to bring it back with me. After a 10 hour drive back to Ohio my new friends where still doing well and I got to work right away on their habitat. Which was this half ocean and half beach. Well it worked ok for a few weeks but the hermits where the first to die then slowly the fiddlers, I felt horrible. See it in picture 1
After that experience I started reading and learning more about saltwater tanks, not enough but more. A friend of mine gave me a 25 gallon hex tank. I bought a hydrometer, Instant Ocean salt, power head, live rock and sand. I was so happy, again I was going to bring the ocean home! As I was waiting on the tank so cycle I seen the most amazing thing growing on the live rock, it was aiptasia, I had no idea that it was a bad thing, I even feed it LOL. After spending many sleepless nights reading here on the forums I then found out that aiptasia was a not-so-desirable thing to have in the tank. That was very heart breaking. See it in picture 2
After a few months of research, learning and deciding I knew that the 25 gallon hex was not going to be what I wanted. I found a cheap 65 gallon tank with a stand that I crammed into my tiny office. WOOHOO this is it, this is what I have been wanting!! This tank will be big enough to do everything that I want to do. I bought some expensive lights (that I did not research first) 384 watts pc lighting. More live rock, more sand, canister filter. See it in picture 3
Well live and learn some more, a year has went by and now I really know what I want and need in order to keep a happy and healthy reef tank,,, and guess what,,, the 65 gallon was not going to cut it. This time I really knew what I needed to do. I bought a new 90 gallon tank, had it drilled. Bought a 40 gallon breading tank, placed baffles in it, built a custom stand, bought a RO unit, refractometer, nova extreme pro lighting and a good test kit. See it in picture 4 Here is a link to this build https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/305240/help-i-can-not-figure-it-out

 

[contraband629]

I've been fascinated with marine biology since I was in elementary school. I don't know why I just thought it was cool. I distinctly remember a school field trip to a tide pool and to this day remember it as the coolest field trip ever. When I was in high school I told one of my teachers I wanted to study marine biology in college. He broke it down for me and basically told me I wasn't going to make any money. So I didn't major in marine bio in college and went after a money making career instead. I spent years wanting a saltwater tank but knew I couldn't afford to while I was in college. Finally, after I graduated last June and got a job I decided to reward myself and read all I could on the forum to learn how to get started. A few months later I'm slowly venturing into keeping corals.

 

[mkroher]

my girlfriend's ex husband left a 29 gallon fish tank sitting in the basement collecting dust. Being proactive, I dusted it off, filled it with water and threw some fresh water fish in there. I became addicted, then switched to saltwater about a year later and currently have a 75gal reef. I jokingly tell my girlfriend it's all her ex's fault that I have this addiction now! (and broke) heh

 

[fitbmxdude989]

i got started from family, my mom and my step brother suprised me one day with a ten gallon aquarium with gold fish as a gift, from there i was hooked now i have a ten two twenty's and a 55

 

[geridoc]

I always had fresh water fish. then, when I was in graduate school a new fish store opened down the street from my apartment and I started to hang out there. It became apparent that the new owners knew nothing about maintaining salt water fish (neither did I). However, I was finishing my PhD. in physiology and biochemistry, and figured I could learn how to keep these exotic and beautiful animals alive, so I started to help them with their marine section, which became quite successful. At the time, I still only had a 29 gallon fresh water tank. When I completed my Ph.D. and set off for Utica to do my postdoctoral studies the fish guys gave me a 55 gallon set up exactly like the ones I had worked out for their store, and the rest is history.

 

[flower]

Great thread...I LOVE these kinds of stories!
My great uncle always had a big pretty tank when I was just a girl. My mother tells me that when she would visit I hardly said hello to him, and would run to look at his fish tank... and was happy for the rest of the visit, no TV needed.
When I was 15, I worked at Taco Bell..$1.75 an hour...LOL..For two weeks pay it wasn't even a hundred bucks. First check went on a 10g freshwater tank. That was the beginning...After I had kept fish for about 20 years, had a 55g then for years...then I saw my first reef tank in a pet store...I was in love.
I asked questions, read books...but everyone said it was too hard so I never tried to have my own. I visited that pet store every chance I could so I could just look at that tank.
Then one day...4 years ago, I was at an internet office, and they had a dark tank, I went to look at it. The owner said he was breaking it down, and asked if I wanted the rock. He told me (the first to ever say it) that saltwater was not so hard, and told me how to convert my freshwater setup too salt.
I called the LFS and gave away all my freshwater fish and my happy journey began. Yes I am broke, but very happy...here is a picture of my 90g mini reef today....

 

[mkroher]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3169136

Great thread...I LOVE these kinds of stories!
My great uncle always had a big pretty tank when I was just a girl. My mother tells me that when she would visit I hardly said hello to him, and would run to look at his fish tank... and was happy for the rest of the visit, no TV needed.
When I was 15, I worked at Taco Bell..$1.75 an hour...LOL..For two weeks pay it wasn't even a hundred bucks. First check went on a 10g freshwater tank. That was the beginning...After I had kept fish for about 20 years, had a 55g then for years...then I saw my first reef tank in a pet store...I was in love.
I asked questions, read books...but everyone said it was too hard so I never tried to have my own. I visited that pet store every chance I could so I could just look at that tank.
Then one day...4 years ago, I was at an internet office, and they had a dark tank, I went to look at it. The owner said he was breaking it down, and asked if I wanted the rock. He told me (the first to ever say it) that saltwater was not so hard, and told me how to convert my freshwater setup too salt.
I called the LFS and gave away all my freshwater fish and my happy journey began. Yes I am broke, but very happy...here is a picture of my 90g mini reef today....
Can we all guess Flower's age?

just teasin

 

[meowzer]

When I was little I had sea monkeys LOL....do they count? When I grew up and got my own home I started with FW tanks....still have them too...I have Always wanted SW cause of the beauty of the fish...about 18 months ago someone asked me if I would be interested in buying a 225G used tank with all equipment....I jumped on it....of course I had no clue that 80% of the equip was NO GOOD for SW

...LOL....
I now have the 225G, a 54G, and a 29G SW tanks...along with my 55G, 46G abd 16G FW tanks...

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by mkroher
http:///forum/post/3169139
Can we all guess Flower's age?

just teasin

LOL...Yeah I am old...but not that old.
When I was 15, I worked at Taco Bell for $1.75, but min wage was $2.35...1976...because I was a kid they ripped me off. It was legal because a restaurant supposedly made up the difference in tips..1X and only 1x did I ever get offered a tip. .25 that's right a quarter...the manager slide the quarter back to the customer and told him it was a pleasure to serve him, and no tips were allowed at Taco Bell. I was floored.
My parents worked on the Railroad. They needed to hire some help, and my Mother bless her heart practically dragged me in to apply. Starting wage back then was $5.35..more than what the manager at Taco Bell was making. I have worked that railroad job now..33 years. I am 51.

 

[jaodissa]

(I guessed you were 51

Yaya me for guessing right lol)
When I was pregnant with my daughter I thought how nice it would be to put a fish tank in her room. Figured the sound would help her sleep and the lights would give her some security. So Down to ***** I went. Bought the first tank I saw with crap in it, couple bags of sand, and a few 5 gallon boxes of premixed saltwater. Went home poured it all in waited a few hours then tossed some sail fin mollies that had been converted to saltwater. Once the baby came I forgot about the fish and they died. So the tank sat empty doing nothing for 6 months. I then tried to turn it into a fish tank with goldfish thinking they would be easier. My second kid came around and I soon forgot about them and another fish death happened. (Newborns and new hobbies don't mix). I tossed the tank in the garage and it sat there for a year. We move to California and I was so happy to be by the beach I decided to try my tank again. It's not going so successful, but at least it's not from a lack of trying or forgetting this time! I'll get it one day I hope.

 

[michelled]

What a great story! What kind of fish is that in the center of the 3rd pic down?
I got my own freshwater fish tank when I was around 12-13 years old. I've had fish tanks all of my life (even had a tropical fish tatoo done at 17 years old). I got married 14 years ago - we had bought a house, had our son and our careers were just taking off and we just didn't have the money or the time back then. But my husband and I always admired saltwater aquariums but were always intimidated by them because nearly everyone said they were very expensive and took a ton of time. Well recently, we went to visit my husbands friend and that did it. Now that we have established careers, routine schedules, kids are now 14 and 10...we're ready.
We've been reading, reading, reading and shopping around, visiting various reputable stores and learning. We finally found a tank and are going to make an offer on it. Finally, we will have our own saltwater aquarium! I'm so excited.
Originally Posted by Flukes http:///forum/post/3169027
I have been wanting to post this thread for quite a while now. I hope that others will post their stories here as well.
A few years ago was the first time I have ever been to the ocean I was completely amazing with all of the awesome life that was there. The fiddler crabs that was running around on the beach, all of the cool things that was washed up to shore, such as hermit crabs and jelly fish. Me being an idiot I decided to bring some of that life home with me. I packed up as much sand and ocean water that I could (I didn't know that it was illegal to do so at the time) and some fiddler and hermit crabs and brought it all home with me. My wife thought that I was nuts but I couldn't help it I just loved the ocean so much that I need to bring it back with me. After a 10 hour drive back to Ohio my new friends where still doing well and I got to work right away on their habitat. Which was this half ocean and half beach. Well it worked ok for a few weeks but the hermits where the first to die then slowly the fiddlers, I felt horrible. See it in picture 1
After that experience I started reading and learning more about saltwater tanks, not enough but more. A friend of mine gave me a 25 gallon hex tank. I bought a hydrometer, Instant Ocean salt, power head, live rock and sand. I was so happy, again I was going to bring the ocean home! As I was waiting on the tank so cycle I seen the most amazing thing growing on the live rock, it was aiptasia, I had no idea that it was a bad thing, I even feed it LOL. After spending many sleepless nights reading here on the forums I then found out that aiptasia was a not-so-desirable thing to have in the tank. That was very heart breaking. See it in picture 2
After a few months of research, learning and deciding I knew that the 25 gallon hex was not going to be what I wanted. I found a cheap 65 gallon tank with a stand that I crammed into my tiny office. WOOHOO this is it, this is what I have been wanting!! This tank will be big enough to do everything that I want to do. I bought some expensive lights (that I did not research first) 384 watts pc lighting. More live rock, more sand, canister filter. See it in picture 3
Well live and learn some more, a year has went by and now I really know what I want and need in order to keep a happy and healthy reef tank,,, and guess what,,, the 65 gallon was not going to cut it. This time I really knew what I needed to do. I bought a new 90 gallon tank, had it drilled. Bought a 40 gallon breading tank, placed baffles in it, built a custom stand, bought a RO unit, refractometer, nova extreme pro lighting and a good test kit. See it in picture 4 Here is a link to this build https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/305240/help-i-can-not-figure-it-out

 

[flukes]

Hello MichelleD, and thanks!
The only fish that is in that picture is 2 green chromis and 2 clown fish. I have always enjoyed having green chromis in my tanks.
Originally Posted by MichelleD
http:///forum/post/3169367
What a great story! What kind of fish is that in the center of the 3rd pic down?
I got my own freshwater fish tank when I was around 12-13 years old. I've had fish tanks all of my life (even had a tropical fish tatoo done at 17 years old). I got married 14 years ago - we had bought a house, had our son and our careers were just taking off and we just didn't have the money or the time back then. But my husband and I always admired saltwater aquariums but were always intimidated by them because nearly everyone said they were very expensive and took a ton of time. Well recently, we went to visit my husbands friend and that did it. Now that we have established careers, routine schedules, kids are now 14 and 10...we're ready.
We've been reading, reading, reading and shopping around, visiting various reputable stores and learning. We finally found a tank and are going to make an offer on it. Finally, we will have our own saltwater aquarium! I'm so excited.

 

[michelled]

Thank you for the welcome...My apologies, I meant the 4th pic down.
Originally Posted by Flukes
http:///forum/post/3169368
Hello MichelleD, and thanks!
The only fish that is in that picture is 2 green chromis and 2 clown fish. I have always enjoyed having green chromis in my tanks.

 

[browniebuck]

I have been around freshwater "community" tanks for my whole life. My parents always had a tank on top of our old console television.
When I started teaching in my current classroom, a colleague had a 55 gallon tank that he wanted to get out of his house, so I took it and turned it into a freshwater tank. After playing around with that, my wife and I (after a hellacious summer where I almost lost her after a "routine" surgery), we were low on cash and decided to get a "house present" for Christmas instead of getting each other anything. After getting the tank, we found this site and were basically doing rock, paper, scissors as to whether to go fresh or salt with the tank. We already had a little 10 gallon freshwater tank, so we decided to take the plunge. We found this site and found out that this would take us a while...we set up the 55 as saltwater (learned a lot of lessons), got to show the tank to my mother (who sat mesmerized in front of the tank the first time she saw our mandarin) before she passed away (damn, I miss her) exactly a year after my wife's debacle started (June 30th is not a day we look forward to in my family).
We got addicted (taking Saturday trips all around Ohio to check out various LFS) and the rest, as they say, is history! We now have the 55 (which is torn down at the moment), the inhabitants of the 55 are in my 30 (which was going to be an african cichlid tank...glad that didn't happen) while I am setting up my new baby...my 125...which I am trying to get as much help from my father on as he saw how much my mom loved the "little" tank (which was bigger than anything we had growing up)...and it helps take his mind off of things...
GREAT THREAD!!!
I can't wait for the day that I live in the community that I teach in so that I can start a reef in my classroom (because I can get some of the stuff paid for from our Science fund...which frequently doesn't get used up each year)......oh, to dream!!

 

[fretfreak13]

I've done freshwater my whole life. I've had little things like betas and guppies to Arowannas, piranahs, and discus. I started SW when my best friend's family got evicted from their house, and they had a business where they bred and then sold reptiles at local shows and what not. They had over 100 snakes and lizzards, scorpians, turantulas, birds, etc. They had three dogs, two cats, a 150 gallon SW, a 150 gallon FW (stacked on top of eachother) and a couple other tanks. After they got evicted my family helped house their animals until they could sell them.
I fell in love with the 150 SW, and they were going to give it to me as payment for all the work I did for helping them, but I have no room for a tank that big in my house. Instead, they gave me my 29 gallon, compleate with skimmer, sump tank (though I rebuilt it to my own satisfaction), CC substrate, and a bit of LR. They also gave me 100 dollars to spend on it. =P Now I have that same 29 which is 5 months up an running, a 5 gallon that will soon hold a goby/pistol pair, and soon a 20 gallon in my room for a pretty mantis. =P

 

[flukes]

The fish that is on the top center is a pajama cardinal, to the left is a sailfin tang and on the right is a potters angelfish. It took me forever to train the fish to poses like that LOL
Originally Posted by MichelleD
http:///forum/post/3169374
Thank you for the welcome...My apologies, I meant the 4th pic down.

 

[ashleigh234]

I had no interest in aquariums until about 4 years ago, I didnt even know you could do marine tanks at the time, being 16 and from New Zealand was probably why I had no idea
My boyfriend had been trying to convince me to get a fresh water tank for a couple of months but I had only really seen plain boring goldfish tanks etc so had no interest ... so he took me down to our lfs that sold marine, and I was hooked.
They had a tank that from memory would have been around 200-250 gallons, and I stood there and stared at it for ages, and then I saw the little 30 gal tank with a few corals and a clown ... about 2 hours later after talking to all of the staff, we walked out with a 10 gal tank to start cycling unfortunately we had to move a few months later and our poor clown died as we must have done something wrong.
Now I have a 85 gal tank (for about 2 weeks so far) and loving it!

 

[reefkprz]

I did freswater for a number of years. at one point I had somewhere between 20-30 tank running in various sizes, from a kiddie pool for golfish to breeding oscars, I had a native tank (everything in it was pulled from the river behind my house at the time) had bass, sunfish, crayfish, leeches, even some water beetles (the ones that could avoid the bass and sunfishes predation, and a couple FW snails from the same river. I bred guppies and mollies, and collected whatever rare Fw fish I could. eventually I got tired of that many tanks and kept selling and tearing stuff down. my cousins husband was into salt water stuff and kept trying to talk me into starting a marine tank. it took him almost 3 years to convince me to try one.
saw an algae blenny in a pet store and fell in love with it.
with his help I set up my first reef tank, a 20g with hob overflow a sump that was a rubbermaid tub and a 20$ protien skimmer, with 4 foot RO flourescent lights. (the lights lit both the tank and sump) I was the mushroom king. (at the time it was about all I could keep alive for any stretch) I could grow cheato like no ones business too. (probably from all the nitrates and phosphates I was producing in my little tank). of course it grew, larger, better, bigger, more lights, better lights, build a skimmer (the home made soda bottle skimmer worked better than the $20 store bought one) bigger tank, more rock, and on and on. to where I am now. I wish i had half the money back from erroneous purchases I have made over the years.

 

[casper1875]

Always loved the ocean. My dad loved to fish off the jetty and my brother, sister and I would scoop up sand fleas for bait. Dad raised guppies, and I loved to watch them, but I always wanted to have a saltwater tank.
About 2 years ago a friend of mine had a 75 gallon tank. She asked me if I knew anyone that would want it, and I jumped at the chance. A free aquarium.

Brought it home and cleaned it up, then I started reading. Everything I could find. It didn't take long to see that it was going to be an adventure. There are so many different opinions.
After 2 months of reading, I was ready to start mixing water. That was in August on 2007, November of 2007 the tank started leaking. Had to buy a new 75 gallon tank. Sometime after that, my son bought me a powder brown tang. By April of 2008 I had bought a 180 gallon aquarium and I just got the saltwater into it a few weeks ago.
I agree with the newlywed, could have saved a boat load with what I know now.

 

[darkslide820]

Lady in my office moved to another department. After a while, coworker and I joked about why don't we get an office pet to take her place. We joked about getting a little goldfish bowl for the empty desk, but then realized we could actually do that. So we went ahead and got it (our manager's boss walked by one day and thought it was cute btw, so we still have them).
A couple days later I thought that I could handle a tank at home. So I got started on a freshwater tank with some unexpectedly killer fish, one of which is still around and I have trained to jump out of the water for his food (no it's not an Oscar, it's a Jack Dempsey named Tyson).
So every time I go to a pet store and I see saltwater section I get jealous and think that they're the best looking fish, so why not go for those? So I'm working on getting my tank set up and running.