What got you started?

[fanker]

it all started when i was like 5 and for my birthady i went out and bought a 10g fishtank and had some of thoes fresh water frogs and some other fish and i got over that quick, and at about 10 a bubby of my brothers had a 29g tank with everything for free. and i started getting interested in saltwater but everybody i know told me not to because its 2 hard. i proved them wrong, i had a 6g, a 10g, and a 29g saltwater tank at age 11. and now i have over $3000 into my 55g reef. at age 15. and no my parents dont pay for anything. but i still cant stand those people that wont listed to a 15 year old that knows more about fish than they do. like one day i had a neighbor come down for a neighborhood party and he has had freshwater since he wa 18. and he kept saying "look at all those anenomes" and i kept telling him there corals, and he would say u cant keep corals, they wont live in a home aquarium, and he actually tried to grab a coral out of my tank and said it was a fungus and told me to get rid of it, it was goin to distroy my tank. i was pissed

 

[michelle l]

Originally Posted by fedukeford
i went snorkling in Hawaii last summer and i loved all the colors of the fish and coral, so when i got back i went and bought a tank
These are all such interesting stories....!
Fedukeford, your post sounds a lot like my husband's story.
I started keeping saltwater in 1988 when I was 18, and then I took a break from keeping fish from 1990 or so until 1995. Then I bought a small saltwater tank that my ex-boyfriend and I kept together. When I moved out on my own in 2001, I again took a break from fishkeeping.
I met my husband-to-be in 2002, and about a year and a half ago we went to Hawaii after we were married. He loved the reef fishes so much that he wanted to set up a large salt tank after we returned home. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity with both feet and we haven't looked back. We bought a 125 and I started teaching him the basics of fish keeping.
We recently sold our 125 and have upgraded to a 240. I am so glad that he's as enthusiastic about it as I am! Thank you Hawaii!