How you started...

yeah it seems like everyone starts from freshwater...i couldnt imagine going straight to saltwater...my lfs asked me when i bought my 20gal if i wanted to do fresh or salt...i opted for fresh obiviously but i couldnt imagine what woulda happened to those fish...lol

 

I inherited our tank from a friend who moved and really didn't have anybody else to trust with it. I didn't know crap about saltwater so I just let the other half deal with it. When we moved up north we left the tank with his mom and dear god 2 years later she had put an undergravel filter in with some pink fake rock and all of our live rock was slimy and neon green. We rescued it last Feb., moved it 4 hours, and reset it up. Took a few months to rid our rock of the algae but now it is looking darn good. In about two weeks we will be setting up our 125g and transfering everything over. Yep I am officially addicted!

 

I started with FW when I first got married and then later on in the early 90's I went to Fish only sw 33g tank and moved up to a 60g and then to a 150g tank. I moved out of the house and I gave it to the new owner.

Two years ago I started reading a lot about reef tanks for months and months. Finally I tried a 65g reef tank and quickly got into it and out grew it. Moved up to a 120g tank but knew I would go bigger sooner. I was looking at a 180g tank but the store was out of them and gave me a good deal on a 210g tank. I wasn't all that crazy about the 29" height but now I'm glad because it gives the fish room to swim and the corals room to grow. People remark that it is the most beautiful tank they've ever seen. The owner of my LFS does water changes every month and he says it's the nicest tank that he services. Here is a picture of the tank a few months ago with the canopy doors open to show the T5 lighting. Behind the T5's is a 6' strip of LED moonlights.

 

Once I seen my brother in laws 120 with 2 massive oscar's it was over for me... Put a tank up for myself that evening...

 

I was a nerdy kid with a FW tank in the early 60s. I remember taking a bus to the next town to the closest LFS. Have kept fish on and off my whole life. Had a FO salt water 55g in the late 70s then went on a 25 year hiatus. Restarted with a 75g in 2008 and quickly grew to a 300. Still a work in progress.- Paul

 

I started with goldfish we got from a commercial goldfish farm my dad took us to on our 2 week summer visit to his house when I was in 7th grade. Over the years I have been in and out of the hobby ever since.

 

I started with a coldwater set up that was given to me by the next door neighbours when they moved home

I had looked after the fish they had in the pond, the Tomatoes they had in a green house
and looked after the tropicals they had in their home when they went on holidays
I did this for about 3 years for 2 weeks each year and when they moved I was 16
and they gave me a 2ft tank, with a goldfish and 2 Shubunkins , and that was it

so I got a book for goldfish - silly really as they never read it
but within 12 months I had a 2ft tropical community, UG, gravel, neon tetras, danios, corydoras etc
and I progressed from there to larger tanks, and then went onto species set ups ( dwarf chichlids) then Discuss and once there was no further to go in freshwater then it was FO salt water , then FOWLR , then corals etc

If I had my time all over again - Id get 12 neons rather than 10 in the 2ft tank.

Steve

 

Iv always loved wildlife,rainforests,coral reefs and animals in general. One afternoon i visited my lfs and was inspired by all of the bright colorful reef aquariums, I began to get really interested with marine fish, corals etc.. i done alot of research and soon started up my very first marine FOWLR tank which i'm still running but planning to upgrade to a much bigger tank where i plan on keep corals next year.

 

My father stopped by a garage sale when I was 15 yrs old and brought me home a 20g tank and stand. He had no idea what he was starting. He really enjoys coming over to see my tank now. He even helped me do some of the framing to put it in the wall.

 

never had a fish tank before. dad did (when i was like 5-6) i didnt. so this is a first time thing for me. i think im doing pretty good for starting with a salt water tank.