How did you get into reefing

[big deddy]

I'm 36 years old. Got 1st aquarium ( freshwater) in 1st grade for a good report card. Over the years, I got into African cichlids. Then a local college kid had a 120 reef he was taking down because of moving. Seen it on local for sale site. Talked to him and next thing you know I bought almost everything he had except actual aquarium. I still get advice from him and occasionally equipment. Always wanted reef tank but was scared of the horror stories I had heard. Now I don't think I will ever not have one. Plus my 2 little ones. 7 year old daughter, 5 year old son love helping and working with the fish. So my 30 year love of fish finally got me where my wife and I wanted to be.

 

[Wiz]

Had a little bit of a rough upbringing. Early on I decided I like animals more than people. By the age of 8 I started collecting any animals I could get my hand on. I specifically loved reptiles but any animal was cool.Eventually freshwater fish came into the picture. Took a little while to get a handle on it but I enjoyed it.Ran out of room very quickly. Started to try and get animals that could be housed together. That led me to terrariums. Which I still have today. But reefing is the ultimate, The amount of different organisms in one place is what amazed me. I was always afraid to try though aseveryone said it was near impossible.
Then In my mid twenties, I lived with
a roommate who decided to get a reef
tank. After watching him half-
heartedly try to keep it going with
some success I decided that it could
not be as hard as everyone said and
the amount of effort that I would put
in should work. So I went and got my
own. Caring for animals as I do, And being as obsessive and intent to make it work as I am, I was quickly very successful. It took me a few years to understand and conquer nitrates. And I had two major learning experiences with temperature one hot and one cold. (Turned my AC off for a long weekend camping trip, And lost power for 2 weeks in the middle of the winter) But after about 10 years of reefing I feel that I have it down fairly well and keep a very well stocked very mixed Reef. And I love it all From the tiny bugs and worms To the corals and fish There is no hobby like it. There are one or two corals that I cannot seem to keep, So right now I am researching What other corals might be causing this. I kept a Duncan for almost a year growing from two heads - 15. All of a sudden it started closing up and over a period of a month or two it slowly died. I got another two head Frag, It stayed out
for about a week and now it has
started slowly closing again. All my other corals all different types are fine. All water parameters are great. All conditions are the same. Leads me to believe there might be some chemical war going on. Gotta love this hobby