What got you into reef keeping

[Julian Bastidas]

Also, ljaus, I'm glad you still can look at this small but beautiful wonder

 

[Armydogracing]

Lost my son and need a hobbie to keep my mine busy,and also nemo

Im so sorry for your loss Susan. Something that I have learned since doing this the hobby may not keep back all of the demons but it helps. Sometimes Im down testing water for really no reason at 2am or other maintenance after that.

 

[Armydogracing]

I am not a vet but similar situation. I am a police officer and 6 years ago a man ambushed me while on duty and stabbed me in the neck trying to kill me. I was diagnosed with ptsd and everything I tried for therapy wasn't working. My therapist became frustrated with me as I said it wasn't helping and she asked if I liked any part of it. I told her I liked the waiting room as it had a fish tank and she told me to get my own.
I did and it has been my saving grace ever since. I can't believe a 55 gallon box of water had helped me so immensely but I am so grateful for it.

Cheers to you brother and thank you for your service.

Thank you for your service also. Police officers now a days dont get the respect that they also deserve for their selfless service. Every outside light at my house has a blue light that shines all night everyday. We just lost 2 officers here in Iowa from a sick individual

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Lost my son and need a hobbie to keep my mine busy,and also nemo

Susan so sorry for your loss...

 

[Cleverbs]

I started with a 10g guppie tank just for fun about 8 years ago with my girlfriend at the time who is now my wife because we wanted a little aquarium. after about 6 months I started a 75g freshwater tank that was a community tank of kinds mainly focused on breeding German blue rams. I was successfully breading them so decided to go planted then went high tech plants with Co2 fertilizers and the while nine yards. loved the tank but at a point the challenge wasnt there anymore. I then converted my 75g into a FOWLR tank that moved into Reef within 4 months because I was missing the element of growing something like the planted tank. We got married and bought a house after I had my tank for about a year so I saw a perfect chance to upgrade the tank so I bought a 220g and ran it as a reef for 2 years. We went on a trip and while I was gone my sister was caring for my aquariums and the power had gone out on the 220 and she didnt notice somehow. To her defense she knows nothing about how a saltwater aquarium works and we where out of the country so we didnt talk to anyone back home for 10 days. Got home and the whole tank was dead. I had 2 fish living and the rest was lost. I could bare to reinvest in the tank so I turned it into a freshwater tank and walked away from the saltwater hobby for a bit but knew I would be back. The 220g is now a community Geophagus tank with 6 geophagus threadfins, 8 adult roseline barbs (6-7"), Trio of breeding Gold vail angles and a pair of breeding GBR. I love the tank but wanted to get back into saltwater about a month ago so i decided to keep the 220g as freshwater, sell off the reef lighting, skimmer, and frag tank setup and start a 93g cube as a reef. Couldnt be happier at this point with that choice.

 

[John Carroll]

I spent 45 days in North Korea in 2004. A day in Pyongyang, a day in Wonsan, a day in Hamhung, several weeks at the Chosin Reservoir, followed by a day at Hamhung, another at Wonsan , and then across the DMZ on the 45th day. I had no contact with the outside world. No idea how my family was doing back home. No idea how the US was doing in the Olympics. No idea about anything. Being isolated for that long gave me a lot of time to think. I thought a bunch about things that I wanted to do when I got back. One of those was go back to the Keys and do some Scuba diving. When I crossed the DMZ in to South Korea and back to reality it was an eye opener. About 2 weeks later I was back with my family in and we went to a local Pet store to get dog food. I was looking at the live rock tank, not knowing what it was, and it was there that the reefing bug bit me. A few weeks went by and every time we went to that store I went and looked at the rock tank. On one of the trips I pulled the trigger and bought a tank, sand, salt, and rock ($13 a pound). The next day I bought 3 clownfish and 1 more rock covered in Aiptasia and it has been downhill ever since.

 

[AXO]

Ive already shared my story, but science supports watching fish as extremely calming and anxiety ridding. I realized how I'll just sit there in my "fish room" and watch my fish just scoot around.

 

[azbigjohn]

Great timing for this thread, because I am returning to my original source of wonderment for all things Salt Water.

I had always had fresh water tanks since I was a kid, but a vacation to Long Beach, California put my on the track to Salt Water fish only tanks years ago. As I became friends with more people in the salt water world, I found more and more that loved coral, and 5 yeas ago I ventured into my first reef tank.

This weekend, my wife and I are going on our first-ever cruise (a gift from our kids for our anniversary) and we are going to Long Beach a day early so I can visit the Long Beach Aquarium again!

 

[DMCM]

well my brother doesnt like driving the city streets so i always drive him there to buy corals. i kept pointing at corals and he is not buying it and he always buy the one that doesnt stand out. so i started one myself. now that i know better all the one i was poiinting was very common and grows fast. most of his stuff before was no names but now im seeing those with crazy number next to it. thats about it for me i just got suck into it

 

[Susan Bates]

So very sorry for your loss, Susan . . .

I hope that your reef helps to bring you peace.

~Bruce

thank you, it keeps my mind busy

 

[djd3mon]

Long story short. a buddy of mine had cichlids so I started the hobby with cichlids, then moved to saltwater after i learned you can put corals in a fish tank, lol.

 

[sethanie]

I've been into freshwater since I was a child and wanted to have a tank just like my dad did. I can still remember my little plastic hexagon tank with way too many fish in it. Gave up fishkeeping after college, but a few years after I got married, I wanted a tank again. I learned the basics of the nitrogen cycle and somehow one tank turned to many and then I suddenly had a heated and cooled garage for my tanks. Then my husband told me he always loved saltwater. I took a couple of months to look into it as I'd always assumed it was much, much more difficult. I found out it's not more difficult, just more expensive Started a 20g tall tank a few days into 2016. Now I'm addicted to feeding corals and watching them eat.

 

[Ljaus]

Also, ljaus, I'm glad you still can look at this small but beautiful wonder

Thank you.

Susan I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[bairdimusprime]

My highschool offered an oceanography course. We learned how to setup our own tank (under gravel systems.. it was 1999 lol) our teacher took us to the bay we collected live samples and learned about the ocean. Came home setup my own tank and never stopped

 

[Goby-won]

Great topic.

Thanks to all for your service.

...sorry for your loss Susan.

I got into the hobby by accident. A fish store opened up on my way to work. I stopped by all the time to look at fish. I bought a used biocube on craigslist and here I am 2 years later with a 120 that I love. Fish are indeed relaxing.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

We went to Florida for vacation, and I happened to catch 5 Florida fighting conchs and 2 queen conchs at the beach (didn't realize I shouldn't take them home with me). I had already been thinking about keeping an aquarium, so I decided I'd do salt instead of fresh...after all how hard could it be??? I kept those guys in a tupperware container for about a week and a half along with some sand from the beach while I researched stuff. I set up a 30 gal that was upgraded to a 75 gal after a couple of months...then moved on to a 180 and 120...yep I think I jumped in with both feet. Been going for about 5 years now. Currently setting up my new tank since we made our cross-country move to Cali. It's a 50g cube.

Btw, those conchs all lived for 3 and a half years...I finally gave away the last one bc they kept jumping on my corals and knocking stuff over. LOL

 

[SoonerBerrios]

It's amazing what a container full of water, salt, rock and some living things can do for you. Like @Armydogracing I was an infantryman in the Marine Corps, deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005 and have been through various stages of coping with PTSD. This month a year ago I setup my first tank in a 40B from Petsmart and did it on the cheap. I did not realize how much of a calming effect the research process, testing process and watching your fish and corals grow would have on me. I'm now have a RedSea Reefer 425xl and can say I am addicted. Always happy to hear of fellow vets finding ways to help reduce the anxiety!

 

[Paul B]

I just got diagnosed an hour ago at the VA that I have PTSD. (from Viet Nam) After fifty years, who knew?

 

[Armydogracing]

I just got diagnosed an hour ago at the VA that I have PTSD. (from Viet Nam) After fifty years, who knew?

Did it take that long to get the appointment? Just messing around. My VA is bad with appointments

But seriously if anyone Vets need to talk please feel free to message me IGY6 I know it's always easier for me to talk to fellow vets.

 

[Robthorn]

Around 95or 96 I was driving down the street with a couple friends that had freshwater tanks and we saw a going out of business pet store. I bought a 29 hex for maybe $10 with a stand. I was looking around the store and saw a bag of salt and one of the so called smart guys I was with told me I couldn't keep saltwater because he tried and failed. I bent down and picked the salt up and decided I could show him. Those first years were pretty bad and I quickly got a 55g from the same sale. I think I paid $4 for the stand. It was a real going out of business sale.
Today I am many successful tanks beyond that first hex and that guy still can't keep a halfway decent saltwater tank because he is so much smarter than me. ;-)
Thank you very much for your service Armydog.