What gotcha into this hobby?

[ZoWhat]

For me, I traveled to Bermuda and snorkeked over a live reef 8 miles off the shoreline with a professional snorkeling boat and captain.

To this day I have yet to see certain shades of brilliant colors that I saw snorkeling over a live reef for 4hrs that day. One of the highlights of my life

I had to bring corals into my home after that experience

 

[GoPitt88]

I've always wanted a fish tank, but when we started watching the show Tanked on Animal Planet, that set me in motion [emoji225][emoji226][emoji886][emoji245][emoji16]

 

[siggy]

I grew up on the Great lakes fishing, swimming, boating and always had a aquarium, salt water was just the ultimate challenge of the hobby

 

[WVNed]

Walking on the beach at the Outer Banks in the 60s poking stuff with sticks and putting it in buckets.

 

[BedrockIOMC]

For me, I traveled to Bermuda and snorkeked over a live reef 8 miles off the shoreline with a professional snorkeling boat and captain.

To this day I have yet to see certain shades of brilliant colors that I saw snorkeling over a live reef for 4hrs that day. One of the highlights of my life

I had to bring corals into my home after that experience

I have always had love for the water, when I was younger I had the nicknamed Tadpole. I love to swim and everything about the water. to watch fish and how they live under the water is a love for me as well. for the saltwater part there is even more of a love because of all the life that is under the water and the color. coral is so amazing to me and how it grows and live. I guess that is why I love more of the soft coral then the reef. Don't get me wrong I love is all but to watch the soft coral move and change through out the day is the best thing. it is all so relaxing and makes my life much better. Having this small ocean in my home makes me smile every time I look at it.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Some jerk gave me a 10 gallon aquarium kit as a wedding present 4 years ago, then 2 years ago I decided to jump into salt.

 

[KrisReef]

My kindergarten teacher Mrs. Slaught had a guppy bowl in our classroom. We learned numbers, the alphabet, and everyone got to take home a pair of guppies. I’ve had fish or coral pretty much non-stop since I matriculated into 1st back in ‘63.

 

[DSC reef]

I was always fascinated by marine life and loved the ocean. Kept freshwater for years then one day I saw a coral beauty angelfish and it was game over.

 

[sfmacguy]

Me and my dad had a 180Gallon growing up, and when I moved close to him after the Air Force, it was another hobby we could bond with.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

From the first moment I seen a salt water tank when I was a teenager I knew I wanted one. Don't ask how long ago that was...

Everyone told me not to do it because it was hard to setup, maintain and Very Expensive!

Fast forward to 5 years ago I learned most of what I was told was not true they are not that hard to set up and maintain. It can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it. The 10, 29 and 32 gallon tanks we had or currently have are not so bad as far as cost. But, the 144....have to borrow against my 401k, sale a kidney and deprive the kids from going to collage!

Kidding, I have always been attracted to marine aquariums and the vibrant colors of the fish and corals!

 

[tripdad]

I felt the overwhelming need to frustrate myself and divest myself of all "mad money".

 

[andrewkw]

My sister wanted fiddler crabs and when we found out they were brackish she lost interest and thought it was too much hassle so I turned the 15g tank into a nano reef instead.

 

[ReeferGuy96]

My dad had an extreme passion for animals. He brought home every stray and orphaned animal he could find. We didn’t have a lot of money, but what little extra we did have went towards caring for animals. Cats, dogs, ferrets, fish, birds, etc. You name it, we had it.

Every payday my dad took us to the pet store to get supplies for the animals and to look at all the pets. My eyes would always wander to the saltwater tanks next to the freshwater. Side by side there was no comparison, I always begged for the “Ocean fish!” My parents would say it was too costly and required much more work than freshwater fish.

Years later, I’m only a couple months into the saltwater hobby and boy were they right! But it’s been a joyful learning experience everyday.

My dad isn’t with us anymore but he passed onto us the gift of loving animals and all the memories we shared doing so.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I've always had freshwater tanks when I was younger. Got out of it for a bit, and then made the mistake of going to my uncles house for a visit. He has two reef tanks that I hadn't previously known existed (he lives a ways away so I dont see him often) saw his two tanks and the fever hit. Been in reefing ever since

 

[Neo Jeo]

What a great question: I love the ocean and everything about it. Any chance I can get, I like to be in the ocean. When I was younger I wanted to be a Marine Biologist unfortunately my life took a different path. I'm happy the way it turned out tho

Now I can have a ocean in my home is incredible. This is my 4th tank and I took a 6 year break due to my job that I was working 60 hrs a week. Now with the change of job 3 years ago It was time to start back up. I started back up 6 months ago and im loving it every day! "Even with Ich"

 

[Neo Jeo]

I grew up on the Great lakes fishing, swimming, boating and always had a aquarium, salt water was just the ultimate challenge of the hobby

I'm from Chesterfield MI 25 and Gratiot

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Having freshwater tanks since I was 8 years old, keeping simple guppies all the way up to Discus until a year ago when I visit my cousin in Miami that has a huge reef tank that make me think if I can make one. Then I found R2R and the journey begins. People told me that is too hard to make and keep a reef tank but in reality is nothing hard to accomplish if you want to achieve your goals.

 

[mckinleyw]

TANKED. Oh and having an uncle with a saltwater aquarium maintenance company. He got me alot of supplies for low costs or physical labor working with him on his clients aquariums.(Awesome learning experience)

 

[cracker]

I had fresh water tanks as a kid. In my senior year (1979). My Buddy Mike & I decided for the science project in our Biology class, We were going to prove that one could keep an aquarium naturally filtered with oysters. The thing fouled real quick ! The teacher demanded we get the stinking tank out of the class room etc. Iv'e been at it ever since . I have made a "little " progress since then !
I must add that for many years I was very happy with my fish. But then I saw corals were being kept. OOh Man ! It's all your faults !

 

[Geebs19]

Had a friend that had about 10 very large tanks in his home when we were growing up as kids. I was gifted a 20 Gallon and from there got the hook, got out in my early to mid 20s as I was hoping around and now that I am settled down and married we are getting one setup now!