What Was Your First Tank, Do You Still Have It?

[Gumbies R Us]

We all remember that time when we got our very first reef tank and the magic of setting it up. I am wondering what was the first tank you ever had and are you still using that tank to this day or have you moved onto a different tank.

 

[fish farmer]

38 gallon. DIY metal halide hood, 20 gallon long sump.

The tank, sump and stand are long gone. I still have the CPR skimmer and parts of the lights in storage.

I still have a few pieces of Fiji live rock in my current tank.

 

[NkSde]

My first was a biocube back in late 2008.

i deployed though and the care taker did not live up to their name and also moved and took my tank

now i have a 20gal. It’s probably where I’ll stay lol

 

[Bucs20fan]

29g starter kit from petco, lighting was a nicrew 100w. Seachem tidal 55.

Currenty sitting in the garage aquatic cemetary with 3 other tanks I refuse to get rid of for some reason.

 

[Budman93]

72 Gallon Bowfront from 15 years ago. Sitting in my dad's basement still to his dismay. I wonder if it is still good or should just tell him to scrap it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

29g starter kit from petco, lighting was a nicrew 100w. Seachem tidal 55.

Currenty sitting in the garage aquatic cemetary with 3 other tanks I refuse to get rid of for some reason.

Never know when you might use them again haha

 

[Bucs20fan]

Never know when you might use them again haha

Yeah I agree, the wife doesnt though, they take up alot of "her" garage space, a 29g, 60 breeder, and a 125g just chillin. Oh and a fluval 13.5 is in that mix too.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My first tank (aside from aquaria I had as a kid) was a large glass carboy that my graduate school chemistry lab was getting rid of. I had various plants and freshwater fish in it.

A carboy looks like this, but mine was much larger, and no teflon in the stopcock:

 

[i cant think]

We all remember that time when we got our very first reef tank and the magic of setting it up. I am wondering what was the first tank you ever had and are you still using that tank to this day or have you moved onto a different tank.

My first ever reef was a nano cube, I cant exactly remember what it was however here’s a couple photos from that tank. It was put up in the early 2000s so Acros were seen as impossible and LPS had only started to be figured out with what they need.

However I was out of the game for nanos for a while and only got back into them 3 years ago (Late 2019 to early 2020). And although I don’t have a photo of my first Nano in all its… algaeness I do have photos of my first Nano I documented on here, my RS Max Nano although it was rather algae and aiptasia ridden.

 

[mijan]

Marineland 55g from 30 years ago. Currently sitting empty on its stand in my garage.

 

[Mschmidt]

My first reef was two tanks. The plan was to get a 15-gallon cube running well and move it to a 40 breeder. but I started putting things in both at the same time. They both became what is now my 120.

The first 30 odd pages of my build thread are the 40.

 

[o2manyfish]

My First "Tank" was a 15g aquarium that was in my nursery when I was born. My first reef tank was a 40g Truvu with a home made sump out of a 10g tank using a DLS roll. Lights were Vita-Lite with Power Twist and Philips 03 Actinic Blue - This was in 1987. That tank lasted about 3 years before it became a 75g for a year, then a 125 tall for 6 years, then a 400g for 20 years, a 560g for 2 years and then a 750g started in September. -- Webcam on the 750 at o2manyfish.com

Dave B

 

[Paul B]

I started my first "reef" tank in 1971 and it is still running today. I changed the glass I think 3 times when I moved and carried everything with me in vats. The last move was 5 years ago and the longest it was in the same place was 40 years.

There were no true "reefs" then as corals didn't come out for about 15 or 20 years so it was fish only.

PS, I still look exactly the same but I comb my hair different.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I started my first "reef" tank in 1971 and it is still running today. I changed the glass I think 3 times when I moved and carried everything with me in vats. The last move was 5 years ago and the longest it was in the same place was 40 years.

There were no true "reefs" then as corals didn't come out for about 15 or 20 years so it was fish only.

PS, I still look exactly the same but I comb my hair different.

Crazy you have had the tank that long!!!

 

[LPS Bum]

Sure do. A 75 gallon high with an oak stand.

Got it 20 years ago in SoCal as a fish only system. Then converted it to a reef about 15 years ago, and kept it that way until I set up my new 625 XXL this past December. It survived (by my count) 4 moves and has now become my son's freshwater turtle tank.

 

[Paul B]

Crazy you have had the tank that long!!!

I'm Old.

 

[radiata]

My first tank was an acrylic DIY 20G. I made it in 1970. The first specimen was a Hairy Red Philippine Hermit Crab. It is somewhere in my basement and no longer in use.

 

[glency]

My First "Tank" was a 15g aquarium that was in my nursery when I was born. My first reef tank was a 40g Truvu with a home made sump out of a 10g tank using a DLS roll. Lights were Vita-Lite with Power Twist and Philips 03 Actinic Blue - This was in 1987. That tank lasted about 3 years before it became a 75g for a year, then a 125 tall for 6 years, then a 400g for 20 years, a 560g for 2 years and then a 750g started in September. -- Webcam on the 750 at o2manyfish.com

Dave B

This is so cool!

 

[Paul B]

The first specimen was a Hairy Red Philippine Hermit Crab. It is somewhere in my basement and no longer in use.

Why don't you use that hermit crab any longer?

 

[vlangel]

We all remember that time when we got our very first reef tank and the magic of setting it up. I am wondering what was the first tank you ever had and are you still using that tank to this day or have you moved onto a different tank.

Great question. My first reef was a 40 gallon XH built in our wall that I converted to salt around 1997. It was awful to maintenance so I bought an AGA 90 gallon aquarium with a stand and canopy around 2000. It was suppose to be my forever aquarium, LOL. How many of us have said that! It actually was a great tank. I downsized in 2012 to care for my husband's mom and I did not keep the 40 gallon or the 90 gallon, (they take up too much space). Now after 25 years of reefing, I am content with a smaller tank, ( 56 gallon column).