When did you start reefing?

[minus9]

Nice group so, hopefully this thread will be nice and long.
First freshwater tank in the mid 70’s (I was probably 6 at the time?)
First saltwater tank 1980
I believe it was a 29g or similar size, undergravel filter, dolomite as substrate and a few dead bleached coral skeletons as decoration to make it natural looking I used mollies, couldn’t afford actual ocean/reef fish at the time.
First invert addition was in the late 80’s. I remember when wet/dry filters first came out. My first real saltwater fish was an undulated trigger, so I learned the hard way that mollies and triggers aren’t really compatible together. First lesson, but not the last.
My aunt and uncle were local suppliers for stores and ran their business from their house. Fish, birds, reptiles, etc so I was never short on keeping animals as a kid. Seeing a clown trigger in person is what really sealed the deal with me wanting to keep saltwater. Seeing that fish at the Shedd aquarium in Chicago changed my life, as I always gravitated to the saltwater displays there. Good times……so several nano tanks, skilters, bacpac skimmers later and I’m still enjoying this hobby as much as I did that first day.
Happy reefing!

 

[Screwgunner]

Undergravel Filter? I still use one, Am I bad?

No they worked then and still do.

 

[NoahLikesFish]

You forgot a 1 - 2 year option.

I bought this book 30 years ago to help me start out, then Emma was born and life just got in the way...

Covid gave me the opportunity to do the research and I started my 15 gallon nano 13 months ago.

I've still got the book which is obviously outdated in the equipment sections - it looked like reverse undergravel filters and wet/dry sumps were all the rage in the early 90's.

i read that book i love it

 

[Midrats]

1987. I bought everything from Nippon Goldfish Company San Francisco.

 

[ReefGeezer]

My first marine tank was a 20 gallon with an under gravel filter and two Percula Clowns. That was 1977. I had marine fish only tanks for the next 15+ years. I owned a fairly large LFS in the early 90's when reefing was beginning to become popular here in the Midwest. I went all in. My first reef tank was in the store. It was a 135 gallon built with cured Gulf and Fiji Live Rock, a DIY Sump, a DIY Venturi Skimmer, an ATO of sorts, and 6500K Halides. In addition to buying livestock from wholesalers in California and Florida, we transhipped fish, corals, and live rock from the indio-pacific region, including Fiji. We built & sold sumps and skimmers, and were the first in the Midwest to offer RODI water. We cured Gulf and Fiji live rock in large vats and sold it as ready to be put in the tank for $6 per lb. I sold that store in 1994 when it just got to be too much for me. Since then I've always had a small reef tank. Interestingly, my current 90 gallon reef isn't too different from the tank I built back then.