Your First tank?

[Lee Haynes]

Hey guys!

Just wanted to find out what everyone started with for their reef tanks? And how long did it take until you upgraded to bigger?

 

[Chris-tico]

i started with a 10 gal nano.. 2 months laters i was upgrading to a 30 gal... now, 5 months later im building my 80 gal tanks!
haha crazy right?

 

[Lee Haynes]

i started with a 10 gal nano.. 2 months laters i was upgrading to a 30 gal... now, 5 months later im building my 80 gal tanks!
haha crazy right?

That is a heck of a progression rate!

 

[Bensadork]

Round 1: I started this hobby (freshwater) when i was a kid and never had anything other than cheap wal mart 10 gal starter tanks. Through the years I had a couple piranha which were my first fish. I had no clue what I was doing when i was 13 so needless to say 2 red bellied piranhas in a ten gallon tank without proper filtration led to their quick demise. Of course this led to frustration and loss of interest. Same tank, got a cheap iguana from the corner pet store down the road from me. I didn't know what I was doing and just loved animals so it only got the bare minimum of heating and lighting and food because I really didn't know any better. My parents could care less as long as it didnt stink and I kept it clean lol. A few years later I got another cheap 10 gal starter kit and went with the usual community fish. A couple of cory cats and whatever else the LFS had on the cheap tip. I made a huge mistake and bought a green spotted puffed and put that in my all freshwater tank with all the other community fish. That led to there being only one fish after about a week (the puffer) and once the parameters started building up to toxic levels and again my lack of experience killed all my fish. Move the clock forward about 15 years and I got my desire back to try again, this time with the internet and much more enthusiasm at my disposal. I posted on facebook asking if any of my friends had an aquarium for sale and a girl I went to high school with had a 46g bowfront with a stand she said she would sell for 60 bucks. It had everything to make it running again but I hated the substrate in it and wanted to start with everything fresh and new anyway. I sold my old beater motorcycle that didnt run anymore and bought all the equipment I needed to get that bad boy running. After much trial and error I got to be real good at keeping the tank clean and healthy and beautiful. My favorite fish in that tank were 2 German Blue Rams that laid eggs about every 2 weeks. They always ate them without fail. Can't really do anything about that. Then the multi-tank syndrome kicked in and I bought a 36G bowfront brand new and was going for a species-only tank. I was going to get another green spotted puffer but the brackish aspect kind of intimidated me I went with a beautiful royal blue colored jack dempsey. He loved being hand fed shrimp and meal worms and would watch us in the kitchen intently hiding out under his root pile I had set up for him. I miss all those fish

Round 2: I had a job promotion come up which meant I had to move 3 hours away to the big city! I loved all my freshies and everything but they could not make the move with me so I returned them all to the LFS and dismantled all my gear and headed North. My tanks sat in my new place for months without being touched and collecting dust in a spare bedroom. I finally picked out where I wanted to set up my 46 again and I decided that even though I had everything I could ever need to get my freshwater system back and running I decided to go for saltwater since it was always a dream of mine. Plus, I always considered saltwater aquariums to be the rich man's hobby and I was finally in a position where I had a little extra to spend on the hobby. My beloved 46g bowfront has now become my first saltwater aquarium. It's been up and running for a few months now and I couldn't be happier with how it is turning out. I have 2 beautiful black and white oscillaris and a few invertibrates and a couple of seemingly healthy zoa frags that I cant wait to see grow out of control. I know for sure that I will eventually set up my 36g as possibly a species only tank for something crazy that may need a little more experience to keep, but for now it sits in the closet. Anyone know any good ideas for a species only tank that could be housed in a 36g? I was thinking maybe some kind of angler fish. Anywho, thats a question for another time on another thread. Sorry for the long winded response but I sometimes have a tendency to over explain things and rant on about whatever.

 

[Bensadork]

The only thing stopping me from going big and getting a 100+ gallon tank is I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate me spending all of my money on a huge fish tank whenever I just dropped a major chunk of my tax return on getting my 46 set up properly. She certainly doesn't have the enthusiasm that I do about the tank but she certainly enjoys looking at it so I guess I'm all right there lol. All in time, friends I will be in here talking about treating marine ich on a whale that I just bought from Bill Wann or something.

 

[Lee Haynes]

Round 1: I started this hobby (freshwater) when i was a kid and never had anything other than cheap wal mart 10 gal starter tanks. Through the years I had a couple piranha which were my first fish. I had no clue what I was doing when i was 13 so needless to say 2 red bellied piranhas in a ten gallon tank without proper filtration led to their quick demise. Of course this led to frustration and loss of interest. Same tank, got a cheap iguana from the corner pet store down the road from me. I didn't know what I was doing and just loved animals so it only got the bare minimum of heating and lighting and food because I really didn't know any better. My parents could care less as long as it didnt stink and I kept it clean lol. A few years later I got another cheap 10 gal starter kit and went with the usual community fish. A couple of cory cats and whatever else the LFS had on the cheap tip. I made a huge mistake and bought a green spotted puffed and put that in my all freshwater tank with all the other community fish. That led to there being only one fish after about a week (the puffer) and once the parameters started building up to toxic levels and again my lack of experience killed all my fish. Move the clock forward about 15 years and I got my desire back to try again, this time with the internet and much more enthusiasm at my disposal. I posted on facebook asking if any of my friends had an aquarium for sale and a girl I went to high school with had a 46g bowfront with a stand she said she would sell for 60 bucks. It had everything to make it running again but I hated the substrate in it and wanted to start with everything fresh and new anyway. I sold my old beater motorcycle that didnt run anymore and bought all the equipment I needed to get that bad boy running. After much trial and error I got to be real good at keeping the tank clean and healthy and beautiful. My favorite fish in that tank were 2 German Blue Rams that laid eggs about every 2 weeks. They always ate them without fail. Can't really do anything about that. Then the multi-tank syndrome kicked in and I bought a 36G bowfront brand new and was going for a species-only tank. I was going to get another green spotted puffer but the brackish aspect kind of intimidated me I went with a beautiful royal blue colored jack dempsey. He loved being hand fed shrimp and meal worms and would watch us in the kitchen intently hiding out under his root pile I had set up for him. I miss all those fish

Round 2: I had a job promotion come up which meant I had to move 3 hours away to the big city! I loved all my freshies and everything but they could not make the move with me so I returned them all to the LFS and dismantled all my gear and headed North. My tanks sat in my new place for months without being touched and collecting dust in a spare bedroom. I finally picked out where I wanted to set up my 46 again and I decided that even though I had everything I could ever need to get my freshwater system back and running I decided to go for saltwater since it was always a dream of mine. Plus, I always considered saltwater aquariums to be the rich man's hobby and I was finally in a position where I had a little extra to spend on the hobby. My beloved 46g bowfront has now become my first saltwater aquarium. It's been up and running for a few months now and I couldn't be happier with how it is turning out. I have 2 beautiful black and white oscillaris and a few invertibrates and a couple of seemingly healthy zoa frags that I cant wait to see grow out of control. I know for sure that I will eventually set up my 36g as possibly a species only tank for something crazy that may need a little more experience to keep, but for now it sits in the closet. Anyone know any good ideas for a species only tank that could be housed in a 36g? I was thinking maybe some kind of angler fish. Anywho, thats a question for another time on another thread. Sorry for the long winded response but I sometimes have a tendency to over explain things and rant on about whatever.

Loving the history lesson! Wow Piranha, the gansters of the freshwater world! Ha! You have had a heck of a journey.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

I tried my hand at breeding betta fish early last year. That started the itch. I quickly learned breeding those little fish was harder than I though (betta fish fight, what do you think happened?) then my brother got a 16gal nano for saltwater and even i was hooked. Ended up building my own tank stand sump and light hangers from scratch and I'm now 6 months in. Build thread is on the bottom

 

[Lee Haynes]

The only thing stopping me from going big and getting a 100+ gallon tank is I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate me spending all of my money on a huge fish tank whenever I just dropped a major chunk of my tax return on getting my 46 set up properly. She certainly doesn't have the enthusiasm that I do about the tank but she certainly enjoys looking at it so I guess I'm all right there lol. All in time, friends I will be in here talking about treating marine ich on a whale that I just bought from Bill Wann or something.

I'm in the same boat! That I the reason I've started with a nano cube, because the boss isn't sure its worth it. But I think she will go for bigger when I get the fish and corals etc

 

[Lee Haynes]

I tried my hand at breeding betta fish early last year. That started the itch. I quickly learned breeding those little fish was harder than I though (betta fish fight, what do you think happened?) then my brother got a 16gal nano for saltwater and even i was hooked. Ended up building my own tank stand sump and light hangers from scratch and I'm now 6 months in. Build thread is on the bottom

Awesome tank!

 

[Lynn52]

First time around. I had fresh water for many years, African Ciclids then a breeding pair of discus. 18 years ago I started with a 20 gallon that had a clown and a blue damsel both from petco. That clown lived 10 years. Decided to up grade to a 55 with in a few months. Had the 55 going for around 13 years with soft corals only. Sometime not long after I set up the 55 I sold my discus and added a 45 gallon hex to my salt water collection. I kept a snowflake moray and my damsels in the hex. The tanks were in my basement family room. One day about 5 years ago my granddaughter decided to feed the fish a whole canister of flake food. I didn't discover it until it was too late and everything was lost in the 55 and the stench coming up the basement stairs was horrible. By then, the eel had escaped the 45 hex and that tank was empty and in storage. I cleaned out the 55 and put it in storage. Second time around (last September) I pulled out the 45 gallon hex I had in the shed and started back up. Pretty quick I didn't like the way the dimensions limited my fish selection so I pulled the 55 back out and moved everything in late November. All was good I got some better equipment and decided I really wanted a tang or two so I Bought a 125 gallon RR in February. I added a 20 gallon for quarantine then upgraded the QT to a 40b last week because 20gal was too small to QT the tangs I wanted. Now the 125 has been going for almost 4 months I have better lights and a sump with a good skimmer and GFO/carbon reactor. The tank is a bit barren but I am excited to gradually fill it.
I was shocked at how much the technology has changed in the time I was out of the hobby.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I started with a 75g then moved to a 125g about a year later. A bunch of tanks later, including nanos and a 250g, I am on a 120g. I am moving to a 8 footer on the next one!

 

[Lee Haynes]

I started with a 75g then moved to a 125g about a year later. A bunch of tanks later, including nanos and a 250g, I am on a 120g. I am moving to a 8 footer on the next one!

Wow! an 8 footer would be awesome!! I think my wife would kill me

 

[Lord_Spice]

90 gallons was my first reef and it quickly within a year jumped to 150 and I'm in a 210 right now about to plan to upgrade before the end of the year to 350.

 

[Matt23469]

First was a 10g I had for 6 months. It was not much just 2 clowns a diamond goby and some kenya tree. Then I had a 56g reef for one year and now I am 2 months into my 125g lol

 

[Chris-tico]

I started with a 75g then moved to a 125g about a year later. A bunch of tanks later, including nanos and a 250g, I am on a 120g. I am moving to a 8 footer on the next one!

waiting to see the thread for this tank! haha

 

[jeffp1]

First was a 55 gallon corner reef tank. then to a 100 gal. When it started leaking I went to a 90 gal. Oceanic tank that I am using at the present. Tomorrow I pick up an 85 gal. rimless Tank built by Planet Aquariums from Petland. Can't wait to get the 85 set up. It is an awesome looking Tank. My weekend is planned.

 

[Humblefish]

Well, my first reef tank wasn't until the mid 90s ... but I more vividly remember my first SW tank. It was 1978 - I was 5 years old. My dad helped me setup a 29 gal, using crushed coral substrate/dead coral skeletons from one of his other tanks. The tank had undergravel filtration, air driven lift tubes and a glass top. In time, I received upgrades like a canister filter, inside the tank protein skimmer, powerheads as b-day/xmas presents.

Dad set it all up for me ... but he made it clear if I didn't learn how to take care of it myself, it would be gone...

 

[jsker]

like Humblefish I have pretty much lived in a house with a fish tank all of my life, as a child we had a tank and I could not tell you how big it was, it could have been 10 gallons and for a tot like I was it would have look like a hundred gallons. My first real stab at a tank on my own was a 25 gal oceanic hex fresh water, kept that one and went to a 150 gal fresh water. moved a couple of times and had to get rid of the 150 and kept the hex. One day I was feeding the tank and set a coffee cup down with the food in it and tapped the side of the tank and blue a hole in the tank on the second floor apartment. that was a mess. needles to say the next day I got a 75 and went salt, sold that tank for the reason I moved again out of state. Couple of years later I bought another 75 and had that tank for about 10 years. I move that tank several times and states. I took a break for about 14 years and now I have a 72 bow-font and the is were I staying. I seem to like the 70 gallon range, not to big but not to small.

 

[gacolt]

I bought my first tank when I was 13 or 14 not sure it was a 10g with compact lighting,hang on back filter and a heater.I had itrunningso years took it down when I could not see into the tank cause of coralline algea got out of the hobby for awhile just got back in almost 3years ago.when I got back in I started with a 20L not to long after that I bought a 120 and a year after that I got a 125g long had that for almost a year then went down to a 80g I have had that running for little over 2months now

 

[Seth fhy]

I was at Walmart and my little sister talked my dad into letting her get one of those cheap freshwater starter kits. I immediately became interested and got my own aquarium with african cichlids, I only had that tank for a little less than two months before I started a saltwater aquarium! Now I have my beautiful nano reef and I plan on upgrading soon!