why do you love this hobby???

**mutts** · 09-20-2005, 07:15 PM

Hey I'm worse then all of you, I'm addictied to it and don't even have a tank set up yet.

Were did it start? I blame my parents. There were always gold fish tanks when I was little then, about half a year ago I talked my mom into getting the tank up and running again. We went tropical this time. So one day I went to the pet shop to see if there were any cool fish to put in the tank. I somehow got into the saltwater tanks and asked the man about it who laughed at me for thinking a clown and tank could live with my guppy
I had no clue. Then I foung a brackish water puffer and he was so cute, so I made the leap there. It wasn't that differant from freash but enough (with the salt and testing) to make me thinking I could do a saltwater tank.

So now in my living room sits a 55 gal still in the box with an assortment of object to get it up and running. Most of it is coming out of my own pocket so it is taking a lot longer.

But other then that I love aniamls. I love the exotic ones that I could never get near. But with this I can. I love to learn about them. And because of this there is a major chance I am goin to college to study Animal Conservation. And thats me who hardly passed biology and chem. lol

**Blk_Lotus** · 09-21-2005, 01:00 AM

My reefing experience began when I finally decided that I wanted some form of indoor pet that didn't shed hair or make noise. I do like my sleep and I'm not a real big fan of animal hair/pet dander. Too much vacuuming. Anyway, I was perusing a couple LFSs and came across a 55 gal SW kit that was 33% off. That pretty much sealed my fate. After I had the tank on the stand and filled with water, my friend needed to keep a bag of freshwater fish alive overnight until he could make the trek home the following day, so I suppose I owned a freshwater tank for a day there. Chasing 8 little tetras around in a naked 55 gallon tank without a net was an entertaining experience. And honestly, that was probably thebiggest challenge I had in the first month.

Things seem to go smoothly now, though it seems the beasties I've put in my tank have taken a particular liking to hiding BEHIND the powerhead between the mounting bracket and the glass. . . I've had to rescue my six line wrasse and my brittle star (though I don't really think the star needed rescuing, but I just couldn'tstomach the image of pureed starfish shooting out of my powerhead) both from back there. And there was the little issue of my Lawnmower blenny, "The Maw" fasting after he'd eaten EVERYTHING he could get his lips around off of my live rock. A month later, he finally decided that it was either eat the varieties I feed my tank, or look like an emaciated ling cod. Now he's back to full size despite acting a lot like a bulimic with his food. Hrm, I did say smoothly at the beginning of this paragraph didn't I??

Now if I could only ID this one plant-like organism in the tank (as well as find out what keeps eating it). Maybe I'll post a pic if I can ever some of it to grow big enough for my camera to get a good focus on it.

**dakar** · 09-21-2005, 01:10 AM

Mutts you are well on your way, it's really good to see 'younger' folks getting into the hobby/obsession. Seems setting up a reef can have a very positive impact on education and stuff... It wasn't too long ago our 14yo daughter was talking about going to college to study Marine Biology.... if she decided to persue chasing my life-long dream it'll surely make me proud.

Note: the *younger* adjective is not meant to be derogatory by any means, your folks should be proud, it takes a lot of learning and dedication to keep a successful reef and you should be applauded for it!

**shovelhead91701** · 09-22-2005, 08:27 AM

I got into this hobby by default! What I mean is, My girlfriend has FW tanks and said all of the time that she would love to try SW but they are too expensive. On our 1 yr. anniversary I got her what I thought was EVERYTHING needed to start up a SW tank. Man, Those guys at the LFS sure are helpful! NOT!!!!! Anywho, after setting up and talking to you guys, throwing away half of the crap the LFS sold me and replacing it with the correct gear, and working like a slave to make things right for life in a reef, we now have a start on a reef in our home. (somewhere along the way I fell in love w/ the process.) I think for me it is the science of it all more than the beauty of the reef. I want to keep something under my control that should be untameable. Just can't wait until we get our house ready for the new "big" tank. the 55 gal. is just too narrow for me.

**graphixx** · 12-03-2006, 03:04 PM

BUMP........ I think this is a great thread and wanted to see what some of the newer members had to say about their love for this hobby????

at · 12-03-2006, 06:39 PM

I have had freshwater tanks since I was a little kid. 5 years ago I sold my house and 55gal. freshwater tank with it. I swore if I ever got another tank,it would be saltwater,and big. My current tank is saltwater 155g, but now that is not big enough. The more I get into this hobby the more addicting it becomes.

**Fatman** · 12-03-2006, 07:52 PM

I live in Miami, and I basically group up on the water, my dad always owned a boat and we spent the summers our in Key Biscayne Bay or snorkling outside the bay. Then my friend got into the hobby, and I always wanted to get into it but could never afford it. I sold my car in December after Hurricane Wilma beat it up and I had no need for another one so I threw around 1,000$ down and some donations from my friend and got my self into a 55 and have enjoyed it since.

**RHAPALA** · 12-03-2006, 09:35 PM

i have grown up with fw fish and 2 years ago my firedept asked me if i would like to become a scuba diver for the dept i said yes got the training and what not well anyways i have always toyed with the idea of sw tanks but always thought no way too hard ... then heheh the place that tought me to dive was putting a trip for diving in the bahammas i was like scuba in the sea???? oh yeah i'm there i was totaly amased by the sites under the water i hahaha almost ran out of air because i was swiming in a school of fish feeding them looking at the f\reef it was really great ..............so in nov of this year i said i was gonna do it i had a 30 gal tank and started it lol it wasent 2 weeks later that i bought a 75 gal granted i dont have fish in it yet but i have lots of lr sand and soon 2 racks i am making i just putthe foam on one tonight. and i will start the other tomorrow then i will allow then 2 to 3 days to cure then i will put apoxy on them and allow that 2 to 3 days to cure add it to my tank but anyhoo nuff about that sofar i'm enjoying this new habit to quote a friend its just like crack cocain have a goods one all see ya around on cr