why?

[vdituri]

Growing up in Eastern Washington, the few ocean trips we took as kids were always special. Everything seemed wild and exotic compared to rainbow trout and bass. Always was facinated with ocean life. I would be happy just poking around tidal pools for days. Still am.

In junior highschool my brother bought my parents a 29 gallon FW tank for Christmas. Loved that tank to death. When I moved out to go to college my parents lost interest and gave the tank to me and I kept FW in it for 4 or 5 years. Kept looking at saltwater fish because there was soooo much more color. Kept looking, kept looking, then one day I stopped looking and bought into it. Back in the good old days, I thought it was exactly the same thing as FW only you add salt right? Wrong. Everthing was fine for about a month with my Fish Only. Didn't know what liverock was back then and if you had tried to tell me I would have laughed at you. Rocks are dead, not live!
I was a young kid full of himself. Go figure.
Tank crashed, everything died. Emptiied, washed and returned tank to FW and kept it that way for 10-12 years. Then my friend pipes up one day asking if I want to buy his 29 SW tank setup with livestock. I thought long and hard on it. Borrowed his reef book and wouldn't take possesion of it until I had read it twice. Bought another one and read that one twice.
Jumped in feet first and haven't looked back yet. (bought a 55 6 months later) and it is now my little trip to the ocean everytime I come home from work. It may seem costly, but not as much as a therapist would and it's not blaming my parents for any of my problems. lol

[sasquatch]

I fell in with a bad crowd, first it was fresh water and the next thing I knew I was mainlining salt water, (sing out loud!) Nobody knows the Trouble Ive seeen lol

[JWarren]

I've always been around the water. Being a Floridian and a pieces I have always had a natural fascination with water and the things living it.

Started out with a freshwater tank that lead to a wholesale freshwater fish business many years ago and gradually moved into salt tanks although, just as a hobby, for now anyways.

[reefman420]

well as a teen i was a trouble maker,moved around alot,when i lived in omaha neb i started to run with a gang,then my mother and her new husband moved us out to florida,Thats when i seen the little bit that i did,then i got locked up in iowa,My probation officer had a 280 in wall sps reef at his office,I would always stand and stare at his tank,one day i asked him what it was and he told me,I then moved up here to minnesota where i was born and will stay,bought a 55 and stocked it fast,crash,then i went to chichilds,got sick of them and started reading,well here i am today with a 75 gallon sps reef,I feel if my PO never had a tank,i would have never shown interest,my parents were behind the hobby 100 percent,it kept me busy,and not being busy is when i would get into trouble

[Reefwerks]

After spending a number of years traveling the world stairring down the barrel of a sniper rifle I was to say the least an unpleasant person, my wife read somewhere it would be good therapy.

Don

[vdituri]

Ahhhh Reefs.
Our tranquil sanctuaries.

[garret]

started from betas then 20 FW then 50 FW then 50 SW then 125 SW reef

[Hexabob]

I started this because like all habits it grew. I mean I always had some kind of aquarium growing up and still that that a Fish Store is the worlds greatest invention. Each time I go I find myself becoming almost a child again as I almost have to be drug out kicking and screaming.
I admit that I was tankless for what seemed like an eternity (10 years) after my first divorce and joining the Navy right after, but since getting married again May 07 I have started my own tanks again. As to the reef part I blame it on the guy we bought our house from. We walk in to formal living room and there is are 2 great set ups a 65 gallon and a 150 gallon reef. In the end about a month or so after buying house I get to meet the gentleman whose tanks I admired and soon he sold me the 65. I told him that I always wanted salt but was afraid of killing fish and water perameters as both my wife and I work long hours, he assured me that if we follow his careful instruction all would be ok. So far I guess that is true, I am starting 3 more salt set ups soon. A 72 bow FOWLR, a 92 Corner bow show reef, and a 300 whose set up I have not yet thought alot on. Happy reefing to all!

[Shaggy]

I live on the gulf of mexico. So I thought why not make the inside of my house look like the outside, lol.

[Anselth]

I vaguely remember having a 30 gallon SW tank in our house when I was very young. My dad kept the books he had, so I read them over and over when I was little. I bought a 20 gallon that I kept on my desk in High school with FW fish in it, but I always wanted Salt...Went to college and studied Marine Biology, didn't have a tank for around 9 years. My dad bought a 55 and set up a new FW at his house, and I finally broke down and started getting the bits for my 50.

[Hexabob]

I find this a very interesting thread so I will give it a

[rlcline76]

My husband started this hobby. I said it was all his, I wanted nothing to do with it. I had freshwater tanks as a kid...and I was just never good at fish. So I watched him invest a lot of money into his tank just to watch it fail. He was a beginner who did everything wrong. It was the wretched SeaClone Skimmer from PetSmart that barely did anything, the API test kits. So, I decided to see if I could fix it. Bought CPR BakPaks, set up the QT, yanked out the crushed coral, set us up with some Salifert kits, bought a MightyMite RO/DI from Air, Water, Ice...then I bought the first corals for my son's tanks and then that was it. Now I rarely let my husband touch anything! I'm running this show!!! lol

[SJS]

The house I bought came with a 240. Previous owners said it was easy to take care of - just add some tap water now and then - and feed the fish which pretty much went like this So I called a lfs and they said - we'll come over and take care of it - which turned out like this While away one weekend the electicity went out and the tank did this Turned the whole thing off for many months, then one day while recovering from a nasty fall I started googling saltwater tanks. Found a few sites, got some fabulous advice from great people and started rebuilding the original system. Then I decided the original system needed a fuge, so I replumbed the whole thing. Then I decided that the original 240 was too scratched and if I was spending this much time and $ the tank itself better look good!. So while I was replacing the 240 with a 300 I might as well add a 2nd fuge (90 gallon) and hey throw all the support equipment in the garage. And now after much and it's almost ready!!!

[1dolphin]

Blame that sweet little green spotted puffer making eyes at me through the glass at the LFS...

I have maintained FW tanks off and on for the past 7 years, most recently had some baby black mollies I got from the pet store for free. Decided to try my hand at raising them and was successful. So successful that my babies had babies! Which unfortunately got eaten by the goldfish we inherited from a kid in my husband's class at the end of the school year. So, now I was stuck with just one black molly who I decided was lonely. So I went to the LFS to get him some friends.

That little green spotted puffer was so friendly, peering at me through the glass tank, and he was in the FW section (uh oh). The girl at the LFS (bless her heart) didn't know better and told me this puffer was a FW fish (wrong), and compatible with most other FW fish (Wrong), and would be just fiiiine in my tank with my black molly (WRONG, well actually this one was right - my molly didn't die at least).

So he came home and went in the molly tank. I got online to learn more (oops should have done that FIRST!), and found out Mr. GSP is a species-only fish, requires live snails/crustaceans for food (unless I want to file his teeth down regularly), needs at least 30 gallons per fish, and is a brackish water fish who needs a higher salinity than the molly. So, the new 29 gallon tank and stand appeared in the corner of my home office (how'd THAT get there?!).

Well, Mr. GSP didn't last long - he went on a hunger strike at the end of October last year and died. (A moment of silence, please). So, now this half-fresh, half-salt tank with a sand-y bottom is sitting in my room with no fish. It just needed fish...

So now I have the 29g FOWLR with my chromis and clown, a 14g biocube in the works to be my first try at a reef tank, and my 5g QT tank on the bookshelf (which currently houses my newest inhabitant - a 6-line wrasse).

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

[Bwlr]

I had a saltwater tank, maybe 20 years ago. FOWLR.

I guess I just wanted to see if I could do it again. Then I found out that the advances in lighting and salt mixes would make it "easier" to keep corals.
Got to reading and reading and reading... now I have a mixed reef, and things are actually growing.

I suppose I'm proud of myself. Don't worry, I'll stretch a bit before I pat myself on the back.