DD
"Rambo"
I wanted to share how I got into reef keeping, but also share how I got into aquariums to begin with.
I'll start:
My first introduction into aquarium keeping was when I was very young, probably around 6-8 years old. This is going back, and some of you older guys will probably remember this store, but my first experience was with a goldfish bowl and goldfish from Woolworth's lol.
My first fish would die, and my grandfather would take me to the pet shop to get more, and they would in turn die. I then bought my first aquarium....a 5.5 gallon. I had a corner filter with filter floss and carbon in it. The first did pretty well, but at that time I would take the whole aquarium into my backyard to "clean it".
The next upgrade was to a 10 gallon tank. I had went all high tech with it and got an under gravel filter, a powerhead, whisper back filter, and hang on the back heater. I kept Oscars in the tank and when they'd outgrow it, I'd trade them in and get small ones again.
After having a successful 10 gallon going for a while, I switched to community fish, and then wanted something bigger so I got a 38 gallon. That 38 gallon saw many different setups. The first was community fish, then I went with South American Cichlids, then Piranha's. I then got sick of fish and set it up for an Iguana lol.
I had the Iguana for quite some time and then got bored with that and gave it to a friend. Around that time, I believe 15 years old, my father bought a fish only saltwater tank with a couple of triggers and a lion fish. I immediately fell in love with saltwater and wanted to get my own. Once I had the money, I bought crushed coral, salt, hydrometer, and set up my first saltwater aquarium. The very first fish I owned was a Bursa Trigger. That eventually led to me working at a pet shop where my first foray into reefing occurred. This was right around 1996 or 1997. Back then, keeping a reef was a challenge to put it lightly. Pretty much everything I bought died. I ended up getting tired of it and went back to freshwater, ultimately getting Oscars again.
I stayed with freshwater for years. I eventually went with a planted tank, all set up high tech with co2. I enjoyed having that for a long time until I went down to Dallas for training with my last company. I had to live down there for 4 months and one of my coworkers and I went to play golf. Afterwards we went back to his house and I saw his 90 gallon reef tank and was floored by it! Right then and there I decided that I needed to have a reef tank.
I did a bunch of research, and with the help of my coworker buddy, I ended up getting a 10 gallon and setting it up as a nano. I enjoyed that tank so much that I quickly ran out of room and bought the 27 cube that I just recently took down. That tank did well for quite a while.
As my interest in reefing grew, I decided to take my planted 46 gallon down and buy another aquarium that was reef ready.
So as you can see, I've been in the hobby in general for a very long time. Even recently, over the last year I've wanted to get out completely because I didn't have the time or interest to keep it going, but every time that happened, I just remembered that I've never been without an aquarium since that first goldfish bowl, and it's become ingrained in my DNA.
To answer the question of what made me get into reefing, it was seeing my buddy's tank, and seeing GSP and Xenia in all honesty lol. It's funny how the things that got me into the hobby, are the things I avoid like the plague now. Well all except for GSP. That stuff is still cool as heck!
So what's your story?
I'll start:
My first introduction into aquarium keeping was when I was very young, probably around 6-8 years old. This is going back, and some of you older guys will probably remember this store, but my first experience was with a goldfish bowl and goldfish from Woolworth's lol.
My first fish would die, and my grandfather would take me to the pet shop to get more, and they would in turn die. I then bought my first aquarium....a 5.5 gallon. I had a corner filter with filter floss and carbon in it. The first did pretty well, but at that time I would take the whole aquarium into my backyard to "clean it".
The next upgrade was to a 10 gallon tank. I had went all high tech with it and got an under gravel filter, a powerhead, whisper back filter, and hang on the back heater. I kept Oscars in the tank and when they'd outgrow it, I'd trade them in and get small ones again.
After having a successful 10 gallon going for a while, I switched to community fish, and then wanted something bigger so I got a 38 gallon. That 38 gallon saw many different setups. The first was community fish, then I went with South American Cichlids, then Piranha's. I then got sick of fish and set it up for an Iguana lol.
I had the Iguana for quite some time and then got bored with that and gave it to a friend. Around that time, I believe 15 years old, my father bought a fish only saltwater tank with a couple of triggers and a lion fish. I immediately fell in love with saltwater and wanted to get my own. Once I had the money, I bought crushed coral, salt, hydrometer, and set up my first saltwater aquarium. The very first fish I owned was a Bursa Trigger. That eventually led to me working at a pet shop where my first foray into reefing occurred. This was right around 1996 or 1997. Back then, keeping a reef was a challenge to put it lightly. Pretty much everything I bought died. I ended up getting tired of it and went back to freshwater, ultimately getting Oscars again.
I stayed with freshwater for years. I eventually went with a planted tank, all set up high tech with co2. I enjoyed having that for a long time until I went down to Dallas for training with my last company. I had to live down there for 4 months and one of my coworkers and I went to play golf. Afterwards we went back to his house and I saw his 90 gallon reef tank and was floored by it! Right then and there I decided that I needed to have a reef tank.
I did a bunch of research, and with the help of my coworker buddy, I ended up getting a 10 gallon and setting it up as a nano. I enjoyed that tank so much that I quickly ran out of room and bought the 27 cube that I just recently took down. That tank did well for quite a while.
As my interest in reefing grew, I decided to take my planted 46 gallon down and buy another aquarium that was reef ready.
So as you can see, I've been in the hobby in general for a very long time. Even recently, over the last year I've wanted to get out completely because I didn't have the time or interest to keep it going, but every time that happened, I just remembered that I've never been without an aquarium since that first goldfish bowl, and it's become ingrained in my DNA.
To answer the question of what made me get into reefing, it was seeing my buddy's tank, and seeing GSP and Xenia in all honesty lol. It's funny how the things that got me into the hobby, are the things I avoid like the plague now. Well all except for GSP. That stuff is still cool as heck!
So what's your story?
What better way to fix all of that in one hobby and also allow you to no longer enjoy vacations without wondering several times a day, "is my reef dead?" 
