Wow, what an honor to be selected as Reefer of the Month for the second time! I'd just like to say thank you to the Reef Central community and it's sponsors, it's a great asset for those in the marine aquarium hobby. It takes a lot of people to make this community what it is, so thank you all for this opportunity!
For those who don't know me my name is Mark. I have been keeping reef tanks since 2006, worked professionally at Aquatic Art Inc for several years, and for the last 6 years progressed my career as a Manufacturing Engineer. Like many of us, I started learning about reef tanks here on Reef Central. I had kept a few freshwater tanks here and there but ultimately took the saltwater plunge after finding RC. After the heartbreaking complete loss of my 360gal
during a move I certainly wouldn't have stuck with it if it were not for this community. Rebuilding has been slow but my next system that is in the works is taking shape and i'm pulling everything I have learned into making it something else!
Just the other day I was browsing through my first posts, some of them are a bit embarrassing, some of them are a bit silly, but most of them show the struggles that many reefers go through when getting started in this hobby. It made me think about what it takes to grow as a marine aquarium hobbyist and how each of us progress along different paths based on the information we have available. After Nanook told me about being selected as the Feb '17 ROTM I thought about the events that took place in my life since becoming the Nov '12 ROTM
. I looked at my first Build Thread for my 360gal and then looked at my current Build Thread for my 600gal my 600gal . I looked at the threads I created between the start dates of those two build threads. So much has happened in my life and a lot of it is reflected in posts stored here on RC. It's not something we think about day to day but being involved in a community like this is special. We have something that most do not. We have time stamped events good and bad to look back on, reflect on, and learn from. RC is a great resource because of everyone who contributes. I cannot wait to see what the future brings to the hobby and the community.
Thank you again for selecting me as the February 2017 Reefer of the Month!!!
My lady and I
My 360 before the loss
Slowly rebuilding my livestock after the crash
As of last night filling the 600 gallon!
The dedicated filtration/propagation room as of last week! It will contain seven dedicated BTA propagation tanks, two 55gal fish QT tanks, a 100gal 4'x4' coral growout flat, two 200gal water vats, and a sump for the 600gal tank with all the hardware to run it.
If you are interested in more of my story take a look at the threads embedded into this post and take a look at some of the threads I started.
For those who don't know me my name is Mark. I have been keeping reef tanks since 2006, worked professionally at Aquatic Art Inc for several years, and for the last 6 years progressed my career as a Manufacturing Engineer. Like many of us, I started learning about reef tanks here on Reef Central. I had kept a few freshwater tanks here and there but ultimately took the saltwater plunge after finding RC. After the heartbreaking complete loss of my 360gal
during a move I certainly wouldn't have stuck with it if it were not for this community. Rebuilding has been slow but my next system that is in the works is taking shape and i'm pulling everything I have learned into making it something else!
Just the other day I was browsing through my first posts, some of them are a bit embarrassing, some of them are a bit silly, but most of them show the struggles that many reefers go through when getting started in this hobby. It made me think about what it takes to grow as a marine aquarium hobbyist and how each of us progress along different paths based on the information we have available. After Nanook told me about being selected as the Feb '17 ROTM I thought about the events that took place in my life since becoming the Nov '12 ROTM
. I looked at my first Build Thread for my 360gal and then looked at my current Build Thread for my 600gal my 600gal . I looked at the threads I created between the start dates of those two build threads. So much has happened in my life and a lot of it is reflected in posts stored here on RC. It's not something we think about day to day but being involved in a community like this is special. We have something that most do not. We have time stamped events good and bad to look back on, reflect on, and learn from. RC is a great resource because of everyone who contributes. I cannot wait to see what the future brings to the hobby and the community.
Thank you again for selecting me as the February 2017 Reefer of the Month!!!
My lady and I
My 360 before the loss
Slowly rebuilding my livestock after the crash
As of last night filling the 600 gallon!
The dedicated filtration/propagation room as of last week! It will contain seven dedicated BTA propagation tanks, two 55gal fish QT tanks, a 100gal 4'x4' coral growout flat, two 200gal water vats, and a sump for the 600gal tank with all the hardware to run it.
If you are interested in more of my story take a look at the threads embedded into this post and take a look at some of the threads I started.
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