We always had some sort of freshwater tank around my house when I was a kid. My Aunt use to sell fish and reptiles to local stores, so she had a room full of animals, including a 14' female boa. I use to go over to her house all the time and mess around in "that room", as my Dad use to call it, he didn't like the boa, but I thought it was the coolest thing.
Anyway, we had all of the tropical fish available in the 70's at one point or another, but I never kept cichlids or discus. One of the stores that my Aunt use to sell to had saltwater, but only a few tanks. In the last tank, in the hallway leading to the back room was a clown trigger and it would follow you from one end to the other. I remember standing in front of that tank all the time, just watching the trigger watch me. To me, it was the coolest fish ever, triggers are still one of my favorite fish. I started reading books and talking to the owner of the store and learned as much as I could before I made the plunge. I saved up and got a 29g tank, wet/dry filter, some dolomite (one of only a few choices of substate in 1980) and a box of Instant Ocean. After setting everything up, I was ready for my first fish. I couldn't afford a clown trigger, but got the next best thing, a Balistapus undulatus. I kept it for a few years, until it got too big, then gave it back to the store. After that, I only kept small fish. It wouldn't be until the late 80's early 90's before I ventured into keeping corals.
Rybren, I remember those tanks and hoods, nice find.
Sorry for the trip down memory lane, but that's my story.
