So what got you addicted to reef tanks?

[zmazza]

The challenge? The colors? The fish?

What got you started with reef tanks? We all know as soon as you get started though, it's just a crazy addiction, lol.

While I'm sure most of us started out with smaller tanks, now they have 125, 135, 240, 280 + gallon tanks! Sometimes even bigger!

What causes us to want to get bigger tanks every time we turn around?

The world may never know....

 

[Runner]

I had been running freshwater for a few years and a brackish mollie tank for a few months. My wife went out of town, so I said "what the heck" and turned my 30G into a saltwater tank. She never knew what hit her...

I have gone the other way in that I sold my old 135G tank to replace it with a 75G tank with a nicer stand.

 

[zmazza]

Lol, Runner, my wife feels the same way.

"Honey? Why don't we start a saltwater tank?"

4 tanks later I'm still wanting more.

I try and tell everyone I meet that mentions they want to start a freshwater or saltwater tank that within a year they will have more than 2 or 3 tanks.

 

[imsqueak]

I'd done cichlids since 1990. I had 4 generations in my 55 and my wife said she couldn't take the die off the mothers go thru. Rather than give up aquariums we changed it over to SW. That went well enough. Much better once I found ETRC. I wanted BIGGER, like 110 but I found a 300 in Charlotte at a good price. I had no clue how big a 300 really was until I got there to pick it up. Then it was too late to back out. It was totally cool to have such a big tank but it was never "successful" with SPS. That, and my electric and water bill lead me to my new nano which is so much better!

 

[zmazza]

No kidding! I can really imagine that.

My biggest question, I suppose, it what leads people to spend tens of thousands of dollars on coral.

I love em. I'd fill up my whole tank if I could.

Before I knew saltwater tanks existed, I'd probably never even think about spending a dime on them. Now that I've got one, I realize the necessity to buy that $100 dollar piece of equipment, the nicer salt, more live rock, better sumps, skimmers, etc. LoL!

 

[Fishboy42]

Re: So what got you addicted to reef tanks?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9448296#post9448296 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zmazza
The challenge? The colors? The fish?

All of the above

My father had *2* fishtanks (tropical freshwater) in my room when I was born; I always enjoyed looking at them (and feeding the fish when I was old enough to walk over there!).

When we went to the fish shop to look at fish and plants, I was captivated by the reef display they had (mid-late 80's in CA, but a nice reef display by any standards). When we moved to TN in 1987, we started researching saltwater and started our first 55g saltwater tank with the help of John Tullock, JR Shute, and all of the good folks at Aquatic Specialists (I had bred dwarf seahorses in a 5g before this but not had a "serious" tank). I thought it was neat that many of the employees there had degrees in biology (or were studying to get them) and seemed to enjoy the hobby as much as their customers (probably helped convince me to get one myself...all-the-while maintaining saltwater tanks on-campus ).

Our house burned completely in 1998 (destroying many tanks), and I was without aquariums from a Sunday morning to the next Sunday afternoon...! (thanks again to Aquatic Specialists -- Randall and Lisa Surrett).

A pair of clowns started spawning a few years back (the ones Randall helped me get in 1998), and that's when it really started to get out of control

I guess the real question of *why* remains unanswered...the world may never know

 

[Runner]

Figures you saw fish from the first week of your life.

Heck, I guess it really started for me when I got a "free" 30G tank and Eheim cannister filter from my cousin 10 years ago. I have spent about $5 or $10 more since then...

 

[zmazza]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9460890#post9460890 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Runner
I have spent about $5 or $10 more since then...

Only?

Awesome story, Matt. Maybe I need to put some fish tanks in my newborns room. Who knows... maybe they'll grow up to be marine biologists, haha!

But honey... the 125... it's educational!

I brought home a 10 gallon tank right after my wife and I got married. I had decided that I wanted a fish tank or something along those lines because my wife really didn't want an indoor dog, and I hate leaving them outside. Call me weak, but it's more fun to have them inside, anyway...

So I bring home this 10 gallon and it's constantly changing... new designs, new aquascaping ideas, new fish, etc.

Finally by Christmas I had convinced my wife to buy me a bigger tank. She reluctantly purchased a new 29 gallon tank and stand for me.

For about 3 months, that remained a freshwater tank. By February, I had a 40 gallon breeder that I had gotten for my birthday. I promptly turned it into a freshwater tank and moved all my fish from my 29 gallon over to it.

This left an empty 29 gallon... but not for long. I started working some trades at my LFS and ended up bringing home some aragonite crushed coral, some live rock, and a ton of base rock. I think I even ended up with a bag of salt....

My wife, needless to say, wasn't so impressed with the 40 gallon. I ended up trading it at the LFS for a 192w pc light and a canister filter...

Thus my first saltwater tank was born. A year later, here I am. 2 saltwater tanks down... who knows how many I'll have next year, lol!