The Reef Aquarium Hobby

[macman7010]

Since there is misinformation out there leading the public to believe that the marine aquarium hobby is a severe detriment to natural ecosystems I wanted to have a discussion about how everyone got into the hobby, your current tank profile, and what you have learned from keeping a marine aquarium also noting tanks you have had in the past.

I'll start:

I got into marine aquariums as a progression from freshwater Discus aquariums around age 10. I started with a small clownfish tank and soon they were laying eggs. I then moved onto a 55 gallon tank fish only with live rock. In years to come this became a reef with all kinds of small fish species and various corals. I ended up as I was in college with a 150 gallon reef aquarium that I maintained for several years till I got a home. I now have two tanks a 50 gallon reef and a 10 gallon clownfish breeding tank and a 5 gallon fry tank.

Marine aquariums led me to scuba diving and writing for various aquarium publications. It then led me to become a dive master / instructor and coral reef biology science instructor for scuba divers. I am hoping my upcoming daughter will have the same love of the aquarium hobby and marine ecosystems as I have, though naturally she will have to make that choice on her own.

Tank Profiles:

50 gallon aquarium (curved glass)
85 pounds of artificial live rock
50 pounds of live sand
Salinity: 1.025-1.026
Temp: 73
Nitrates: 5 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Calcium: 380-400

Animals:

Various LPS corals to many to mention all
1 Rose Bubble tipped anemone
2 Maxima Clams
1 blue spotted jawfish
1 potter's angelfish
1 maroon clownfish
1 cleaner wrasse
Hermits, snails, sea cucumbers and crabs to many to mention
2 fire shrimp and a mater coral banded pair

Plants:

Cheato in refugium
Dragon's Tongue algae in tank and refugium
Several mangroves in refugium

Lighting:

Dual LED fixtures with mixed spectrum adjustment

Filtration:

Refugium
UV Sterilizer
Tunze Skimmer
Chemi-Pure Elite
Phos Ban
Purigen

Clownfish Tank:

10 gallon fluval tank
Aquaclear 200 filter
18 pounds of man made live rock
10 pounds of live sand

Plants:
Dragon's tongue algae in tank

Animals:
Various hermits and snails, to many to mention
2 Picasso Percula Clowns

Lighting:
Hydra Reef LED Lighting

 

[doctorgori]

...once you get replies and compile the answers, what are you hoping to learn? ...reason I'm asking is I wonder if the question is better directed at why a person remains in the hobby as opposed to their origins

...If the gist is from a educational/environmental impact angle, then I'm not sure how much positive input can be gleaned from the "Gen Y" trend/gadget driven hobbyist

...anymore the trend is to start with dead rock and strive for a pain free/pest free sps/ultra acan/zoo/minimalist/eastern art/deco/rimless/Sapphire/led/controller run 57gal "cube"...that is if one were to distill and stereotype the avg 21st century reefist...

point being: given the current trends, I wonder if even a ecological/biological "segway" even remains anymore ....

 

[atreis]

I think most people try to be reasonably responsible in their fish keeping practices, while still keeping them. Even so, many beginners lose a fair amount of livestock while learning. Even more experienced people have occasional mishaps (such as a several-days-long power outage, or similar) that causes losses. Many others that never show up in places like this actually listen to the people at the LFS and continue to lose livestock at a steady clip until they eventually give up.

IMO, captive breeding programs, fragging, and similar techniques combined with education are the best way to minimize ecosystem damage from the hobby.