Where did you start???

[gmate]

Growing up my dad always had tanks around me. Had a 30g tall with a turtle in it, 10g tank with freshwater eels from our pond and some other fish...then a 55g freshwater that had frogs and such. This was all before I was 10. He eventually turned that 55g into a saltwater tank, probably around when I was 11 or 12 (so Maybe 2000-2001).

Didn't have a tank in my life again I met my current girlfriend and got the opportunity to set her up with a 10g freshwater. Started researching saltwater. Started with a 55 corner bowfront reef two years ago (no sump, no skimmer, no ATO - just heaters, powerheads, water changes). Joined the boards then, it's all in my post history from there

 

[MADtanks]

Frankly, Lmao..... But we were all there bro. I started with a 55 with it full of water and no support on the corners. The tank sat on old old old tv. Four corners just hanging in the air lol. Then a good friend told me come get a stand at my house! And she schooled me on reefing. Her husband still schools me to this day and I take all his advice to heart.

Started back in 2004 or 3, and I think we all learn the hard way in some way or another lol.

Will find pics and post if I can find.

 

[kynan]

I started with a 55g tank in guam in 1974. Filled with nsw of course, water changes with what my father called torpedo tubes. Obviously it was fish only with live rock. Back then we would pull coral off the reef, throw it in bleach, put it on the shelf and call it beautiful.

I had a trigger huma that i caught on a pole. Would feedit fish that resided in urchins. It would suck them in and spit out the eyes. For other tropicals i would flip tires used for boat fenders onto the dock. Fish that would hang around them would spill out, puffers, angels etc...all tiny. So yeah, a bit of a break but in the saltwater for almost 40 years with a big break in between.

 

[firstlight10]

3.5 gallon local tank with seahorses in it almost 20 years ago, then a series of freshwater (native and tropical) now I have a 29 mixed reef.

 

[FishWrangler]

"I was born a poor black child"

 

[suicideissleep]

My first 55

 

[BubbaBoBobBrain]

I've had fish tanks ever since I was a little kid. My parents were big into the fw tanks, not planted just fish, but I don't remember a time that there wasn't some sort of fish tank at my parents house. Even my wife had a fw tank when I met her. After getting married I went through an assortment of different sized tanks from 10g-55g and the last fw tank I had was a 29. I ended up stumbling upon Krystal Clear Aquatics in Auburn, MA one day after driving by it everyday for almost 8 years, lol, and was astonished at the amount of awesome stuff they had since they are a 90% salt water fish store and my bank account has never been the same since, lol. In 2008 I turned my 29 into my first fowlr tank and never researched anything, typical newb mistake. The first fish I added was a green mandarin goby, cost me a fortune to feed since I had a canister filtet and no fuge, lol. Then in 09 I upgraded to a 56 column style tank with the canister filter and added a cpr hob fuge/skimmer so I wouldn't have to keep buying pods, best investment ever, and kept that running until I got my 220. During the time I had my 56 running my kids went from a 10g clownfish/nem tank to a 20g cl9wnish/nem tank to a 29 clownfish/nem/softie/eel tank and then when my daughter started to really get I to eels I tore down the 29 and got her a rr75 and she got a few eels, 2 dwarf fuzzy lionfish, a small foxface, amd 2 ******* domino damsels which surprisingly enough scared the eels and lions, lol. Eventually she started slacking with her tank responsibilities and I ended up taking over the tank and ditching the 220 due to cost to run both. I am currently still running the 75 and really love the tank despite the damn aiptasia.

 

[ca1ore]

Gosh, I wish I had pictures from some of my old tanks, memory gets fuzzy. As best I can recall:

1961 - Born (pretty sure about this)
1962 - Setup my first tank (haha, kidding obvisously )
1974 - First tank, an aluminum frame, slate bottomed 30 gal FW
1978 - 125 FW - tank sold in 1988
1979 - 1983 - Took a break
1988 - 30 SW (Fish only) - tank broke
1988 - 180 FW Plant Tank - sold in 2007
1990 - 75 Reef Tank - became sump for next entry
1992 - 300 plus Reef Tank (DIY plywood tank) - scrapped
1997 - 120 Reef Tank - sold in 2004
2004 - repurposed 180 as Reef Tank - sold in 2007
2007-2013 - Took a break
2013 - 90 Reef Tank
2014 - 265 Reef Tank

Couple of epiphanies along the way. Walked into Reef Encounter in about 1988 and was introduced to Dupla (and albert Thiel) - first time I saw much of the equipment that we take for granted today. Read William Adey's Ecosystem book and built my first algae scrubber in 1990 and have had it as part of my system semi-continuously since then. Technology has improved enormously, particularly in lighting and flow.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Gosh, I wish I had pictures from some of my old tanks, memory gets fuzzy. As best I can recall:

1961 - Born (pretty sure about this)
1962 - Setup my first tank (haha, kidding obvisously )
1974 - First tank, an aluminum frame, slate bottomed 30 gal FW
1978 - 125 FW - tank sold in 1988
1979 - 1983 - Took a break
1988 - 30 SW (Fish only) - tank broke
1988 - 180 FW Plant Tank - sold in 2007
1990 - 75 Reef Tank - became sump for next entry
1992 - 300 plus Reef Tank (DIY plywood tank) - scrapped
1997 - 120 Reef Tank - sold in 2004
2004 - repurposed 180 as Reef Tank - sold in 2007
2007-2013 - Took a break
2013 - 90 Reef Tank
2014 - 265 Reef Tank

Couple of epiphanies along the way. Walked into Reef Encounter in about 1988 and was introduced to Dupla (and albert Thiel) - first time I saw much of the equipment that we take for granted today. Read William Adey's Ecosystem book and built my first algae scrubber in 1990 and have had it as part of my system semi-continuously since then. Technology has improved enormously, particularly in lighting and flow.

Wow, thats quite a rap sheet you have there, must have been amazing to see the evolution of the systems and equipment.

What type of equipment do you feel we are taking for granted today?

 

[ca1ore]

What type of equipment do you feel we are taking for granted today?

Well not just equipment, but approach too.

Early on it was 'Eheim' canister filters that gave way to wet/dry/trickle filters that gave way to live rock 'filters'. Wasn't really until 1988 or so that metal halide lamps became applicable (my first such fixture was a DuplaSun with dual Osram 250 watt DE neutral 5000K day-light - no 10, or 14K bulbs back then); or the vast array of relatively affordable protein skimmers that we have to choose from now (my first was a DIY disaster that always leaked, followed by an energy-hog beckett that performed no better than by current needle wheel and 4 times the operating cost). Tunze and now Vortech pumps were unknown - in-tank circulation was closed-loop, and did not give satisfying results. Controllers were non-existant.

 

[LeslieP]

I've had tanks of some sort since I was a little kid - first it was tropical fish in the 1970's, and I raised guppies, mollies and sword tails. Took a break in high school but grew a frog from a tadpole in college (1981-1985). He lived over 8 years and my roommate had to adopt him when I headed off to grad school (1985-1987) where I had 2 gold fish, Moly and Stoli.

Started work in 1987 and got a 35g fresh water tank, then in 1989 I got a 45 g tall salt - crushed coral, undergravel filter and dead coral heads and rocks. Eventually I added an Emperor biowheel to it. I had that tank a long time and moved it from my condo to my house. I went to my first reef, a 55 g with live rock and a DSB in ~2001, no sump and a HOB CPR skimmer. I was told by an LFS that the "tap water purifier" would be just fine. Well, it wasn't and within 2 years I had an epic hair algae outbreak. I brought it back and that tank was beautiful for many years. I'm sure I have some pics of it somewhere.

Just last spring I upgraded to my 125 reef - long overdue.

 

[GaryLCrouch]

I'm curious to hear how people started in their aquarium adventure. If you have any pictures please share them. I will post my first tank that I started in 2010...freshwater or saltwater.

55 gallon freshwater tank...didn't have a damn clue what I was doing!!!

View attachment 247866

I started with a 75 gallon fresh water tank ( that i got for free ) with Tiger bards, and pictus catfish, and a big plecostomus ( Sucker fish )
, and some other random fish

 

[Masedaddy]

I started when I was very young probably 6 or 7. My mother is allergic to every kind of animal. So the only pet I could have was fish. I started out with a 10 gallon FW tank. My tanks sizes grew as I did throughout my childhood. The biggest I had was a 40 Breeder. When I joined the military I went on hold with the tanks until I met my wife (Girlfriend at the time). Our first Christmas together she got me an 8 Gallon Biocube. I was thinking about just going FW again but she talked me into SW. Now I'm sure she regrets it.... Because my addiction/obsession grew from there. I learned a lot from that Biocube and it was a nightmare to keep parameters in check. Then I moved up to a 29 gallon SW tank with T5's, then to a 55 gallon with T5 with LED supplement. Which all brought me to a 75 gallon Mixed Reef that I have now. With any luck by this time next year I will have a 200+ tank with a basement sump. My wife is trying to go back in time and say just go with FW fish in the Biocube everyday....

 

[Chriskid]

my 55

to 75

same 75

90

210 start

now

 

[mylifeismyown66]

My addiction started when a guy on craigslist offered me a 55g setup for a bluray player. I had never done fish before and started SW immediately. 3 months later I upgraded to the 95g wave tank and it took off from there lol I never even planned for this to happen.

 

[ca1ore]

Have been peeking in on this thread periodically and I think it is very encouraging that there are so many new reefers in this hobby. I've been in it longer than most (mainly because I'm older than most), but it is great that younger generations share the disease

 

[frankyrivera]

Lol disease

 

[ilikelps]

In either 6th or 7th grade, my dad and I walked into puppy center to just see what it was about. Saw a 75 gallon show tank stocked to the brim with coral and fell in love. Ron gave us both a tour of reefing and the cost of having a home reef, both the amount of money and time and love that would need to be invested into it. Next weekend we went back and bought a 29 gallon Biocube and were off to the races.

Ben

 

[ilikelps]

^^ Circa 2007ish

 

[spjames]

I started my first tank around 1993, I built it from six pieces of 12"w x 24"h plate glass that I had custom cut. In this hexagonal tank I built a central stack of rocks, this made the tank viewable from 360 degrees. At the time I lived near the East coast of Scotland, so I made it a coldwater marine tank and got my livestock when I was diving or from rock pools at the beach (and fresh, clean saltwater was free too ). Favorite inhabitant was a squat lobster.

After a few years of successfully running that tank I got bitten by the reef bug and the rest is history !

I will have to see if I can find an old photo of the hex tank.