Community Question: Who (or what) got you into reefing and how?

shwareefer · Nov 2, 2021

I have a good friend who bought a fish store in the 80's. It was specialized African cichlids so that's what I kept. In the 90's he switched half the store to marine and convinced me to switch too and I've never looked back. He sold the store and moved into commercial setups and maintenance so I lost convenient access to the great deals but I can still get wholesale through him if I want. I usually just go to the LFS or trade with other reefers.

Susan Edwards · Nov 5, 2021

son in law had a 300 plus gal tank set up with a separate fish room for his sump that wowed me. He moved and now has a 500 gal set up that is also awesome. Inspired me to get into it. Reminded me how much I love fish and encouraged me to try salt

Goaway · Nov 5, 2021

My sister, I was always into freshwater. For my 11th birthday she brought home a kit to setup a saltwater tank and a blue ribbon eel. Not the best way to get started. Kept ammonia down, didn't have issues getting the ribbon to eat. I just threw in some small shrimp and left him alone. Out of sight and out of mind. Grave yards of shrimp skeletons were made over the years. After a couple of months, we added a pearl bubble coral. Grown by 100w flood lights x 2. All kept for a few years.

Gordi · Nov 5, 2021

Mibu said:
My sister, I was always into freshwater. For my 11th birthday she brought home a kit to setup a saltwater tank and a blue ribbon eel. Not the best way to get started. Kept ammonia down, didn't have issues getting the ribbon to eat. I just threw in some small shrimp and left him alone. Out of sight and out of mind. Grave yards of shrimp skeletons were made over the years. After a couple of months, we added a pearl bubble coral. Grown by 100w flood lights x 2. All kept for a few years.

Probably Jacques Cousteau about 50 years ago. Took this long to think about it.
How's that for patience!!!!

tbrown3589 · Nov 5, 2021

Well, I was driving home from work one day, got detoured, ended up driving by a thrift store and saw a 75 gallon tank sitting outside. It looked just like the old salt tank my mom had years ago and it was only $5. So I guess my mom, ADOT, and the guy or gal that donated the tank to the thrift store?

clifg · Nov 5, 2021

Lived in Indonesia from when I was born until I was 5. Had all the local species and used to spend most of my time in front of the tank. It was managed by locals and I don't think they had the best husbandry practices but boy was it beautiful. Naturally growing up with that lead to my first tank of my own at 14. I'm now 34 and can't imagine a life without a tank.

Aquachristik · Nov 5, 2021

I've had freshwater tanks for years and always thought saltwater was too much work. Afishionado_ on IG, who I work with, convinced me to start a reef and I've been in the hobby for a year and a half and love it! It annoys my gf a bit but thats OK lol

tharbin · Nov 5, 2021

This is a great question that I have often wondered about myself. Someone recently asked me the same question and I stopped long enough to actually come up with an answer.

I grew up in Ohio so no saltwater around. No one in my family or friends had any fish tanks. Never even went to the beach often.

Finally I remembered the Cleveland Aquarium. I used to go there, a lot. The Director of the aquarium (Bill Kelley) was a friend of my father's so we would stop by once in a while to visit and while they talked, I roamed the halls. I'll never forget the Electric Eel display, what an awesome experience. When I was old enough, I rode my bike to the aquarium every few months and then my car.

Since then I've always had a fascination with aquaria, especially saltwater. When I found out you could buy saltwater mix to make your own (Instant Ocean), I was hooked. I just recently learned that my father's friend was the same William Kelley that started Aquarium Systems. Guess the few times I talked to him influenced me deeply.

Garrett Mackey · Nov 5, 2021

My uncle was an OG reefer. Remember him always having a tank growing up and always wanted one. Im 30 now and have had my reef tank going for 5 years.

ReefJCB · Nov 6, 2021

My dad got me into reefing in highschool. Had been a great hobby for us to bond together with!

Placenta89 · Nov 7, 2021

The nature documentary shows on the ocean. After a bit of research I saw that people had these amazing coral tanks in their homes and I started saving for a tank.

Jferrell1992 · Nov 7, 2021

I few years back I went through having cancer and while staying in the hospital for a year I got into the reefing community pages and began my journey into it myself. It has kept me with something to do as I am still not able to do much with the damages done to my body. Once I started my 6 year old fell in love with it and she continues to help me grow my passion of reef keeping!

ahopki1 · Nov 13, 2021

My husband, while we were dating. Back in the day, he had a 55 gallon with a over flow box that drained into a stand alone acrylic cube full of bio balls. RO water was a contraption that stood on the floor, hooked to the kitchen faucet and into a bucket. There was nothing automated or easy and it feels like everything always died. Now, 30 years later it's my hobby...not his!

Lowell Lemon · Nov 13, 2021

George Smit 1986 articles on mini-reefs in FAMA. Became one of his first distributors. Give credit where credit is due! Built my first wet/dry filters following his articles and attached to 55 gallon Sea Clear aquarium. I went off the deep end after that for over 25 years of nothing but aquariums all the time. A financial intervention finally made me into a businessman not a hobbiest. LOL what great times they were though!

Schmidt Aquatics · Jan 28, 2023

My dad had aquariums when he was younger, and gave me an aquarium when I was 10. He then gave me some angelfish for my birthday, sneaked into my room at night and acclimated them into the tank. I found a lot of joy in this, and spent a lot of time with my dad keeping fish tanks in my room. I then, with the help of my dad, got a 30 gallon planted tank, a 80g african cichlid tank, started breeding them, and then, me and my dad took the dive into saltwater with a 20 gallon cube. My dad never owned saltwater when he was younger, only freshwater, as there wasn’t the same technologies 40-50 years back as we have now, so reefing was recognized as VERY difficult. We had a lot of fun together with freshwater, but with saltwater it was even more cool for both of us. About 9 years later, i’m now starting a 32 gallon reef in my own house, and my old dad is still helping me out setting it up!

I really do miss sharing this hobby with my dad, it led to some great memories. I am absolutely obsessed with aquariums, and it adds a lot of meaning to my life. I think I will own aquariums untill the day I die!