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Cultivated Reef

How did you get into Reefing?


Dr.Brain Coral

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I have always loved nature and the ocean. Growing up my family used to go to visit my cousins in San Diego for summer and or winter break every year. Our favorite thing(still is) was going to see the tide pools at various locations all along the coast. I have a really fond memory of a beach near LA that had pink golfball sized sea urchins that we found a sea hare that was ~1.5' long.

 

My real drive to start a tank happened the summer before my senior year of college at Florida Tech. I was working on my environmental science degree and was staying at school for summer research. One of our projects was testing out phyto-remediation rafts stocked with Spartina alternaflora in the IRL(Indian River Lagoon) and I kept finding old barnacle clusters that had various little crabs in them, I would collect them up and bring them back for one of our oceanology students who had a crab tank. That initially sparked the interest, but what pushed me over the edge was a project I was helping with where we were looking for spatial relationships between the rocky intertidal organisms of Florida.

 

The rocky intertidal in Florida is pretty much non-existent... but the one place it occurs is the inlets along the coast of the state. While scrambling all over the rocky jetties in various locations across the state I became fascinated with the variety of organisms I found. The inlets varied from having mostly bare rock, to a heavy coating of barnacles, to every single rock being covered completely in Zoas. That is pretty much when I decided I would start up a salt water tank. I am very much into intelligent(LEGAL) collecting of wild organisms from Florida. I had at one point a crab tank with 30+ porcelain crabs, which was also very cool as they were invasive to where I was collecting them from.

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The judge told me I had a choice of two punishments. Jail time or setting up a saltwater aquarium.

The jail looked rather crowded. :P

 

Seriously, we had freshwater tanks when I was a kid. My father was really into them too.

Have always been fascinated by the sea and saltwater tanks.

 

Now my son loves animals and aquariums so we share the hobby as well.

 

David

 

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My 2 year old daughter was fascinated with Finding Nemo, so the next day I thought I would surprise her with a Betta in a half gallon bowl.

 

Then I started to do research about the fish and eventually upgraded the fish into a 5 gallon tank with a couple of snails. Somehow I ended up on this site (have no idea how), and it all went downhill from there!

 

Within a 3 months period, I have started a Spec V, just got 14g biocube running for about a month now, and I now have a 50g rimless sitting in my garage...waiting for all the equipment I need to fill her up! :blush:

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The judge told me I had a choice of two punishments. Jail time or setting up a saltwater aquarium.

The jail looked rather crowded.

 

Sounds like Animal Planet's next reality tv show, Convicts and Corals.

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summer of 79, two starfish in a bucket with seaweed on the coast of wales. fed them and changed their water all summer... been trying to replicate that with less and less success ever since.

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Not gonna lie here.... But here's how it hit me.

 

I got bored in my dorms at school, watched Finding Nemo with a few friends, love that movie.

 

Anyways, that night I had a dream and in the dream I had a desk tank, shallow, like 4". In it I had a few slim rock islands with corals and nems and stuff. In the dream I was writing a letter and a clownfish swam by right under my paper.

 

Next day I went out and bought a 10G tank, 2 blue gouramis, 1 pictus catfish, 1 bala shark, 1 common pleco, 5 guppies, 2 mollies, oh and a 2" koi. Needless to say, it was an absolute failure and everything died in 3 weeks. (Except the bala shark and a gouramis.)

 

At that point I started looking up community tanks, and ended up with a group of five baby mbuna cichlids. Traded the bala shark, koi and gouramis for them.

 

3 months later, about 2000 hours of reading later, and I was looking at saltwater tanks. Gave my cichlids to my mom for her 55G that she had just bought, and started gathering equipment and a few books for a nano reef. Did lots of searches for nano and shallow reefs and eventually found this site.

 

Within 6 months of my dream I was starting to cycle/cure my rocks in a 5G bucket, then put them in my old, washed 10G. Got a Kenya tree and some zoas, had success so picked up a maze brain and a hammer, great success ever since. Bought my first clowns week after I got my hammer.

 

:)

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I started in to this hobby right after Christmas 2013 and read and researched tons and tons of info on Reef-keeping (particularly nano size) before starting.

I was a police officer for years as my career but my hobby and first love (which turned into a very expensive obsession) was flying the (International Aerobatic Club) advanced level sequence in my Extra 300 unlimited class aerobatic aircraft. Some years ago, while competing in a IAC competition in Prague Czech Republic, I roomed wirth a fellow pilot from there who kept a 180gal reef tank in his home. I spent hours just staring at it and right then, I was hooked. It only took me 19 years to finally begin the hobby.

 

My first True Love.

 

ddbff0f6-26d1-4332-bd8a-3c557275198a_zps

 

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My 2 year old daughter was fascinated with Finding Nemo, so the next day I thought I would surprise her with a Betta in a half gallon bowl. Then I started to do research about the fish and eventually upgraded the fish into a 5 gallon tank with a couple of snails. Somehow I ended up on this site (have no idea how), and it all went downhill from there! Within a 3 months period, I have started a Spec V, just got 14g biocube running for about a month now, and I now have a 50g rimless sitting in my garage...waiting for all the equipment I need to fill her up! :blush:
Funny, I have a Biocube 14g and 50g rimless cube in my garage!Been buying equip. For the 50g build bit by bit. More like sale by sale.

 

I started in to this hobby right after Christmas 2013 and read and researched tons and tons of info on Reef-keeping (particularly nano size) before starting.I was a police officer for years as my career but my hobby and first love (which turned into a very expensive obsession) was flying the (International Aerobatic Club) advanced level sequence in my Extra 300 unlimited class aerobatic aircraft. Some years ago, while competing in a IAC competition in Prague Czech Republic, I roomed wirth a fellow pilot from there who kept a 180gal reef tank in his home. I spent hours just staring at it and right then, I was hooked. It only took me 19 years to finally begin the hobby. My first True Love. http://s513.photobucket.com/user/fsuggs50/media/ddbff0f6-26d1-4332-bd8a-3c557275198a_zps5037fc38.jpg.html'>ddbff0f6-26d1-4332-bd8a-3c557275198a_zps
Nice post. Interesting to hear of someone who has another hobby more expensive than saltwater aquariums.
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Very new to it myself, as of a little over a month ago. I was always a FW planted tank guy and my main display is discus. I could no longer resist the temptation of trying a reef, especially after a recent trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago when I was on vacation.

 

So now, I have a 28g JBJ nano cube that's been running just over a month. =)

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I really wanted a hobby that could amaze,impress,and confound me... and suck my wallet dry.

 

I have always been an ocean fan and after many years raising/breeding african cichlids I made the switch to a reef tank. Some how I've managed not to go BIGGER if its the money or threat of bodily harm from my wife I'm not sure but I'm addicted and ready for an upgrade' I love my tank and spend way too many hours watching and discovering small changes.( many times with a flashlight a 3 am).

I have passed my addiction on to both my children and my wife is fighting hard but we'll get her too.

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Dr.Brain Coral

I started in to this hobby right after Christmas 2013 and read and researched tons and tons of info on Reef-keeping (particularly nano size) before starting.

I was a police officer for years as my career but my hobby and first love (which turned into a very expensive obsession) was flying the (International Aerobatic Club) advanced level sequence in my Extra 300 unlimited class aerobatic aircraft. Some years ago, while competing in a IAC competition in Prague Czech Republic, I roomed wirth a fellow pilot from there who kept a 180gal reef tank in his home. I spent hours just staring at it and right then, I was hooked. It only took me 19 years to finally begin the hobby.

 

My first True Love.

 

ddbff0f6-26d1-4332-bd8a-3c557275198a_zps

Wow Very nice Picture and Plane. My cousins a Apache Pilot.

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I started in FW, used to stare at age of aquariums for hours almost daily as a kid back in the the late-ish 90s. I kept a few different planted gourami tanks back then. My parents wern't really into my hobby so it was all a matter of me funding it which well sucks when your mowing lawns to do it. None of them were remotely noteworthy but I do get some satisfaction that I was pretty educated in FW keeping by the time I was 12.

 

I started looking at Nano-reef probably pretty close to when it opened its doors I don't know exactly when though. I was in highschool though, had other hobbies like downhill mountain biking that took all of my money (every freaking penny of what I earned if you know how much a downhill rig costs it was worth more than my truck I bought to haul my gear in lol) so I never set up a nano reef although it seemed pretty attainable had I had any funds for it.

 

Went to college, got out few years passed got married had kids. Decided one day when I was eating at a BBQ joint to walk over to the reef store and check it out. Remembered a few things about easy set ups for saltwater and got into keeping saltwater from that point on. My kids like it, my wife not so much although she thinks its pretty.

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About 3 years ago I had a knee surgery and the pain was extreme after the surgery, so since I had always been interested in the ocean I figured huh why not indulge myself and take my mind of off the pain. So yeah after extensive hours of reading I got my Innovative Marine 16 and after taking it down, setting up a 32, 75 and now I'm back to my 16.

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Got tired of fw. Used to visit a local shop (vets pets)that had a pretty sweet tank area. I was always told owning and maintaining a reef was to hard and I needed a large tank to have success. Price was above my budget when first starting to have to cool equip, I got by with knock of brands etc. My first salt tank consisted of 6 fish and a few softies. 2x green chomis, pair of ocellaris clowns, lawnmower blenny, and a flame angel. Softies were, xenia, assorted mushies, and gsp. Tank was up and running for aprox 5 years. I learned a lot. Then took a couple year break after mutiple moves and a lack of maintenance on the tank. Came back to the hobby with a whole new world filled with nanos and picos as well as a boat load of cool new equip and tanks/aio etc. Been refreshing what I learned in the past as well as learning alot this time around. Its freaking awesome and addicting.

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I have always loved the ocean. I moved from KY to FL to go to school, but it was UCF which was in land locked Orlando. Fortunately my roommate kept a few really awesome reef tanks and I used to help him with them. The best part of the whole deal was when we went to the LFS, we were spending his money although I would get to pick frags out(wish that was still the case). It seemed everytime I was more excited to go get new livestock than he was. Fast forward to 3 months ago, my wife wanted to start a saltwater tank because our 2 year old loves fish and saltwater fish are cooler. I had a different motive. I knew as soon as she brought it up that I was going to get back into the reefing hobby. Mission complete!

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I think i was like five years old when my parents took me to the zoo and they had an awesome reef display , i was so intrigued they had to make me leave lol . I asked my parents for an aquarium every year with the same response .. It's too expensive .. so the moment i had the means i acquired my first tank . Been reefing ever since :D

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I've always loved fish and have kept freshwater tanks for over six years. A few years ago I went to the Caribbean with my parents and attempted to smuggle back a starfish and a few Corals that I found while snorkeling. That didn't work so I did a little research on starting a reef tank, stumbled across this site, and now I have a beautiful tank and I'm poor.

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Got tired of fw. Used to visit a local shop (vets pets)that had a pretty sweet tank area. I was always told owning and maintaining a reef was to hard and I needed a large tank to have success. Price was above my budget when first starting to have to cool equip, I got by with knock of brands etc. My first salt tank consisted of 6 fish and a few softies. 2x green chomis, pair of ocellaris clowns, lawnmower blenny, and a flame angel. Softies were, xenia, assorted mushies, and gsp. Tank was up and running for aprox 5 years. I learned a lot. Then took a couple year break after mutiple moves and a lack of maintenance on the tank. Came back to the hobby with a whole new world filled with nanos and picos as well as a boat load of cool new equip and tanks/aio etc. Been refreshing what I learned in the past as well as learning alot this time around. Its freaking awesome and addicting.

 

lfs employees not educated in nano reefing really do a dis-service to the hobby and their bottom line with stupid blanket statements like that. A tenner with some basic equipment and live rock is all they need to tell people starting and voila they have created a repeat customer most likely an addict thats going to go bigger and bigger and buy more and more. I am sure I could set up a successful tenner for under 200$ using only basic equipment.

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