ChronicClownfish Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 This is a ridiculous story. I am living in Mexico at the time and during easter, they were giving away little fresh water fish at church. I stupidly got one for my 4 year old daughter. I went to the local fish shop and bought the cheapest bowl I could find and of course, it died in 2 days. Next time is was in Texas shopping, I bought a cheap 3 gallon aquarium at wal-mart. I bought a goldfish and had similar results. Being the tenacious idiot I am, the next time I was in Texas, I bought an Eclipse 12g suystem. Not having done any research, I thought this was a top line professional system. I bought the version for marine fish. I thought, what the hell, let's go big. I then called a friend who is a long time fish freak and I knew he had changed to salt water a number of years ago. I asked him for advice and started to realize I was an idiot. He is in fact a nano reefer (20 gal tank), but dosen't know it. He does not read internet forums nor is he even aware of the term "nano-reef." However, he knows everything and is an awesome fishkeeper. He does things the old fashioned way, he learns from friends, lfs, and experience. At the same time I started discussing things with my friend, I found this board. Man what an insight. I gave up on the Eclipse and bought a 20 gal M-Tank. Now I couldn't be happier. Things are going really well now. I have made a bunch of mistakes and I am sure I will make some more (at least my future mistakes will be "informed mistakes") I am really enjoying this hobby. My advice for newbies. you need 3 things 1. A bit more money than you originally planned 2. The book "The Concientious Aquarist." 3 Lots of patience. Quote Link to comment
Clownfishcrazy1117 Posted September 21, 2006 Share Posted September 21, 2006 My advice for newbies. you need 3 things 1. A bit more money than you originally planned 2. The book "The Concientious Aquarist." 3 Lots of patience. Love that book! My dad and I got hooked on freshwater and we bought a 46 gallon so I could get a school of bala sharks. Then he decided to do saltwater instead of freshwater. Been doing it ever since. Quote Link to comment
jhutto Posted September 21, 2006 Share Posted September 21, 2006 Wife bought me a 12 gallon Nano that was set up in a LFS. I made some mistakes but got Chris Brightwell's book on Nano Reefs and now I get it. I think all should read it twice (as he recommends) before setting up the first tank. He takes you thru the enitre process. Have not lost anything since I practiced what he says. That and reading in these forums works. Joe Quote Link to comment
SaVeThEeELs Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 i discovered nano by just wanting a sw tank......the science to it was new to me...by just wanting to start small... i realized the true needs of such a tank and just started keeping it small... yeah right of course it grew from 10 to 15 to 20...... but i reverted back to 3...........i feel like every person that keeps a sw tank should also have a nano or pic.....its just a fancy name for hospital or quarantine to me...... Quote Link to comment
Global Aquatics Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Growing up, it was my little brother that had the fish tank. I think I was always too busy being active. I began diving and have been diving around the world--Asian Pacific, South Pacific, Africa. I'd love to do more. Now that I'm older and have less free time, it's good to have something relaxing and enjoyable. When I bought my house the previous owners had installed a 125-gallon tank on the landing. He had all imported tropical fish. That's what got me started. At night I'd turn all the lights off in the house except for the tank, and I'd sit and watch the aquatic world. -Drake Quote Link to comment
aandwrobert Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 well about 7-8 years ago when i was 5 my mom had a 75 reef with triggers and lionfish, when we moved away we gave away are tansk and stuff and now that I was older i wanted to kivk back in to sw Quote Link to comment
Tommy James Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Upgraded my son's goldfish tank, so there was a 20 gallon tank I had to do something with. I always loved looking at saltwater tanks and a buddy loaned me The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta. There was one page on setting up a 20 gallon desktop starter tank. Nano-reef.com came from a google search and the rest as they say is history..... Quote Link to comment
ezramore Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I had a 55G freshwater tank and a 2.5 G custome beta tank set up for a log time and really enjoyed them but always wanted to try Saltwater. I never set one up because i thought they would be way to expensive and time consuming. I was right on both ocasions but descided I would look into what it actually cost and began doing some research. I found a 12G JBJ at my LFS and she managed to convince my Wife that they were cheap to set up and required no maintanence at all. So the Wife suprised me with a new JBJ 12G so i set it up. 1000$ +/- later and it was a nice tank set up, however with my busy work schedule we had nothing but problems. So i went online looking for why my clowns kept dying and possible solutions and found this site. My local LFS was no help at all, and informed me after i bought one that they had never actualy set one up. I bumped into this site and got new inspiration to build it up. Now i have a JBJ with a sump, Protien skimmer, Fuge, custome lights, custome stand, and a very happy healthy tank that is in desperite need of getting fragged because it s growing so fast. Quote Link to comment
mkimpossible Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 nyc reefer via manhattanreefs.com. i followed the live rock crumbs. lol an ex was a reefer and turned me onto the whole thing. i'll get even with him eventually. Quote Link to comment
FateX9 Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 I started with nano reef keeping because reefs are expensive and anything larger would have been more work for me to make the money. I was i think 14 when i started freshwater and then went from fresh community to african cichlids in a few months and got bored so went to reefs. the biggest i could afford at the time was a 46g bowfront which was A LOT cheaper back then. mine only cost 220 with stand, now theyre like 200 for just the tank...insane after spending ~$2000 i realized this is an expensive hobby so anyways i wouldnt have gotten the bowfront and just gotten a 75 instead cause i dont like curved glass anymore i started with softies because i couldnt afford the lighting at the time so it was just NO flourescents and fish. i started with ocellaris clown (of course), striped damsel, flame angel and an indian angel (i think) except the indian angel developed lateral line disease which bummed me i had an excalibur protein skimmer ~100 pounds of live rock ALL kaelini hand picked by me and a uv sterilizer my lfs guy was old school and hence rubbed off to me my research was pretty much what i learned from talking to my lfs guy i would have gotten a smaller tank with better lighting and better filtration/flow ive sold everything that i used to use and now starting smaller with nicer stuff once i move into a more permanent residence i will be setting up a 40 breeder with equipement ive been collecting over the past 4 months Quote Link to comment
jg7 Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 (edited) I discovered nano reef keeping in a Myspace group dedicated to reef aquariums. Edited October 23, 2006 by jg7 Quote Link to comment
snostorm Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Saw one in a fish store and thought how cool it would be to have a small little reef tank. Never had a fish in my life, not even a gold fish. Found this site and the rest was history. I have a 16g bow up and running going on 2 years now and with a mated pair of false percs. I love the little guys, they are so cool. Getting bigger now and I would like to give them some space. Quote Link to comment
tontovila Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 saw a guy with a nano cube on craigslist, he wanted some insane price for it(or so i thought at the time) like 200 dollars, a couple weeks later, i remembered the nano reef, and thought, that'd be kool, and started lookin, and, yeah, now my alarm clock is my pico, cuz the lights come on and wake me up Quote Link to comment
Gvtv44 Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Walked into my LFS to get my 8 discus (FW Fish), and on the counter, as I was checking out, I saw a Mini-Bow 7, filled with mushrooms, brains, shrimp, and some perculas, and asked, "wow, what kind of tank is that???" The manager said, "oh, just a nano-reef". All I can say is that from then on, I've been researching them, and hope to get one very soon! Quote Link to comment
instrance Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Went to my lfs just to look at the fish. I saw an octopus and decided to buy a aquarium just for the little guy. Started to do research on this fellow. I started my tank cycle. Researched like crazy. Then decided that the octo would not be a good choice to start. Looked around and saw how cool coral really are. Bam, I was hooked. I think they should open up clinic for people like me. Quote Link to comment
tinyreef Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Looked around and saw how cool coral really are. Bam, I was hooked. I think they should open up clinic for people like me. take a number. Quote Link to comment
naz1986 Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Read a "Tropical Fish Hobbyist" Magazines. That Magazine sure give out a lot of info too. Quote Link to comment
SSMangrove Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Worked at an LFS for 4 years and gradually went fromFW to SW FTO, then reef. Marks, how about we see some more technical questions on the main page? These = zzz. Quote Link to comment
Gvtv44 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Tiny Reef : After me! Quote Link to comment
Imaexpat2 Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 I have been in the hobby for a while and moderate on a couple of other forums. After seeing Sugar Magnolias 2.5 Pico Reef, I was hooked and immeadiately began to set up a 10 gallon Nano as my first attempt at this area of the SW hobby. Found this place doing a google search as neither of the forums I am staff at had a lot on the way of information on these type tanks. It seemed like a great place and seemed to have a lot of info, so I joined the forum instead of just lurking on it. It was great but shortly there after got flammed by a couple of arrogant members and left the forum for about 2 years and only frequent this forum when things are slow on the other 2 I frequent per chance there is something new and interesting posted here. If I had it all to do over again, I wouldnt have let a couple of thoughtless knuckle heads discourage me so easily and I would have done a lot more research and gained a lot more knowledge instead of learning a majority of what I know about Nano-Reefs the hard way...sometimes you live and you learn. Quote Link to comment
mandarin dragonet Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 the relative cheapness of setting up one to a 100 gallon one. hey--I only get £5 a week! Quote Link to comment
RG Rude Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 I finally found something I love that my wife will let me do without ######ing about the money. Quote Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 I finally found something I love that my wife will let me do without ######ing about the money.uh, does someone want to break the news to him? Quote Link to comment
endolith Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 uh, does someone want to break the news to him? what news? Quote Link to comment
tinyreef Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 what news?that reefing isn't exactly a good tax shelter. Quote Link to comment
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