How Did You Discover Nano Reef Keeping?

[Derby Reefer]

I was mainly in to FW tanks. I had just set up a Oscar tank, and was haning out at oscarfish.com when someone posted a picture of their nano tank. They mentioned Nano-Reef.com and the rest is history. The challanges that I face in the hobby are just like those growing up. You can learn from those around you but most of the time you gave to learn by trial and error. I love it. I lvoe it so much that even thougha FW tank is easier to setup I have yet ot set one up in my new place yet (keyword is yet).

[petlandpoco]

i started out of curiosity i wanted a peice of the reef in my living room this site had alot to do with it

[TR3XX]

i've always been fascinated by the ocean, reefs in particular. now that i have the time and money to spend on this hobby, i feel it will be quite rewarding. this site continue to be a tremendous help! thanks!

[Gimpster]

Well I know its cliche' but after a few failed attempts at freshater in my youth and after beng told Salt Water was alot harder I was pretty convinced I woudl never have a SW aquarium. Then the movie Finding Nemo came out and my daughter loved it. At the time I had some money and started to think I should look in to it and see how hard it really was.

 

After some research I discovered that things had changed alot over the years. This new concept of LR and natural filtration in addition to keeping corals was interesting but I quickly found out that the cost of doing a 55g or larger tank was expensive. But then I heard a of a concept called the Nano-Reef. And that led me to this website and comunity. Some more research and I discovered a LFS that only catered to this captive reef hobby. They had an established 10g reef that a customer gave them to sell when he moved away. I bought it and have been enjoying the trials and tibulations of this hobby for 3 years now.

 

If I had known then what I know now I would have passed on that tank and setup on from scratch. All the corals and fish from that first system has passed on but I do still have the original LR and Hermits. In the near future I will be once again revamping my setup to include a nice sump and large refugium and finaly have a good base with which to continue to explore and grow my knowlage in this very addicting hobby.

[glennr1978]

It all started for me after my wife and I went to the Texas State Aquarium. The aquarium kinda sucked so I took her to the LFS to show her all the pretty fishies. While we were there I saw an aquapod and started talking with the owner of the store. My wife told me if it would fit nicely in the corner and I only spent $500 total I could have it. Now almost 7 months and about $3k (atleast) later, I'm all in.

[fraggle rockette]

i had seriously failed at freshwater tanks and was frankly not so interested anymore. (the problem was, i never did any research.) with saltwater, i was so obsessed i read anything and everything i could get my hands on and realized that there was a lot more to keeping fish than the little book that came with the tank said. but i knew i could never have a SW tank until i had a house- you needed a lot of gallons right?

 

not true! a year into reading, i found a tank on Craigs List that was already set up, cycled, and ready to rock and roll. if i could do it over again though, i'd have not bought an all-in-one package with crushed coral substrate or a coral beauty in a 12g and would have gotten the biggest everything i could afford off the bat- i know everyone says that, but it's true. and i've never had a hobby (besides gardening) that didn't come and go, but i'm pretty sure i can add this one to the list now too.

[willyboy]

I had kept cichlids and other FW for 5 years and I felt I was still missing something. I wasn't sure if I was ready to move on and I wasn't sure I could afford it. When I read about "nano-reefs" that really got me thinking. I have had other "hobbies" that came and went (rc cars, planes) but I'm pretty sure reefing is here to stay. I love this so much I would like to major in marine biology.

[mr9iron]

I was at the pet store and found a 7 gallon minibow and I thought, I can do that. And the rest was history.

[fishstick41]

ppl

[Nanoreef1]

I first got into keeping nanos about 10 + years ago. When people

still thought it was impossible. I had been keeping freshwater and

saltwater tanks for about 15 years. I had a awesome 55 gal. reef

tank from the late 80's till the early 90's. Then we had a huge storm that

knocked power out for 2 weeks. Alas, I lost everything. About 2 years

later I saw this little 2 gal plexi tank and thought to myself. Mini reef.....

I built a custom stand and hood, bought a AquaClear Mini and some

power compacts, a 15 watt daylight and 9 watt actinic.

These were pretty new... they had only been on the market a few

years. And the addiction began.

I recently moved to the Olympic Peninsula, and am only 2 blocks from

the Strait of Juan De Fuca. I am now looking to start a temperate nano.

Any thoughts on a good chiller for a 12 gallon NanoCube...?

I need to maintain a temp of about 45F.......

[Alesia]

Well I've always been interested in the ocean -- I wanted to be a marine biologist for years -- but I am not a strong swimmer and eventually gave up on that. I got into keeping freshwater fish about 8 years ago, but kept only a small tank in college, a 3g Eclipse with a betta on my desk. For some reason, I don't even remember, I was prompted to look up "mantis shrimp" to learn a little more about them. Stumbled on the mantis forums on RC and it opened up a whole new world. I heard about "nano" tanks on there, and eventually found my way here. I guess it would be about 6-8 months ago now that I first started reading, and my first tank has been up a month.

 

The second is getting set up this week. Man, this hobby pulls you in fast!

[jokercykoe]

I've been keeping freshwater fish for as long as I can remember. My Saltwater interests Started a few years ago. One of my friends set up a larger salt water tank. I was interested in smaller setups and did my research, but never started one. Then last year, I got a job working at a great LFS, (Coral and Fish Center, in costa mesa/santa ana). With the discounts, and everything that I was learning, I quickly set up a 20h, and a 10g tank. If I could have done something different, I would have either gone with a larger setup, (the 33g cube), or an all in one setup.

Edited June 11, 2007 by jokercykoe

[Caesar777]

I have NO idea where or how I found this site. But I'm here now, and you're stuck with me! LOL

 

FW since childhood (my faves were always the weirdos like tiretrack eels and dwarf frogs), SW for about 7 years now.

[Dane]

I discovered reefkeeping at a petstore while on vacation. I saw what I didn't know at the time was a royal gramma and that was it - I wanted a saltwater tank. I was probably 9 or 10 then. I discovered nano reefing a few years later when I realized I could not afford a full size reef of 30 gallons+. It was actually on nano-reef.com. This site has such a wealth of information and helpful people. I wouldn't know half of what I know without all the knowledgeable advice on this website. Thanks guys!

[zerocool5878]

I saw a 24g nano cube in my LSF. after a week I went with the bio cube. f i could do it over I would have not used damsels to cycle the tank, I would have kept the lights off during the cycle and I would have waited for the red sea max or the nano hqi. ummmm Thats about it. my tank has really come around in the past few months.

[raleej337]

Back in the early 90's I have a 70gal reef tank but didn't survive, I was so irresponsible then and doesn't know much about reef keeping. Last year, 2006 when my baby was about 4 months old and everytime we were in a pet store she can't take her eyes off the fish in the tank. So my wife and I decided to put up a small freshwater tank in the bedroom. Soon I beg my wife to do a saltwater tank. Initial plan is just to have a FOWLR but later on it became a reef. I started with a 6.6gal then on my bday my wife bought me a 28gal. Through the course of putting up the saltwater tank, NR.com is my research site. First person who helped me is "one eyed bunny".

Edited June 22, 2007 by raleej337

[robbie]

i discoverd it because of matt510. thankyou matt510.

[Scucci]

I discovered nano reefs on accident. I was stuborn and wanted a reef tank, but I was told that I could have a reef tank in anything less than 40gals. So I started a 3 gallon eclipse and got a desklamp that took PL bulbs (PCs) and that was that. That was about a year or so before this site was set up... and oddly enough, I was acutally one of the first people to join the site as it is now... my account information and pictures were reset when Chris redid the layout of the site a few years ago... but no biggie. Anywho, back to being a civilian and back into the hobby... so, yay me... and beware!

 

Anywho, the hard thing about getting started was... hmmm... actually, wasn't really hard. Just took a while to convince the people at the store I worked at that a small reef tank could be as stable and long lived as a regular sized tank. After I showed them how I was doing it, they set one up on the store and, against my will, sold it for some 400% profit... the idiot they sold it to killed everything and they set up another one. They claimed to be the first store in the area that set up a reef tank that small... when I actually had done it... against their will for the most part... eh, whatever. Actually, I take that back... they hard thing about getting started was there was no community to talk to about it, and it was very hard to get frags small enough to go into a tiny tank.

 

As far as what I would have done differently? ... Hmmm... I guess I would've push through with my idea of using LEDs as reef lighting... but since someone already took that and ran with it, oh well. That's my fault for being lazy. As far as the tank itself... Nothing really, I enjoyed every minute of it and never really lost anything that was destined for the LR tank anyways. Only thing I regret was joining the Navy and having to give up my tanks and the hobby for 4 years. I'd change that if I had a time machine.

Edited June 14, 2007 by Scucci

[MDeth]

I discovered it because it would fit in my room

 

I wanted to setup a 55g, but didn't have the space. I'm glad I did a BioCube

 

The only thing I regret....not doing a CadLights or a Finnex....or at least the 29g instead of the 14

[Beijingtank]

I had a friend find a couple of scorpions in the desert, some years back, and kept 'em in a 10g. After some time felt sorry for the scorpions and released 'em. I had a 10g on my hands, so I started a FW. A couple of months passed and I was bedazzled by fish. I soon built my own 55g, stand and alot of DIY(since LFS had only basic supplies). The 55g was my pride and joy. Then it was just a matter of time before I was stunned by the beauty and livelihood of some SW fish. I was told it would cost an arm and a leg and wouldn't be possible in a tank less than 55g(BS), so I kept a distance.

I did a search a few months ago and found Nano-reef. Gathered all the info I needed, took a plunge and got myself a 12g. Since my first FW tank, 6 years have gone by and I have moved to Beijing(where, BTW has a a great deal of cheap tank equiptment). I did the 12g because of lack of space.

The thing about every hobby is , you've got to do your homework. If you've got enough knowhow, the difficult factor just seems to solve itself.

I'm just getting started with SW. If all goes well, I'll upgrade to a 55g.

[opaquelace]

I'm completely new to this, but my boyfriend got me a NC12 for my twentieth birthday. He works at the LFS and I would go in sometimes to visit and I would always admire the store's NC12 because it's beautiful . Mine is only a few weeks old...and I'm hoping I don't screw anything up

[ReadyReefer]

beta=boring

nano=exciting

 

nuff said

[michaeli]

I have been into ponds for a long time. I designed and built a few for family and friends. One day I notice that my pond had tadpoles and decided to raise a few in a 10g tank. After reaching maturity I released them and was left with an empty tank. So I got into FW. Love/d it and ended up buying a 29g, and then 135g. Then one day I visited a LFS that had some corals. Wow! I was stunned by the colors, and shapes, and beauty of a living reef. I did some preliminary research, and was put off by the cost of a 55+g reef system. I was advised that 55g was the minimum tank size, and decided that I would need to wait. Well, then one day I discovered NR and through these forums that something smaller than 55g was quite possible to maintain. So here I am! I just purchased a JBJ 28G 150 HQI, and am just getting started.

[Feedme]

After years of debating to start a sw tank I decided this year I would take the plunge. I was about to buy a 50 gallon aquarium when I saw a nanocube on Drs Foster and Smith. I was like "wow when did they make those?" and then I was hooked. I found this website by doing a search on google for nanocubes.

[FLcracker94]

My science teacher had a 95ga SW tank, with a perc, yellow tang, niger trigger, a dottyback, an urchin, open brain, ect.

He had me take care of his tank, so that I could Have experience on my tank.

 

I thought it was so cool, so I went home one day, and ordered my Biocube. Now, 5 months later, I bought a 90ga. lol

 

Thank you Mr. Jones! Never coulda gotten this tank without you!