What got you started in SW?

when I was young my mom and grandma raised dogs,then somehow they went together on six pairs of parakeets.Once they started having babies to sell,people were asking where they could get cages and supplies for their birds.The closest pet store was 45 miles away.So they decided to turn one side of my grandmas garage into a bird shop.While in the planning stages they thought why not sell fish too,so they opened the pet store with six aquariums of fish.The fish business really took off so they expanded into the other side of the garage.Anyway this started my love of fish then one day as a young adult I went into a fish store that had sw.I think what got me hooked was not fish or coral but inverts,and I love all the tiny little stuff that comes attached to live rock.

 

I did freshwater and African cichlids as a youth. Tried saltwater in a 10 gallon and had no idea what I was doing, except for checking the salinity with a float style hydrometer. Everything I put in that tank was short lived. After my anemone died and fouled the water I took it down.

Now many years later a friend of mine gave me a 55gal with stand and as I contemplated and researched what I should put in it, I stumbled upon 3reef since I was entertaining the idea of SW. After that I was hooked and read anything and everything about SW. Also, a guy at my work that's out of the hobby shared his many experiences and photos. Sold me a bunch of his books and R.O. Unit. It's been a work in progress since then and everyone here has helped to make it successful.

 

a friend of mine has a 135 gallon freshwater and i always loved it. i was going to do freshwater too but decided to try my hand at the saltwater just to do something different. It wasn't any one fish or coral that hooked me, it was the variety that pulled me in.

 

I grew up by the ocean and have loved it my entire life. When I went away for school I missed the salt air and the sea breezes. There are a few LFS here that sell SW fish and corals. I decided to have a go with that. Every so often I smell my water. It isn't the same as being at the beach, but it is close.

 

I always kept freshwater fish, from the time I was around 4 until I left for college. I started SW, which I always wanted to do, once my living arrangements got a little more stable.

 

Mine wasn't a fish or a coral. I was dating a guy that started a 55 gallon reef tank. I thought it was cool but I wasn't hooked or anything (I'd grown up with freshwater tanks & had a 55 fw as an adult for a while). For my birthday one year, he bought me a 3 gallon Eclipse with live sand in it (no rock yet). I was hooked the first time I saw some little critter (it was a featherduster) pop up out of the sand while it was cycling LOL. It's still the "accessory" critters that fascinate me the most. The fish are cool, but the inverts are cooler, and the surprise (good) hitchhikers are the bomb LMAO.

Xmetal, we've been away for a few days. When we came in the door last night, it smelled like the ocean LOL. Gotta love it!

 

I don't remember the first fish or coral. However, what got me into the hobby was the pet store next to my gym. They probably had 50 freshwater tanks and 4 or 6 marine tanks. Every day before I went to the gym, I would just walk past all the fresh tanks and stare for 10 minutes at the colorful fish. It took a couple more years before I got my first tank. My girlfriend would see me check out books from the library and look up pictures. Finally one Valentines Day I came home and there was a little 9 gallon nano with a couple of corals in it and a baby clown. She bought the display unit at a LFS that specialized in marine animals. Well, now I was in the hobby whether I was ready or not. (It was an Eclipse with a HOB power filter and Normal Output lighting)

 

Wow Brett, sounds like that pet store started just about as simply as mine did. Just a little start and see what happens. Thanks for that!
GreyBeard

 

So 3Reef is basically responsible for getting you to take the plung. I love it!

Great starting story Nismo! thanks for sharing that!

 

And looking at your tag line I see that love of the variety has carried through!
nice!