Oldies, what rocked your reef world?

[lancer99]

I'm curious as to what got us more mature gentlemen (and ladies, if there are any) interested in reef tanks...those of us who remember the days before there were reef tanks.

 

For me it was an anemone (had to be a Condylactis) in a fish store in Milwaukee, WI in 1974...I thought it was the most beautiful/coolest thing ever.

 

Yours?

 

-R

[YBeNormal]

Lionfish, sea horses, mandarins, anemone and starfish--all of which I kept together in my 55g stainless steel-rimmed aquarium with a slate bottom, tar seals, dolomite, under gravel filtration and plastic plants for decoration! By the way, the year was 1976.

 

Test kits? I'm not sure they existed for home use. SW was measured using a floating glass hydrometer and water changes occurred every few months when I completely broke the tank down and rinsed everything in fresh tap water. Funny thing though--everything lived! Let's not even discuss the 12" oscar that I kept in a 20g tank for at least four years.

[discretekarma]

My 1 year old son loved to look at fish. We bought him a 7 gallon hex and put some fat belly Mollies and he loved it. We hated it since they kepy breeding and were so dirty. We then borrowed a 100 gallon flat back hex from my parrents and set it up. We bought live rock from someone that had a few polyps on it. We didn't want the polyps to die so from the point on our tank was a reef tank.

[treesprite]

colors

[lancer99]

Stainless? Back in my day, we had to clean the stains off with grease...elbow grease...and we liked it!

 

I still have my old under-gravel filters. Wonder how many tickets they would get at the next WAMAS raffle.

 

-R

 

 

 

 

Forrest, you aren't old enough to play

 

-R

[treesprite]

Stainless? Back in my day, we had to clean the stains off with grease...elbow grease...and we liked it!

 

I still have my old under-gravel filters. Wonder how many tickets they would get at the next WAMAS raffle.

 

-R

Forrest, you aren't old enough to play

 

-R

 

Maybe I'm a lot older than you think I am.

 

The reason I said colors is that frshwater fish got boring so I started brakish which really aren't much better, then changed over to marine... lots of pretty colors and definately not boring.

[Guest webshout]

I was always facinated with saltwater life. Loved the aquariums (New England, Baltimore, Monteray), but only had freshwater tanks until now. What kicked it over to SW was a comment from my wife (2 years ago) about how pretty SW fish were. For me, that was (cue the theme music) "A License to Spend."

 

W.

[Highland Reefer]

Change is the spice of life. I became bored with the freshwater seen. I can say that I have plenty of challenges with the reef system. Especially with the finance end.

[mogurnda]

Eelgrass. Although I had the traditional crushed coral/UG filter marine tank, I was dying to try a planted tank.

 

I lived in San Diego, so I got a collecting permit and pulled out some hunks of Zostera. Looking back, I had even less idea of what I was doing in 1985 than I do now, and it slowly died off.

 

One of the coolest things was identifying all the inverts, and even fish, that rode along with the grasses. Even though they were coldwater species, most lived very well until I had to shut down to move. It was an early taste of hitchhikers, long before I had heard of live rock.

[edkruzel]

I applied for a part time job at an LFS as a teen (1977-78) and loved the colors of saltwater fish so I started a 55gal FO. In 1986 while stationed in Panama I responded to an off post government owned facility where the silent alarm was activated. When I arrived I found a Tech that was working late and simply forgot to punch his code before entering the building. It was the Smithsonian Coral Research Facility and while the other patrols left, I remained to talk with the Tech. The place was filled with reef tanks and many more smaller tanks with single coral specimens. He gave me a copy of Lee Chin Eng's book and that weekend I hit the reefs to collect rock and sand and the following weekends collecting livestock and corals. The tank was sitting on a back patio in direct sunlight and other than fighting algae on the glass it was a fairly successful system. It used a the pipe from an undergravel plate with an airstone for water movement (terrible salt creep) which I believe I siliconed in place. I conducted water changes of probably 80% sometimes 3x's a week, no less than once a week since I was right on the ocean. That tank taught me quite a bit about the "what not to do or mix" like adding a school of quarter sized Atlantic Blue Tangs in less than 55gals of water, and not to add slugs that look pretty if you have no idea what they are (caused a wipe out, had to start over). It also gave me a great lesson in aleopathy even though I had no idea that's what it was called or the details of my observation.

 

This is a great thread, I haven't thought about the details of that tank in many years, but I've been obsessed ever since.

 

Ed

[dhoch]

College back in the mid 80s... I got my first off campus house (with my brother and my friend) and we started out with the ugliest gold fish you have ever seen (in a 10 gallon tank)... we would feed him spiders and moths and the ocassional flake food.

 

We decided that we wanted something more "eye" catching for our parties and I went to the fish store and saw a Lion fish and how they feed.

 

Before long we had a 55 gallon in that house with a Lion Fish, an Eel and a handful of feeder damsels...

 

The Lion Fish and the eel went back to the store when I graduated and went to Arizona to get a pHD.

 

Dave

[Highland Reefer]

Anybody remember the days when it was a mortal sin to do any water changes? I had to buy a special in aquarium battery powered gravel vacume with a collection bag on the side to clean the gravel. What a pain in the *@@ it was to use.

[jhn]

The anemones and clownfish are what did it for me back in the mid '80s. Still have a bunch of the bleached coral skeletons used back then to decorate the tanks.

[dhoch]

I still had mine as well jhn (old bleached corals as well as some "synthetic" ones)... they are in my tank for either live rock or to add interesting places for fish to hide.

 

i.e. the fake staghorn that I placed upside down to form a forest of branches... always a favorite of some fish for sleeping.

 

Dave

[traveller7]

First saltwater was not until 1979. 10gal left over from freshwater upgrades. Air Driven UG Filter(salt creep quickly forced an upgrade to a power head...you know the ones that had the motors, fans, etc. above the water line :D ) Dolomite substrate, dead coral skeletons, NO lighting. Mix of all the disasterous selections, but the hook on the SW side of the house was a Catalina goby, still one of my favorites

[st9z]

For me it was snorkling in Thailand and seeing all the saltwater fish in their natural environment, especially the clowns with the anemone. It was sooo pretty and it gave me this peacefull feeling sooo I wanted to come back and duplicate everything. Now my fish tank is my therapy

[lanman]

I'm new at the hobby... but what got me going was a trip to MS, after reading someone's description of their saltwater tank. I felt transported back to my scuba-diving days in the Philippes - and wanted a piece of that reef in my house.

 

bob

[stevearlen]

see my signature, below

[Lunker]

My wife and I had a 75g FW for a number of years about 20years ago. That tank and fish provide our family many hours of entertainment. Our LFS also had SW of which we were in awe of God's beautiful SW creatures. We decided that once we retire from the military and put down some roots we would consider putting up a SW tank. That time has now come and we are gathering the pieces for a 120g reef.

[gastone]

You people are old.

 

I'm going to be 25 again this year... and next year... and the following... and...

 

Garrett.

[tygger]

What's the minimum age requirement to post in this thread?

[FishWife]

I remember the first tank we ever had: my dad brought it home when I was 12. Then, when i got married, I carted along and set up a 20g fresh. Then a 30g hex. But, BORING was the word. Been there, done that.

 

Then, in '95, I was a sales rep and earned a trip for two to Hawaii. Scott and I donned flippers and masks to snorkel in Hanauma Bay. WOW! We couldn't afford to return to Hawaii, probably ever. We have too much family to move there. So, the obvious solution was salt water fish. We came in to a 75g tank when plenums, buying live sand and live rocks, sand filters, and -- the new invention -- protein skimmers were just becoming a little more than a luxury. Ours was a HOB called the Big Mombassa! Bio balls and trickle filters were the big news when we left the hobby.

 

We had two different ich episodes in the first two years and got discouraged and closed down our tank. About three years ago, we began to look again at salt water keeping. With a little begging on my part, Scott agreed to re-enter the hobby. I've been thrilled at the fun we've had together, but we sure didn't expect the bonus of the friends, fun, fellowship and GREAT DEALS on stuff we've gotten since finding WAMAS. We couldn't have the tank we do today -- or even dream about it -- without the support of this community. THANKS!

[dbartco]

I worked for Tetra/Second Nature. Anything in the company store was $.25. The books were probably the most useful...

 

I know mentally I am not mature enough to post here!

[jamesbuf]

OMG!!! I just remembered I'm going to be 30 in June. Off to drink away the depression.

[jason the filter freak]

I dunno how old is old, but being able to keep a lion drug me into the hobby in the first place, Despite just getting it this year.