What Got You Into Keeping A Marine Tank?

[mrspasty]

Being new to the hobby and having got such a lot of useful information from here already, I thought it would be really interesting for you to all tell why you got into marine, what was it about it that attracted you? Was it what you thought it would be? How long have you been doing it now? What was your first setup, did it work, and what mistakes did you make along the way / what valuable lessons have you learned.

For me, I don't yet have a tank, but am an 'animal' person with two cats and two dogs. I've always been 'around' fish, my family have always had coldwater and tropical on and off. I love marine and I'd like to get stuck in. I'm doing my research at the moment so won't be making a purchase for a while, but I'll certainly be sharing my experience with you all when I do

 

[Redstratplayer1]

I am a "water" person.

swiming,sailing,surfing,diving,fishing. Somtimes i just get my snorkel and gogles and just hang out at the 10-20 feet zone and stare at the sand, sharks,bas,stripe bas as big as me .
One time i fell asleep out at the tip of a jety and rudly awaken by having a chunk taken out of my arm by a 5 foot somthing. :stupid:

Last year i kept a local bio tope salty tank with a hob filter and a bubler.Nothing died i just did 100% water changes over other day

 

[SkiFletch]

Long since I can remember I've been fascinated by the marine world. I've always relished trips down to the Florida Keys where my Uncle lives so that I could go snorkeling when younger and interact with all the sea life there. When I turned 18 I did not pass go, nor collect $200 but went straight to getting my SCUBA certification. I've had countless dives and experiences on reefs and love every minute of it.

Meanwhile, I kept small 10-20 gallon freshwater tanks all my life. Simple stuff like guppies, tetras, and the like. I'd always wanted a marine tank, but it seemed so daunting from a technical and risk standpoint, not to mention I wanted a larger tank for a reef setup. Then, a little over a year ago, a frind gave me his 45g tank and stand and I had to decide what to do with it. I figured either a planted discuss tank, or a full reef setup. During that decision making process, I saw this tank of the month over at reefkeeping magazine. I'd never seen pictures of reef tanks really, and this thing just threw me over the edge. Such a gorgeous tank, I had to try. 9 months later my tank is doing well. Nowhere NEAR what I've seen out of others' tanks, but it gets the job done and looks good doing it

 

[Lynden]

Well, I have lived with a few fish for many years, and it was four or so years ago that I got a ten-gallon tank for Christmas. It had only a couple Swordtails and a Plec, and when one of the Swords died, it shifted into overdrive, and I soon upgraded to a 37 gallon, then to a 77. It was after that that I got my current marine tank, and I have two upgrades planned for it.

I have always been fascinated with animals of all kinds, but it was the marine tank that directed me toward marine biology, my intended career.

-Lynden

 

[mrspasty]

this tank of the month

That is one amazing tank, absolutely stunning.

 

[Eversurf]

Well I had fish when I was a kid but they didn't last too long. I have been surfing for about 14 years now, I just got scuba certified and I always enjoyed the ocean.Now that I am older and making a little more money and looking for some responsability. I started a marine tank. I had been wanting one for about year before I got started. then my buddy sold me his 55G for 100$ with the stand and everything. I started from there. One of my client has about 5 tanks and helped me out getting started. Now my tank is 3 months old, and I have 4 fish, 2 shrimp, 2 britle and some hermit/snails.

Things I would have done differently.

I should have bought all my live rock at the begining and have it overnighted instead of ground shipping.
I wouldn't put 6 fish in the tank to start with...that was too many.
I wouldn't have tried to save the babies molly's.....noww I have 5 left in the tank and I can't catch them.
I wouldn't go to the LFS to buy my fish...online only
I wouldn't have bought two filter....I should have gotten a protein skimmer and more pumps.

I am very happy about my tank and I love checking it out...all the time

 

[Betta5]

I have always been an animal person. It started when i was like 3 and i found a frog in my garden. Then i got my cats (2), hamsters(5), goldfish(10), tropical fish(countless), dogs(3), corn snake(1) Budgies (4).
Now i want marine. And am planning on writing a book on aquariums now, also a book on human genitics and enviormantal effects (extra school work, my science teachers must be 'happy' about all of the work)
Anyway marine is like a new ball game. Its more fun

 

[SkiFletch]

Since I didnt say it before, things I would have done differently:

Drilled my tank for a sump, overflow boxes are a PITA
Would have gone for metal halides first instead of starting with PCs
Would have bought bigger pieces of LR for easier aquascaping
Would have bought a big skimmer from the start (seaclones are junk)
Would have spent more time with hardware setup in general before I put fish in. I just couldn't resist the urge.
Would have ran rowaphos from the start of the aquarium BEFORE I had phosphate problems, not after.

 

[sianeds]

My parents kept tropical fish when I was younger but sold the tank when we moved house. I then kept fancy goldfish along with my dogs, budgies, hamsters and horses.

When I got married my husband and I got our own dogs and budgies but I missed my fish so we started keeping fancy goldfish again....then after seeing the pretty fish in the LFS we went tropical.

After lots of research and sleepless nights (and many trips to the sea life centre!) we decided to go marine.

Is the best decision we ever made. Our house now has more tanks in than the LFS!!

 

[robbhp]

Got to say that I have always had water running in my vanes. My first tank like most people came about when I won a gold fish from the local fair. He was placed in a large glass bowl, and stayed there for about 3 weeks, have what looked to be the time of his life. Then one day we filed the bowl with to much water and the little dude up jumped out ï￾Œ . Anyway from this point on I made it my mission in life to keep fish ï￾Š. I then went on to some fan tail gold fish which I had loads and loads of luck with they lasted over 6 year and got very big. After this I moved to the USA. I had a 40 gal tank that had a few different setups, fist it was just a normal trop tank with the likes of neon’s . Think I had about 40 of so fish, looked very nice but god dam it was a bit lame. Anyway after that I did Africans, but the tank was just too small and they where always trying to kill each other. Then the last step was brackish, this is where I have stayed until this day. I have all ways mixed fish that should not be mixed and have had very good results; I also love my puffers and Scats, such great fish with such charming personalities. Then we move back to the Britain leaving sunny California (please some one adopt me and take me back to Dana Point ï￾Š). This is when I set up a new tropical mixed tank, for my new baby son. Once again this made my brain go numï￾Œ. I then went back to brackish water again as that is what I love, such a great mix of fish. Then after me and the Mrs bought a house, I figured that I may as well have my dream tank . So that is what I bought a 150 gal 5 foot by 2 foot by2 foot tank. The plan at first was to put my puffers and scats in there, as they where now getting to big for the tank they were in. but one day a close friend pushed me into salt ï￾Š. Well push is probly a strong word as I had always wanted to do it anyway. So an idea was born and as you can all see its going ahead (very slowly, as the house comes first as we are trying to get in for Xmass). Well that is what the Mrs keeps telling me ï￾Œ.

Well there is my life story hope you all like LOL

 

[Betta5]

6 years is young for a goldfish, 25 years is an average.

 

[robbhp]

well these thing just died , and they even looked old and a bit shaggy. have you ever seen an old looking fish. they look funny LOL

 

[rhysiboy]

25 years for a goldfish!?!?!?! i thought they only lived for like 2 - 3 years max

 

[Redstratplayer1]

25 years for a goldfish!?!?!?! i thought they only lived for like 2 - 3 years max

Thats because of the small space they are kept in .

 

[Betta5]

Some 'normal' goldfish (not fantails etc) can exceed 25 years