What drew you to SW aquariums

[Dearth]

How did you get into salt water aquarium keeping and how big was your first tank?

I got into it from my friend at work he showed me that it wasn't as scary as I first thought and found that it was affordable if somewhat demanding at first. I love my 33 gallon setup but seeing some of the bigger tanks I would love to upgrade one day as I love the corals and the quirks of the fish. Way more colourful and active than when I ran fresh water setups.

[The Grizz]

The fact that I can spend crap loads of money for next to nothing and my wife has no idea.:twised:

[mrhasan]

Finding nemo :wink::mrgreen::biggrin::redface::smile:

[sphelps]

People told me not to do it :lol:

50 gallons was my first

[The Grizz]

All joking aside, my wife really wanted seahorses after we seen them at one of the big box store when we where there getting stuff for the Huskies. So I did a little research and found out there was no way I was ready to jump into seahorses right off the hop. I found a complete 65 gal set up for sale cheap and found out why it was cheap much later ( no sump ). But now a few yrs later here I am building a 300 gal 8'er with a 100 gal sump and a 60 gal cube attached for my wifes seahorses.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I grew up in Malaysia on Penang Island, so surrounded by the sea. So even though I moved to Canada while still young, I kept that love of the sea with me. Had my first seahorse when I was 12-13 when I could cycle to the LFS for a weekly bag of live brine shrimp. Had it for almost a year. By the time I was 16-17 I had a 33g with a large Volitan lionfish and a 110g (largest tank you could get back then) for my Moorish Idol, Smooth Horn Shark, Passer King Angel, & Snowflake Moray.

Didn't get into reefing (i.e. corals) until watching Finding Nemo. Most expensive movie ever.

[FishyFishy!]

I got into it by buying a 110 Gallon fully stocked FOWLR setup and a 50 Gallon Breeder full reef setup from a local guy that was moving. He gave me his water mixing station and everything that goes with it. I moved it all over and made the jump into satlwater! Twas a learning curve, but I did a crap load of research prior to taking the plunge, but it was well worth every cent.

Motivation:

Colors! Way more colors than freshwater.
Scuba diving reefs on holidays
Way cooler looking fish
I actually enjoy building and planning saltwater setups more than maintaining them.

[Ross]

Snorkeling in Maui is what drew me.
I set up my first marine tank a few days after getting back.

First tank was my in wall 9 gallon nano (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82485), upgraded to a 33, currently have a 67 and wanting a 180 or 230.

[jorjef]

I won a 40 gallon set up, tank. lights, stand and bottom drilled for a canister etc. as a door prize at a local fish auction and thought I would give salt a try...3 years later I don't really consider this "free" tank so free anymore.... Should have filled the damn thing with guppies!!!

[magikof7]

A close friend of the family had a big Saltwater tank when I was young. I think I was around 9 or so. (mid eighties) I spent the whole night sitting in front of that tank and was hooked.
I think it was a 90 gal. he didn't have it too long before he downsized to a smaller tank. It was so expensive and the mortality rate then was so high. He had Corals and Seahorses, fish.
I remember the Wonder I felt, I'll never forget it.
So after so many years of longing I got started 3 months ago with my 29 gal. I LOVE it. I don't think Ill ever be without one now. I love watching my kids see something move and run over to the tank to see what's going on. Even my teenage Daughter enjoys it. (just Mom gets all the work :lol:)

[kien]

Way back in 2002.. My sister's boyfriend was big into salt water tanks and convinced me that it wasn't that hard! One year we hit up the old Big Al's (at Heritage) on boxing day and by the end of that weekend I had a 90g room divider cycling in my living/dining room :-) That first tank was just a FOWLR but I did experiment with various softies. Like all first tanks that one didn't last too long. I moved, got married, had kids.. fast forward a few years and the wife and I took a trip to Maui. That Maui trip instantly rekindled my love for the reef tank and this time around it was all about the Mixed Reef.

The first thing I did when we got back was dig up my first 90g that was in storage. Drilled it and slapped on an external overflow box, made a sump and got some new lights. This was the result.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2460/3635124448_e09e143404_o.jpg

I also reconnected with that friend that first got me into salt water and asked him how his tank was doing. He referred me to Canreef and after spending days creeping I set off on another adventure that ended up with this..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af144/muzanji/IMG_0446.jpg?t=1250487887

[Reef Pilot]

Bought a house just over 2 years ago, with a 100g SW tank and downstairs sump room already in place. Used to have FW tanks many years ago, so thought I would give SW a try.

Since then I have added another 135g tank, plus thousands of dollars of equipment incl LED, controller and pumps. Not a cheap hobby, that's for sure, and lots of learning. But I love the challenge, and still working on improving things.

[lastlight]

snorkeling on honeymoon in mexico. all i wanted was a school of those sergeant majors lol.

[Dez]

It was my wife's fault....'nuff said. Sigh...

[Proteus]

I had wanted one for a long time but everyone told it was to hard but I like a challenge. Game on

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

It was my wife's fault....'nuff said. Sigh...

Yup, Irene wanted a "Nemo" tank.

[Dearth]

My nieces wanted me to get Nemo and Dora and the Pufferfish from the dentists office.

Their wishes and reality clash often

[Leah]

Mandalay Bay...sorry I know...what happens in Vegas... is supposed to stay there. Hope I can safely post this. :wink:

[CherylMcKay]

I had kept fresh water fish for a while and was a diver. I had only dove in cold water up north here, never tropical but the pictures on National Geographic made me decide to switch my tank to salt so I could start seeing some of the fish I wanted to when I could afford to travel.

I started with a 40 Gallon Walmart tank and a LFS (now out of business) that did a lot of salt water. 5 years later I have 150 Gallon and if this keeps up, I may still not travel as I spend all my money on the tank. :lol:

[Coleus]

scuba diving in Puerto Vallarta DR and hand feed a mating pair (i think) fishes and they were blue in color. Too bad i did not have camera with me to tell what kind of fishes they were. I wished i know so i can get them in my tank. But they are blue and fat (maybe powder blue or emperor angels or Conspicillatus Angel) but they are round and blue and not blue tang

[marie]

My husband bought me a 20g tank with a clown fish for a christmas present in '93, after managing to keep that fish alive for 7 yrs I decided a reeftank was worth a try :razz:

[wayner]

I remember many moons ago, picking up a copy of FAMA (Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine) - mind you, I already had a Marine Fish only tank going at the time, there was an article by a fellow named George Schmidt on trickle filters, which was something totally new at that time, he went on to talk about the possibility of keeping a small part of the ocean in your home, as i kept reading article after article, I knew i was about to convert my fish only tank into a reef, I had a trickle filter built holding many Blue Bio-Balls and a small protein skimmer made out of pvc which was part of the trickle filter.

And so it began, I've had a reef ever since.

[Coralgurl]

Funny, Finding Nemo was a huge turn off for me keeping sw, actually felt guilty about the poor fish pulled from the ocean and put in a glass box, so I don't get the connection others have. My bf had a fw tank with an Oscar and pleckos in a 55 gl tank. He set it up around the same time we started dating and it followed when we moved in together. The Oscar died 2 years ago and the kids begged for a sw tank. He held off bec he knew how expensive they are to set up. Next spring and a tax return later, he bit the bullet and got started. I still didn't really care much for it, added some clowns and chromis. Meh, nice fish. Then one of the boys and I went to WAIS, bought some "nice" corals. They didn't do so well and that's when I got hooked. Had to figure out how to keep them alive. I should have known better, I can kill a cactus, what was I thinking with corals??Still have a lot to learn, my interest wanes here and there but now I love my fish, I love the accomplishments and the tenacity needed to keep going.

[ensquire]

My wife had a 15 gallon FW that I didn't pay much attention to at first and then totally took over. That turned into a 36 gallon FW. Then I spent a weekend at West Edmonton Mall and spent hours staring at those three tanks. Wanted a Clown Trigger in the worst way. Swapped 36 gallon to SW within weeks and now have 2 SW and 1 FW tank

[NIVLEM09]

my uncle has a 2500 gallon reef tank in the Philippines and he got me started.

[Doug]

I just went from freshwater in the 70,s to salt I guess. Of course back then they were fish only. Owned everything from my 225 in wall, to a pair of 170 and 180g cubes to my current 30g sps reef.
Me thinks my list could rival Brett,s....:lol:

[lastlight]

geez a guy really has to read every last thread around here.

Doug most of my tanks never became reefs I was just 'playing tanks'... nothing too serious!