What got you started?

Coworker was always leaving work for fish deliveries. I was jealous.

 

My wife made the mistake of taking me to Petco to pick out a bigger tank for the little Gouramie that had been living in a 1 gallon tank in my daughters room. It all went horribly wrong for her from there.

I'm sure that it ranks in her top 3 most regretted decisions of all time.

 

I got a few goldfish for my daughter a few years back. Then I saw a Fluval Edge and thought it was really cool. That started the whole thing.

 

I used to go diving a lot on vacation and my family always had freshwater tanks. I decided i wanted to take the ocean home with me from the dives LOL

 

My dad's stories of all his dive trips and his old salt water aquariums he use to have. After my I got certified to dive and I saw it myself there was no turning back!

 

My uncle has a 220gallon that I had to sit and be envious of for years. After I saw a lion fish for the first time, in his daughters tank, I was hooked. Found a cheap 75G on Craigslist a few weeks later and I've been hooked ever since. That was 2.5 years ago, and I have yet to buy a lion fish. How does that work? Haha.

 

I was in the Navy and saw many wonderful things while diving and many beautiful tanks in Asia and the south pacific. It took me nearly10 years after i got out but I got it.

 

Had freshwater when I was young. Always loved the saltwater fish at the stores but never had the money. The wife and I talked of setting one up some day after we were out of school and had money. Well, long story short, she sent me a Craigslist add for a saltwater tank and it all went down hill from there. Lol.

 

I just like to play with water and lots of electricity at the same time /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

 

Thats a good story Mike.. I was actually gonna start a similar thread not to long ago about this..
For me, I always liked going fishing and being around water and then I just stopped, got busy doing other things then had a baby.. Then one day I stopped by one of my good friends house and he had a few cichlid tanks up and a reef tank.. He help me set up a 55g cichlid tank and I loved it.. But every time I went back to his house I just couldnt stop staring at his reef tank, so he convinced me to switch and now im stuck... That was about 8 years ago.

 

Started with a 30 gallon bowfront freshwater back in 2004 which quickly got "to easy" 6 months later I had a 150 gallon SW tank to my now 350 gallon sps reef. Oh I also turned my reef addiction into a full time income as well. Of course there were a few tanks in between also.

 

Mine started with a girl of course back in '98. She had a couple tanks and the rest is history. I had a 20 gallon fresh for 1 year then I added a 29 gallon FOWLR. I tried to keep a reef but to no avail, thats when I decided to upgrade to my current 90 about 5 years ago. 7 months ago I decided to get out of the agressive tank business and converted over to a reef with smaller fish and corals. So needless to say 14 years and about $10k later here I stand.

 

my roommate had a 75g south american cichlid tank. So i got a 10 gal full of stuff from walmart, followed by a 20g african cichlid tank, followed by a 75g african cichlid tank, followed by a 55g south american cichlid tank. Reefing was the obvious next step. (I ditched all the freshwater stuff last time I moved, WAAAY too much tank to keep hauling across the state!)

 

My brother got me hooked about 20 years ago when he dabbled with a 125g FOWLR.  I was interested, but could only afford FW...then I switched to SW fish a few years later when I was in college. My fish moved with me and I upgraded tanks from a 10 to a 15, then a 30 and finally a 50. We did some remodeling in 2010 and built in a custom ~90 corner tank. After it cycled, I moved the fish and put in a few Zoas and mushrooms. I was intrigued, and immediately hooked...to my wife's dismay. Now I have the 90, 50, and a 20 up all the time. Thanks to Petco's $1/gal sale, I have a 40 I plan to set up this fall. My long term dream is to build someting in the 400 gal range into the wall seperating my dining room and great room. It would be visible from both sides and have a basement sump.