moved to salt water in 2000, took that tank down in 2009, looking at starting up another (but smaller) tank now.

Steve

How long do you have to look? Been too long Steve.

lets see first board was Canreef in 2001 Mar and still going strong. lots of salt and skimmers here

Well a few of you have been keeping fish since well before my time about 15 years before lol. As for the people in 2001 I was in gr 6, never had fish growing up always my parents think I am crazy for keeping fish now. At our last house our neighbours thought we sold drugs and no one understood. Where we live now the neighbour boy has a interest in fish and we have been helping him out, usually pump my water change water to his house for his clown fish. I think it's a good hobby to be in great people, teaches you a hard lesson the value and fragility of life.

well to tell the truth I have been to busy with other stuff, now life is slowing down a bit, and I have come to terms with not being able to do a big tank.

I have to do a vibration text downstairs, we live a little to close to the tracks here and I wold hate to have a tank fail on me because of my own stupidity, so I want to see how much they will make the water move in the basement before I start into it again. then it will be a long process as I am building my own reactors and skimmer and such, I still have about 1500 bucks of raw acrylic tube in the garage that I need to use up, and 4 reactors and a monster skimmer than just need me to finish them up.

Doug, how close to the tracks are you? and does it move your water?

Steve

my dad got me into it as we used to have a 900 gal Oscar tank when I was 10, have had fresh water at one time or another all through my life.

Steve

Your just going to either tell the train the move or slow it down, nothing a little speed bump won't take care of :wink:

Just curious as I have seen you post that before how close to the tracks are you?

It was maybe 3" as for age not sure but it was about the size that we let go in Ixtapa

well there is the tracks, then about 100 feet to the road, then the house behind me and mine, so 700ish feet I would guess.

Steve

Closer than you. Sometimes in the summer, it like someone is kicking your bed to wake you. :lol:. Stuff here and there vibrates. My granddaughters laugh at the earthquake....BUT...it never bothers my tank. I assume the larger one in the living room will be ok to.

And as for the original question, guess I have been at this longer than many on the board have been alive.....:lol:

I know what you mean Doug.

My own first fw tank I bought in 1976. My first sw tank was in 1981. My first seahorse tank was in 1982.

:mrgreen:

Its been 10+ years for me in SW and now I feel old.

2006 for me,2007 for the wife. many upgrades with maybe one more to come.

The years seem short compared to the money spent. We bought that cute little fish that won't stop growing, darn newbie choices!!!!!!

Hmm... I have run only two tanks...both reef setups. 20 or so years in all. I have some coral that is that old.

Holy jumping, I just did the math. I started collecting equipment for my first 90 gallon reef in late 2008, but had two 180 and 20 gallon planted freshwater for 2 years before that.

I keep thinking I'm still new at this.

That is very cool! Any pics of the corals?


I have been in the hobby for 3 yrs now. Started with my 75G and jumped to a 180G after 2 yrs. I think that will be my only upgrade for a long, long time.

wow i didnt realize so many people upgraded that much! Ive had my 75g set up for just about 4 years now. the only upgrades i made were to it. canister to sump, skimmer, PC to LED lights. I love the hobby and it also does a bit to satisfy the tech geek in me too.

time
 

3 years. I lost interest for a bit and did the minimum for upkeep. My interest is back and I have plans to bring in some new fish next week.

17 years and counting minus a couple for sanity breaks:biggrin:

Ive been doing salt for 5 years now, but had freshwater tanks a few times in the past. In fact my sump is made out of an old 55 gallon long that was my freshwater tank previously. I didn't realize my reef was 5 years old until I opened my tank journal recently and saw the dates.

Since 2006, usually have had either something running or something in the works.

Just coming up to 6 years...started Feb 2008.

Ever wonder about those super enthusiastic people who start out and figure they need every possible piece of equipment and gadget for their new tank? Thinking that's what will give them a nice tank and disregard the advice given to them. What is it usual a year or two and it's all for sale? The sad part is all the fish and coral that perish during that time.

About 7 years. And the battling Dino's. still.

I almost have it. But it almost beat me 6 months ago. It was so bad... I almost quit.

+1. And going big to start off is not necessarily a good idea either. Remember Hustler, a couple years ago?

Thanks for reminding me how much cash I have poured down the drain since I started this madness. Should have taken up coke instead, probably would have been cheaper!:biggrin:

nothing wrong with that as long as you are going to stick with it. the only difference between big and small is the amount of money.

Steve

Yeah, and cost of mistakes are much bigger, too, incl all the livestock that perish due to inexperience and bad decisions. Much easier to manage and correct a smaller system than try to fix a 100+g system that is not working out as planned.

I think the major reason people get out of the hobby is they underestimated the effort and attention needed to learn about and properly care for a good looking and successful reef system.

I thought many people say or flame people who start with sizes they can manage (usually on the smaller side) with a very common saying: The bigger, the better ;)

Yes, and sometimes that is true, too. A small system, <30g can also be hard to manage with rapidly fluctuating parameters, esp if you don't have a sump or skimmer.

I think a good starting size for a 1st tank is around 50g with a sump and skimmer. That still allows for fast reaction to mistakes (water changes, etc), and provides all the necessary elements for learning. Plus you have some room for fish and corals. And if you do decide to get out of the hobby, your lost investment is not as bad.

But if you do get past all the learning and inevitable frustrations after the 1st year or so, then you will be in a much better position to properly plan and move to a larger system.

True that. I always say that a manageable tank is always better than a bigger tank (but who cares, I am a noob after all and my words are of no value :) ). When I moved from 20gallon to 70gallon, it was bit of a shock, esp with burning pumps (hence gave up on 2nd hand things), buying new salt bucket every 2-3 months (and I have been using non-IO salts), dosing a LOT, not to mention it takes a lot of corals/fishes/time to fill up a big tank :razz: One just have to know what it takes to have a saltwater tank; surprise is the biggest enemy in this hobby :) Having money is not the solution like many thinks; its all about dedication :)

One thing that has kept me in rather than giving up is the amount of money invested is too much just to walk away. The first year I think is the most challenging and if anyone was like me when I started - zero research. Wasn't until AFTER we had set ours up and things weren't going well did we start researching (5 months after set up). I also think people don't realize how much this hobby actually costs to set up and maintain especially when most newbies as some point make mistakes that are costly to fix or suffer substantial livestock losses. Easy to give up and throw in the towel. Thank goodness for forums (esp Canreef) with good people always willing to offer advice and help!!

Interestingly though, the poll shows a lot of long timers here, not a lot of newbs....

Yes, poll shows only 9 people with less than 1 year in the hobby. You would think the 1st year would be higher. Maybe it is because some newbies still haven't discovered Canreef?

It would have been interesting, too, to see the yearly poll increments extend beyond 5 years. I think at some point, people do get bored (or life gets too busy) and get out of the hobby, at least for a while. Unfortunately, the poll doesn't capture all the people that drop out, since they are also not likely to be on Canreef and participate in this poll.

If I was an LFS, I would pay attention to this as well, with what advice and support I provide to newbies. I think the temptation to make sales can backfire in the long run, if the newbie drops out of the hobby.