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My first tanks were, of course, freshwater with tetras and goldfish and such. i got my first fish that i can remember when i was about 10 years old. i gradually went up in size but in the end the tanks were all shared as they got bigger. The first one i had on my own was a 10 gallon freshy with some tetras and a rare south american cichlid that i got from a friend.

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To continue...
My first saltwater tank came when i finally moved out on my own and was not going to college. I decided not to listen to my parents who kept telling me that salt was too difficult. Because they were moving out of state they were getting rid of their tank and so i grabbed it up while i had the chance. it was a 55 gallon long that i promptly set up with CC and the HOB filters that the moron from Petco recommended. I did at least have someone smart tell me to let it season for a month so i did wait... all of my first fish i got from petco, and every one died (dirty obnoxous copper using *$%^&ards) over charged and pretty angry i started asking around for a good shop to go to. I finally heard of Coral Visions (which no longer exists) and went out there the next weekend. It was a garage setup but it was classy and all the livestock and coral were doing awsome. on my first visit i learned a ton (Thanks Randy) and bought a lionfish and a few other goodies. From there my FO system started to really thrive and i was out to them at least once a month... then the unthinkable, my tank was glass and one morning while i was preparing for work i noticed that the level was dropping... the side seam had blown and was leaking all over the floor, this was the time that i decided that glass sucks. My roommate was having a party that night and i had to work during the day so i had to put all my kids in a 10 gallon for the day (which they didn't appreciate) until i was able to get another tank. because of my schedule i was unable to do anything but a petco 80gal glass special. i got the new tank set up and because i had upgraded to a sump system with Bio-balls i was able to get the tank up quickly and seasoned overnight thanks to the bio-balls being seasoned. i left it BB because i was saving for sand but threw in my kids and what little LR i had. They totally loved it and had no issues except a few cramps from the 10gal. After a few weeks i added the sand (big cloudy mess) and then got myself a skimmer the next month.

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So i was calmly moving along after all that stuff happened and my roommates started to get excited about the tank... they weren't a problem until one morning when... they went to the beach. They did not understand the difference between cold and warm water species in SW so they decided to bring me a gift... a ton of snails, hermits, and a few fish and starfish... I can't even begin to express my horror. the best part is that there was nowhere to put them and they couldn't go back to the beach because it was too late in the day and my car was out of comission soooo... i found myself at petco again picking up another tank to hold them while i figured out what to do... this time i was short on cash so i went with the simplest system i could do using a 55 gallon, the old HOB filters i had, an undergravel filter to allow air circulation... and the CC that i pulled out of my main tank.

They didn't understand that i was not going to put the new fish in my current system because of the problems with disease and overcrowding... needless to say everything died because i couldn't keep the temp down. the few survivors, a few crabs and hermits... eventually made their way to my main tank where my spiny puffer ate them over a weeks period.

Of course it was an awful experience but at the same time it left me with a 2nd tank that was just sitting there... waiting... for something...

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So, my tank sat for a few months during which time my lion caught something internal and died... as well as all the rest of my critters. after the last one passed i took all the LR i had and put it in the 55 gallon. I then took the 80 down and put it in the garage. during the next few months i just left the tank empty and filled the evap as needed. I had lost the excitement and was not really interested in continuing. then i sat down next to it and looked in and saw all kinds of stuff crawling around. I thought the tank was pretty much dead and here it was teeming with life that i didn't have to pay for or take care of. That started the reef bug in me. First i went back to Randy and got his help to id the critters and then i picked up a few more things to start up again. My intent this time was to do coral though so i was saving up fo my lighting. after about a month i was able to purchase a VHO retro setup from them and a few weeks later i grabbed a coral pack from him as well... a leather, frag of GSP, shrooms, and a brain. As time went by i slowly added to the mess of corals in the tank but Randy being a good LFS owner, refused to sell me any SPS or Clams until i got MH lighting and an RO unit. So things went along without any issues until something big happened...


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... My favorite LFS announced they were closing...

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Ok, where was I?

oh yeh, the LFS was closing...

When i found out i was kinda cranky but it also presented an opportunity. I wanted to start my own LFS in the local area so i decided to ask how much for the whole shop. then i started looking for investors. when all was said and done i had a few friend promise they were in on the deal and i got one who was willing to pony up the dough. so we went over and bought the shop. mind you it was a small operation but the move took a little over a month of spending my saturdays over there working on it. I was o excited and started looking for a place to set up when... by a stroke of great luck... all of the people who had promised to help, changed their minds and bombed out on me. I was ooo pissed i almosed went crosseyed. here i was stuck taking care of all the critters and my one associate was stuck with the financial investment. and noone was willing to help in any way. needless to say i started selling the stuff off when i finally decided that i was not going to be able to take care of everything. In the end i kept one of the larger tanks and a few of the items. the rest i am still trying to sell off. at this point i had a mixed setup and was looking for another LFS to supply me.