In the beginning........

Okay, lets talk about how I got into this hobby and how I ended up with a 240 as my first tank.

About 10 years ago I met the most caring and beautiful woman alive. We were a great match and saw eye-to-eye on everything. Five years later, we married and bought our first home. Our opinions about what were and were not necessities for our home began to take different paths. I wanted an aquarium, she thought it would be too much of a hassle. After a million attempts to persuade her that we needed an aquarium, I gave up.

In 2004, my wife gave birth to our Son and we quickly decided that our house was not a good fit for our family and the location was no longer ideal for our busy lives. The answer was to sell our home and start looking for a larger, more central located home. Last year, we found a great house close to her mother's that had everything that we wanted. A large floor plan, wood and tile floors, great kitchen, detached garage, a large backyard and..................A 240 gallon saltwater aquarium in the wall of one of the living rooms.

I had no idea that the the homeowner would empty the tank and leave me with nothing more than 240 gallons of sand and water. Over the past year I have spent a lot of time and money getting it to where it is today, a beautiful, thriving reef community.

Here are some shots of the set up when I first got it.