- Location
- California
We have a WINNER!
John F. from California is our lucky Winner of the July giveaway. He won the Eshopps + Seachem Fresh Water Combo! Please contact us within 15 business days to redeem your prize!
We will randomly select a winner for our giveaways every month, so hurry to the Eshopps website and share your story for our August giveaway to win the perfect prize for the summer time: ATO Small (a 2 gallon reservoir tank)!
Here's John's Story. Thanks again for sharing:
Since young, I've had a variety of different fish. My father, unknowingly, inspired my love for reef tanks when he had his 180 G. FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock). Growing up, I remember having a couple Occelaris Clownfish, an assortment of Tangs, and several Angel fish. Back then, canister filters were popular and one of the most trusted and widely used mechanical filtration systems available to the average consumer/hobbyist. The tank crashed one day, and not understanding why, my dad decided to quit the hobby.
Like I said earlier, I had many Freshwater fish, but never have I dipped my toes into Saltwater.. except at the beach. All of my freshwater fish died from old age, not from bad husbandry.
I never really shared a common hobby/interest with my dad as a child. One day, as I was going to a local fish store, I decided to take a look at their saltwater tanks. The colors of the fish amazed me and I remember thinking how saltwater fish are way more flexible when they swim when compared to freshwater. Seeing my interested, my dad offered to bring the old tank back to life. This was my opportunity to bond with father and son. We also had trouble bonding since there is a language barrier, considering I am the first generation. I politely refused his offer, and instead, worked my weekends helping his business partner do odd jobs. I saved up enough to buy (2) forty-gallon breeders and enough PVC piping to create my own Hang-on-Back (HOB) overflow.
My dad helped me with all the miscellaneous items that are a must-have in our hobby, things such as: a scrubber for tank/algae film that collects on the walls of the tank, fish food, salt for mixing my own water, barrels to store water, and all of my fish. He loved my tank so much that more than once, would he talk aloud about how he wanted to reinstate his 180 G. in the living room. Unfortunately, that tank was never set back up in our house, but now it sits at a family friends' house with a lot of beautiful Tangs and Trigger fish.
Saltwater has brought my dad and I closer as father and son. It has matured me, kept me off the streets, and taught me that patience is a virtue. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby and when you are saving up to buy your next frag; it really teaches a kid how to control and manage his finances.
Best of all, my house now has an RODI (Reverse Osmosis Deionized) unit where it is split so that we have clean RO water to drink and 0 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) to keep my fish and coral happy.
John F. from California is our lucky Winner of the July giveaway. He won the Eshopps + Seachem Fresh Water Combo! Please contact us within 15 business days to redeem your prize!
We will randomly select a winner for our giveaways every month, so hurry to the Eshopps website and share your story for our August giveaway to win the perfect prize for the summer time: ATO Small (a 2 gallon reservoir tank)!
Here's John's Story. Thanks again for sharing:
Since young, I've had a variety of different fish. My father, unknowingly, inspired my love for reef tanks when he had his 180 G. FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock). Growing up, I remember having a couple Occelaris Clownfish, an assortment of Tangs, and several Angel fish. Back then, canister filters were popular and one of the most trusted and widely used mechanical filtration systems available to the average consumer/hobbyist. The tank crashed one day, and not understanding why, my dad decided to quit the hobby.
Like I said earlier, I had many Freshwater fish, but never have I dipped my toes into Saltwater.. except at the beach. All of my freshwater fish died from old age, not from bad husbandry.
I never really shared a common hobby/interest with my dad as a child. One day, as I was going to a local fish store, I decided to take a look at their saltwater tanks. The colors of the fish amazed me and I remember thinking how saltwater fish are way more flexible when they swim when compared to freshwater. Seeing my interested, my dad offered to bring the old tank back to life. This was my opportunity to bond with father and son. We also had trouble bonding since there is a language barrier, considering I am the first generation. I politely refused his offer, and instead, worked my weekends helping his business partner do odd jobs. I saved up enough to buy (2) forty-gallon breeders and enough PVC piping to create my own Hang-on-Back (HOB) overflow.
My dad helped me with all the miscellaneous items that are a must-have in our hobby, things such as: a scrubber for tank/algae film that collects on the walls of the tank, fish food, salt for mixing my own water, barrels to store water, and all of my fish. He loved my tank so much that more than once, would he talk aloud about how he wanted to reinstate his 180 G. in the living room. Unfortunately, that tank was never set back up in our house, but now it sits at a family friends' house with a lot of beautiful Tangs and Trigger fish.
Saltwater has brought my dad and I closer as father and son. It has matured me, kept me off the streets, and taught me that patience is a virtue. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby and when you are saving up to buy your next frag; it really teaches a kid how to control and manage his finances.
Best of all, my house now has an RODI (Reverse Osmosis Deionized) unit where it is split so that we have clean RO water to drink and 0 TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) to keep my fish and coral happy.
