Top Ten Best Days In The Hobby...

10) When one of the guys that has been reefkeeping forever in your area gets a job in England and has to sell everything - as fast as possible. Oh, happy days!!! Better than a kid in a candy store with Mom's wallet!
ouspeedbump of Norman, OK

9) The day you completed a DIY project and realized that someone out there paid $500 for something you put together yourself for 50 bucks!
K9 of Raleigh, NC

8) The night I brought my newborn daughter home. She was crying and wouldn't calm down. On a whim, I sat down with her in front of my reef. She stared at it, captivated. She stopped crying immediately, and I saw that look in her eyes. She was hooked almost from birth!
Serk of Rowlett, TX

7) The day my LFS said, "You're hired!" That saved me thousands of dollars and made me next to nothing when they deducted the half-priced livestock out of my paycheck!
rcypert of Unknown, Whereabouts

6) My best day was the day my 75-gallon tank started leaking. I told my wife it had to be replaced, and she said, "OK!" The 75 is now a custom-built 170-gallon tank! I hope to be able to sleep in the bedroom again soon!
Mdwannabe of Nashville

5) I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel about Tutankhamen and the curses his tomb's discovery supposedly unleashed on a large number of the participants involved. Still in the middle of the show, not long after scoffing at these silly superstitions, I heard a rustling sound. I ignored it and then heard it again, this time muting the TV. It continued sporadically for another few seconds as I located the source of the sound. The sound was coming from behind my fish tank. As I opened the doors to the aquarium and peaked behind it, I could see my Flame angel flopping on a plastic bag that was covering some foam filters. It looked as if it bent it's head up at me saying, "I could use some help!" I quickly grabbed him and tossed him back in the tank. The Flame angel's aim in jumping out of the tank and onto the bag covering the foam filters could not have been more perfect. Had he landed just a couple of inches over, I'd have never heard him, and he'd surely have died as I watched Tutankhamen's curses on the Discovery Channel. That is my best day in reefkeeping - so far. The next best day will undoubtedly be the complete eradication of my tank's hair algae. A man can dream, can't he?
aquamariner of Unknown, Whereabouts

4) For me it was my moment of "actinication" - defined as that euphoric feeling an aquarist gets right after installing 800 watts of 20K metal halide bulbs but right before seeing his new and improved power bill.
Turf of St. Louis, MO

3) My best day in the hobby as a reefkeeper was when Santa Claus figured out a way to get a 120-gallon All-Glass aquarium down my chimney!
Nanopodreefer of Canada

2) My best day in the hobby was when I was SCUBA diving in the islands and realized that the brain coral in my reef tank has nicer colors and is healthier than the ones I was seeing in the wild!
caseyjones of Branford, CT

1) My best day in the hobby was when I went to the Rockford frag swap to sell some SPS frags to support my habit and made $1000 off frags, won a $1600 Zero edge tank, won $100 from Oceans Floor, won $100 from Ocean Motions, won a $25 gift certificate from Drs. Foster & Smith and a pair of penductors. What a great day!!
yznhmr of Roselle, IL

Reefkeeping's next Top Ten for May: Top Ten Reasons Why Reefkeepers Never Sleep or Top Ten Reasons Why Sleepers Never Reef... Our thanks go out to Melev for suggesting the next topic!

Honorable mention goes out to the following members for submitting 10 Top Ten reasons: Serk. Thanks, Serk!

If you have questions, would like to suggest a future Top Ten topic or place an entry, visit our online forum or hit the button below: