Tell us about yourself: 

Where to start?? Oh yeah, my name. I'm Michael Hamilton. I live in Spokane, WA. I am 37 years old and have 4 children (3 teenagers and an 18 month old!) Please feel free to feel sorry for me...lol. I've always had several hobbies going at a time until recently. Now I've pretty much dedicated my "hobby" time to my aquariums. I spend all my working hours feeding others..lol. I'm a chef, although right now I'm working as a cook. Yes, there's a difference...lol.

How did you get involved in the saltwater hobby?

Well, it's an interesting story...at least IMO. I'd spent about 20 years involved in freshwater aquariums, raising, breeding tropical freshwater fish and still hadn't scratched the surface. A little over a year ago, my oldest child, Amber, was preparing to graduate high school. I asked her what she wanted as a graduation gift. She could have asked for a car, a trip, anything at all....I'd have tried to accommodate her wishes. Instead, she asked for "Nemo." Hence started my journey to setting up my first saltwater tank. Looking back, I wish she'd have asked for a car...lol. It woulda been cheaper. Sooo, I started putting together a 29 gallon reef tank. I already had the tank. I was already involved in the Spokane Freshwater Aquarium Society so leaned on Barbie a lot for advice and help. Let me rephrase that...."so I leaned on Barbie A LOT!!!!! for advice and help." Every time I mention that I'm setting up a larger tank, Barbie says to me, "I warned you!!" Yes she did. She warned me very strongly what I was getting myself in to. I ignored her warnings. Again, I wish Amber would have asked for a car...lol. This began my voyage into the Saltwater Hobby. I still keep freshwater tanks and am currently planning a 75 gallon FW planted tank and will lean on Barbie once again in the near future...lol. Look out Barbie!!

Tell us about your tank 

Which one?? I started out with the above mentioned 29 gallon reef tank. Shortly after that, I purchased a used 46 gallon bowtank reef system. Recently, I sold the 29 and set up a 75. I sold the 29 to a teacher at a local Christian Junior High/High School. It's in her 7th grade class. I still keep in touch with her and have been helping her out as best I can.

I guess I'll describe my 46 and 75...

My 46 has been going for almost a year now. It's got about 70 pounds of live rock in it. Equipment consists of a Remora skimmer, HOB CPR Aquafuge (Large), 2 MJ 1200s (one with a Hydor Flo attachment), a Coralife 36" 2X96w PC fixture....I think that's all the equipment. I'd wanted to put a sump/fuge under the tank but don't have room since it's not really on a tank stand but more of a short, sturdy table. This tank started out as a mixed reef with soft corals and LPS. It's now predominately soft corals with just a couple LPS frags in it. My centerpiece is a beautiful RBTA I got from Barbie sometime last year. Finned inhabitants include a mean and nasty female Gold Striped Maroon Clown, a beautiful male Mandarin, a Lawnmower Blenny and a small Foxface that will eventually end up in my 75. Corals include some Hairy Mushrooms, Kenya Tree, 2 types of Xenia, some Xoanthids, a nice colony of Green Star Polyps and a Candy Cane Coral. there's probably other things in there I've missed. Other inhabitants include a Green Flower Anemone, a Coral Banded Shrimp and various snails and hermit crabs. In the past, there have been other corals in the tank but a lot of those have been moved to the 75 or donated or traded with other members.

My 75 gallon reef tank is my newest project. I started it in January of this year. I do regret not having the tank drilled before hand but as things turned out, it wouldn't have mattered if I had. You'll understand more later. This tank equipment consists of a 48" Sunlight Supply 6 bulb Tek5 T5HO fixture. I absolutely love the lighting and would and have recommend it to anyone. I feel confident that I can keep just about any corals or clams in the tank. I realize that with the most light demanding Acros, I'll need to keep them high in the tank but otherwise, I honestly don't think the T5 HO lighting limit us as much as some will lead you to believe. Other equipment in the tank: a DIY sump/fuge I recently finished building out of a 29 gallon aquarium, a DIY HOB closed loop system using a Mag18 pump. I'm planning on replacing the Mag18 soon, it's a bit noisy. My sump return pump is a RIO 2500 returning through a SQWD. Also in the sump is a Pro Clear Aquatics 150 MPS Protein Skimmer with a Surge 3500 pump. In the tank I've got 2 MJ1200s, again, 1 has a Hydor Flo unit. I've recently glued each of the MJs to tank magnets. Seems to be working pretty good.

This tank's finned inhabitants are 5 Green Chromis and a Yellow Tang. WOW, is that all I've got in there? Time for more fish...lol. I had a couple other fish that ended up getting killed by getting sucked into some things I've since covered!! Corals include a good sized Yellow Toadstool, various mushrooms, 2 types of Xenia, a GSP colony, Candy Cane Coral, Frogspawn, Torch Coral, a Bubble Coral, Branching Hammer Coral, Orange Montipora Digitata, Orange Monti. Capricornus, Purple Rimmed Monti Cap, an Acropora Valida, both a branching and an encrusting form of Hydnophora and various Xoanthids. I think that's about all the corals. I've got an RBTA in the refugium recovering from getting sucked into a SPONGE protected powerhead...Grrrr. This RBTA has given me nothing but trouble since moving it from the 29...lol. There's also a couple Emerald Crabs.

Shortly after getting this tank established, disaster struck. I came home from work one day to find my water level a lil' low and water cascading down the back of the stand. After making a couple panicked phone calls to Barbie and along with her help, I eliminated any possibility that it was a plumbing problem. I still haven't found where the silicon was leaking but will in the near future. I guess I was lucky in that I had another 75 gallon tank sitting in my back yard awaiting a stand I've planned on building for it. This was going to become my 75 FW planted tank. Luckily I hadn't built the stand yet. I spent a few hours doing a panicked tank swap. It was a nightmare!!! Now you understand what I mentioned earlier about drilling the tank....lol.

How did you become involved with Reef Frontiers? 

I think it was because Barbie was tired of me asking her so many questions...lol. Kidding Barbie...I think. She pointed me in the direction of RF and I haven't looked back since. This forum has been so wonderful. Very helpful and great people. When I started my first tank, I relied a lot of RF for advice and help. Most of the equipment in all my tanks was found used on RF and purchased from other members. Just about all the corals in my first tank, remember Amber's 29 gallon Nemo Tank?, came from kind donations of RF members. I've learned so much from RF yet haven't even come close to scratching the surface.

When I've run across other reef keepers, experienced or new, I always send them to RF first. I've been able to "pay it back" by helping other new reefers get started by donating frags, or giving advice like was done for me.

Of all the forums I've ever been involved in, only a small few have made me feel they deserved monetary support. RF is at the top of that list!! I'd like to take this time to thank all the members who have been so informative, supportive and helpful to me as I've traveled this salty journey. Most recently, when my 75 started leaking, I had SOOO many members offering to help in so many ways. I had offers to house livestock, bring over a bucket brigade and muscle for moving tanks. I even had a member stop by a few days later and help me fix a piece of equipment that was broke in the transfer. All in all, Reef Frontiers has been the best "virtual family of friends" I've ever met!!

What is your reef keeping philosophy? 

Well, I'm still learning and developing but if I had to pick out a phrase or label my personal philosophy, I guess it would be to not get discouraged. Don't allow yourself to get discouraged by failures or mistakes. We all made and still make them. One doesn't have to be rich or go broke to get involved in this hobby. In other words, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to be successful. Although I am scheduled to be fitted for a couple prosthetics later this month...lol. I've been lucky enough to get most of my equipment second hand. I've also ventured into DIY projects that have saved TONS of money. I've discovered that having the "latest and greatest" is not needed at all. I'd rather have a simple, more natural tank than a hi-tech system. It gives me an opportunity to spend more time with my tanks...and less on Reef Frontiers...lol.

I also believe that we should do everything we can to preserve the natural reefs of the world. A few ways we can do that is to practice fragging techniques and trading frags, buying Aquacultured corals and Tank or Farm raised fish. I think we should also promote the study of SW fish breeding. The more species we learn how to breed in captivity, the less have to be taken from the reef. One other way is to STOP trying to "rescue" certain species from the LFS. Letting it die in their tank will eventually hit their pocket book instead of ours. Eventually, maybe they'll stop selling that hard to keep species and they can be left on the reef where they belong...instead of spending a few months in home tanks before dying.

I'm sure my reef keeping philosophy will evolve as I grow in the hobby. At least I hope it does. This is a very gratifying hobby and it would stop being enjoyable if I were to stop learning.

What is your dream tank? 

Oh my!! So many possible answers. For years, I've planned on building a home with the plan of having a "Fish Room." This room would be in the basement with very minimal lighting. It'd have either 1 tank built into 3 walls or 3 individual tanks (1 in each of 3 walls.) Behind all of it would be an access hallway for equipment and such. I have no idea of how many gallons it'd be but I'd be looking for something about three feet deep that wrapped around a room. In the center of the room would be some comfortable couches or easy chairs and a reading lamp or 2. In the back of the room, farthest from the tanks, would be a billiards table. Hopefully distance would keep an errant ball from obliterating my prized tank...lol. This room would also have a custom ventilation system as I smoke cigars. What a perfect dream!!

Do you have any advice for others? 

One more piece of advice that I was given...and not so much ignored...but didn't think was as much of a priority as it actually is....I think a lot of people know where I'm going with this one....

SET UP A QUARANTINE TANK!!! If you don't have one, stop reading right now and go set one up!! I think many of us learned this the hard way. I know I did. I'm still not practicing QT as well as I should be. I'm not set up to QT SPS corals. I just don't have the lighting for it yet. Also, you read that all you need is a small tank, a means of filtration and some hiding places for fish. As long as you plan on keeping small fish, that's great. What are you going to do with that prized Angel you bring home? I'm in the midst of upgrading my QT tank from a 10 to a 29 with PC lighting. Okay, those of you that didn't have a QT tank now do right??? You can continue reading now. Those that still don't have a QT tank and kept right on reading...please, please get one going soon.

My last piece of advice...Love the hobby!!! Enjoy what you do. Realize that having a tiny piece of the natural world in a glass box is a huge responsibility but very gratifying. Find the enjoyment in the process. If you're unable to find the enjoyment, you're in the wrong hobby.