Tell us about yourself: 

Well, by profession I am a project manager of IT projects. I'm married to a great (and very understanding) guy, and we live in Lynnwood with our family of pets: 3 dogs, 2 cats, and 4 birds.

How did you get involved in the saltwater hobby?

I was first impressed by a saltwater tank when I was a young girl and would sleep over at my friend's house. They had a tank in their family room that had soft lighting on it all night. I would stay awake and stare at that tank for hours and hours, looking at the anemone and clownfish, and other colorful fish. Many years later I kept a 20 gallon freshwater tank for a few years then took it down. Then, in the winter of 2007, a woman posted some photos on an unrelated website of her nano-marine reef (14 gallons). I was amazed by the beauty of the corals and I decided right then and there that I was going to set up a SW reef tank. On the way home from work one day I told my husband, "Honey, I've decided to take up a new hobby." And the rest was history... :)

Tell us about your tank 

At this time I have two tanks: a 120 gallon mostly SPS mixed reef, and a 30 gallon tank that started out as a species tank for anemone and blind clownfish. Things have changed in the last 6 months, as the clownfish is no longer blind and the 30 gallon is no longer a species tank. Now there's zooanthids, clams, and a few LPS and softies. These tanks share a single sump. I utilize a lot of powerheads for flow: nanostream 6045's, Koralia 4's, and a modded maxijet 1200. I have a about 50x turnover in the 120. Lighting is 2 x 250 watt halides (1 14K AC and 1 Reeflux 10K) plus T-5 actinic supplement.

How did you become involved with Reef Frontiers? 

When I set up my first tank a year ago, I was actively looking for a local reefclub. I knew I needed a lot of help and I wanted to make some friends in the hobby as well. I was referred to Reeffrontiers and was really happy to see all the local people here. First I met Colleen and Scott, then "Skimmy" who gave me lots of help with my setup. Ben (Class Clown) was very generous with frags when I was first starting out. I really enjoy the people here who are involved with this hobby; there's an awesome positive "karma" (thankyou Dan), among the members.

What is your reef keeping philosophy? 

Honestly, I'm not someone who can say "I've been in this hobby for umpteen years, I've tried all husbandry methods and I feel that (fillintheblank) is the best." All I know is that the best tanks have lots of good quality light, lots and lots of flow, and have reached that magical balance of nutrients in vs nutrients out. I am still on that journey of trying to lower my nutrients and gradually improve my equipment. For the past 6 months I have been using Zeovit, the German bacterioplankton method of lowering nutrients and creating great SPS color. It's working pretty well for me, but I am not "there" yet.

What is your dream tank? 

I would love to have a big starphire peninsula tank like Bricky's with gorgeous big corals like Dang's and eye-popping color like the Swiss reefer Iwan Lasser. :)

Do you have any advice for others? 

Well, my advice for people new to the hobby is to learn as much as you can from a variety of sources: books, reef-related webforums, and people in the hobby that you trust. But even with people you trust, don't put "all your eggs in one basket" as knowledgeable people still disagree with oneanother. Your goal should be to get to the point where you can receive advice and then make your own decision based on a variety of input and your own best judgement.