Tell us about yourself: 

My name is Ron Smithey. Most of you know me as Ron J. I am 26 years old. I am living in Shreveport, Louisiana right now. I am originally from here. I moved to Destin, Florida when i was 18. Florida changed my whole lifestyle. I love it there. As most of you know, I go back and visit every 3-4 weeks to go snorkeling and visit friends! Hopefully, I will be moving back soon. I came back here to work for my father. He develops subdivisions and builds houses. I am trying to save money for school for when I move back. The winter time in Florida is very slow and hard to make money. I want to go back and not have to work while I am in school. My two favorite things to do in my spare time are: working out and anything to do with my aquariums!! I am a prankster at times and always up for a good laugh. I have a very good sense of humor!!!

How did you get involved in the saltwater hobby?

I got into the hobby when I was around 16 or 17 years old. I have always had some sort of tank, but they were freshwater tanks. I really liked the way saltwater tanks and fish looked. I decided to try my hand at them. I had several failures. Everything that i put in my tanks died. The first saltwater tank I had was in Florida. I caught some wild Sergeant Damsels. I kept them for a few months and released them. I have been in and out of the hobby for years! I will probably never get out of the hobby again!

Tell us about your tank 

Right now I have a 72g bowfront tank. I have a few other smaller ones. The 72g has about 100-125lbs of figi liverock and around 70-80lbs of sand. I have 260 Watt PC's for lighting and a closed loop with a mag 12 pump for circulation. I mostly keep leather corals in the tank. I have a few green star polyps . I have been trying to get rid of them. I have had various fish in it including: tangs, clowns, damsels, and hawkfish....Most of you know or could guess what i keep in it now!!! Blue Tangs!! Tangs are definately my favorite fish. I have two regular hippo's and a yellowbelly hippo.. Two of them are still in Qt. I have a 125g that is brand new and collecting dust. Hopefully it will be up and running this month! My tangs can't wait to be in it!

How did you become involved with Reef Frontiers? 

I became involved with Reef Frontiers when I got back into the hobby about a year ago. I'd had several failures with saltwater and i wanted to get it right this time! I did a search and subscribed to three different forums! Needless to say, i picked the best one out of them and stayed with it."Reef Frontiers"!!! I feel like people on here are close friends yet i have never met anyone personally.

What is your reef keeping philosophy? 

My reefkeeping philosophy is to go slow and research everything before jumping into it!

What is your dream tank? 

My dream tank would have to be the biggest tank possible!!!!! Seriously though, the biggest tank I will probably get would be a 240g with nothing but tangs in it! Blue tangs, powder blue's, purple tangs, powder browns, and yellow tangs!! I bet nobody saw that coming!!!!

Do you have any advice for others? 

My advice to others would be to ask any questions that you have, Qt anything and everything "wet" that is going in your tank, and research everything before you take the next step!