Tell us about yourself: 

I just want to say im honored to me MOTM, its a great list of people ahead of me. I guess money does talk! -JK- As you know, im really the RF baby. Many of you have been throu the hobby ups & downs. Learning from your mistakes and buying lots of worthless stuff before finding this wonderful site. Well I was raised by all you and learned from those mistakes. So dont hate me, I wouldnt be here without you guys, you might hate me because i never used bio-balls, but I really really thank you all! *group hug*

Whats left to say RF! LoL, well ill tell you, theres plenty left! Im currently in the AirForce, stationed in S.Dakota as you might know. Im originally from Michigan (where Euchre was originally from, before IN took it) and then moved to Minnesota. So ive never been tan basically. My wife of almost two years (Puffer Princess) and I have a beautiful baby boy (11m) Ethan together. His bday is actually Sept.16th! My family is a big part of my life, we like to travel and do it as much as possible. We have went to Minneapolis and S.Deigo so far. Ive been pretty much everywhere, even Seattle! My grandparents actually live in WA, my mom just moved away when she joined the Army. Other than my family, i like to play poker when i can afford to (which hasnt been since i set-up my tank) and I enjoy BBQ'ing. (If you couldnt tell!)

How did you get involved in the saltwater hobby?

Let me start out by thanking my wife for letting me get into the hobby! How it all started back when, i was about 12yrs old and my older cousin who lives in NY had a SW tank. I always looked up to him and was hanging out with him the day the LFS called and told him his Puffer was in. I remember him picking up the fish and acclimating him to his tank, that started the dream. Ive always had FW fish since i was in Kindergarten, so ive been fishkeeping. Well im finally at the time/part of my life that i could invest both the time and money to be serious about the hobby. Then, my wife and I were at the mall buying books for something. I looked at the fish section and seen a "SW for Dummies" book. I read that baby twice over, and begged my wife to let us start SW!

Tell us about your tank? 

My tank is just now cycled, its a 220AGA with HOB overflows, lol. I remember the first time i seen it, the thing is HUGE! They always say, go as big as you can when you are starting out. I think i listened! My tank has pulsing Xenia and a green shroom so far. My wife likes to surprise me with corals, but she knows she cant anymore! She bought a purple pagoda too. All the corals are doing really well, and are being penetrated by 4 160w VHO's 2actinic 2daylight bulbs. I like the lights, they came with the tank, i will get MH's someday when i can afford it. My tank has 300lbs of REEFROCK baseRock, and about 100lbs of cured Fiji from a previous reefers tank. It was the cheap way to get that much rock, i like it. I have a sump, id say it is about 20or30 gallons, but it houses my ASM G-3 Skimmer. Some people use those skimmers for 75g, but that was the best skimmer for the height my stand allows. It works great, and i love it! The Iwaki 40XRLT is the sump pump return, which is my flow, along with two seperate *sounds fancy huh* CL's. Each CL is powered by its own Mag12 pump, and is a neat idea on paper, lol. Other than that, I have 3 fish. I bought them with the used LR. One is a huge scaredy cat YT named Sunni, a 3stripe damsel, Zippo and a LMBlennie which i acquired from a traded Lunar Wrasse. I have lots of snails, because they add me in the fight for control over algae. The Turbos do an okay job, but its an ongoing battle. Also, I have 100lbs of sand, and for those of you who didnt know, the sandbed is coming back.....I think!

How did you become involved with Reef Frontiers? 

Well the whole thing started by me going to my LFS where i bought FW fish from. I asked the guy how much it would cost to convert my 55g tank into a SW tank. He punched up a bunch of numbers on the calculator and told me $900. I asked him to print the receipt and found everything onLine for $600. While i was doing searches for UGF's and SeaClones i stumbled upon this site. That was late in Feb and thank god i never bought any of that stuff from the original list i had. If it wasnt for RF i would be in deep! I try to spread the word to the few SD'ers i see, but people just stare at me with glazed eyes. I should print out business cards!

What is your reef keeping philosophy? 

My philosophy is very simple. Just ask the pros and do whatever they say. Basically RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH, this site is great because it gives you a hands on type atmosphere and you can relate to other peoples experience. I have the books, and learned the knowledge, RF has both the knowledge and the experience, thats why i love it!

I really care that my animals are healthy. I feel its my responsibility to do whatever i can to make them happy since im the reason they arent in the ocean anymore.

What is your dream tank? 

My dream tank is my tank fully stocked in wall of my basement. With a perfect HOB overflow that never breaks and two more TunZe's pushing out enough flow to make both Mojo and A.Calfo happy! Pretty simple, but 220 is enough tank for me!

Do you have any advice for others? 

If you are reading this, you are in good hands. Not my hands, but RF's! If your new and dont know where to start, my thread "Jiddy's 220 MASTERPIECE" tells you a bunch of setup things and a little humor! (right Gabriela!)

I would like to thank all you for your help, the Vampire crew, Steve#43, BigTom, Linkii, Scooty and B in particular! My mom, my.....*Hey why are you guys rolling the music?* Good Night God Bless