Reefkeeping in the United States has been around for approximately 30 years. In his talk, Michael Paletta hopes to go over the many advances and changes that occurred during the early years of the hobby. The talk will discuss not only the major breakthroughs that occurred during this period, but also the people who were responsible for many of these advancements. The talk will also focus on how much better things are today, as well why we should not take these things for granted.