prairielilly

From an excellent suggestion by Butterfly (thanks!)....this could be pretty neat

So how did you get into the wonderful world of fishkeeping? what's your story? (share if you like)

I had goldfish in bowls as a kid, we never understood why they didn't live more than a day. Around 12 years ago I kept a 10g (with 15 fantail goldfish - I didn't know any better then) and unfortunately lost them all to ICH and ammonia. I then tried platies with similar results. I got a 2.5g hex tank and put a male betta in there and finally had 'success' - Mr Fishie lived 3 years. There have been many bettas since then. The most recent was this last fall, a blue betta in a new 1g. I began to feel sorry for my betta, all cramped and cold, and decided to buy a 20g that I could put him in (among other fishies). Unfortunately I still didn't know about cycling and encountered some troublems, which LED me to FishLore (thank goodness) ....the 20g is now full of healthy fish, a male betta named Ivan lives happily in a 3g, and a 5g will eventually hold another betta.

Butters

My sister had won 3 small comet goldfish at a carnival in town. She didn't want them so I took them. I put them in a spare 5 gallon tank with no filtration. One died so I was down to 2. I decided to get a filter, and got one with a 120 GPH rating. Instead of doing water changes, I just emptied the tank out and refilled it with water from the tap about every other week. My girlfriend got me 2 fantails for Christmas... those didn't last long. About two months after that we went to wal-mart and she spotted the tiniest goldfish I had ever seen, so we got it. About a month later and a month of neglect, they all died. I liked to watch them swim, so I went to go get more fish. I went to wal-mart and looked at the tropical fish. I thought they looked cooler than goldfish so I decided I would go tropical... and now I'm on here with four tanks.

sirdarksol

When I was a kid, I had a little tank (2.5-5g) that I kept neons in a couple of times, and guppies a couple of times. Unfortunately, because I knew nothing about keeping fish (I completely sterilized the tank on the weekly basis), I killed them off pretty quickly.
Eventually, the little tank went into the closet, to be sold at a garage sale after a few years.

Fast forward fifteen years or so, to about six months before my join date:
My brother-in-law called me one night and asked if I wanted an aquarium. His girlfriend's family was getting rid of theirs, and wanted someone who could take the aquarium and the fish.
I think it was a 29g, and it was very much overstocked, with a blue gourami, four gold barbs, and a painted glassfish (poor little thing). I added a dwarf cory and a platinum butterfly koi to the mix (before I knew better). The blue gourami died due to ammonia, at which point I started researching fish care. Little by little, I learned what I had done wrong and how to fix it. I ended up here about six months after first getting the aquarium (when the bacterial bloom made the water go white), and things took off. I now have five aquaria, ranging in size from a 10g to a 90g.

Jonah

As a kid I had a brother, still do come to think of it, who is 10 years older than me, he was and to this day is a tropical fish fanatic. Even at 16 he had 4 or 5 tanks running at any time, he now has an insulated double garage as his fish room, the cars have to stay outside!

My sister in law also has a couple of well run tanks and I have always wanted to try, so with advise from both, some contradictory, and using this here forum as arbitrator I finally gave in to the compulsion last year and bought a tank, and then another and then another and so it goes!

Oh I did manage to keep a fairground goldfish alive in a large goldfish bowl for 5 years I won as a 10y/o if that counts lol

haedra

Probably about 17 years ago or so, I started out with a goldfish type (I'm sure this is a story many are familiar with) in a bowl; which lasted I think 24 hours before it died.

Some how, I found out about bettas.. in all honesty I don't remember anymore where I learned of them. So instead of another goldfish, I got my first betta.

Now in THOSE days there was no internet. So I'd have to say I relied too much on pet store employees to tell me what was correct and incorrect. But even then, they were marketing teeny tiny bowls for bettas, saying they "preferred" them. I remember this was so, specifically because I thought that was so stupid. So I ended up getting mine a gallon sized bowl (not ideal I know, but at least better than what I was being told). Funny thing, just as it is now, it was then... like potato chips. I couldn't have just one. So I ended up with two more! I don't remember how long I had them (I AM OLD).

Maybe 5 years or so later, I tried out my first "real" fish tank. I think it might have been a 20 gallon tall.. but I am not positive. Again, I trusted the pet store I purchased from; and of course knew nothing about the nitrogen cycle. So I think it is pretty obvious what happened. The whole experience frustrated me so much I swore never to do it again.

But that was not to be! I do not recall what made me want to up and purchase a new fish on 1/1/09, but the night before I just said to myself, "you know what? I would like to have a betta again." So the next day (new years day!) I went out and got a 2.5 gallon minibow.

Devo (my betta) lured me in over all the other bettas because he was snarky. He flared at me like a little blue bull when I picked up his container. I immediately fell in love with his attitude.

I should have known the MTS would set in. Only a few weeks later I decided to give another "regular" tank a try; but I took at least another month to plan for it, by researching everything I could find out. And as I tend to do things, I decided to make it even more of a challenge by starting small.. with a 10 gallon.

And that's where I am today. Hmm.. I do have one more empty tank.... >_< no! I must keep it empty! I SHALL keep it empty! It needs to be my "emergency separation" tank...

Toxic

I was 10 when my sister gave me her 10 gallon guppy tank when she moved, I have been hooked ever since.

hkirchen

My first fish was a goldfish in a goldfish bowl. Needless to say it was a prize at a Halloween carnival, and it did not live very long.

When I was 16, my 8 year old sister and I convinced my parents that we wanted a fish tank. They took us to the pet store and bought a 10 gallon kit that had a special of 2 guppies that came with everything. There was a filter, but no heater. We put the guppies in right away, and the next morning my sister's fish had died.

I named my guppy Herbie, and he lived for several months despite my evil sisters nefarious plans to make sure he bit the dust! (I'm kidding, she did not know what she did was bad) I say this because she convinced my parents to get us goldfish to make up for here lost guppy. I did not want one, but my parents made me pick one out to make her happy. The goldfish stuck together in the 10g tank, and my guppy would swim to the farthest possible place in the tank. I know now that he was trying to stay away from the strong ammonia that the goldfish were creating. He also stayed as near to the surface as possible.

My sister went through about 5 black mollies before giving up on anything but the goldfish. My Herbie lasted around six months, and the goldfish I don't know what happened to them.

Now I am in my thirties, and my husband brought me a tank home for my birthday a few months ago. It was complete surprise, and I was sooooo happy as I have wanted a saltwater tank for around 6 years. He told my I should start with FW,and then I could progress to SW.

I repeated the same mistake and plopped 4 zebra danios in after 24 hours..... and then I found fishlore. I have already gotten MTS after only three months of fishkeeping(I don't count the other experiences.) I have two tanks a 29g that is in my profile,a 10g guppy fry tank, and about to add 2 5g betta tanks for two of MM's beauties. My son is getting a 10g for his betta next month, and my daughter wants a dwarf puffer for her birthday and so she is getting a 10g as well. I have corrupted my children! LOL

Amanda

Well, I kept seeing bettas in cups in Petsmart, so I asked for a fishtank for my 17th b'day. My aunt got me a 5 gal. kit - I filled it up and plopped a betta in.
Newbie mistake, although he did last a year. When he died of a huge tumor, I got Val, my current VT to replace him. Then in my AP bio class, we had to put 2 bettas in a tank to see how they'd react to eachother. So I ended up bringing my experiment home with my. Another 5 gal. kit.
I then traded someone one of my 5 gal. for a 10 gal., divided it & put my two boys in there. My science betta died only a few months later due to a tumor, and I divded it again, and put a CT boy, and a VT girl in my 10 gal.
Over the summer, I got a 55 gal. off of craigslist from someone relocating in the Army. So $30 got me everything. Great deal.
I recently got my 20 gal. off craigslist also.

MaddieLynn

Several years ago, when I was... I don't know, maybe 4, we had a tank with goldfish and 2 algae eaters of unknown variety. I don't remember much other than these 2 details: I named the goldfish Pizza and Feet, and one of the algae eaters ATE one, so it was probably a CAE.

Fast Forward to last year: My brother and I frequently (as in almost every day) visited a small "double" pond at a golf course where my dad worked. There was a "large small" pond that had a running water bridge into a smaller one. We noticed that the water was almost dried up in the smaller one and that there were a lot of minnows dying. We rescued them and put them in the full pond and took a few (4) home alon with 2 tadpoles and a crawdad. We let the tadpoles go a couple of weeks later, the crawdad ate the largest minnow and then promptly died when I removed him from the tank, and I moved the remaining 3 minnows into a 10 gallon. I got 3 rosy reds from Wal-Mart, 2 died the next morning from some kind of disease. I went back and got 2 more, one normal and one (as I assumed) a rosy red of a freak variety. It was in the same tank, but it was grey, not orange.

It turned out to be a female guppy, and I have her to thank for getting me into fish. Her first batch of fry was stillborn, presumably from over-holding, but I succesfully raised the 2 survivors from the second batch, and her 3rd batch was about 2 weeks old when we moved. The first was about 2 months, and the male was just starting to get his colors. I knew NOTHING about the nitrogen cycle, but surprisingly, every single fish except those 3 Rody Reds who cam sick made it, except for some newborn guppy fry. I gave them to a family who probably killed them from ammonia. After setting up the tank, they promptly dumped up about 1/4-1/2 cup of fish food in the tank and proclaimed, "They had a party!"

I feel so bad, and really sad. I loved those guppies.

I let the minnows and the algae eater and goldfish that I had acquired into the small pond where the minnows orogonally came from. I really wanted to get back into fish keeping after we moved, so my parents gave me a 10 gallon starter kit for Christmas, which I have 3 mollies and one Dwarg Gourami in right now. My grandmother recently gave me her 29 gallon, allong with all accessories, so when I get the stand I'm going to use sand as a substrate and get 4 Kuhli's and 4 corys.

I like to talk.

Miriam and Joel

What a nice question!

I'm a very new fish keeper. We live in an appartment where we are not allowed to have pets. I love animals and I really needed a buddy.
I saw a Betta the first time at a friends place a couple months ago. I felt sorry for him, he's living in a small bowl. I wanted to make it better:
Compared to the most of you, I learned first about keeping a Betta befor I bought one That's how I found this forum. I have a 2 g tank with real plants. I think my betta is happy, he still enjoys nipping my finger.... But not everything is perfect yet, I'm still learning a lot! That's why I need all this fish experts on this forum. Thanks for all your great answers!
I think Sushi will be my only fish. I'm only a temporary resident in Canada and if I have to go back to my country then I don't want my boyfriend ending up with all my fishes.
That's my story!

BlowPhish

My dad bought a 55 gallon tank when I was around 13. I was in charge for taking care of it. Read some thich books at the time. I'm 28 now and I haven't cared for a fish tank in over a decade. In this time I forgot alot of things but not everything . Then in December I got a tank for Christmas and anototh for my birthday on New Years Eve. That's when I was afflicted with the disease MTS. Bought some books and aquired 4 more tanks.

prairielilly

It is so great to read all of these stories here! thanks so much to all who have posted so far!

I for one find it extremely great, and comforting in a way too, to hear about how human we all are - we were all new once, we all made mistakes, we all learn. I think newbies to fishkeeping would agree. It's real nice too that on this forum we all feel comfortable enough with each other to share our 'first steps'.

Hope they keep coming!

pinkfloydpuffer

My sister had a little toy puffer that I thought was sooooo cute. Then I start looking at pics and stuff online, and discover that you can actually keep pufferfish! I had no idea! Then I started researching, discovered that the porcupines were way too big for me, then I found the green spotted puffer... Researched for a month, found about about the nitrogen cycle and everything I'd need for my puff babies, and then a month later my tank was cycled and I got my two babies Garth and Pistachio!!!! I've never been happier

CHoffman

I bought my 3 year old a tank for her birthday with the help of the Walmart associate in the fish department. I walked out with a 2.5 gallon Mini bow, 4 glofish and a Chinese Algae Eater. I'm kinda a clean freak so I was doing 3 50% water changes a week, I had no clue about the Nitrogen cycle...I really enjoyed them so I started researching about a month after I got them found this wonderful site the same day I started researching and I've been learning every since. I went out and bought them a 10 gallon home, airstone, airpump, and the trimmings. Found my CAE a great home and went from there. that was in Oct of 08...So in 4 months I've gone from 1 2.5 gallon tank to 7 tanks that add up to 210 gallons. LOL..I move fast.

aquatic mouse

I don't know how old I was when I got my first tank, somewhere between age 7-12. It was just a goldfish bowl (no filter, no heater, no nothing) with two neons in it. Their names were Mike and Ike. They died when my family and I went on vacation, I left the blinds open. I fried my fish.

I set up a new 10 gallon aquarium in college in my dorm. I had a few neons again. They lived for a few years.

Four years ago, I set up the tank again. I purchased a fain tail goldfish. I named her Goldeena. She was very loved and lived for 2 years.

Now my leopard gecko, Jake resides in the 10 gallon.

All these years, I knew NOTHING of the nitrogen cycle. I'm amazed some of them lived so long.

I graduated from college last year. My husband agreed to a 55 gallon aquarium set up w/ everything (stand, canopy, lights, heater, filter, bubble wand, the works) for my graduation and birthday gift. I decided to do a lot of research. Enter Fishlore. That's the tank I have right now with my gouramis, emperor tetras, harlequin rasboras, and corys.

I have a 10 gallon set up now. It's divided so that I can have a dwarf puffer and a betta. It's cycling right now.

Phew! That was a lot to write!

CWO4GUNNER

38 years ago wow how time flies, I had two small half dollar size green slider turtles when they were still legal. I got board seeing them sit in a bowl so I got an old used 10 gallon aquarium and bought a plastic hang on raft about $2 back then. I couldn't afford a heater so I would fill the aquarium to the top almost and use 100watt bulbs and tilt them so part of the bulb would stick under the water and one would heat the tank to about 75-80 degrees depending upon how much I tilted the bulb underwater. They would hiss some times from a turtle diving off the raft and the turtles get a hiss burn but never busted and never blistered the turtles. Anyway fish were expensive and I was the only kid on the block who could pull the man-hole cover off the street drains to go down and recover balls that had fallen in from playing street baseball. Occasionally we would take trips under the city to the main LA river bed where all the street drain tunnels ended up and big enough for a kid hunched over to walk through with a flash light telling spooky stories until you got to the opening and jump down 5 feet to the river channel below. Now the river was basically a big concrete canal 20 feet across with vertical walls 12 feet high. So if you heard, seen, or felt the wind from a coming mountain flash flood you had to run to the nearest elevated drain hole and boost each other up licking split climbing back inside and then pulling up the last kid usually the smallest. Anyway the river was always filled with generic green guppies in spring through the end of summer. Fat females and skinny males all the same and all green from the algae that carpeted the concrete bed they eat. Since the water was normally only about 1 foot deep, all you did was use your hands, T-shirt or a tin can and scoop up as many as you wanted. So I got me some ugly green guppies one year and the turtles loved them more then me cause they would dive in and finish what they caught never catching more then they could finish so my aquarium always looked normal just lost population over time and there were never sick or slow fish that you would notice. Then from there I got my first job at 12 years old sweeping two factory floors 3 hours a day after school for $15 a week and bought a 20ga show tank and the first hang filter and started keeping Oscars and the green sliders diden't mess with them but both really liked the green ugly guppies. Finally the 2 Oscars got so big they had trouble turning around and I sold everything. Then at 17 I got my GED and joined the Navy and became a squid LOL.