Chris123

i started about 3 years ago. My dad as a kid had all types of fish (IT was a popular thing). Eventually he asked me if i wanted fish tank. I said yes of course. We dug up my dads old 55 gallon from when he was a kid and the rest is history.

warpedmind41

I started about a year ago. I had always liked fish, but I didn't know a thing about keeping them. Then I decided to take an aquatics class last year as my senior blow off class. We had to keep an aquarium in the class and I ended up getting really into it. The teacher the first half of the year was lame, then the teacher went out for 6 weeks for surgery and the sub, whom I knew very well, got me into it. Then we got a new teacher and she REALLY got me into it. Needless to say, I kept a 20 gallon tank in there for most of the year, then I got a 10 gallon at home, then a 29, then a 55, then another 10. But the second semester teacher was amazing. She was really passionate about it and she made it really fun and interesting, and she actually helped me decide what I want to major in in college - marine biology. I'm not amazing at this aquarium thing just yet, but it is something I am very passionate about already..I just set up the 55g a week ago..and I'm already looking into 150+ gallon aquariums on craigslist.

flotus48

When I was 9 we had a tank in the house that the family would sit in front of at night and watch. It was such fun. One thing LED to another as we got older an the tank just was too much work and we put it away. I have always lived fish tanks and now I'm 57 and my wife gave me a 55 gal for my birthday and I have had it set up now for 3 months and we both love it! I am even thinking of adding a few more tanks in the downstairs family room. It's work but now I love it.

DeanAsploded

When I was four or five my parents gave me a huge (to my little eyes) tank with one big bright goldfish.

ilikefish

I got a goldfishie by impulse because that was the only pet were allowed to have at my dorm. I live in a 12X15 dorm room with a dormate. I have a 10g Q tank and 2 30g tanks and a 75g tank in my dorm room

Tony G.

wow! i once saw a youtube video on this guy in a dorm room with a 75g SW and some other stuff! man i wonder how it all fits haha


I first got interested when my mom got me a 5g with an oranda goldfish. He lived for 3 years and i believe he died because the lack of room... Anyway, i had a total of 4 tanks eventually

akamel

I love this thread !! When I was a little girl my neighbor had a fishttank for sale and I dont remeber why ( maybe I asked for it ) but my parents bought it for me. I had it for years ! Well, eventually I got use to hearing the tank running and it helped me to sleep. Off and on as an adult I had tanks. But back then I didnt know about stocking and cycling process so I killed off alot of fish. Guess I got frustrated and quit. In recent years I have insomnia really bad. Well at work a girl came in with some free goldfish--that did it !! I cant stop thinking about fish ! I guess Im making up for lost time. AND this forum helps me with MTS !!! LOL !!

hozzie

When I met my husband 10 years ago I had 6 cats, 2 dogs, 2 rats, 2 rabbits, a guinea pig and a horse.
A year ago was down to 2 cats, thats all. Husband hates pets and refused to allow another dog etc. So I had a rebellious day and went to buy a baby tortoise from the fish shop. Came out with a fish tank. No experience at all, fell in love and have 6 tanks. Fish dont moult, dont pee on the carpet or be sick on your bed ...so he cant object. I clean tanks when he's away which is often.

My fish keep me sane. They live an internal life in the tank with no concept of the human world outside.They interact on so many levels. I sit and watch them and the world receeds.

click

When I was about 10 I think, I went my friends house and his dad had one of the apartment bedrooms FULL of tanks...top to bottom. (he probably had MTS). I was so impressed by the beautiful fish he had, that I decided one day I will get a tank too.

That was 19 years ago. Last week I got my first tank

lorabell

Mine started (again after 30 years)...when my daughter decided she wanted a tank with puffers.......well theyre mine now....and of course Ive had to add to it!!!!!!lol....8 tanks later

Lexar169

Well i was at a friends house and he had a 75g tank and i noticed that i was completly zoned into it....and you know...i spent the next 3 or 4 months wanting to get fish soo bad bc i loved how entertaing it is and the sound of the water is really calming for me and that means alot to me bc im a pretty wound up person..

Fishnugget43

Last year I helped my friends mom clean their Aquarium... Went online later that night and started doing research

DRock914

It started with my dad bringing me to LFS's to see all the fish when I was 2, sort of like a local aquarium for a 2 year old. He then decided to get a 20 gallon community tank which then led to a couple 2g tanks, 10g, 29g, and 70g. Few years later he got a 5g for my room but that started to leak and didn't last long. Then when I was 8 I had my own 2g that he let me take care of but I got sick of it after a year and it became his albino frog tank. Now that I am back home and out of college I decided to start the hobby up again and got a 20g for my room and took back the 2g that was vacant.

JBird86

I remember my dad had a huge oscar when I was a kid but he sold the tank when we moved and every time we went to a pet store over the years we'd go look at fish so I always thought they looked cool but I didnt really get into the hobby until just a few years ago, my roommate at the time was a hobbyist and I helped him set up a 75 gal Malawi tank; he taught me a few things, which led me to go buy some books and ultimately my first 20 gal and Ive been hooked ever since!

Bad Wolf

My auntie use to live in our garage when I was 2 years old and she used to keep danios in old 2.5 gallon ice cream containers with a filter. She use to use an ice cream container cause she was always on the move. Once she settled into our garage permanently, she got a 5.5 gallon tank.

I use to love watching it, so she got me one too. I then always had fish. I got another 5 gallon tank later on. Then I started the tank for hermit crabs. Then after about 6 months of hermit crab keeping, my nanna got me another 4 gallon tank with 3 goldfish.

I then started keeping bettas in 1 gallon tanks for ages. All the time. Then, after 3 years, I got a 15 gallon goldfish tank. After another 3 years I got another tank, 7 gallons that i used for my 2 goldfish. I used the 15 gallon for an axolotl. Then after 6 months I got another tank, 5 gallon, and used that for my 2 goldfish and used the 7 gallon for a betta and angel. I then added a few small tropicals to that tank.

After another 6 months, my 7 gallon got crowded, so i used the 15 g for my fish and the 7 g for the axolotl. Then after 8 months I got my 55 gallon tank and 9 months later is now.

mmcd

well i was bored one night with my best friend. just got my tax money back, we went to walmart to buy xbox games and came home with a 55 gallon tank and it went from there. i now have a 90 getting ready to get a 150 gallon. i love fish. i have 2 oscars and a arowana thats why im getting the 150 and the 55 has a small knife fish

bassbonediva

I got my first fish tank when I was 11. I bought a 20gal tank with a pearl-colored koi from a guy down at the local library for $15. The tank had NOTHING with it, not even a filter. Just the fish and the tank. I went out to the backyard and grabbed enough gravel to cover the bottom of the tank and rinsed all the dirt off of it, then threw it in the tank. I never cleaned the tank (and yet it never got dirty that I can remember) and that koi got to be about 8-9" before it finally died after almost a year. It would swim into my hand and let me pick it up and eat out of my hand. After that, I got rid of the 20gal and my parents got me a little 2gal with a male betta and two neon tetras. The betta killed the tetras within an hour and I ended up hating bettas for a very long time. I didn't get seriously into the hobby until this year, but a couple of years ago (after my divorce when I lived in an apartment and couldn't have a dog or cat) I bought a Hex5 and three tiger barbs that my son overfed and they died. I then got a betta in a 1gal and got hooked. I find tanks soothing and it's something to keep me occupied and my mind off everything.

HitchHiker

For me it must be genetic, my grandfather kept and bred guppies. My mom tells me that he had 3 pools of them in the back yard. My aunt kept them and got me my first tank. I have sense inherited 2 tanks that belonged to my grandfather.

JennDFK

I love it that this thread just keeps coming back to the top... I love reading about everyone's stories.

Jenn

Elodea

Well, my life hasn't been very long (just started being a teenager), anyways, a few years ago, I managed to convince my mom to get me a fish tank. Tricked by the pet store and plopped in a bunch of danios, serpae tetras, and a common pleco.

Needless to say, the common pleco didn't last very long. The other poor fish survived (I still have 2 danios and one of the serpaes today), but were probably stressed by that ammonia spike.

At that time, I was in 5th grade and didn't like to research much, so I thought the stuff growing on the filter cartridge was algae and I would rinse the cartridge in how water with every water change (every 2 months)...caused a mini-cycle each time and killed some fish with every water change...

Then I forgot about my fish for a year...

Hit this site in November with a very rude question on RCS without introducing myself or anything...

Very soon got horrible MTS but my parents won't let me get another 5 gallon tank until I'm 14 (in a year)...

The worst thing is that my mom doesn't like fish, my dad is neutral, so my hobby has been slightly hindered by my parents...I got on my mom's bad side recently after spending $57 to plant my tank...

The rest is history (2 weeks)...As you can see, my entire history of fishkeeping is only 2 years (sad, isn't it; but you can't blame me, that's about 15% or my life)...

Walan20

My dad just got me fish 3 months ago : )


BTW I'm 10

TedsTank

My story is in the Feb. 2010 FishLore magazine....check it out!!!

ldbrown3138

I got a 5 gallon slate bottom tank for Christmas when I was 6 or 7. We had guppies and anacharis, a corner box filter and a small airpump. 40 years later, I still have that tank and a couple dozen more.

Candymancan

From my parents we used to have a small goldfish bowel when i was really young but nothing special.

When i was 9 years old my mom and dad got a 35 gallon tank and they had all kinds of fish in it, my dad liked the Betta's he had like 1 or 2 in the tank with other fish. I remember the huge snail problem we had one time lol like tons and tons of tiny snails in the tank.

I got my first tank at like 14 years old and i still have it im 23 years old now, its a 27g hexagon. We still have the 35 gallon tank too, both are up and running. We got my brother a 10 gallon tank when i got my 27g but he was to young to take care of it and lost interest in it after awhile so we gave the tank to a friend. I'll keep my 27g as long as i can. I like having a fish tank in my bedroom, altho sometimes when im really tired or something the noise from the filter can bother me but thats rare. Overtime you just learn to not even think about it.

Right now the tank is next to my desk so i can just look to the left and 2 feet away is my colorfull tank. You can see the pics i have them uploaded on this website. My dad really liked that 35g we got, its been accross country twice to and from arizona and virginia. We have all the original parts too lol the filter, the light, the heater and powerhead. Altho the original pump is quiet noisy sometimes the little thing that spins around is worn out and stripped so i have to put things in it to wedge to keep the pump working like normal.

I wouldnt mind getting another tank later on but right now the current house isnt big enough for anymore then 2 fish tanks because we have a renter in the basement. If i got another tank it would probably 55 gallons or more maybe, and i would make it a saltwater tank with coral. Another problem is i have many hobbies and they are expensive ones so i cant keep up on them all the time.

I like astronomy and have a $600 10 inch telescope "thats 10 inchs wide" and i love computers also and building upgrading computers every year or so can cost alot of money.


We knew a guy before i got my hexagon but many years after we had the 35g who used to live in the same apartment complex we did, and he had the biggest tank i have ever seen in my life "minus national aquariums lol" he has a small apartment and half the living room was the fish tank lol. It was a 250 gallon salt water tank... The coolist thing i have ever seen when it comes to tanks.