JennDFK

I was just wondering what different people's personal reasons were for getting into fishkeeping...

For me I find it relaxing to watch fish... I thought it would be a great family hobby that everyone could enjoy. I also love the way an aquarium looks in the house. Once I got started, however, I found it was so much more.

CHoffman

My 3 year old loved fish so I got her a tank for her 3rd birthday and the rest is history...lol..I honestly don't know how many tanks I have now!! I just love the hobby and the fish.

pinkfloydpuffer

My sister got this little stuffed pufferfish... it was so cute that I decided I wanted a real one, started research, came across the GSP, and it was love at first sight!

Amanda

I'm not entirely sure...one day I decided that I wanted a betta.
The rest is history.....

Llama

My aunt gave us a fishtank, was pretty simple - a couple of mollies and guppies, no heater and a sponge filter.

Also my father used to keep fish when he was younger, as did my uncle. So we ended up digging out a bigger tank eventually, my father found an old book of his which I almost MEMORISED...

aquarist48

I've had aquariums throughout the past 40 years. One of my neighbors had a 5g with a ton of guppies in it and I love it. I saved my $ and my folks let me buy a 5g....later on they bought me a 29g. Been loving it ever since.

meg1220

My very first fish were generic guppies I got in third grade- nothin' fancy about them. My class got a bunch of newts we took care of in class for a while, then students were going to take the newts home. I decided I wanted the guppies that came with the newts to feed them, so my mom talked to the teacher and she let me have them. Since then, as a kid I had goldfish, barbs, gouramis, and bettas. Actually, I had bettas since middle school all through college. All this without knowing anything about the nitrogen cycle. Then, for about 6 or 7 years, I had no fish, until the impeding switch to HD broadcast t.v. I decided a fish tank would look better than the tv that was about to become almost useless, so that's what I got. Thanks to the magic of the internet, I know much more now, too.

KyWildFish

I saw my future brother-in-law had a couple small tanks and I took interest in them. Cincinnati has some great LFS's and I was able to shop around and get a good set up and have a good selection of fish to stock with. Now I have 4 tanks and probably wont stop there.

MizRamzi

My first job was at our LFS sum 30yrs ago.....my second job was with the Cleveland Zoo Aquarium....I've always *tanken* my work home with me

Red1313

A friend of mine last year planted the seed (she made us all go get a fish... my goldies didn't last long RIP) but I pulled the tank back out a few months later when I was lonely during summer classes and did some research and started with Red and then I wanted another and Coolie pushed me into MTS.

prairielilly

I've always had a thing for furries and finnies...I used to go and browse the aquarium section of the pet store for hours. I kept a 10g for a little while years ago, and bettas in a 3g for many years too, all without knowing about the nitrogen cycle unfortunately. There was this huge community aquarium at the local Dairy Queen down the street, with angels and tetras and live plants - when I was in university I'd go and get a Coke and just sit and watch them, they were so beautiful. When I graduated and moved away I decided I wanted another betta, so I went to Petsmart and got a little blue boy and put him in a 1g...pretty shortly felt sorry for him all cramped up, and bought a 20g to put him in with lotsa other fishies...well that was this past October and now I have 5 tanks

Fish Addict

I think I have the best story, I went to a festival-like thing, and there was a game, where if you won you got a coupon for a free goldfish. It was really easy, so I won, and kept begging my dad for a fish because of it. Finally for my birthday he bought me a book on keeping fish, and said once I read the whole thing I could get a tank. I've now read it like 20 times!

eepruls

I have always been fascinated by fish and the environment we as land dwellers never get to see. I'm always wondering what's going on beneath the surface of a lake or river. It may be windy and raining above the water, but down below it's a totally different world. I've always liked the fact that fish can move in three dimensions (left/right, forward/back, and up/down). It's just so relaxing watching what goes on in a place where we can't live!

GypsyGirl71

My dad and his parents kept tanks on and off throughout my childhood. We also had tanks at different times growing up, easy stuff, mollies, swordtails, etc. As an adult, I had 3 10 gals at one time and then a 30 gal hex. I moved around alot and moving those tanks became a real chore. I eventually sold it all; that was about 10 years ago. This past year I started reading up on it again and bought the 55 gal in January; I am loving fish keeping again! Fishlore has made it much easier!

pepetj

My first fish was a native (Endler like) guppy. I was 7 years old. I think it was the idea of doing what my friends (all older than me) were doing. I don't recall exactly but I kind of remember having a fish a fascinating thing to do.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

hssea

Had a aquarium as a kid. Just before getting engaged I went out and bought a 20 gallon (that was 22 years ago)..... that way I didn't have to "ask" if was ok !!!! LOL After that if I got anything just said "oh my mom sent it to me!!!!!" lol lol lol . It works!!!! The rest is history........

TedsTank

when I was in my early teens my parents bought me one of those brandy snifter fish tanks with 1 neon and 1 zebra danio. Well of couse those LFS things just kill fish but it got me started....up to a 20 gal long tank and some convicts that spawned and i was hooked...40 some years ago....there were only LFS's.....I miss them.....most of them.

JennDFK

Some really cool answers...

When I started this thread I forgot to mention that my answer was based on getting back into fish keeping. I had a fish bowl with a goldfish when I was a kid. My mother made me get a book at the library before she would let me get a fish. I guess the book I got didn't teach me much... because I tried keeping all kinds of things in the bowl before it got so over run by snails that I gave it to a friend at school. I don't know what he did with the snails... hopefully I am not responsible for some horrible snail overpopulation in a creek somewhere.
I tried again with a 10 gallon tank with an undergravel filter when I was in college... I knew a little bit more by that time... but I still didn't really know what I was doing. I let the tank get murky and didn't really know what to do about it. I gave away my two surviving fish and sold the tank at a garage sale.
I have a good friend who has always kept tanks... and they are so beautiful that I decided that now that I have kids I wanted to add a little nature to the house. This time I told myself that I was going to do it right. I made a few mistakes at the beginning, but thanks to fishlore I am on the right track and about to start my second tank.