cherrybarbboi

shawnie and martinismommy surprizingly my first fish was a goldfish at a fair

tcherry

A betta named Clarence. I inherited him when my Grandmother died. He lived in her nursing home room. She had him in the bottom of a vase w/ a hideous plant on top. I brought him home and put him in a bowl. I knew nothing about fish. He lived in that bowl in bottled water (hubby worked for bottled water co) for 4 years. I never treated the water, used a filter, heater or anything. I just fed him and cleaned out the bowl every now & then. I'm not sure how he survived!

navyscuba

My first fishies were Guppies and Platys around 18 years ago. Ouch I'm old.

kloseo

goldfish at around 10yrs old

Chopstick

2 pearl gourami and 2 opaline gourami at 16

rileyrk190

I was five and mine was a goldfish, with the fitting name of goldie.

Bad Wolf

i got 2 goldfish and 2 zebra danios as the first. when i was 2 years old. sadly i kept them in a half a gallon ice-cream container, but i soon got them a 10 gallon tank, lol

10gallonmadness

I had a goldfish in a like 1.5 gallon hex. I was like 5 at the time. I had no idea what the nitrogen cycle was. It had an undergravel filter with 1 little plastic plant. I never thought I had to do water changes untill the water became a dirty brown/yellow color and I never dechlorinated the water. You wouldn't believe it if I told you but he lived to see a 10 gallon tank and 2 other goldfish. He just died a few months ago. At the end of his life I was JUST beginning to learn the right way of how to care for a fish. He died like 2-3 months ago. If you read my siggy then you see I recently restarted HIS 10 gallon. Now that I know the torture I put him through I feel so bad... RIP Goldie.

gt-ere

The first fish were ten goldfish in a 15 gallon! Stupid mistake, but i didn't know anything about fish then. 8 of them died. the 2 lived in a tropical tank! 1 lived for 1 year and the other for 1 year and a half. feel sorry for them. but thanks to this website i now know.

Borisbbadd

My first fish were 2 Black Moor goldfish named Heckel and Jeckel.

jclee

My uncle bred guppies (I'm honestly not sure if he sold them or not), and when I was 7, my birthday present from him and my parents was a 20 gallon tank. We set it up with livebearers and neons and a pleco (i.e. other).

I'm actually surprised that so many people started with fair goldfish. I don't think I've ever had one... but I spent my childhood in a big city, so I don't think I ever went to a fair until I was old enough not to be hooked on taking a goldfish home. It's kind of cool, though, that so many fish addicts are born of fair fish. At least something good is coming from their poor conditions at fairs.

--And, Navyscuba, that first tank of mine was 22 years ago, now. You're not that old.

sglider12

I had a ten dollar gift card to Target and bought one of those Discovery shark tank aquariums from the toy section (I was about 10 at the time). it didn't have a heater, filter, or a light. the next day I went to the LPS and bought my first betta (along with gravel and conditioner). His name was Gill. He went through 3 tanks and lived for 6 years. Amazing little guy he was.

lorabell

ok the very first was a goldfish in a bowl(I was probably about 3) then when I was about 10 a neighbor got a fishtank...well I had to have one also...dont remember much but my dad gave me money (quite a bit too) and I spent all of it on 2 huge goldfish and a soft-shelled turtle...I did get into a small amount of trouble..I suppossed to have enough sence to bring home some change.....lol

ATKINSON

2 black widow tetras, 2 scissortail rasboras and 2 rosy barbs in a 10gal tank.

joy1125

I didn't have fish when I was a kid, because my mom hates fish. She still does, and when she comes over to my house, she won't even look at my goldies!

My first tank was back in the early 90's, I remember having a cory, and 2 kissing gouramis, and there were a few others, but I don't remember what. The cory and gouramis lived for a long time , over 7 years. Not bad for my first tank. But I do remember messing up and adding a male betta to my community tank I didn't know better at the time, and he didn't last long.

Gouramiguy17

I have been around fish and fish ranks almost all my life. My mom always kept a tank in the house, wether it was goldfish in bowls to neon tetras in 10 gallons to synidos catfish in 5 gallon tanks. My first fish was a synidos catfish in a ten gallon tank. His name is mud and he is 8 years old. He is currently living in the bottom of my pond.

flotus48

I started with 8 zebras and 4 plattys in a 55 gal tank

JennDFK

Sadly I had a goldfish in a bowl before I knew any better... but that was more than 20 years ago...

scatty

A blackmore and a comet. The blackmore lived for years - he outlived 2 comets.

rebeccmh

My first fish was a Betta that I got at a summer camp; my sister got one too. We got them in lily vases. I named mine Legolas...I actually felt bad he lived in the vase so I got him a one gallon tank with a UGF. My sister's died less than a year after we got them probably of constipation because she'd forget to feed him and then over feed him to make up for it. I don't know what Legolas died of but he lived for more than a year...which I know now isn't very good either, but at the time I thought he seemed happy.
Now my bettas are in a nice heated and filtered tank

Time

Betta was my first ever fish and mostly everyone's. If you don't have a goldfish, you have a betta. If you dont have a betta then you have something else.

PetiteTank

4 XL ranchus + 2 little guys in a 1o gal. They all forgot to swim within a month and a half.

ErinM

I had about 7 neon tetra. I LOVED them they are so pretty and easy to take care of. I think I'm going to get some more soon.

fishingman001

i won a goldfish a a fair near my house and it lived for about 4 years in a glass bowl.

steed1172

meh, i had a 20 gal with two silver sharks 2 gold barbs and a pleco.....barbs died and pleco died.... still have the silver sharks though :P

Tigerfishy

Zebra Danios. Still have 3 of them too!

Elodea

Exactly the same as Tigerfishy, I had three zebra danios that have survived everything so far over 2 years: ammonia spikes, pH disasters, and last night when the heater malfunctioned.

Jaysee

Crayfish was my first.

Fishnugget43

I think my sis had 3 mini goldfish in a bowl when i was 3-5 now I have My own platys and guppies which are my first fish...

Charlemagne

My first fish was beautiful blue betta with a dark blue body and turquoise fins. I named him Fishy-swa. I kept him in a 1 gal. bowl for about a year while I convinced my parents to buy a 29 gal. tank. He survived the nitrate cycle(which we were ignorant about at the time), a fin-ripping incident with our tiger barbs, and a disaster in which I used a new sponge to clean the algae off the sides of the tank. I had no clue that the sponge had been pre-loaded with soap, or some kind of chemical at the factory. It killed all of our about 30 fish except my sister's snail, and Fishy-swa. Fishy-swa had the sense to hide deep inside of my conk shell until Dad noticed the fish were dying and could rescue him. Unfortunately, he developed fin rot soon afterwards, and I didn't know how to cure him. I tried treating him with some Bettafix stuff, but he got worse and soon died.