How did you start your fishkeeping hobby?

Just wondering what started everyone into fish keeping.
I can't remember so very clearly but I know I had a friend of mine buy me a pair of gold fish. Someone gave us their small(+- 5galllon) tank as they gave up with what ever fish they kept.Too bad for them but it was my stroke of luck because my parents were not happy to get a tank! Apparently when I was young, they bought I huuuge tank but it started leaking, so after that my Mom said NO more tanks! But we ended up getting again in the end!

 

I had them since I was a kid. so I been hooked since

 

When I was a kid, my parents got us a 10gal tank. It had some sort of algae sucker (probably a pleco or something that died.. obviously way too small).. mollies, and neon tetras. They knew nothing of the nitrogen cycle. They fed them every day, cleaned out the tank every few weeks.. and they lasted forEVER! We just never bought more.

I was in college (still am) and some people had little 2 gallon tanks or smaller... or lizards or snakes. I decided to get a 10 gallon.. it's really the biggest I can get for my room seeing as I have to transport it to school...

 

We had a 55 gallon tank when I was a kid. When I was in college, I had a couple bettas. I asked my boyfriend if I could get a betta, and he said no...we have two dogs, so we didn't need anymore pets. I tried to convince him on and off over the months...and then last Christmas, he took me shopping for any tank I wanted! I scrapped the betta idea and got a 29 gallon, which became a community tank. I didn't want to overwhelm myself with too big of a tank, especially since my mind had been in betta-mode all those months.

 

I really wanted a pet, and in the end I went and bought an aquarium. As I am a consultant and my man didn't really want a pet, seemed ideal. Yeah right! Suuuuuuch high-maintenance! + now he loves them too!!!

 

My grandpa died and somebody local needed to take care of his tanks and I got to take care of one since I always enjoyed looking at them when I went over there.

 

we were walking down the street one day and this guy comes up to us, selling hot bettas.. and the rest is history :;a

really, our fish keeping started with a Christmas gift from Dave to Stacy of a Betta. We went down the sat. after Christmas when the new tank had been running a few days. (yea, we listed to deathco advise then) So 12-29-06 we had 1 tank.. now we have 10. That MTS and Betta Bug can really hit you hard!

 

wow! Starting with 1 fish in Dec and having 10 tanks within 8 months! Not bad, not bad at all, in fact fantastic!!

 

I really like gardening. Then my garden needed a water feature so I gut a huge container water garden going. (no filter ) then I got some goldfish (this was last April).

As summer progressed, I could not really see the goldfish enough because the muck and algae in the water and the mosquitos eating me alive anytime I got close. But I really got to like watching the goldfish... so

I go a 29 gallon aquarium where I can watch the fish rain or shine with no bugs dining on me!!! What a great solution to my gardening problem. If only there were more hours in a day (I also work full time and have a 2 and 4 year old kids 8)

I am cycling the tank right now but it's fun! And since I put the air stone in, we even have an excellent water feature indoors - it's good fen shuI (or however you spell that)
Dasha

 

I had some fish when I was younger and just gave up for a few years and then my uncle got a bigger tank for his goldfish and gave me his 36 gallon tank which is one of my current tanks.
Tom

 

I was in a french lesson at school and we were talking about pets and I was the only person in the class who didn't have a pet so I begged my mum until she gave in and I managed to buy a 15gal for ?70. ;D

Gwenz

 

I grew up with an outdoor fish pond with goldfish and mosquito eaters. We would hand feed the goldfish raw oats (quaker quick oats). In high school I decided I wanted an inside tank. After a couple of years I got tired of cleaning it all the time so I'm back to an outdoor pond with two waterfalls and several goldfish and mosquito fish.

 

my sister-in-law bought my 2yo son a 20gal for christmas last year and I was mad because of all the work since I work 60hrs per week have 2 large dogs 2 horses a cat and never get away because of this. now I have 5 lol

 

I was at walmart one day and I saw a bala...and I love sharks and its like a miny shark I couldnt help my self I dusted of the old 5.5gal gold fish tnak that hassnt been used in years... I was in for a wild ride from there...its working out though

 

ive had goldfish my whole life, but when "squirt" died (RIP ) I found this site, which made me buy a 20 gallon and the rest is history!

 

I love this post. Does anyone else agree we should sticky it in the 'Welcome to Fishlore' section?

 

my mum used to years ago when she was a kid and she suggested a tank so we got it and now love it lol

Peace Out Callum!

 

What started me with fishkeeping was when I was 7 my parents got the family a 3 gallon tank with one little plant to put in it and we got 3 mollies.Watching them was so fun I just loved them.

 

In the 70's I had a community tank, a 10gal. Then in the 80's I also had a ten gal for my kids. Then I had none after moving around a lot. I have always loved aquariums for the tranquil mood and peace they bring to any room. Finally in March I was able to start up the hobby again with a 29 gallon and now I have 5 up and running and a 29 gallon that will be up soon.

 

I kinda explained it in the welcome thread, but my story is a harrowing tale that should be recounted time and again.

I got a job at a pet store this summer, (last day tomorrow), and became very attached to the fish wall where I spent most of my time. So much less work and more reward then the little furry things we also sell. Well, as an employee, there are certain benefits, including free fry, since they're not on the record, so theoretically they don't exist. So, I've been keeping the little babies (guppies, mollies, maybe a platy or two) in large vases, because I don't want to put them in my filtered tanks, for fear of them getting sucked up to their death.

 

in the 70s I was a guppy for a short time.

 

in the 70s I was a guppy for a short time.

Yeah, same, except I was more in the late 80's. That make you feel old?

 

I don't want to put them in my filtered tanks, for fear of them getting sucked up to their death.

OMG I thing I just found were all my jewel babys went up the filter!!! and maybe a tiger barb

Peace Out Callum!

 

in the 70s I was a guppy for a short time.

Yeah, same, except I was more in the late 80's. That make you feel old?

lol.. yea, I feel so old, I remember having less than 100 channels on TV. :-o!

 

I don't want to put them in my filtered tanks, for fear of them getting sucked up to their death.

OMG I thing I just found were all my jewel babys went up the filter!!! and maybe a tiger barb

Peace Out Callum!

I've heard of taking nylons and putting those over the filter intake, and saving the babies that way, but I just think it's easier to take care of them if I can see where they are.

 

the nylons get clogged to easily, but fish netting wrapped tight with a rubberband keep the fry out and still allow for mostly normal filtration flow.

 

My dad came home from work one day with a 20 gallon tank setup somebody he worked with gave him; I was 8 or 9, so that would have been around 1963. He was a welder, so he built his own stand with scraps from his job, and he had the tank up and running in about 2 weeks. I forget where he got all his supplies, but I do remember it having the old style box filter that sat on the bottom, with a real noisy air pump driving it, a couple of air stones driven off the same pump, and some assorted decorations. No glass on top, but it did have a light bar with incandescent lights, and I remember him having to replace it at least once because it got rusty. He finally put a glass hood on top when he lost his 3rd red-tailed shark because they kept jumping out of the tank.

It was the old metal frame type, and it finally sprang a leak sometime while I was in high school. After moping up 20 gallons of water from the carpet, my mom made him get rid of it. ;D

Always wanted one since then, but for some reason never got one until a month ago. The inspiration this time was the Hotel Monaco in Denver, Colorado -- we stayed there a couple of nights, and they're so pet-friendly that if you didn't travel with your dog/cat, they have their own supply of goldfish, and will put one in your room in a bowl. That triggered it -- soon as I got home, I headed to Petsmart, bought their Top Fin 10 gallon tank kit, and the rest is history.

 

My fish-keeping career started last year, senior year of high school. I was taking Biology II, Human Anatomy and Physiology, and we were studying embryo development by observing the eggs of medaka (Japanese ricefish, Oryzias latipes). Once the eggs hatched, though, our class had nothing more to do with the guys. So I collected all the fry and put them in a 2.5 gallon starter kit from PetSmart.

No one told me about the nitrogen cycle, though. The fry started dying within a week; at first I thought they were being sucked into the filter, which I turned off. They kept dying, so I concluded that they were sick - I emptied out all of the water and washed the gravel in hot water and vinegar just to ensure that the other fish-corpse-remnants wouldn't contaminate the new water.

They ended up all dying, and then I had an empty tank. I bought two platys, signed onto FishLore to see how to not kill them, and now I have four tanks, including ones I've given to family members but that I solely maintain. Margaret Thatcher and Eleanor Roosevelt are still alive (my first two platys), and the 2.5 gallon death-tank holds my little brother's betta, Mater (after the character from Cars).

Only lost two fish since I massacred those poor medaka, though. I feel like a really awful biology/ecology major, that I didn't think of the toxicity of the waste accumulation. But I learned my lesson!

 

Well I won't even try to deny it, I'm a complete animal nut, name any pet and I've either had it or begged and begged for it with no luck. ;D So naturally I tried fish, and turned out I really like it...the water chemistry and biological processes involved satisfy the science-geeky side of me. I actually started out my pet keeping with goldfish...more specifically, a tiny (maybe half gal container) that contained a single goldfish for about a week (course that was when I was really young). Then I progressed to a 10gal with 2 goldfish and Chinese algae eaters...neither lasted long, and about 2 yrs after setting it up I gave up. Then I tried a Betta in a bowl, obviously no luck with that. 2 years ago I decided I wanted to try again so I did a bit of research and set up a tropical 10gal...and the rest is history. ;D

 

HI guys,

Just a little note of interest here; how did you begin your hobby of fish keeping? What caused you to start? Why did you keep it up? What is your history in fish keeping? How long have you been in the hobby? Pictures of your favorite tank or fish are welcome!!! I love pics!!!

Thanks guys!

 

My betta fish looks like the betta fish in your profile picture but with shorter fins, I began my hobby of fish keeping when I bought a 5 gallon bowl for my betta fish.

 

Ah, MGKofARMR4, your betta must be beautiful! The betta in my profile is the most gorgeous one I've ever owned, but sadly he died last summer. I'm still really sad that he died, so I keep him as my profile to always look at him.

 

Ahaha its a long story bur I will cut it down for you! If you want more details I'm happy to give them tomorrow when I'm in the hospital waiting room as I'll have a tonne more time then.

I've always loved aquariums, fish and all things watery because they are so diverse and beautiful and peaceful. I had seen a nano tank online (and I mean nano. Less than 1 litre!!!) And it sparked my interest to do a little bit of research into the matter.

Eventually I realised that tank was a horrible idea and got a 2.5g instead (honestly not much better of a tank) to get two guppies in (again, terrible idea)

I then got a 5 gallon of Freecycle (for free) to house some fry I had. Then a 10 gallon of Gumtree as an upgrade to the 2.5g (the whole set up, equipment and deco for less than £7.50)

And I'm still stocking the 10g, so here I am

 

Oh no, you have to be in the hospital tomorrow? I'm so sorry to hear that! Thanks for sharing your hobby progression. I find everyone's different stories fascinating. How long did it take you to update from a nano tank to the 10 now?

My family always wonder when we pass random people on the streets, who are they? what are their interests? what do they do? what would it be like to know them? Hearing your guy's stories about something we're all interested in is really fun for me!

NOTE: A time range would be nice. How long have you been in the hobby?

 

Always loved looking at fish, scuba diving in carribean, Chicago aquarium. Tried fish in college, but killed them. Had no idea. 30 years later, got a 10 gallon from family member and killed a couple. Power of internet and WOW, I've been doing it wrong. 2 months later, already upgrading to 54g

 

Ah, MGKofARMR4, your betta must be beautiful! The betta in my profile is the most gorgeous one I've ever owned, but sadly he died last summer. I'm still really sad that he died, so I keep him as my profile to always look at him.

R.I.P Betta, my betta survived through fin rot, Bulging eyes, Swim bladder, Dropsy, Dirty water, Cloudy water, Ich, Cold water temp, He survived those diseases and looks fine now, But from being damaged from those diseases hes probably going to die too.

 

Haha, TexasGuppy, I know what that's like! Yup, there's a ton more to fish keeping than one unexperienced can imagine!

I started fish keeping for real (not bettas in bowls anymore!) mid summer last year. I got a 2.5 gallon tank, 1 month later got a 10 gallon, 2 months later got a 2n'd 10 gallon, 4 months ago I got a 29 gallon tank! I can't stop!

 

My betta still has fin rot I think.

 

R.I.P Betta, my betta survived through fin rot, Bulging eyes, Swim bladder, Dropsy, Dirty water, Cloudy water, Ich, Cold water temp, He survived those diseases and looks fine now, But from being damaged from those diseases hes probably going to die too.

Just because a betta can survive through all those things doesn't mean that it's a good thing for it to do so. You should up your fish care in my opinion. Your fish will suffer terribly otherwise.

We're getting sidetracked here people! This thread is for sharing your history of fish keeping. Not to discuss your fish's health. I would love to help you with your fish troubles, but post a different thread of your own for that subject please! Thanks guys!

 

Ug! I can't help myself but get sidetracked here! MGKofARMR4 the main thing you can do for your betta with fin rot is keep his water clean! There are fin rot medications out there you can get too. I don't know exactly what they are. But what I've done is kept the water clean and give my betta salt baths and he got better!