What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[Sati]

I was going to be serious but I've decided on....

I love the fishes cause they're so delicious :P

[tennhound]

I got my first 15 gallon from my mom. (She has to many tanks- various sizes- to count) My dad had bought it and a 29 gallon at a yard sale for $20.00. I put live plants, neons, danios and corys in it. Well my husband decided he like the tank and wanted a bigger one. We moved everything from the 15 gallon to 29 gallon( also got from mom). We got rid of 15 gallon to friend for his son(sons 10 gallon was over crowded). We have since bought 10 gallon tank. Hope to get 55 gallon (or bigger) soon. Love my tanks they are relaxing. Have fallen asleep many times while watching fish after long day.

[MrDaytona]

I bought our first aquarium, a 10 gallon, about 30 years ago. My wife said looking at the fish helped her relax in the evening after all the children were put to bed. We have moved at least 7 times since then and have always had an aquarium in every house. We have had 20 gallon, 55 gallon, and a few unknown size aquariums every now and then. The children have all grown, we are retired, now live on the water, have a pool in the backyard, and are setting up the biggest aquarium we have ever owned. It's a custom made 400 gallon that we wish to go fresh water with. It stands 7 feet tall and makes a great room divider! We are still learning on how to maintain it, and hopefully some advice gleaned from here will help.

[Allivymar]

Hiya MrD and welcome to Aquariumadvice

A custom 400g?? *drool* I'm SO jealous. What are you looking to put in there? LOL And who is gonna go diving in there to clean it....7 feet tall??

[MrDaytona]

My 400 gallon aquarium is 7 feet tall and all one piece but the bottom 3 feet is cabinet. It also measures 22 inches wide by 6 1/2 feet long. My main problems were making an undergravel filter as I have 4 outlets thru the bottom of the tank and the plumbing feeds a tower that has the coal and filtering medium in it. I also have some very long utensils for servicing the aquarium.
Some of the problems we face are the number of heaters to bring the tank up to par, adequate lighting for plant growth, and landscaping inside to provide an appealing yet safe haven for our fish.
We also have a small 20 gallon aquarium that we shall use as a quarantine tank.
We plan to put freshwater fish in it as salt water just wouldn't survive with our traveling, etc.. The types of fish will be run of the mill such as Lace Angels, mollies, red swords, and a few adult guppies.
Once I have it totally up and running I shall include a photo.

[Sati]

Good lord! I would love to see this. I hope you're photographing the whole process. I know we'd all love to see the various stages prior to completion as well. Good luck! :]

[mattrox]

As a kid a family fried gave us a 5 gal tank and equipment and a few guppies and sword tails.

I have always liked aquatic life. And from there it stuck. (I love looking at fish, catching fish and eating fish too)

My first serious tank was as a teenager. I set up a 2 ft tank as a community tank. I then decided to bred Dwarf Guramis. I was sucessful but when I went away to University it wasn't maintained as often as it should, so the fry never did very well. After that it went back to a community tank.

I also kept a 3 ft tank with Angels, Corydoras, Golden Barba and Cardinals. We used to go to the local creek and catch all sorts of water insects and mosquito fish to feed the Angels on.

Later on I bought a breeding pair of Angels. Got them to spawn but the babies would bury themselves in the gravel. I had to move intersate and never got the system going properly.

Now I am ready to get back into the hobby I love so much. I want to get serious with a Discus (South American) set up.

[spence0416]

When I was younger big brother kept a tank. It was a massive set up with 2 10" Oscars (one red, one tiger), a snakehead which grew to a little over a foot, and a female (purple) Kenyi Chiclid. I would watch these giants for hours. I could even hold a feeder goldfish by the tail above the tank and the Oscars would jump out of the water to grab it from my hand...great fish. Well fast forward 15 yrs and I have decided to give it another shot. No Oscars this time though I just don't have the room for them.

[stoneydee]

We have five cats and two dogs, so I spend a lot of time and money in pet stores. Got to watching the fish at one of my favorite LFS, and talking to the owner (he hasn't said so, but I know he's a fish person). He explained about tank set-up and maintenance, and encouraged me to read everything I could get my hands on. I started a freshwater tank, and before long, my DH mentioned that he'd always wanted a marine tank, but when he talked about it, people told him they were WAY too tricky, so he never started one.

That was six months ago. . . we will soon be starting a 75 gallon marine tank (already have a 55 gallon), and in addition to my two 37 gallon fresh (one community and one goldfish), 20 gallon eartheater cichlid, 10 gallon planted small tetra, and the 37 gallon office tank (which belongs to the office, but I maintain), I'm going to give myself a 20 gallon planted tank in my private office at work.

Did someone mention "addiction?"

P.S. The 37 gallon show tanks witht he Eclipse 3 hoods are wonderful, but not for goldfish ---- too hard to add filtration with that enclosed hood. Live and learn. . .

[AJ277]

Had variuos smal tanbks as a kid and a 55 later teens,
to much traveling /relocating in my 20's so was absent from the hobby awhile.

Met my wife a couple of years ago and she had a 55 FW community,
and i had a 55 with a cool lil leapord gecko thats been with me going on 8 years.

This past fall got a 150 as a room divider and we both love it.


MrDaytona!
that is awesome, I also would love to see pics of it before and after completion-
in my work i mess with so many materials building variuos things daily that I have thought of building a 200 or 300 in some style.
only thing is I priced the glass needed at a local retail glass supllier and it was more than just buying a pre built tank. *shrugs*

anyway hope to see those pics!