What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[Caspar]

My son came home with 3 feeder goldfish from his brother's wedding last month. After witnessing the agony of their living in a small glass flower vase for a few days I headed off to the B&I and bought a cheap 10G starter aquarium. After setting it up and receiving the fishes appreciation I was hooked.

I just bought a 29G Regent/Aqua-tech aquarium starter and have started cycling with 2 Marigold Swordtails and 1 Red Wag (sorry I did not find out about fishless cycling until today) and I am looking forward to fishkeeping for a looong time.

Take Care!

[naitch1980]

Well, my girlfriend and I have just set up home in Liverpool, which is about 100 miles away from the town I grew up in back in Wales.
My mother has two tanks, has had for years and they were always so relaxing.

So basically, it was my girlfriends way of helping me settle in in the new home, something that would remind me of home. Add too that the fact that i've changed jobs, which is quite stressful, and just watching the fish can chill me out.

Plus, they just help make a home.

[coldmachineUK]

Originally Posted by naitch1980

Well, my girlfriend and I have just set up home in Liverpool, which is about 100 miles away from the town I grew up in back in Wales.
My mother has two tanks, has had for years and they were always so relaxing.

So basically, it was my girlfriends way of helping me settle in in the new home, something that would remind me of home. Add too that the fact that i've changed jobs, which is quite stressful, and just watching the fish can chill me out.

Plus, they just help make a home.

Hah! Small world: I'm 'across the water' from you :P

For me, I started off keeping fish 15 years ago when I was given a 2' tank as a christmas present. I admit I was perplexed at the time, and wondered what the **** it was for! Then, I was taken out, not told where, and we arrived at a large fish store about 30 minutes from where we lived. Needless to say I was pretty awe inspired by what there was, but with being a newbie I was advised to start with black mollies and so I had a tank of them and a little peppered cory strutting about in no time (I didn't realise back then...well...anything really...so he was all on his lonesome). I had them about a year before things went wrong: they got whitespot, which we didn't know anything about, and died in droves We tried water changes, but I don't recall there was much in the way of these fangled chemical solution products around back then, or it could be we just didn't know about them. Sadly, I lost the whole tank through 'ignorance' and put it in storage since I was depressed about the whole thing.
I eventually started back up again: once you've got the 'bug' it never leaves! :P I have to say, things have got a LOT easier with having the Internet these days

[current516]

Originally Posted by Caspar

My son came home with 3 feeder goldfish from his brother's wedding last month. After witnessing the agony of their living in a small glass flower vase for a few days I headed off to the B&I and bought a cheap 10G starter aquarium. After setting it up and receiving the fishes appreciation I was hooked.

My story is similar. But it was 2 goldfish for my daughters, from their grandmother, in a bowl!! I was determined to keep them alive, but by the time I did my research and got the 10 gallon set up they had ick and died.

1 year 2 Months later I'm in deep. Saving all my money to upgrade to a 6ft. tank, and convert my 60g to Saltwater. It's all good though, I would've spent it on something stupid anyway. My fish seem happy.

[sarah5775]

When I was ten I decided I wanted fish. Don't remember exactly why. One summer I asked my mom for a plastic wading pool and filled it up with water from the hose. Like any reasonable mother, she probably thought I wanted to sit in it on hot days. No. The next day, I went out with a friend to Walmart and came back with about a dozen little comets. When I brought them home, my parents didn't know quite what to do. They finally said I could put them in the fish pond if I promised not to let it smell or breed mosquitoes. We had well water with no chlorine, and the pool was big even though it had no heater or filter, so most of them did just fine for a while. Every week or so I'd go to walmart and get a few more fish. Problem was, algae grew like mad and I had to scrub the pool every day. But I didn't give up until a cat (or something) started making a meal of my goldfish. Then I got a ten gallon tank and brought the remaining fish inside. Sadly, they all died. A ten gallon tank is just too small for a bunch of comets, though a few lasted a year or so.
It wasn't until college that I got my next fish, a betta. I had a few of them over the next six years one after another in a hexagon 3 gallon tank. That was all I had room for. I wish I had known better what to feed them and that I needed a heater, the lfs always told me all I needed was a bowl.
When I moved out on my own the first thing I did (before I even finished unpacking) was buy myself the biggest tank I could afford (29 gallons) and check out the internet for information on which fish to keep. AA (that's Aquarium Advive, not Aquariums Anonymous, though I think I need the latter also) helped a lot, and while I made a few mistakes, I lost only a few fish. I later added a five gallon and a betta, and a few days ago another five gallon and another betta. That's all for now. Really! I can stop anytime....But when my molly has babies, I really want another tank......

I know have:

2 bettas
1 apple snail
1 ramshorn snail that came on my java moss
2 female mollies, one pregnant
4 platys, one male, rest female
4 gold barbs (which the lfs told me were lemon tetras)
4 black longfin tetras
1 otto
and
6 neon tetras

[onah]

yea i started with a 5ghex, with in the wk bought a 20g(i got hooKed quick by my goby, a few wks later got a 10g free and then a wk later got 20g also free,. i have become infatuated with snails, i knew there was alt out there, but nothing has had me this intrigged since my first set of turntables!

[critter333294]

What made me want a freshwater tank? When my parents and I decided to redo my room, I made them promise me one.....i've always been into nautical/aquatic things.

[Pleco]

What made me want a FW tank.. Well the biggest reason was my bank account begging me to change over after being drained from my 250G reef setup that i ran for 4 years. The next was the desire to have a community tank, after having my hand go numb for hours after touching an anemone, being bitten by several different SW fish and having a Fire Shrimp go postal and eat everything it could i decided that a community tank would be a bit more peaceful after coming home from work. I also ran out of time for maintenance on such a large tank as i got one of those things called "a life" , i know sometimes they are overrated

-Pleco

[IHaveNoLife]

I remember when I was thirteen and my aunt and uncle told me for my 13th bithday I would get a 20g freshwater tank. This is pretty easy to remember, seeing as i turned 13 yesterday. I am getting it soon. Thats.............. pretty much it.

[IHaveNoLife]

Originally Posted by Pleco

I also ran out of time for maintenance on such a large tank as i got one of those things called a life"

Go figure. As you have probably gathered by now, I have no life.

Originally Posted by Pleco

"I know sometimes they are overrated

So true. Sad, but true.