What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[Plecosterone]

When I was in my teens, my friends and I never had much money to buy tanks and fish so we made our own. My father was a contractor and we always had glass around the shop. His big mistake was showing me how to cut glass...lol. We made tanks to fit in any available space around our houses. I will never, ever forget my first whiff of silicone inside a tank. Man that stuff cleans the sinuses...lol. In my early twenties all the tanks slowly disappeared and for almost 30 years I didn't have a tank or fish anywhere except to eat. Two years ago I bought myself a 75 gallon and decided to get into plants. I now have two 75 gallons ( one planted community and one for a convict cichlid cell) and lots of smaller tanks in the basement (lack of room to set them up). One day I am going to put an addition on the house and build an inwall 180 gallon min. For 30 years I forgot how addicting this hobby is, and maybe should have kept forgetting....lol

[gwenavir]

i wanted one because i absolutly love to wacth water move and it gets even cooler when you put things of amazing color and motion in it. i started with just a betta and now i have what i consider a very awesome but small collection of fish.......and my collection will continue to grow.

[Spanishearl]

I started out as a kid with guppies about 20 years ago. My family alway's had freshwater tanks, then due to my job, and the constant moving (3 times a year.... Thoroughbred Racehorses) I stopped for about 8 or 9 years. Moved into IT, and eventually, (on advise of a doctor) needed to find ways to relieve the stress I was under.

I rescued two Betta's from an old roommate who couldn't take care of himself let alone fish. They were in a 1/4 gallon tank with a divider. I went out and got two 2.5 gallon tanks and substrate (gravel). They lived for about a year and a half. Went to that big rice patty in the sky before the 10 gallon was cycled for one.

Now, I have one 10 gallon with a "petstore special" Betta (Purchased because my gf was upset that her other passed on), and 3 Peppered Corydora's. I am cycleing another 10 gallon with divider for two more Betta's coming soon, along with a 10 galon breeder tank; purchased two 20 gallon's as grow out tanks. Yet to start cycle. Two 25 gallon rubbermaid container's for water for the several hundred jar's for Betta fry. And I am in the work's of picking up a 55 gallon tank as a community tank.

But strangely, it's far more relaxing than anything I've tried to date....

Eventually, I'll actually purchase a camera... one that works that is....

[spyyro]

I actually got my first tank in early December of 2005 from a friend of mine's dad who was just going to throw it away. He was using it for frogs of some sort but he hadn't had any in it for quite some time and he just wanted it gone. I offered to take it since I figured it would be a great "free" Christmas gift for my then 4 and 9 year old daughters. I had no idea what I was in store for! The tank was a 29 gal tall and little did I know... the tank is the cheapest part of an aquarium setup! Once gravel, decorations, plants, filter, thermometer, fish net, air pump, air hose, airstones & bubble walls, gravel vac, water conditioner, tank stand, marine light bulb, fish and fish food are purchased... you've spent an absolute fortune! I was beginning to think it was a horrible idea for me to even offer to have taken that tank. I'm happy now that I did. Anyway, my girls loved it.... for a while. I was the one that took care of it and I ended up really getting interested in it. I recently got the itch to go bigger so I started browsing Craigslist for a tank. I was looking in the 55-65 gal range and ended up finding a 75 gal with a custom made solid teak wood stand for a decent price so I jumped on it. Even though I knew the measurements beforehand, the tank was amazingly HUGE to me when I first saw it. I just got it home around a month ago and moved it in and have just recently moved my fish over from their 29 gal. They seem to love all the extra space and I can't wait to complete it. I used PFS instead of gravel this time and have added a piece of Malaysian driftwood. I'm also adding an underwater volcano that I plan to place an airstone underneath and have a red LED light inside to give the eruption effect. I will be sure to post pics once it is complete. I wouldn't mind keeping the other 29 gal for something else but the wife says no way... it's gotta go. She's probably right... Craigslist, here I come!

[papa_bear_21]

I remember being a kid watching the fish swim around in the tank, and always wanted one of my own. In high school, I took a class where we setup and kept an aquarium for the year, learning how to care for them and the ins and outs of an aquarium and eco system...We bought a betta fish a few months ago, and started out with a 2 gallon aquarium for him, which eventually turned into a 29 gallon tank with 4 platys in it (the betta died a few weeks ago, not sure why). Treated the tank, and everything is good to go.

[black hills tj]

Well my uncle and grandfather both had larger tanks when I was younger, and my uncle still has his tank. Then my dad got into it and well...I became interested

I now help out my dad with his 29g tank, and I'm looking to setup a tank of my own

[helicopter]

Well, it all started when I was at the boardwalk with my friend and our girlfriends. They wanted us to win them a Betta, so we did. Then I got a cheap bowl and accesories. This was fine until one week when my girlfriend needed me to fish sit. I was taking care of the fish and one day when I was cleaning his bowl (back then I would take the fish out and do a 100% water change, tsk tsk) in the bathroom and some how the thing shattered in my hand. So there I was with a Betta in a styrofoam cup and me panicking needing another bowl. So I quickly went out to get a new one but I was temped to upgrade. Well upgrade I did (not much but at least to a 2.5 bowfront with filter) and got two tetra neons. I then proceeded to become more interested and get my own tank. And the rest is history. History which I have recently documented in the "How much did your FW tanks cost" which totaled to $1500 worth of history in 2007 alone.

[usmcmarc]

Well, I started out with a 2.5 gallon tank with a betta. It became like an addiction. Next it was a 10 gal, 20 gal, 30 gal....prob soon to be 55. I love the colors, how some like to group together and some like to be alone. It's like you create your own little microcosm and hold it's fate in your hands. I can sit and stare at the tank for hours just watching how they interact. I have been disturbed as of late since my favorite Blue Zebra Lobster seems to be killing everything else in the tank. So I now have to setup a new tank. I cant get rid of it since it's just doing what it's supposed to do, and it cost me $50 to top it off.

[zombie2k]

I didn't have enough cash for saltwater! and im a noob and any salt water foray would end up in a complete mass death disaster.

Freshwater is easier for me I think--good place to learn the basics about fish and their system before getting into more complex things. Before I had the idea of starting a tank I just thought you bought some fish, and a rock, throw them in a tank and viola! A lot more interesting, and now I know exactly why people take it up as a full time hobby!

[Phoenixphire55]

I started about a year ago with two ACFs. I wanted their home to mimic their natural environment as much as possible, and eventually that led me to getting two more ACFs. After going to the petstore for supplies a couple times I started noticing all the different kinds of fish / amphibians / inverts that I could potentially own. I started spending a lot of time researching animals online and I got hooked. Now I have more than 20 aquaria pets