What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[fishfreek]

Due to the popularity of a thread started like this in the saltwater general discussion I am starting the same thing here. Its always fun to read these kinds of things.

Please share your story with the rest of the world by just replying to this thread.

[fishfreek]

I will start things off...

Well my story goes like this....

• When I was a kid I would go off to camp and catch minnows and put them in a little cup. They would usually live for a few days and then die. We lived about 40min from the closes pet shop so it was on a VERY rare occasion that we would be even close to a pet shop so I did not have an opportunity to purchase a tank or anything like that as a kid. (I did not even know what WAL-Mart was until college!!! Thats how far out in the country we lived.)
  After I graduated college in 1996 I was living in an apartment and decided one day that I would buy a 20 gal aquarium kit from wal-mart. I kept freshwater fish and plants until the winter of 2000. This is when a roommate of mine purchased an setup a used 90 gal tank. He decided he did not want all the work it took for saltwater so he made it fresh. At that same time I decided this would be a great opportunity to convert my 20 gal to saltwater. So in Jan of 2001 I added the first cup of salt to the 20 gal tank. In March I purchased a used 45 gal show tank setup and then in the summer of 2001 I purchased an 80 gal show tank setup. So now here I sit telling you about my addiction into this hobby.
  I currently have a 20 gal mini-reef, a 80 gal micro-reef, a 45 gal (currently in transition) and a 29 gal freshy tank.

...well that is what I call my addiction. My wife gave me the name fishfreek back when we was dating.

[Scalelover]

I remember that when I was 8, my parents got a 20 gallon tank and used it to breed Tetras.
Most were sold to a local pet shop, but many were kept along with other types of fish.
I used to stare at the fish and the tank for hours, and I was facinated by the amount of care needed to keep the fish healthy.

That was 30 years ago, ever since then I have always wanted aquariums in every room of my home.

Right now I'm starting a 10 gallon freshwater, but my goals are to have 6 larger tanks from 20 gallons on up, both fresh and saltwater.

[Ramrebel]

Simple story:
Priest gave a 20 gallon set-up
Silver dollar got too aggressive
Put him in 5 gallon at school office
Grew too big
Bio teacher permanently loaned me a 20 gallon
now I'm about to have my 3rd tank up and running

Salt is too much maintenance for my schedule

Hi .. I'm new to this website and I thought I'd replay with an intro too!
I'm Susanne and from Ontario, Canada.
I went to a fair in the summer and won some goldfish for my 1 yr old daughter. We bought a 10 gallon tank for them. Within a week, they died. So we got guppies, and then tetras and then decided the 10 gallon was much too small.... so now we have two 20 gallon tanks!
I had guppies when I was a kid. I wasn't allowed a cat, so the fish were my pet and I really enjoyed the hobby.

I am a real newbie, so I'm not the knowledgable about the technical terms but I learn something new about this great hobby every day!

I'm currently waiting for my one guppy to have her babies. I'm confused about the gravid spot.. and how soon she'll deliver. I'm also trying my hand at aquarium plants. I don't have much luck with plants, but so far it's been pretty good.

Cheers and I hope to be a part of this forum!

Susanne

[Jacob Morgan]

My dad wouldn't let me get a saltwater said it was too much money etc.. so I got into Freshwater man I forgot of some of the names of fish I got.. I used to have hti sone he would open his mouth and you see all the way down him it was awsome.


newho now my dad is stil into F/W and has all kinds of fish.. 1-55gal 2-29gal 1-30gal-hex 1-30gal-long 2-10gal



Jacob

Aquarium history of CC.

I got my first tank when I was 20, (am 2 months shy of 40 now) and have been hooked ever since. It was a run of the mill 10 gallon with multicolored gravel, corner box filter and a bubbling treasure chest. (Actually, I still like those silly bubbler things, don’t have any though). From there it progressed rapidly till I had a 10, 20, and 29 gallon FW tanks. Kept lots of tetras, some cichlids, and even some baby bluegills for one summer.

Then I got interested in salt, but not in the usual manner. I have a friend (also into aquaria) who lives near Rehoboth bay and Indian River Delaware, and we’d go fishing there. One week the fishing stunk and we started exploring the bay and inlet. We found anemones, scallops, mussels, pipefish, seahorses, gobies, barnacles, grass shrimp, several types of hermit crabs, tube worms, baby eels, and lots of other stuff. Oh yeah, we also found some stony coral growing on jetty rocks, very cool, but couldn’t bring any home. This was seriously cool, so we set about putting up tanks. After much trial and error we found that you can keep a lot of these things in a tank, but it’s a lot of work and neither of us had the $$ for the most necessary thing, a chiller. Also, the anemones, seahorses and pipefish all required massive quantities of live food, mostly brine shrimp naupli 2-3 times a day. The setups we made were massively cool, but at that point in my life I was so much into work/school/social life, I didn’t have time to take care of stuff properly. At this point I returned everything that was still alive back to where it came from. I’d still like to do this again someday.

After that, I got married, kept just my 29 going with tetras and corys. Then moved into my house and the pod bug got me. Spent the last few years obsessing over that, finally have things where I want them. Oh yeah, keep a 45 in the basement to over winter some pond plants and goldfish babies.

Just in the past few months, started talking to some folks at work about their tanks and got the bug to do a planted tank. Picked up the book “Nature Aquarium World”, and that was all she wrote. Now am in the midst of setting up a 90 with massive planting, driftwood, Co2 injection, the whole nine yards. Will finish the canopy this weekend, then it’ll be ready for action!

[srcooper]

My journey started just about a year ago (November 2001). My three nieces, were being forced by their mother, to get rid of their 10 gallon aquarium and stand. The kids did not want to kill the fish. So, my wife and I decided to take the setup so they would not have to kill the fish. I had to by a new tank (theirs was cracked and get things going again.
This was my first tank. I had a lot to learn (still do ). There were some fantail gold fish and a comet. We lost one of the fantails about a month after, so we started purchasing other fish so the nieces would not get upset. ( LOL ). We soon realized the tank was just too small for the number of fish we had in it. So I purchased a used 20gal from a friend I worked with. We moved the fish into it. My wife and I started to add a few more to it.
In the meantime, I had put in a 100gal pond kit out side with a small water fall and fountain. I added Koi and Gold fish to it. I have finally put a netting over it due to going out and finding a Koi who decided he would rather try life on the outside of the water. I think I lost three this way. I also have an external filter on this. The others are doing good so far.
Then my wife and I decided to look into a salt water tank. Well, we purchased a 75gal jetstream system with a tidepool wet/dry filter and stand. I have had it set up for about a month now. we are still cycling. I have 1-domino damsel, 1-yellow tail damsel, 1-three stripe damsel, 1-yellow damsel, and 1-cleaner shrimp. I may have to look for new homes for some of the damsels once everything is cycled and I start adding different fish.
Also we came to the conclusion that the 20gal tank was just too small for the number and kind of fish in it. So we purchased a 55gal tank and stand and moved those fish into it. We have added a few more fish, but I don't think it is overcrowded. The comet that was in the original tank from the kids is still going strong in the new 55gal tank.
The original 10gal has been cleaned with bleach and is going to be my hospital/quarantine tank for my marine fish in the future.
Now remember, I had no fish or fish experience just about 11 months ago. So I think I have gotten my feet wet (so to speak). What do you think?

[fishfreek]

srcooper,

I just LOVE your story. Its so great to see you got into fishkeeping to save a few little girls hearts and in less than 1 year you have gotten a 20 gal, 100 gal pond, 75 gal reef and a 55 gal freshwater setup.

Cant wait to see where your at in 2003 at this time.

Glad to have you here....

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

LOL, been thinking about this one for awhile, and still don't have a better answer, so here goes....well, i have had them so long, i don't remember why i wanted one to begin with, probably saw a pretty fish at the store and begged for it! My mom kept aquariums off and on when i was a kid for me and my sister, although she didn't have the resources that are so easily available today so it was a little bit of a rocky road at times...so when i was a teenager i started managing my own and been doing it since! the reason i like them i suppose it because they are so peaceful (exception is the oscar tank sometimes ... ) and the fish are so beautiful! I love the sound of the water trickles and the bubbles bursting when they reach the surface...i find it fascinating to watch the fish behaviors, each is so different....and once you get started, it becomes so much easier to manage, and it becomes well worth the effort involved....plus, they make great nightlights!