I always liked fish, but never kept any. Then I got a 5.5 gallon from my uncle when I went away to college. He had some guppies that he needed to move, so he let me have his old tank and the guppies. I took them to school, and bought a few neons and a betta from WalMart. Vinny (the betta) was the best fish I ever had. He used to kiss me through the tank. It was adorable.
I've had a tank pretty much since. I stayed with that 5.5 for a while, and then in summer '01 my cousin decided he wanted to get into saltwater, so he gave me his old 10gal freshy. I kept that for a while with some mollies, tried my hand at keeping plants (the mollies ate them all), and then graduated this past May. When I got back home, my other cousin gave me another 10 gallon. I'm working on that one now, and I'm gonna try the plant thing again.
Two weeks ago, a guy my dad works with said "I have a 20 gallon tank and a stand in my garage. If you want it, come and get it." So I did. It's a long, and I decided I wanted to try to get a mini reef going in it. I just got all the 3-year-old rocks and crap out of it, now I have to clean it all up and make it look new. Then I get to start my adventure! I'm glad I found you all when I did, too. You'll save me from many mistakes, I'm sure.
-j