After a break from fish keeping for 20 years, I tentatively stuck my toes in and tested the waters with a 10g. The lady at the lfs said 2 pearlscale goldfish, 4 guppies and a bristlenose catfish would be great.
The BN was the lone survivor of my inexperience and bad advice
he is still going strong, and is to blame for my pleco obsession.
I switched lfs, and went nuts with the credit card getting my boy the home he deserved. $850 later he had a 40g home with everything he needed and more
That was the start of mts for me. The more I learned about fish keeping, the better I was able to look after them, and the more I wanted to provide natural environments for them.
Having felt so bad for the original fish I inadvertently killed, I was determined not to cramp my fish and overcrowd my tanks.
So I got rid of my dining suite and replaced it with a 2nd hand 171g so I could get a couple of Gibbiceps. Then I bought a used 15g for a quarantine tank that came with a comet in it! So then I bought another 40g for the comet to move into. Then the bristlenose started breeding so I bought a used 46g. Then as the comet grew, I bought him a 74g. Then I got rid of some furniture in my lounge room so i could fit a 171g in there.
I literally do not have room for another tank. Not a display tank anyway, but I'm sure I could fit a couple of fry tanks in the open stands....