fishboy444
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I like the colors of the fish and the cichlids and sharks are cool.easy to care for too.
What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?
- Thread starter fishfreek
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
when i was a little kid it seemed like i was sick all time. so i was at the doctor a lot where he had fairly larg fish tank with an angle fish and scuba diver holding a treasurer chest and some other fish i cant remember. and i always wanted one and when i was about 10 or 11 i got one i had about 7 tetras and two guppies 2 crabs and catfish of some kind but then filter went out after about a year (i hate walmart filters). and about 10 years latter my girl friend loves keeping her fish on facebook so bought her kit for her birthday that do to my own wrong doings broke. but she replaced it and bought a better and bigger tank going to keep african cichlids and im helping her set this up and this i has made me want my very own tank im looking into setting up a 20 long or a 30 gallon tank of my own sometime befor xmas.
Well my dad has always been into fish and so for her birthday when my sister asked for a 20 gallon freshwater tank in her room she got it. My dad was way happy and he put lots of time and effort into setting up her tank. She had it for a while and what ever decoration or fish she wanted well she got it. After 5 monthes we were cleaning it out when it cracked and she had to get another one but this time it was a 25 gallon.3 months pass and i decide i want a fish tank to but insted of starting out with a 20 gallon like mah sis i get a 10 gallon but its ok and im pretty happy with even though im haveing a little trouble keeping the fish alive since i dident cycle the water correctly and long enough.
Ewueagle
Aquarium Advice Newbie
My wife got me a Betta in a small fish bowl and after reading online I decided to provide it with bigger accommodations. Now I am setting up a 75 gallon planted tank and my wife wonders why she got me that Betta in the first place
sliderfish
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've always had a fondness of animals and being outside. I enjoy fishing and just like the grace they show as they move through the water and the interactions. I got a 72 gal tank and was hooked. Setting up another 55 now. Its a lot of work at times and my friends think I'm crazy when they see me do it, but even they think its worth it when everything is right and the fish are darting about. Wish I had the $ to go really big lol
brimac41
Aquarium Advice Activist
I love all animals . I always loved staring at aquariums , watching the fish dart around when I was young and knew when I was older I would have an aquarium . I now keep my aquarium for a few reasons .
Reason 1 : I love their beauty and the graceful way they swim through water , darting from one side to the other winding their way through the rocks and plants .
Reason 2 : The peace they give me while watching them , when alone I will turn off the television and watch them swim and listen to the water splash . No matter what kind of day I have had , if I am upset , high anxiety , depressed , irritated or just plain mad all I have to do is set and watch them and a peaceful calm will wash over me .
Reason 3 : I enjoy caring for my animals , and the beauty of my aquarium is something I created (other than the beautiful fish ) and no one else had a hand in it except mother nature .
Reason 1 : I love their beauty and the graceful way they swim through water , darting from one side to the other winding their way through the rocks and plants .
Reason 2 : The peace they give me while watching them , when alone I will turn off the television and watch them swim and listen to the water splash . No matter what kind of day I have had , if I am upset , high anxiety , depressed , irritated or just plain mad all I have to do is set and watch them and a peaceful calm will wash over me .
Reason 3 : I enjoy caring for my animals , and the beauty of my aquarium is something I created (other than the beautiful fish ) and no one else had a hand in it except mother nature .
CA_BroncoFan
Aquarium Advice Addict
Couldn't have said it better. Haha to me it's relaxing. Everytime I sit and watch it I feel like it's a never ending adventure.
When I was little... probably younger than four, but I can remember better when I was four, fish have fascinated me. My grandparents had a goldfish pond in their backyard, and a good friend of Mom had a hex aquarium. I loved them both, despite injuring myself on the goldfish pond at a time I was too young to remember... apparently it didn't scare me away from it.
The goldfish pond was beautiful, though how well it was kept it's hard for me to remember, considering it was taken down when I was still four. I loved watching the beautiful goldfish, and I don't remember it looking bad... but then, I was four, and I don't think I could've been objective, and I don't remember it well enough to look back now and see how good or bad a setup it might have been.
Mom's friend, on the other hand, had her tank until I was five, close to six. Long enough for me to remember it surprisingly better. I remember this beautiful, most likely twenty-gallon hexagonal tank with three neon tetras, a corydora of some sort, and three "big uglies." Or common plecostomi (plecostomuses? According to Webster's, plecostomus doesn't seem to even be a real word, so... who knows!). And we called them big uglies because, well, they were big ones. Looking back, I'd say the tank was a tad overstocked.
My parents knew I loved fish, and we'd gotten a ten-gallon tank when I was five, and we'd gotten rid of almost two years later when I was seven. And we had a ton of fish in it... which, looking back, is probably one of the reasons the fish kept dying left and right. I can't even remember all of the fish we had, but I can try. One blue gourami, surprisingly enough, was the sole survivor when we got rid of the tank which we gave away... would've thought the lone survivor would've been something smaller for a mere ten-gallon tank. One of the original fish in the aquarium, too. There was a second blue gourami as well as a dwarf gourami, both of which made it past the one-year mark (hardy fish, I guess). At various times, not necessarily all at the very beginning, there were a couple of small angelfish, neither of which lived very long, an albino corydora, a red betta, three plecos, none of which lived long enough to get very big, dozens of neons which never seemed to survive for longer than a week, tiger barbs which I learned not to like very much, a black molly which, surprising to me, isn't supposed to be a vicious fish-killer, so I'm guessing there was just something wrong with ours, a salamander or newt or something like that which seemed to like the taste of fish, and a whole bunch of other fish that I can't remember right at the moment... point is, it was crowded in there, and except for the gouramis, nothing ever seemed to live very long. Still a little perplexed how the relatively large gouramis survived better than most of the others in such an overcrowded tank. Oddly enough, what's eventually become my favorite fish, harlequin rasboras, was something we never did have in our tank. Go figure.
Looking back, it's also pretty clear that Dad had no idea how to clean the fish tank (though in fairness, he didn't exactly have access to the same resources I do today). He'd take all of the fish out and put them into a bucket, while scouring the entire tank (whether soap was used I don't remember), and putting new gravel in each time. Don't remember how often he cleaned the tank, but I'm sure it wasn't every week... though still, this was a pretty good deterrant to ensure I wouldn't want to do such a thing myself.
Still, as overcrowded as the tank was, and as poorly as I now realize the tank was kept, I enjoyed it. Well, minus the tiger barbs and black molly, the latter of which I'm probably unfairly biased against now. It was nice seeing all the fish swimming, having fun... or watching the gouramis having fun, at least. Or surviving. I enjoyed watching the fish a lot, and I could do it all the time... for two years, anyway.
Flash forward to a couple of decades later, and... well, I have a fifty-six gallon tank now, largely because space is a pretty big issue for me, and I really can't fit longer tanks. Still, it's a tank that's probably going to have fewer fish than that ten-gallon tank as a kid. No fish yet, though--whole lotta' ammonia in there right now, but already I love just watching the tank... or it might be that I love air stones, and even as I type this, I'm watching all the bubbles bubble. Still soothing. Even have a Neptune's Castle in there... kinda' an old childhood favorite decoration, despite that it doesn't fit in with the rest of the (admittedly fake) decor. And I'm hoping to have a small fish community in there that's going to have fun and thrive!
Maybe one day I'll be able to have a goldfish pond, too... who knows....
And maybe I'm weird, but I may be the only person in the world who actually prefers freshwater aquariums to saltwater ones. Yellow tangs are awesome, but for the most part, saltwater aquariums never quite struck me the same way. And this was long before I knew freshwater tanks were cheaper, so it's not the price, either.
The goldfish pond was beautiful, though how well it was kept it's hard for me to remember, considering it was taken down when I was still four. I loved watching the beautiful goldfish, and I don't remember it looking bad... but then, I was four, and I don't think I could've been objective, and I don't remember it well enough to look back now and see how good or bad a setup it might have been.
Mom's friend, on the other hand, had her tank until I was five, close to six. Long enough for me to remember it surprisingly better. I remember this beautiful, most likely twenty-gallon hexagonal tank with three neon tetras, a corydora of some sort, and three "big uglies." Or common plecostomi (plecostomuses? According to Webster's, plecostomus doesn't seem to even be a real word, so... who knows!). And we called them big uglies because, well, they were big ones. Looking back, I'd say the tank was a tad overstocked.
My parents knew I loved fish, and we'd gotten a ten-gallon tank when I was five, and we'd gotten rid of almost two years later when I was seven. And we had a ton of fish in it... which, looking back, is probably one of the reasons the fish kept dying left and right. I can't even remember all of the fish we had, but I can try. One blue gourami, surprisingly enough, was the sole survivor when we got rid of the tank which we gave away... would've thought the lone survivor would've been something smaller for a mere ten-gallon tank. One of the original fish in the aquarium, too. There was a second blue gourami as well as a dwarf gourami, both of which made it past the one-year mark (hardy fish, I guess). At various times, not necessarily all at the very beginning, there were a couple of small angelfish, neither of which lived very long, an albino corydora, a red betta, three plecos, none of which lived long enough to get very big, dozens of neons which never seemed to survive for longer than a week, tiger barbs which I learned not to like very much, a black molly which, surprising to me, isn't supposed to be a vicious fish-killer, so I'm guessing there was just something wrong with ours, a salamander or newt or something like that which seemed to like the taste of fish, and a whole bunch of other fish that I can't remember right at the moment... point is, it was crowded in there, and except for the gouramis, nothing ever seemed to live very long. Still a little perplexed how the relatively large gouramis survived better than most of the others in such an overcrowded tank. Oddly enough, what's eventually become my favorite fish, harlequin rasboras, was something we never did have in our tank. Go figure.
Looking back, it's also pretty clear that Dad had no idea how to clean the fish tank (though in fairness, he didn't exactly have access to the same resources I do today). He'd take all of the fish out and put them into a bucket, while scouring the entire tank (whether soap was used I don't remember), and putting new gravel in each time. Don't remember how often he cleaned the tank, but I'm sure it wasn't every week... though still, this was a pretty good deterrant to ensure I wouldn't want to do such a thing myself.
Still, as overcrowded as the tank was, and as poorly as I now realize the tank was kept, I enjoyed it. Well, minus the tiger barbs and black molly, the latter of which I'm probably unfairly biased against now. It was nice seeing all the fish swimming, having fun... or watching the gouramis having fun, at least. Or surviving. I enjoyed watching the fish a lot, and I could do it all the time... for two years, anyway.
Flash forward to a couple of decades later, and... well, I have a fifty-six gallon tank now, largely because space is a pretty big issue for me, and I really can't fit longer tanks. Still, it's a tank that's probably going to have fewer fish than that ten-gallon tank as a kid. No fish yet, though--whole lotta' ammonia in there right now, but already I love just watching the tank... or it might be that I love air stones, and even as I type this, I'm watching all the bubbles bubble. Still soothing. Even have a Neptune's Castle in there... kinda' an old childhood favorite decoration, despite that it doesn't fit in with the rest of the (admittedly fake) decor. And I'm hoping to have a small fish community in there that's going to have fun and thrive!
Maybe one day I'll be able to have a goldfish pond, too... who knows....
And maybe I'm weird, but I may be the only person in the world who actually prefers freshwater aquariums to saltwater ones. Yellow tangs are awesome, but for the most part, saltwater aquariums never quite struck me the same way. And this was long before I knew freshwater tanks were cheaper, so it's not the price, either.
Lowryder
Aquarium Advice Addict
Wow, some great stories. Mine is alittle different.
I am a recovering drug addict. I have been addicted to many things. I have 2 years clean and as a reward I bought myself a fish tank. I have had fish tanks in the past but at the peak of my addiction, sadly, I sold everything for drugs. I dont know why I first got into the hobby, maybe it was watching my aunts fish tank as a kid. Maybe it was for friendship because I was a loner. Maybe because I am a Pisces. Now with a clean life I can really enjoy my soon to be fish ( I am currently cycling my 2 tanks). I have a new lease on life, a second chance. Aquariums are my new addiction, my healthy addiction.
I am a recovering drug addict. I have been addicted to many things. I have 2 years clean and as a reward I bought myself a fish tank. I have had fish tanks in the past but at the peak of my addiction, sadly, I sold everything for drugs. I dont know why I first got into the hobby, maybe it was watching my aunts fish tank as a kid. Maybe it was for friendship because I was a loner. Maybe because I am a Pisces. Now with a clean life I can really enjoy my soon to be fish ( I am currently cycling my 2 tanks). I have a new lease on life, a second chance. Aquariums are my new addiction, my healthy addiction.
fishboy444
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Bravo I say,bravo.
Aquarium1
Aquarium Advice Addict
That's a great story . I'm really happy for you that you defeated your addiction
. I'm really happy for you that you defeated your addiction 
discus_lover
Aquarium Advice Freak
nice story...
FLFishFanatic
Aquarium Advice Activist
That's a great story Lowryder.
I'm only 14, so not much of a history. Being fascinated by my dad's saltwater fish, I too wanted a fish tank of my own. At age of 9, I got my 35 gallon that I still use for Freshwater today.
I'm only 14, so not much of a history. Being fascinated by my dad's saltwater fish, I too wanted a fish tank of my own. At age of 9, I got my 35 gallon that I still use for Freshwater today.
AquariumMom23Boys
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I am fortunate enough to have a co-worker whose husband does photography for packaging of aquarium supplies. When he is done with them he offers them to families. We got a 25 gal. tall Eclipse 2 set-up that I gave to my son for his 11th birthday on December 12th, 2009. I had thought about having fish before, but never persued it, because of the start-up cost of the aquarium. Well, since then we have all been hooked! We are hoping to start up a saltwater tank sometime this year. This monthe we were given a 29 gal. tank (30" x 12" x 18"), Penguin 350 Filtering System, and a T5-48 lighting unit. We're trying to figure out what to do with the mish-mosh. I'm trying to talk dh into getting a 48" aquarium to go with the lighting unit, but he's been a hard sale. We went to That Fish Place, That Pet Place in Lancaster last weekend (an hour away) and dh saw that there aren't many fish that would be able to fit in anything smaller than a 55 gal. aquarium. Maybe he's bending...time will tell. Atleast he understands the need to use live sand and live rock to produce a natural eco-system. Next weekend we plan to get live plants for our 25 gal. We put in Fluorite last weekend to prepare. We also have a pair of spawning Swordtails & got a "Baby Nursery" in preparation. We are planning to put the female in when we notice the black triangle on her belly. They spawned as soon as I put a floating plant in the top of the tank to give shelter for my Gouramis.
I'm a newbie & I look forward to making new friends as we enjoy our new hobby.
Have a great day!
Deb
I'm a newbie & I look forward to making new friends as we enjoy our new hobby.
Have a great day!
Deb
Zjovana
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
When I was younger, my family had a lot of animals. Our house was literally a zoo. My dad was obsessed with animals mainly because he wasn't able to have any growing up. My grandpa hated all animals. We had a few goldfish here and there and still have one that's about 10 years old now. After I moved out of my mom's house, I was kind of lonely because I was used to all the animals we have. I live in an apartment and pets aren't allowed(dogs or cats) so I decided to get fish. I never knew I would fall in love with them. I'm surprised with the amount of effort I have put into my first tank but I really enjoy it. As other people have said, it's very relaxing to just watch your tank. I love it. I hope to continue with this hobby for many more years to come!
I didn't read all this thread... just this page, which starts with Lowryder's. Maybe I'm crazy... but I think addiction is a normal thing. It seems that way to me, and as a nurse, I've seen a lot of it.
The main thing to me seems to be channeling it... into something positive. because once you do that, it is a good thing. I applaud Lowryder for doing that.
For me... last time I had a tank was probably 20 years ago... and I loved when I pulled out all the plastic stuff... and put in real plants... and the fish seemed to improve in color and liveliness... and reproductivity!
I like nature. I love plants, gardening, and fishing.
Most of all, I guess that I love life, and beauty.
a good tank (freshwater or salt)... is so alive, and beautiful.
The main thing to me seems to be channeling it... into something positive. because once you do that, it is a good thing. I applaud Lowryder for doing that.
For me... last time I had a tank was probably 20 years ago... and I loved when I pulled out all the plastic stuff... and put in real plants... and the fish seemed to improve in color and liveliness... and reproductivity!
I like nature. I love plants, gardening, and fishing.
Most of all, I guess that I love life, and beauty.
a good tank (freshwater or salt)... is so alive, and beautiful.
logansmomma1228
Aquarium Advice Addict
When my ex moved in with me he brought his 55 gal tank with him. His Oscar had died (because he doesnt take care of his fish) and he let me get some fish. Well I ended up picking out a bunch of cool ones and taking care of them. Unfortunately the only thing I knew about was the pH and the water temp. So we went and got 2 kois, a pleco, 2 catfish, 2 kuhli loaches and a tadpole. Not all at the same time, but all within a week or so. The loaches and catfish died pretty quick, I figure now because of the bioload and pH. I added a crawfish and some snails from the lake when I went up north (which i didn't know you aren;t supposed to do) and the crawfish ended up eating my tadpole. I seriously cried real bad and then I went and put the crawfish back in the ditch.
So anyways, my ex and I apparently broke up and he took his tank with him. I have been wanting my own for a while, but I got my taxes back and I said, you know what I am going to get a tank!
Then I got the 10 gallon starter kit from walmart, started doing research, and I just got my 5 gal QT and I am picking up my 25 gal on Saturday. MTS here I am! lol
So anyways, my ex and I apparently broke up and he took his tank with him. I have been wanting my own for a while, but I got my taxes back and I said, you know what I am going to get a tank!
Then I got the 10 gallon starter kit from walmart, started doing research, and I just got my 5 gal QT and I am picking up my 25 gal on Saturday. MTS here I am! lol
rusilja
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2009
- Messages
- 191
Takashi Amano made me do it
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