What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[pcbarr]

oops

 

[lex]

My parents always had a fish tank. Thier fist was a 15gal hex with three or four angels in it. I remember feeding them when Mom wasn't looking... of course I fed them too much and got in trouble a couple times when I was little. hehe.

Later, I think after I had killed the angels, (oh well) we got three goldfish who lived in a 10gal aquarium. Dad put me in charge of water changes and top offs. (Which I hated at the time, and couldn't wait for these new fish to die) To my despair they lived for a good 8 years I think, then finally kicked the bucket.

Once I got out of the house and married I realized I don't dislike fish as much as I thought and have two tanks of my own. Someday I will have a reef, but that's a long way off yet. Happily enough, my husband fully supports my fish keeping hobby as long as he doesn't have to do any of the maintanace.

 

[noteworthy]

Fish are very peaceful and fun just to watch.

Only now if I could get my cats to get along with my fish

One of my cats will sit for hours and watch the fish and turn his head.. side to side. heh.. Another likes to jump up top and stick their paw where the opening is on the filter

I'll have to make something to block off that space

 

[Endgame319]

I hate to admit it, but it was the finding nemo movie

 

[shawmutt]

I hate to admit it, but it was the finding nemo movie

Hey, at least you didn't run out, buy a 5 gallon aquarium and some sea salt and throw a clown fish in!

 

[tommiejr]

Now here is a fish story you won't belive!

I got into tanks many years ago to learn one thing. How to CATCH more fish! Yes that is right, how to catch more fish. I was big into competition crappie fishing. I wanted to learn as much about crappie as I could. I decided to set up the biggest fish tank I could find (a 55gal) and put 4 wild crappie in it. Bought a few books on rasing fish and figured out how to keep them alive. I never tried to actually catch "my" fish, rather I would just sit and watch them for hours trying to learn as much about them as I could. I would feed them live minnows from the lfs and watch how they took their prey. Learnded quit a bit. This all came to an end when a friend of mine who was also a local game warden came over. He informed me that keeping live game fish was illegal in NC. So my crappie went back to the wild where they came from.

I soon started missing my fish. I decided to set up a real tank. Started out going straight for the SA chiclids. Closest thing to what I had before. It was not to long, maybe a few years, that I had five 55 gal going. 4 SA chiclids and 1 african.

That was almost 20 years ago. I no longer do any competetion fishing, but I still love watching my fish. I now have 1 fresh tank with a few bigger chiclids and a 2000 gal koi pond that we are expanding right now to include a creek and secondary pond of about 1000 gal.

Maybe one of these days I will try salt but for now, the water I have is enough work on it owns.

Tommie in NC

 

[Guest]

Many years ago I got into FW fish cause I really liked the whole creativity aspect of it and thought that many of the fish were amusing and full of personality.

 

[ttimmer10]

I'm studying fish in college... actually about to graduate in May (YEAH), but have always been interested in nature, fish, and ecology. So, having a tank seemed like a logical step.
I find they are really peaceful to watch, and a satisfying hobby.
Like noteworthy above, I have a dog that will sit and stare at the tank for hours, she never really bothers them too much just watches them.. I think she finds them peaceful too (heeheehee).
I want to add a saltwater tank of some kind eventually, but will always have my FW tank

 

[coldsteel]

Well, here goes:
about 5 years back(when I was about 10), I went to a little carnival at my school. I played the little game where you toss the ping pong ball into the fishbowl, and I won a goldfish. I went up to the pet store to redeem the ticket, and the owner said he was going out of buisness, and he would give me a few fish; I was elated. I got them home, and the next day the first of them died. Well, before I knew it I was down to 1 fish, all by it's lonesome in a 1 gallon fish bowl. To my surprise, it lived about a year and a half until it grew too big for the bowl and jumped out into the nearby laundry basket. I was very upset until my sister in law told me, that since she was moving, she would give me her 10 gallon tank. Again, I was elated. It included 2 little tetras, a rainbow, and a pleco. Well, now I have a 56 gallon that i bought from my uncle for $20, and I am addicted.

 

[breezer40]

Just before x mas me and the wife went into one of the big pet stores to buy some cat food. The wife went up to the fish tanks so I followed (not knowing what freshwater fish were!). In one of the tanks there was a suckermouth catfish ... I fell instantly in love (with the fish). We came out of there with a complete 2 ft setup tank and a couple of books.

4 weeks later I brought my first fishes..Danios..then added 3 Platys but still I earned for one of those sucker things.

The guy in the store saw me so often we were on first name terms and the wife evetually let me buy a bigger tank. The best bit was this guy at the store was getting rid of his plec as it had outgrown his 2 ft tank and asked me if I would adopt it at no cost you bet! Pluto (the plec) is now 4 ins and looking very handsome.. I am now a total fish fanatic!

 

[Faidingsignal]

i work at Petsmart in the aquatics department. we also handle small animals, lizards and birds(my specialty) i would always see pretty fish comming in and i wanted some....right now i have a 10 hex with a peacock eel(small one...upgrading when he grows! ) and 2 silver dollars and mystery snails...i love them so much

 

[heavenly]

Well, it goes like this...

When I was little my mother went to the store and bought a little five gallon fish tank. We all got to pick out one fish. It was beautiful. I loved sitting there and watching the fish. I was amazed at the site. Well, that last a few days. Turns out that you can't mix tropical fish with goldfish... who knew? Well I never forgot that short period of time that we had that tank and the wonders it held inside. So about three years later, I asked to get a fish tank for my birthday and went in search for a pet store that wouldn't sell you fish that shouldn't be mixed together knowing you have only one tank. So needless to say I have found that store and I have been going to it for many many years now. It didn' t take me long before I had more tanks and such around the house because that was all I asked for on birthdays christmas and what not. I love fish!!!!! Now if only fishfreek and Christmas fish , and aquarium advice was around then like they are now I would have known all the stuff that I know now... back then. Thank you. I love yall


Fish are wonderful to have as pets, but horrible to eat!

 

[nick_schembri]

It all started when I was 13( 3 years ago). I had entered an art competition and won. The prize was a 10 gallon tank, complete with light, heating, filtration, food, etc. I started off with convicts and a week later I had savage parents and loads of baby convicts. I got rid of them and tried guppies. From guppies I went to angelfish. Last year I got a 75 gallon and put in some rainbows. Finally I advanced to discus! And thats the story of my fishlife.

 

[Atlarge]

Cichlids. That's all I really have to say...

 

[nervousdog]

I had a tank of Goldies as a kid. Loved watching them swim and they would nip my fingers at feeding time. This time around I'm a little wiser, so I won't try keeping six 4" Goldfish in a 10 gallon 8O

 

[smallfry]

I got a 10 gallon tank from my husband 3 years ago (for my birthday). Now (after some interesting adventures) I have a 46g, 10g 2.5g and an empty 1.5g. All FW.

 

[xray]

I bought my first tank 14 years ago. I used to sit and watch that tank for hours. Since then there has not been a time when I have not had a tank going. Sometimes they get old and stale from neglect, but I always come around. I had fresh water at first because of cost. Then I met Cichlids. Wow the color of Salt water at the price(almost) of fresh. I still sit and watch the tank at night with all the room lights off. The fish act more natural if they don't know I'm watching.

 

[AirForceWife]

My sister had some angelfish when I was growing up, but they were always getting ick and finrot, and after breeding them successfully a few times she gave up, but I always liked to watch them.

I have four children (oldest is 9) who have been begging for pets for years. We went to a lake a few years ago and caught some minnows in a cup, and my oldest killed them by "petting" them. Seriously pet deprived children. Anyway, I wasn't willing to commit to a dog or cat since we just joined the Air Force and will be moving about every 3 years, and fish seemed like a good learning experience. We got a GREAT children's book from the library put out by the ASPCA about keeping freshwater tanks, and after reading it, my children said, "Wow! Keeping a pet is a lot of work!" That was exactly what I was wanting to instill in them -- that these fish were alive and dependent on us to keep them healthy. It's been a great experience so far. We've only had the tank for about a month, it's a 20 gallon with plants, driftwood, dilapidated castle, bubble treasure chest (gotta have the castle and the chest) and platies, rams, corys and otocinclus. We had trouble with ick this week, but the heat treatment cleared it right up!! In a couple of weeks we hope to add some neons.

It's very relaxing to look at -- even better than the virtual aquarium on Finding Nemo!!

 

[jaysono]

Freshwater for a beginner.

Sure, maybe the marine/salt water fish are prettier and more interesting to look at, but I just didn't want to throw money at a hobby that I wasn't sure I knew what I was doing. It wouldn't be fair to me, nor the delicate fish.

I chose the freshwater of salt due to my in-experience. After discussing salt water with my friends, it seemed to me a lot more maintenance and finances would be initially outlayed....and the results in my case would most likely not be good.

So then, it was deciding wether it be cold water or warm. I really black Black Moors, but I was amazed at the level of growth that fancy goldfish may aqcuire, and I wanted a little bit more control and variety in my tank. I also wanted a subtle challenge in water chemistry and it seemed that cold water may be a bit too easy for my interest level. So warm water it is.

Then the tank size: Yeah, I'd love to get a 40 gal, maybe even a 29 gal, but as a complete novice (and discussions with my wife) it ended up being a 16 gal bow-glass. I understand that water stabilization may be better at 29+ gal's, but size limitations in my condo and fear of really borking anything up made my decision for me. Also, we plan on moving perhaps in a year or two, and I'd like to think I had the foresight that a 16 gal aquarium would be easier to move than a 30+. When we get a real house someday and know we are going to be there a while, then a bigger tank will be in my future.

 

[westward13]

My very own freshwater aquarium is just hours away from being stocked with several fish but my experience began back when I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn. My dad had an outside pond with a waterfall and used to keep goldfish in it... back then, I used to love playing around the pond and trying to catch the goldfish (hey, I was just a kid... I always put them back). When we moved to New Jersey back in the mid-80s, my dad had me help him build an in-ground pond in our backyard about 18 inches deep and probably 6 feet by 6 feet. Since then, it's been stocked with Koi, the one pond became two and now there are three connecting ponds (with fish in two of them) that are beautifully landscaped and everything. Fast forward to now... 600 miles away in Columbus, OH... I've finally decided to start my own freshwater aquarium. Initially, it was my fascination with sharks and rays that got me interested again. After tons of research, I decided that sharks aren't something that I'm equipped to keep (financially or spacially) and that a freshwater ray or two might be my best bet. Even more countless hours after that, I've now got a 75 gallon tank at home all ready to go and I'm eagerly awaiting the day I've got it fully stocked with all of the interesting fish that I've come across in my research. I still plan to add a stingray or two one day in the not-so-immediate future, but am excited to finally have fish to care for of my very own!