What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[Lvdantem]

My buddy, I had salt water tank. He kept showing me pics and I got hooked on planted aquariums! That Bastard got me hooked really good because I now have a bigger freshwater than salt water tank.

 

[98kshooter]

Wow Alot of good backstories here...Well since I can remember we have always had a fish tank in our house. It all started when my dad got us one at K-mart back in the early 70's, a big Stainless steel framed affair that leaked like a sieve! The fish he stocked with spent more time in goldfish bowls than their "Home" as it was always under repair! Well I got a job and bought 2 ten gals. at a rummage sale and got the old bubble filters from my grandma, along with HER collection of fancy fin guppies. In one tank I raised guppies and in the other I had Platys, gouramis and a mean betta. I sold guppies to pay for my fish supplies at the local pet shop. **** guppies were baby makers thats for sure! Well I went in the service and the tanks just died from parental neglect....Think mom just got tired of them. when I came home with my wife now, we immediately set up one of the ten gals and stocked right up! The I went to a 55 gal and got into raising cichlids. I bought about 100 mixed fry from a friend who ran a local fish store and raised up about 30 of them, all varieties. Well they had babies and I was up to my ears in cichlids and angelfish (whom I somehow acquired??) Well I decided to go reef, back in the "early days of reef tanks" I had the cash back then and set up a very nice reef (no live corals as THAT was a big deal to do back then) And had a thriving reef tank for a few years until something, I suspect a turbo snail snuck into the tank with a fungus that killed it all.... Well after that loss I let my other three tanks slide and turned the 55 into a houseplant mecca. Then the tank left the house to the garage..where it got broken. Fast forward about 12 years. Browsing the net board one day I saw Bettas...went straight to the petshop and got one. Well he wasnt enough...and more net brousing got me into planted tanks. Unfortunately the betta still lives in his bowl cuz he cant behave with the other fish (Big tetras, Aussie rainbows, a school of neons) I dont fear for the other fish they are fast what I do fear is they will shred the betta! So he cant even be in the big garden tank but for a few minutes I transfer him there a week just to see if he will be good! LOL And now after about 3 weeks and regular dosings of Flourish the tank is a virtual jungle! The glossy is spread along with the dwarf hair grass, the Bacopa and hornwort is being trimmed constantly the crypts have exploded and the dwarf sword got 5 new leaves. Only problems I see is the twisted Vallis had a massive leaf die off which has me concerned But that may be cuz they got cold in the shipping here as I do see new leaves shooting out. My Ghost shrimp cleanup crew Love it as they have millions of places to hide. still have bare spots to fill with other plant species yet and one of the swords (Now deceased) chewed on the plants (May be why hes now deceased??) Other than that I am contented with my results... when I get a few I will take a pic our two.

 

[ribboneel33]

I always wanted a saltwater aquarium do to my interest in marine biology, but im still kind inexperienced so im going to slowly climb up the ladder of fish keeping.

 

[98kshooter]

Well the bug has bit me bad just got a nice LED light online, and some ferts and hopefully tomorrow some forceps and scissors (Long handled) for the plants IF our local pet store carries these! Moved Bogart the Betta to the big tank hes being mellow so he just might stay! Although his reflection is giving him some troubles as well as the underwater heater! He keeps flaring at them and attacking

 

[JitterBugz]

Ever since I was little I've always been fond of fish. My dad has been a fish hobbyist as well, saltwater though, and I've always been interested in getting my own when I was older. In middle school, I raised quite a few Bettas, not sure why but I just love them so much. Now, in college, I have a 10g and a 45g tank only freshwater. Saltwater was too much work and I've pretty much established it as "my dad's thing". Freshwater is all mine

 

[Angel_fish]

It all started when i was away at boarding school in Vermont. I wanted a flying squirrel i saw at the pet store, but it wasn't allowed. The campus admin said i can get fish instead or hermit crabs. eww hermit crabs... So while they went back to their little office to do "work" i went back to the pet store and got a 45 gallon tank and a whole bunch of stuff, no fish yet. The next day the administrator came in and said holy cow, when i said you can have fish i ment a little tank with a goldfish!!! I laughed and said oops the rules didn't specify size. (A few years later, after i graduated, i heard by a teacher he limited the size of tanks to 10 gallons). Since those days at boarding school i just always had fish!! I am waiting for that old 40 gallon to be empty so to try my hand at reef tanks, just waiting for cichlids to... Be ready to move

 

[Mommy Fish]

Fresh Water to help teach

We got our tank because my 2 year old son LOVES fish. I wanted to get him a Beta to teach him responsibility but my husband wants a 50+ gal tank so we settled and got a 10 gal kit to get started with. We went with fresh water because of easier maintenance, and the fish can be cheaper. Since we stared the fish-less cycling my son has opened the tank twice and fed the tank once right after we had already fed it. He loves the tank and is all for helping with it in anyway that he can.
I am hoping that this tank will do well and when he is responsible enough (in a few years) we can move it to his room and get my husband his big tank. We will probably stick with fresh water so the fish that out grow my sons tank can be transferred to the bigger tank.

 

[Hobbiest]

intro to say hello

hello everyone my story is short I love my aquaium. I started with a twenty gallon freshwater tank and always wanted a larger one untill about a year and a half ago I bought a 65 gal. this tank is more brackish I have angelfish, giant Dinoes, Pictus catfish, brownknife, and skirted tetas. I needed a little help and was starting to believe petsmart dont know what they are talking about so decided to try the computer. Please excuse my computer knowledge I am still trying to figure out how to find my way around this web. I was trying to post so I could get help and instead i started a thread whatever that is I think it was wrong, but thanks to everyone who replied. Anyway I cant get my PH up or water softer so was looking for advice plus I love talking about my aquarium and dont know anyone who shares my hobby, so I look forward to getting to know everyone.

 

[Oohitsae]

My dad had always kept tanks in the house and his office when I was a kid. He noticed that I would stare at the fish for hours and it'd put me to sleep, so naturally he bought one for me to set up and had it next to my bed. I took a break for like 7-8 years because I had started to get into larger animals, show horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, and didn't have time to take care of a tank. This was up until a couple of years ago when my boyfriend won me 2 goldfish at the fair. Bought them a goldfish bowl but them realized that it was just too small for them so I started looking online for proper care and saw that they needed atleast 20 gallons a piece. I didn't have that kind of money at the time so I bought a 10 gallon tank and then found a 26 on Craigslist a few weeks later so moved the goldfish to that and then had an empty 10, so I got some bettas and a heater and split the 10 into 4 sections, and put one into the old bowl. The bettas are what truly started my obsession. I'm up to 2 10 gallons, 1 26, 6 2.5's and 6 1ish gallon QT bowls now, and working on more

 

[Shane fish]

How do I upload pictures to this site? I have a beautiful 14 year old synspilum

 

[Old Scales]

Hello to all. This is my first endeavor into any kind of social media. Working 12 hr shifts all these years never gave me much time for it. I just retired this Feb. and I AM LOVING IT! I have time for many new things now and more time for my life long love of aquariums. In 1960, when I was 12, my beloved grandma helped me get my first tank. It was a slate bottom, metal framed 10g with the light bulb hood. OH MY! How the hobby has improved, thank God! What we knew and theorized about "balanced aquariums" back then would make you laugh today. I've got many amusing stories I'd be glad to share with you. But I won't bore you with them unless you want me to bore you. LOL
I've had 10g guppy tanks to a 75g with four 12" red bellied Pirahnas (Back when they were legal to keep). I have found that I enjoy a simple fancy guppy tank and the Amazonian biotope (all small schooling tetras) tanks the best. This is what I now have settled on. I have a live plant 16g bowfront for the guppies.(I love watching the babies grow and color up) and a heavily planted 30g rectangle amazonian with serpae, black skirt, lemon and neon tetras. Both have corys and otos. Using T5 HO on the 30g with Fluval 206 canister and Aquaclear 50 HOB loaded with extra bio media and flow slowed down with a cone washer in the intake to increase contact time. Just bought a plant friendly marineland programable LED fixture for the 16g and the plants love it! Even the ludwigia glandulosa is doing great.
As with many fishlovers, I tend to overcrowd and overfeed, so I stay religious about water changes. I have been in this hobby long enough to know that I will always be learning new things and will always consider myself a "beginner" in the aquaquest.
I look forward to talking to you all and sharing our love of this hobby. I will do my best to listen more than I talk and enjoy your finny companionship.
Life, luck & love. Old Scales.

 

[Ohcanada_00]

I have recently gone through a big change in my life. I re-invented myself to a degree and stopped doing a lot of things because I thought they were the right things to do and starting doing things I didn't do because I cared too much about what others thought.

Long story short, I am came to grips with being a die hard animal lover and decided to bond with my three year old daughter by building a tank. I always wanted a fish tank that was more than a goldfish 5 gallon at room temperature. I recently bought a 20 gallon kit from Aqueon and last night bought a 14 gallon for the top of my dresser in my room! Needless to say the bonding went well, however my inexperience and my daughters taste in color led to the 20 gallon getting black and pink rocks, purple plants and electric green plants, the stocked with GloFish. I love the tank but as soon as I move to a bigger house with more room, it will go in her room and be the 'girlie' tank. I strongly feel kids need pets so its a good excuse to put it in her room and then dad will need to fill the void with a 70+ gallon tank for the Bala Shark he's always wanted!

I love watching the fish. Though the black and pink rocks hurt my eyes....I still find peace and happiness just watching the fish and the shrimps and snails all moving about in harmony. What's very odd to me is that i find myself wondering if they know how small their entire world is, but how big of an impact they have.

Lastly, (for now) I think its fascinating to learn something new. I love to read everything I can get my hand on when I start a new hobby and this is a great one. There has been so much learning and learning leads to tweaking and tweaking leads to more tweaking then building and then full blown obsession! My 20 gallon is 5 weeks old and I already have bought two new filters for it to make sure I have it 'just right'. I've already learned and am working on the right balance of shrimp, snails, fish and plants to keep a tank super clear. the payoff has been great watching my Killifish get super bright and colorful, much bigger already and seeing him come up to the glass to look at me during feeding.

Anyway, short and no where near all the reason but I'll stop here for now.

 

[NinjaTetra]

When I was 3 my dad got a beta bowl. It died a few weeks later, but then when I was 8 I saved up and got a 3 gallon and had a beta that loved a year. I then got platies and aftican dwarf frogs. When each had passed away, I got a gourami. Then my friend got a 10 gallon because I had had fish and he thought it was awesome, and I saved up and got a 10 gallon when I was 11. I had problems with Ich and finally got7 tetras. 1 died a year later, and that got me started.

 

[codygregg]

My friend had a 55gal tank and always showed it off because no one else had fish so I decided to get some to compete with him but after researching and getting fish i fell in love with the little guys

 

[masterfish]

well im pretty young and i sometimes went to visit my neighbors and they had koi and i loved them and that pretty much inspired me to get a fish tank .........but sadly the koi got eaten by raccoons but now i want to become a marine biologist

 

[masterfish]

Holy fudge this post goes back to 2002!!!!!

 

[salzabar]

They had the internets in 2002? Crazy sauages.

It started with a girlfriend who was 13 years older than me (I was 18-legal). She had a 29 gallon tank with a full size oscar and jack dempsy and several goldfish and a 10" pleco. What a nightmare tank it was. She would change water every day and the filter media once a week. We parted ways but for some reason she gave me the tank (a goodby gift if you will). I took care of it but soon realized after reading several books that the tank was WAY too unstable and over populated. So with a heavy heart I gave the fish away to a LFS and sold off the tank. I got back into the hobby with a 10 gallon once I met my soulmate and now 29 gallons is the smallest tank I have.

 

[Soupy97]

About 3 years ago or so I was on youtube watching random videos (bored) when in the related videos section I saw a fish tank that looked really cool. I wasn't watching anything really related to it so im not sure why it came up, but anyways it looked cool so I clicked on it. It was an african cichlid tank and I thought it was the coolest thing. I spent the rest of the night watching fish tank videos and decided I wanted one for myself. Christmas was coming around the corner and I asked my dad for a 20 gallon tank. He thought it was a great idea so I got one. 3 years later im in the process of setting up a 40 breeder...

 

[MLM754]

I have wanted an aquarium for the past 10 or 20 years. But I've never had the time to do so. I made up my mind to just do it. Now I know that it is a lot more to it, then just put some water and fish into a tank. I bought 6 after having the tank run for 2 days. They did pretty go so I added 4 more three days later. bad move. I know I'm no good at this, but I'm glad I found this site. If I have to I'll wait til they all go to fishy heaven and start with fresh fish. I really hope they're able to rebound.

 

[ndriscoll1322]

I love anything that has to do with fish. I've had carnival goldfish a couple times in my life and recently decided that it was time to start getting into different species of fish.