What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[quitters]

I like playing god (dont worry im a nice god hehe)

its the only pet i can keep where i can cator for its needs and make it as happy as it would be in the wild, i can actually prevent it from going through the stresses of wild live kinda. Also fish are one of the few creatures that when i look at i think to myself "wow thats friggin unbeleivable how are those colours possible. . . . maybe there is a god!"

 

[Jobin]

As far as i can remember (pretty short time) I have always been interested in fish, fishing or fish keeping. My nana bought me a 13 gal tank and that was my first tank (and still my best and biggest). Through the time I have had fish on and now its going to stay. I love freshwater fish keeping. FISH RULE MATE

 

[ryan]

my story started when i was about 5 my dad got a 10 gal tank with chiclids and i used to always watch them and i really liked one of them and would always watch it swim and play with the others.after a while the others died and my fish was still alive. my dad moved and he gave the fish and tank to me i still have that tank the fish leaved for six years and then died unfortanetly. i stillhave the tank with a new addition of fish .

 

[daydreamer4186]

My story...
I used to go to the petstore and buy "feeder fish" because they were all I could afford as a little kid. I had no clue how to care for them and neither did my family but most of them lived pretty long. In Jr High I upgraded to a 5 gallon tank with filter and light and got some tiger barbs...the guy at the store telling me that they'd be ok with other fish. I got some guppies and the barbs tore them apart! I later moved out of my mother's house but she kept my tank and later gave it away (grr) so I was without one for a long time. I decided that I wanted another tank (now 2nd year in college) so I got a 10 gallon tank kit with filter, heater and light with hood. Remembering my problem with uncompatable fish, I did a lot of research on the internet. Guppies became the fish of choice followed by mollies and platys. Now I have a fry tank with 14 fry and a main tank with guppies, mollies, and platys! Yay for aquariums!

 

[martins]

My story is simple - I was in 8th grade (I guess) so, my biology teacher had a 100 L tank... It was kinda ugly, so I tought - I could do better... And so I did

 

[Pinky]

i adopted nearly all my fish XD

it started when i traded some nachos for two wild type goldfish, to save their lives, when i was 16 (i'm such a softy for lil animals). they lived for 7 moths till they got septicimia, the treatments faild and they passed away.

i've been keeping fish off and on ever since ^_^

 

[Gavin]

Well, I like the idea of a low maintenance companion in my home - would not have the time for a dog.

It's quite simple for me. I do a particularly stressful job with irregular hours. Fish a re very relaxing to watch and since setting up the tank I sleep far more peacefully!

Downside... everyone who visits watches them (Tank's setup in the old fireplace) and then falls asleep on my sofa)

hoorah for a good nights sleep all round!

Gavin

 

[Sprite42]

I wanted a house dog. We couldn't have outside dogs where we lived. That year for Christmas, hubby bought me a 10 gallon tank kit. I was horribly disappointed. It sat in the closet unopened for 3 years. We have no local LFS and our Walmart doesn't carry live fish. There isn't anyplace that carries fish for 150 miles (one way) in any direction. When our oldest daughter got pregnant, there was a pet store right across the street from her doctor. Imagine that....

I now have one 55 gallon tank, one 29 gallon, one 30 gallon hex, five 10 gallons, one 5.5 gallon and one 2.5 gallon. Since my parents live across the state from me, I can also tell you where every pet store between Memphis and Fort Smith is!

Hubby wishes he had never bought that first tank! Next time, he will get me a dog!

 

[Ky'smommy]

im new here to.

Well the reason i got fish was for my son. I thought it would be neat. Didnt have that much intrest or knowledge.
since we've had lots of fish. and i love them.
Right now we have a 10 gallon. with an algea eater, two danios 1 tiger and zebra. and 2 guppies male and female and a shark who is very protective of the fry. He killed two of our big silver danios because they wouldnt leave the babies alone.. Amazing really.
And i condsider my dads fish mine.. he has 3 ballon mollies(one which I personally think is very pregnant) and a beta, 2 guppies now ( one which is mine)
so far we have had three batches of babies between them. I have five remaining at my house. And about ten first batch ones and 6 babies in a 77 gallon tank with three red belly pirranahs.

thats the amazing thing the live longer with the pirranhs then they do with non agressive fish.
So thats my story. It was because i thought it was so amazing watching them have babies. and taking care of them and watching them grow.
i was unlucky tho i lost half my babies due to not moving my guppy soon enough. and she popped before i could move her ..

 

[kaz]

welcome aboard and please look at our many post and dont be shy with our general fresh water forum thank you for posting

 

[Alshain]

Well, I'm new to the forums so here is my story...

I'm single, don't own a house, apartments either charge deposits or just generally frown upon "traditional" 4 legged pets, but I love having pets around. So my choices were Birds, Reptiles, or Fish. I had birds in my parents house, they tend to throw seed and make a big mess. They are also loud during the day and depending on the bird can be unfriendly. I just don't like reptiles. So fish it was.

My brother in law's sister was moving across states and didn't want to take their childhood 100g tank with her so my brother-in-law replaced his 12 gallon with the big one and gave me the Eclipse 12 tank and even threw in a heating element and fish net. Perfect time to get into the hobby. I went down and bought a floating thermometer and a few ornaments. He also gave me some gravel that was previously in the tank. Bought a variety of plants. I set up the tank and planted it (a little regretfull now that I didn't do a fishless cycle but thats ok) and it was time to choose a fish.

Being new to the hobby I wanted a rugged fish that I didn't have to keep a whole shoal. So I looked around and found that the Golden sword would be perfect for me. Now I have a tank with 3 swords (1 male, 2 female) and they seem to be pretty happy. The females are largely uninterested in me, but the male is a show-off. Whenever I enter the room, he paces the tank left and right, up and down. I guess an active fish is a good sign. He did have a bout with Ich recently but seems to be recovering.

My sister insisted that I name them, though I thought it was silly. Being that they are "Swords" and that I am a big LOTR fan I named them as following. One female who is missing the bottom part of her fin where a male would have the sword so I named her "Narsil". The other female has the full caudal fin so I named her "Elendil". And the male with the full sword is smaller than the females so I named him "Sting".

 

[igongora]

I started when I was about 10 years old. My mom gave me couple a swordtail, at the beginning I kept them in a bowl, CUz I didn't have money to purchase a glass aquarium, then I placed them in a bocket, the began to reproduce and I handle to have about 300 swordtails fish. Then I entered collage and I could'nt take care of them and they died... 2 years ago I wanted to start again and my brother gave me a 5 gallon aquarium.. I had there some betas, goldfish, guppies, mollies, corydoras and some other species (I Know, not a good choice of fish) I had about 15 fish (I know to many fish for a 5 gallon tank, i was just getting started).. now I purchased a 20 gallon aquarium, and I am starting all over again.. I want to see if I can breed some species, maybe guppies or goldfish..

Maybe on the long run.. I can set up an aquarium to sell some fish..

By the way I am from and live in Nicaragua...

 

[Squirt0170]

My mom always had a 20 gallon tank and tried breeding Beta's. It didn't work. I then in my 20's started my tank with a betta in a 1 gal. then moved him to a 3 gal. I out of nowhere decided I wanted to get some fish so I got some guppies and another small tank. I started with 4 guppies (not knowing a darn thing besides setting up a tank and sticking them in) I knew the water had to be conditioned. I didn't know they would need a heater.... So one by one they all went into shock within 5 days and died... I really had no idea why they died and I didn't know the water needed tested... I had SUCH a peaceful time watching them that after they died I just HAD to get some more

Anyway, I started over with a larger 30 gal. tank (set up for a week) and decided I wanted Semi-agressive for now... I didn't know Saltwater fish existed in my area so that wasn't even an option... and it seems to cost a lot more money (that I don't have at the moment) Now I'm researching getting a bigger tank and what size I can go to because I am on the second floor and don't want the floor to fall through. I LOVE my fishes!!!

 

[hc8719]

my last goldfish of 11 years had died almost a year ago and i had an empty tank.

when my mom and i went out for lunch, (a cover up for her go shopping) i went over to the new petsmart, seeing columbian tetras and albino cherry barbs deeply discounted (overstocking reasons) i told the guy i wanted 4 of those, and 4 of those.

...my mom, sighed, and i resetup my tank

 

[Resurgent]

The ease of care was my #1 reason!

 

[dont155]

When we were kids my sister had a small 10 gallon tank with a few fish in it. (Don't remember the types, sorry.) We didn't know a thing about what we were doing at the time and I'm sorry to say that all the fish eventually died and the tank ended up upside down as a small "bench" in my sister's bedroom.

Anyway, when I was 8 or 9 I think, I was sitting on this "bench" talking to my sister when the "bench" cracked and then gave way!! I fell through to the floor! (Mom was at work at the time and dad was out in the barn doing chores...) After we all stopped laughing hysterically, my sister pulled me up and I finally noticed the blood and comparatively large piece of glass stuck in the inside of my upper thigh. (Barely missed something vital to us guys)

I hobbled myself to the bathroom were my sister (About 10 years old) helped me pull out the glass and put a small bandage on. It bled for quite a while though and we had to change the bandage a couple of times. (Note that we knew nothing about anatomy) Fortunately for me the glass had missed the artery. When mom came home she of course freaked out when we told her and drug my embarrassed butt to the emergency room!!

The doctors and nurses had a good poke around down there looking for any more damage. Not finding any, they simply taped the wound up and sent me home. I still have that scar to this day... but don't ask for pics!!

Anyway having grown up and moved away from home I got interested in fishkeeping again and made another attempt to start up in the hobby. (about 19 to 20 years old at the time) I finally got a tank of Tiger barbs, Tetras, and Cories going in my apartment. Anyway the Tigers and Tetras didn't get along too well. Tank was probably too small and again I didn't know much about fishkeeping. The kids at the Petsmart and Petco of course gave me mostly crappy advice. So the attempt eventually died and I gave the surviving fish back to the store.

Now I'm 30 something and my wife wants to have a go at fishkeeping. Besides, I really haven't ever lost my interest, so here I go again. This time it seems I've found a TON of forums, info and friends I never really had to draw on before, so I may actually succeed in this third attempt thanks to the internet and all of my forum friends.

 

[bigmac1878]

i've just finished typing a 6000 word essay only for my isp to say url not found.
the short answer is i never wanted fish, it was my wife, for the benefit of the younster. but i knew i'd end up looking after them. in 18 months i've gone from total noob with a 2 gallon bowl with 2 goldies to a 18 gallon tank with 5x white clouds, 2x male guppies (4 died with stress) and 1 male betta. i do regular pwc, test water parameters, acclimatize correctly and gravel vac. none of which i did when i started. this is all thanks to the folk on this forum.

 

[MSU Fan]

I love fish, and I think that fish tanks are a way for a person to not only have a pet, but in fact have a living piece of art in their house.

I have had the traditional goldfish when young, and now that I own my home, and have many other pets (2 cats, 1 dog, 3 turtles), it was time for fish again.

With the way the turtles have grown over the years, we have had to upgrade their tanks a number of times, so there were some "leftovers" in the basement (the turtles are in 2 75gals currently).

So, 1st fish tank is a leftover 29gal on an iron/steel stand (which I hate). But, I am upgrading all the turtles into a single tank, and that is a 125gal. So I am going to have vacant 75's. I am selling one to my sister, and I will be keeping the other and upgrading the fish from the 29 to the 75. I am so geeked about it! I just found out that the stand I currently have under one of the 75's won't work with my new XP3 because of the minimum height difference, and the other stand is a "bathroom" cabinet with the notched out front bottom (recessed), and won't support the weight of the full aquarium. So I am going to either have to update the stand, or...DIY! So after I get the turtles settled, I am going to build a new stand and canopy for the 75gal.

Long term, I want to take the established 75gal, and add plants at a later date. After I get good at plants, it's time to go saltwater! And after that, when I have an over-abundance of money on hand, I am thinking of making a custom built in-wall river tank (10-12 feet long with current, similating biome if possible!), but that is way (read looooong-time) down the line. My wife is not as enthusiastic as me about this one, although she admits it sounds very interesting!

 

[Guest]

I have always had pets growing up, of my own. My mom loves animals, but when it came to care, if we wanted the pet, we had to care for it. Period. No Questions Asked. I remember getting called home from friends houses to feed my animals.

The great thing about this is that I really bonded with my pets growing up. They were attached to me, not mom.

Anyway, at about 14, I was allowed to start dating mildly. The boy I liked had an iguana. I fell in love with this animal. I learned everything I could about raising herps. By 16, I was breeding peach head and blue head galapagos iguanas and bearded dragons. My mom hated the lizards but I took care of them so well, she could not complain.

By 20 I was down to a dog and 2 lizards. I was in college, working and in my own apartment, so i couldn't continue to breed them.

I moved to FLA at 20 also, and had to part with my beloved pets. They went to very good homes. I still get pictures of one of the iguanas from the new owner.

When I moved, I got a cat. Since then, I have aquired 2 more.

I missed raising lizards, but i also did not have the space/time I felt I needed to continue to do so. They are an enormous amount of work. Lots of cleaning, home made fresh foods, need a lot of food storage to store stuff that rots usually before it can be eaten. I found a condo and purchased it when i turned 29. There was an exotic pet store right down the street and I wandered in one day. I walked out with 2 fire belly oriental toads.

I went back the next week and got 4 tree frogs.

3 weeks later, my bf at the time and i went to best buy. I stopped into the PetSmart next door to get crickets and worms for the frogs/toads. They had a special on 20gal tank set ups. I ended up buying one.

I didn't know what i was getting myself into. LOL.

Now I have a 20, a 29, two more 20s on the way (from a friend) and a 40 on the way (from another friend) and a 5 gal hospital tank. Along with a 40 gal terr for the tree frogs and a 20 gal terr for the toads. And my 3 cats. In my loft.

LOL.

 

[JRagg]

As a kid “I” (my mother) had a 10 gallon tank set up in my bedroom. I had the aquarium since cats and dogs weren’t allowed. We were completely clueless about how to take care of it, and things have changed so much in the past 20 years in the way of fishkeeping that I had to do a lot of learning when I started up again.

I’ve always liked aquariums, and enjoyed watching fish. A friend of mine had a 55g tank that I saw a few years ago which inspired me to set one up. I went and got a 10g kit from Walmart and a couple of fish. Of course I didn’t know anything about cycling, but somehow the tank managed ok and I didn’t lose a fish. The tank moved with me 3 months later 800 miles away, and I soon upgraded to a 45gal tank (the one in my profile). The 10g went into the closet and I often thought about pitching it. I moved again about two years later, and after selling off the remaining fish and my tank (too expensive to move) I had exited the hobby.

Well I finally kicked my latest addiction (World of Warcraft) and needed something else to hold my attention. I started doing some research and set up that 10g tank that I had almost dumped into the trash can. Now here I am about two and a half months later with a medium light planted tank. I’ve got a 90g sitting in the garage waiting for me to get the funds to set up as a high tech planted tank. I’m back in the hobby again.