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Why are you in the Aquarium Hobby?


MaxM
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Those 9th grade science teachers rule the world! Back in 1974 like @Ryo Watanabe my 9th biology teacher also had what I am guessing was a 75 gallon MetaFrame aquarium sitting on her lab bench/desk/dais.

This thing was a community tank full of plants and fish. I remember guppies and big neon tetras.

The teacher and I were not on good terms (totally me being a young troll) but she had a profound effect on the course of my life. Not only did she set the hook on a lifelong quest to keep a planted aquarium, when it came time to pick major in college the answer was...biology. If she only knew....

Looking back, I wonder how she did it. What plants, what lights, did she fertilize, what filter? What ever it was it worked beautifully and was stable.

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I don't exactly remember the "spark", but have wondered over the past year what kind of hobby would be fun and sustainable (interest-wise as well as financially). So in early September just before I retired from a long career in the legal field, I started looking at fish and aquariums and suddenly got very interested. Maybe I saw an ad for something while perusing a pet supply company for dog food, or on tv, that was a spark at that moment when I was wondering "what am I gonna do with all this free time I will soon have?" I love math and science so the chemistry aspect is fascinating. I like biology in the sense of an ecosystem, not so much on the nitty-gritty details of individual life forms. I did a lot of reading before buying my aquarium. The more I looked at things, the more interested I became. The hardest part for me is the plants, but I feel they're necessary for the health and happiness of the fish that I want. I am happy to have found this forum. 

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I got into the hobby because my friend had a tank with shrimp and that was the first time I ever saw anyone keep shrimp before. I eventually got my own shrimp and more fish and I find them so interesting. I love learning about them before I get them and learning about all their interesting characteristics when they live in my tank. Not to mention they are all such beautiful creatures 🙂 

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When I was a young lad ( two years old) I saw my dad's friends fish tank with silver dollar fish and I thought, woah, that looks so cool!! Then I saw movies with goldfish and I just got more and more interested. The first time I visited an aquarium I was amazed and practically died! finally 3 months ago, I got fish ( I am 11) and by that time, I had wanted fish for 9 years and now that I am finally in, I have no regrets.

Edited by Jay
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@Rikostan Sorry to hear about your illness. I also have a chronic illness and have been going generally downhill for 4 years. I had to give up fostering kittens and horseback riding, but I’ve found that I can still manage fish. 
 

As for why I got into the hobby I can only offer this:

 

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It started with rescuing some Stinkpot Musk Turtles. 🐢 The option was to let the keeper toss them in the wild or I could do my best to learn as much as possible and take them in. I was given a male and female in a tiny 10g tank. I knew it was too small even before doing my research but after getting a 30g I realized even that was too small. So the tank grew as did my knowledge and admiration. I had always dreamed of having a pond with Koi. The turtles were the next best thing. Eventually I got the shiny fish I would ogle at in the pet stores. (Those silly Neon Tetras always caught my eye.) Again my knowledge and admiration grew. Here I am today with more fish and still learning something new everyday. I can sit for hours just watching.

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I must say that I am overwhelmed by some of the deeply personal stories some of you have shared. When I created this topic I had no idea that the Aquarium Hobby was so emotionally connecting for some of you. I'm quite moved. Thanks everybody for sharing! 😃

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Just now, Daniel

I know how I got into the hobby. When I was 9 years old I read a book about a boy who kept guppies and the humorous plot centered on how fast the guppy population got out of control. So I gathered a dozen quart jars and saved my allowance and bought some female guppies. I could see the babies developing in the gravid females and when the first babies were born I was excited. But when it turned out some the babies from gray moms were golden, I was hooked.

I think the why centers on glass boxes.

Glass boxes allow us in the comfort of our own homes to see from only inches away the intimate details of complex biological systems with all the majesty and drama that life on our planet brings. I have an honey bee observation hive in my house also and it is a completely different more engaging experience than the other 120 colonies I keep outside. Our fish aren't in a barn or an out yard, they are in our living rooms, bedrooms and even bathrooms and aquariums contain entire worlds of wonder.

And yet, I think this part is important too. Aquariums aren't completely dirt-easy. There is a learning curve and therefore a challenge. And just when you reach a new peak of competence there is yet another peak to climb, so it never get old. And the more you learn, the more fun and rewarding it is. It is a virtuous feed back loop.

@Daniel, was it Henry Huggins?? I just finished reading that chapter to my nephew. He had jars of guppies lined up all around his room, and then his mom needed her canning jars back so he traded all his guppies back to the fish store and got a single catfish with a tank and a heater!

For the time period, the fishkeeping advice was pretty solid except for the "you shouldn't have to change the water if you don't overfeed" bit. He did keep live plants and a snail in every jar, though, and only fed a "tiny pinch."

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My first time around (30 years ago now), it was all due to the LFS beside our community library. My mom would drop me off at the library while she shopped, and after I chose my books I'd wander next door to visit the proprietor (a fantastic old gentleman who was incredibly patient with all my questions). I got a tank for Christmas and managed to keep black skirt tetras despite doing EVERYTHING wrong.

This time around, I'm going a little mad during quarantine telework. I needed something I could enjoy at home, and my hobby has really benefitted my mental health. Except for my new desperate need to buy and set up a new and bigger tank, that is...

Aquariums are great for managing anxiety. It's all those indoor fins...😆

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On 10/20/2020 at 5:08 PM, MaxM said:

@Daniel You jogged my memory. I remember a book I had as a kid... "A Fish Out of Water"

 

A Fish Out of Water.jpg

We loved this book as kids.  I've read it countless times to my own sons. Then I had to explain that no, the fish won't grow if you dump ALL the food into the tank, but you will see mommy's head spin around. lol

 

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7 hours ago, Hobbit said:

@Rikostan Sorry to hear about your illness. I also have a chronic illness and have been going generally downhill for 4 years. I had to give up fostering kittens and horseback riding, but I’ve found that I can still manage fish. 
 

As for why I got into the hobby I can only offer this:

 

Thanks and sorry to hear about your issues as well. I bet there are a lot of us out there that have turned to fishkeeping as a coping mechanism!

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When I was 3 or 4, my dad and his bestie built me an aquarium.  It was the 70's and we were living in Guyana in South America, so they went into the woods, to the creek and caught fish.  My dad's friend was much more into the hobby so he may have been breeding fish too, I don't know.  Anyway... I remember lots of plants,  tetras, guppies, some suicidal hatchetfish, and one particularly nasty cichlid who was rehomed to the wild after it killed most of the tank.  From my mom's reports, I spent hours watching that tank.  I also remember my mom putting the fish in a bucket and taking the tank to the shower where she scrubbed it out and rinsed the gravel, replaced the water and put the fish back in.  It makes me shudder to think of doing that now!   My dad had an old book that had pictures of all the fish and that was a prized possession until we had to emigrate to the US.  We (the kids) were growing up and we were all busy navigating life  in a new country, and the fish hobby went onto the back burner.  When we did get a tank a few years later, it was difficult to keep the fish alive and so different from the easy hobby back in Guyana, so eventually, after the last death, we put it away.

Fast forward to this summer, and the epic tadpole rescue that my sons undertook, catching 20 odd tadpoles after summer storms.  I thought.... ok, tadpoles... tank, water, some rocks to climb out on... easy peasy.  Nope... those darn things died in droves.  It was maddening... I mean, they live in dirty puddles!  It was the midst of the stay home order here in VA, so i had plenty of time to research and deep dive into youtube.  We eventually got a tank, a filter, airstones, etc., and finally three tadpoles made it to frog-dom.  And I had a tank and a basic understanding of why our fish had died so much all those years ago. I got plants and used the dirty stuff from the tadpoles to start the cycle.  5 months later and we are 4 tanks in!  And I still love watching them for hours after my boys are in bed!

Edited by Tonik
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1 hour ago, Tonik said:

From my mom's reports, I spent hours watching that tank.  I also remember my mom putting the fish in a bucket and taking the tank to the shower where she scrubbed it out and rinsed the gravel, replaced the water and put the fish back in.  It makes me shudder to think of doing that now! 

Similar experience here. Don't you love the good old days before the internet! 😉 

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3 hours ago, clovenpine said:

@Daniel, was it Henry Huggins?? I just finished reading that chapter to my nephew. He had jars of guppies lined up all around his room, and then his mom needed her canning jars back so he traded all his guppies back to the fish store and got a single catfish with a tank and a heater!

Yes! @clovenpine you found it!

image.png.175d59aec706056ac5e459bf5140acdd.png

I wanted to be that boy, and I am.

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I'm not properly in the hobby yet. Honestly, a large part of the allure is the opportunity for technical tinkering. Growing up, I desired what I now know is called a paludarium. Ultra natural, no exotic species. Recently, my daughter said she'd like an aquarium, and I was ready! Planning and prepping as we speak. 🙂 an ordinary tropical community, more or less, I imagine.

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my husband and I were recently forced to move into a large city for work, so we needed some way to connect with nature while surrounded by miles and miles of concrete. interaction with our critters is what's keeping us sane, and we're maxed out on the number of dogs we are allowed, so we turned to fish to bring more of that nature therapy into our lives.

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A co-worker got a betta in a vase for her desk. I wanted one too, but I did some research and bought a 5 gallon (supervisor approved) heated and planted. I upgraded to a 10 gallon a couple of months after and added six pygmy cories.

I got hooked. I needed another tank for at home obviously. Now I have 9 at home plus a 20 long at work that is fairly self sustaining. I'm only in once a week now, but co-workers feed the other days I'm not there. If they skip a day here or there it's not a big deal.

I love the different types of fish, their behaviours and how they interact with other fish (or just each other). It's very calming and I like finding surprise fry. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

The short answer is: because I can have nature, water, and growing things in one package, indoors 24/7/365.

 

As small children we would incur mom's wrath if we left her sight while shopping.  The exception was at F.W. Woolworth's, where we could always be found in the pet dept. staring at rows of shiny Metaframe aquariums full of wonder and a few turtles and alligators. 

The hook was set about the same time when I stayed overnight at my older brothers house.  He had MTS and I had to sleep in the living room with dozens of Neon tetras glowing in the dim light, and some kind of horrible piston air pump clanking in the darkness. 

First came the goldfish bowl than came the 10 gallon for the teenager, the 29 gallon for the young adult , and the 75 gallon for the homeowner.

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a long time ago I mean a looooong time ago I asked my mom for a pet chameleon but when we went to the place we were going to buy one they were all sold out. There was a petsmart near by so we thought we would check if they had any there.  Turns out there were no chameleons at that location so I just bought a fish tank. I think you know were it went from there.😋

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Almost a year ago I was suffering from depression and spending (for me) way too much collecting watches.  Watches are fun to research and buy, but then they sit.  I bought an aquarium to help both problems.  The aquarium forced me to do something everyday, and it helped me mentally.  I have also stopped (almost) buying watches and started buying plants, fish and equipment.  I had aquariums most of my childhood and even when the kids were little.  We had guppy babies and bettas, but life got in the way.  So this hobby is helping me a lot and keeping me pretty happy.  

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I had betta as a young person and that was fun, have now grown into a crazy gardening person. Didn't think I'd become an aquarium person until a few months ago when I decided to take the plunge on a hydroponic fish tank setup because winter was coming and I was sick of having to buy fresh basil all winter long and I figured my cat would like to watch the fish. It turns out the cat doesn't think the fish are real (that's for the best!) but I can't stop watching my fish and snails and I love learning more about them. So I'm falling headlong into the hobby thanks to Cory and Irene and fora like this 🙂

Just like with gardening, there's all sorts of BS and overpriced garbage at big box stores, and even small local chains can only carry a smattering of the big names, with dedicated LFSs being pretty far away, so it's been hard to find reliable advice and supplies that fit my style: nature knows what it's doing, give it space and resources to nudge it in a direction you'd prefer. Aquarium Co-op has set me on the best path and made me excited to start more planted tanks!

I love the combination of fish, water, and plants. It's a beautiful cycle and I'd love to get the balance so good that very little input is needed from me other than food, observation, and paying my electric bill. Don't know if that'll ever be possible, but maybe one day!

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I've always loved animals in general and had quite a few small fish, mainly guppies, growing up. Then I went to college and became a vet and did not find time for fish. Recently, there have been a lot of personal stresses in my life, plus COVID, and I felt drawn to fish again. They have helped me cope with this year, keeping me busy with research/learning curve (vets don't learn much about fish in school!). I just love to watch them. I love to watch Cory's live streams. It's so relaxing to focus on something "optional" that is also quite fascinating and involves nature and biology. I even love water changes! It is therapeutic for me. I found myself with two extra tanks full of fish when our local community college reached out to me for help - They didn't have the staff on campus to care for their fish tanks due to COVID. I took them home and had fun learning what species I suddenly owned and upgrading their tank sizes.

Edited by Axona
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@Axona I'm finding it interesting how many people got into the hobby because of Covid-19. With all the stress that it is putting on our lives it's interesting how much fish allows us to relax. I never knew.

Also, I wonder if stores have gained or loss due to Covid. On the one hand, it is harder and more expensive for them to get the fish. On the other hand, it seems that a lot of people are getting the "I want fish" itch.

Thanks for your comment. :)

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12 hours ago, MaxM said:

I'm finding it interesting how many people got into the hobby because of Covid-19. With all the stress that it is putting on our lives it's interesting how much fish allows us to relax. I never knew.

It's Osmosis that we can see and feel in real time.  The fish are calm, so we are calm. No mask required.

I don't think that actual LFSs are suffering too bad.  Its a different story for the big box pet shops.  While visiting my local fish/pet store a year ago, I noticed that all of the economically priced brands were gone.   The store had been bought out by a bigger national chain. As of this month they are both gone.  Unlike so many people here, I am fortunate to have 2 LFSs within 20 minutes not including Petsmart.  The older grittier store always seems busy.

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