When did you get into the hobby?

[Daedalus]

In the 80s helping my mom with her arrowana in a hundred gallon. I loved that fish. My mom always had a tank in the house. I kept my own fish since I was maybe 7 with bettas. I just got back into the hobby 2 years ago because of the Coop videos on youtube

[Celly Rasbora]

Which lifetime?

I could have chosen the 70s, but really, the goldfish tank that I have just the faintest of memories of might have been in the 60s. I remember brightly-colored marbles in the tank. Or maybe I dreamed it. Certainly, I wasn't in charge of it. I also had wild-caught minnows, turtles, tadpoles, but I had no idea what I was doing. Ugh. So I ruled that decade out.

In the 80s, I had a few iterations of being in the hobby, but mostly, it was my ex's and my hobby together, so I skipped ahead. Movin' out, movin' on.

So, I chose the 2010s. It's just me in the hobby and I love it.

[StephenP2003]

My first fish tank, I was still a teenager and had a "ain't nobody gonna tell me nothin" attitude. So I stocked my 10 gallon with:

1 albino rainbow shark

1 black molly

1 3-spot gourami

1 common pleco

1 barb or tetra of some sort

 

[keddre]

Like 5 years old. My mom gave me a 5 gallon with a black Moore, pictus catfish and betta 😂

[FrozenFins]

My first tank was a 10 gallon with:

-Angelfish

-Pearl Gourami

-Swordtail

-Threadfin Rainbow

-German Blue Ram

The angelfish I still have and is in my 40 gallon, the Pearl Gourami I gave away (it was too aggressive) and everything else died. The gourami killed the rainbow. And the GBR died because the water was kept at 76F, And the swordtail died of popeye.

[Chrissy]

I started around 2003! and then a few years later YouTube surfaced and Dustin's Fish Tanks and Jacob's Aquarium were the big boys that I watched endlessly! Species Sunday, coming at you LIVE! haha

[Kirsten]

Technically, I kept my first fish and snails when I was a child in the 80's and 90's, but I didn't know anything about how to do it properly and was naturally traumatized and heartbroken when the fish soon died from their poor conditions.

Didn't think I ever wanted to get back into it until COVID, when I discovered a hydroponic herb garden / fish tank kit on Amazon that had good reviews and seemed like a good idea at the time, and I thought my cat might like to watch it when he wasn't watching the birds.

I soon discovered Cory's videos, the beauty of planted tanks, this forum, and completely fell in love with the hobby. I now have 4 or 5 tanks running, depending on how you count, and should probably slow down sometime soon, but I don't want to!

[Jungle Fan]

@Daniel A picture from prehistoric times when I was born, on the piece of furniture way on the right is what used to be my father's prototype tank with the green painted steel frame  it supposedly contained guppies and a betta, the larger one in which he kept the angelfish and discus was on the other side of the room. The one in the picture resembles the one my brother built later. I looked but this is the only picture I have left of the old house. The contraption to the left was the old black and white Tv. Man I'm starting to feel ancient.

[Jess]

Like many who have already posted, I had my first tank as a kid in the 90's.  It was a 29-gallon that lived at our dentist's office and I would beg to stay and watch it.  The receptionist asked my mom if we wanted it, and I'm not sure who was more thrilled when Mom said, "ok."  We kept community fish.  I loved it even more once I knew my dad enjoyed it, too.  He said watching the fish was relaxing and more fun than watching TV.  I killed his joy by adding a school of danios in there...LOL.

I "caught the bug" again being around my partner's niece who loves to catch all manner of fish and keep them.  I have 60L set up since December; I saved for 6 months and got a rimless tank, aquasoil, CO2, built a light and a stand, tons of plants...it's AMAZING and brings me so much joy.  I write code and analyze data for a living, and one of the greatest benefits of WFH has been going out to watch the tank for 5-10 minutes when I'm stuck on a hard problem.  It "unsticks" my brain much better than a walk around my office floor.

Cory's quote at the end of his recent video about his top 10 underappreciated community fish - "They're all really amazing and I really love fish," basically sums on how I feel about the hobby.  

[Jess]

2 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

what used to be my father's prototype tank with the green painted steel frame

This is so cool!  What a great memory.  I was just thinking how much I wish I had photos of my dad and me with my fish tank. 

[Betsy]

This is the best. thread. ever.

I love hearing everyone's back story!!!

Mine isn't as exciting...one of my students bought me a betta fish in a bowl (I think the running thing in 2019 at my high school was to give each teacher a fish and see which fish lived the longest...I won by a long shot...but I also didn't get the gold fish.).  It's a miracle that fish lived as long as he did!  Especially since he got three of the exact same micro pellets twice a day and a 100% weekly water change where I scrubbed all the things until they weren't slimy anymore!

And then, he got sick...and I fell VERY far down the rabbit hole trying to save him.  I learned about all the things that I did wrong, and then was determined to try again and do them right...and here I am!

I will say...I did a poor job taking care of a betta fish the first go-round...but I have never, and will never pour formaldehyde on an animal that a student brings to school! 😱  I almost had to deal with a mouse issue once...someone brought in pet store mice in a Sonic cups (gotta watch those Styrofoam cups!!) and let them loose in the boy's bathroom.  I think they dropped the poor creatures in the urinals...SO glad I was excused from attempting to recapture them! 🐭🤣🐭

[FrozenFins]

8 minutes ago, Betsy said:

I will say...I did a poor job taking care of a betta fish the first go-round...but I have never, and will never pour formaldehyde on an animal that a student brings to school! 😱  I almost had to deal with a mouse issue once...someone brought in pet store mice in a Sonic cups (gotta watch those Styrofoam cups!!) and let them loose in the boy's bathroom.  I think they dropped the poor creatures in the urinals...SO glad I was excused from attempting to recapture them! 🐭🤣🐭

Up until this point I was wondering "what will I do for my seinor year prank". Well now I know, thanks betsy🤣

[Cmike15]

in the early 2000's I had my first tank I shared with my two brothers. It introduced me to it but earlier i had 2 Betta fish, one at a time that i took care of with near daily water changes. They lived years but I'm glad I learned about the nitrogen cycle when I got older. By 2010 i had my own 15 gallon fish tank I stocked with guppy's, a dwarf gourami and 5-7 neon tetras. Now it seems stocked heavy but I think i was ok with my added sponge to my filter and lots of java moss. Good times and one of my tanks I plan on having guppies in now, with CPD's in the other.

[Chiclid addict]

I’m a younger keeper and I got in to fish keeping in around 2016 when Set up a tank with my aunt but I didn’t keep fish that where solely mine until 2018 

[Celly Rasbora]

2 hours ago, Jess said:

"They're all really amazing and I really love fish,"

I loved that quote. 

[Anita]

3 hours ago, Jess said:

...one of the greatest benefits of WFH has been going out to watch the tank for 5-10 minutes when I'm stuck on a hard problem.  It "unsticks" my brain much better than a walk around my office floor.

Cory's quote at the end of his recent video about his top 10 underappreciated community fish - "They're all really amazing and I really love fish," basically sums on how I feel about the hobby.  

What @Jess said. Yes!

Edited March 10, 2021 by Anita

[MJV Aquatics]

6 hours ago, Paul said:

@Daniel by my reckoning we were playing with glass boxes full of water & fish back in the preindustrial times before the internet & YouTube. How did we ever figure stuff out?

We somehow muddled through (Mid 60's for me).

[CalmedByFish]

When I was very young, one of my parents surprised my siblings and I by bringing home a round glass bowl with a bunch of bright male guppies. Now middle-aged, I still have only been that elated a few times. It was the moment when joy and fish became closely linked in me. 

[Jeff]

I started in 2005, when I bought my first house. I was always interested in it...and finally got my opportunity. I found this hidden gem 'mom and pop' LFS 1.5 miles from my house. If it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't have kept going. They were there every step of the way with me - helping me out. Absolutely tremendous. Always willing to answer all my questions, test my water for me when I first started my tank: you name it, they did it. 

They're no longer around, unfortunately, but I'm always indebted to them. 

[Tanked]

17 hours ago, Paul said:

The mid - late 60's. My first real aquarium (10 gallon) had a slate bottom and a chromed steel frame a box filter, a non submersible heater and the whole thing was lite up with 2 40 watt tubular (china cabinet)bulbs

 .

I had those lights.  You could cook on them , or at least keep your coffee warm.  I wish I had kept that stainless fixture.  I'd love to put modern LEDs in them.

Your description of proper aquarium cleaning down below is spot on.

 

[mustang_eas]

Had some friends give me a 38 gallon tank after a move that they had upgraded from,,,,, went from that to 13 tanks scattered around the house all sizes, downsized to 8 tanks all 55 and larger in my first fish room, downsized to a one bedroom apartment from a three bedroom house, can't have anything larger than 10 gallons (but they didn't say how many) so three Nano tanks so far 😁

[Jungle Fan]

22 hours ago, Daniel said:

Bunch of grumpy old men!

Still looking for "Catfish Hunter" whenever I visit the local LFS😄! No luck yet!

[Chrisdis]

I had 2 tanks as a teenager in the mid 80s. One with goldfish and one with wild local fish. Bass, catfish, bream, crawfish, and grass shrimp ( also known as ghost shrimp)  I enjoyed and kept up with them til I graduated high school in 86. I donated the aquariums to my younger brother and started traveling for work. That was the last time i owned an aquarium. About a year ago my wife came home with a sick betta that her grandmother had in a fish bowl full of green water. My wife asked me to help the fish. I got on the internet and found aquarium co-op and the spark was reignited. I bought a 10 gallon setup and live plants and meds. I nursed the betta back to life and the plants started growing. I watched every video aquarium co-op and anyone associated with fish keeping had. I moved the betta to a 40gal planted community tank and I realized how much I enjoy the hobby. The betta eventually passed but because of that fish we now have a 10gal shrimp tank a planted 40 and a planted 65. I love taking care of all the fish and plants. It's very calming therapy. 

[Gestaltgal]

It's nice to see the spread in the poll! It also confirms the wonderful experience we have on this forum 🙂

[BenA]

First tank as a child with some guppies. Around 1985 I built my own tank and unit and other than the Cardinals I have managed to keep all fish happy (hard water, but what did I know, test kits? what's that?). When I moved in 1987 I gave the tank, the fish and all equipment to a friend. Now I am back (since October 2020), currently have a 105gl (just over 400ltr) tank while the two older tanks are being used as quarantine tanks, if all goes well May/June will see another 77 - 90gl (300 - 360ltr) tank, I hope that the Mrs. allow it as a black water tank.