How long have you been part the hobby and what is the scale of your involvement in it?

[Caesar]

Figured we could drum up discussion about the hobby in our lives.

I've been fishkeeping since 2008, so I'm in my 14th year. I have actually only worked in the aquarium trade, starting out in 2014 working at a local fish store, bouncing between stores as they went out of business till 2017 when I got a job at one of the largest stores in Canada. I worked there until late 2019, when I started working in wholesale instead as that side of the industry pays a much more liveable wage.

I work 40 hours, come home and work on my aquariums, then spend my time on various fish forums online. I have a problem

 

[Deleted member 149562]

My name is wasme and I am an addict.

It's my dad's fault, I totally blame him for my addiction for fishkeeping. He started it with a carnival goldfish when I was a kid (a very very very long time ago) Keeping fish with dad was my escape from life indoors....his escape too really.

Since then I have had a fish(es) lurking somewhere for the last 45 years or so

Still learning new things...especially their behaviour....and finally after all these years I have a proper aquarium of 200 litres which cured my MTS affliction but hasn't stopped the Cory breeding to take over the world affliction

 

[itiwhetu]

I have always had fish. Mum and Dad were travelling a lot and bought me a tank when I was 13, they were away for three months when they got home, I had three tanks. When I left home, I had forty-five tanks in a fish room. Dad made sure that the room basically paid for itself. I bred everything I could get my hands on. I then imported fish and bred fish on a larger scale. I ran my own LFS out of my home for a while and now I have a 150g, which just does me fine. I am currently considering setting up another shop for some retirement income.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Had a beta when I was young. But I would say I’ve been in it 2 years. I am addicted. 5 tanks - all my money spent on this hobby

 

[Essjay]

Our children brought home 3 goldfish from the fair in 1996. Guess who ended up looking after them? After 9 months they had grown too large for the 60 litre tank we'd been assured was plenty big enough so we gave them away to someone with a pond and I bought a heater and tropical fish.

I've had up to 3 tanks but now I have just 2 - a community tank and a nano shrimp tank.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Our children brought home 3 goldfish from the fair in 1996. Guess who ended up looking after them? After 9 months they had grown too large for the 60 litre tank we'd been assured was plenty big enough so we gave them away to someone with a pond and I bought a heater and tropical fish.

I've had up to 3 tanks but now I have just 2 - a community tank and a nano shrimp tank.

Goldfish have alot to answer for......

 

[GaryE]

55 years in sounds either impressive or crazy, but it's simply a matter of being alive long enough to say that. I've had tanks since I was a kid, when I was extremely ill for a long long time, and a hobby like fish was an important lifeline, really. I had a life threatening illness that was supposed to kill me, and a 'lifesaving' case of MTS. I was a serious reader, and read everything I could get my hands on about fish. That continued through to my early 30s, when I had 7 tanks.
I was working at several jobs, including writing, and while reading an aquarium magazine, decided I could try them for a market. Pretty soon I had a sideline writing about fish for several magazines, and since tanks were research (I never wrote an article about a fish I hadn't kept) and the income was good, I expanded up to 70 aquariums and a fishroom. I ran that until the internet killed the print trade (and the mainstream money dried up). I still edit and occasionally write on fish, as well as do some online work.
I have 25 tanks now, and another 25 waiting cold and empty in the garage of the house I just moved to 2 weeks ago to get my retirement going. I'm going to spend this late Spring building a fishroom inside that garage, once I get small things like water, heat and walls sorted out.
So I'm kind of involved.
I do miss getting paid to answer questions about fish, but I've also learned that if you give, you get, and I enjoy the different perspectives you see being on a forum. I'd much rather have a bunch of the people here come hang around the fishroom so we could talk fish, but a forum will do in the real world. I hope members here can find local aquarium clubs and stores that allow you to talk face to face in a post pandemic world, as the social side of the hobby is where the learning is best.
I'm a great believer in constantly learning, and so, I'm a diehard aquarist.

 

[emeraldking]

Ever since early 1970's untill this very day... My parents got me into it. They've started to keep fish and fishtanks in the 1960's.
I've kept several kinds of fish but my ultimate focus has been livebearers ever since. Besides keeping and breeding livebearers, I also participate relevant vivaristic events in Holland, Belgium and Germany. I do write relevant articles for a dutch, german french and in the second half of 2022 also for a belgium aquaristic magazine. I did workshops and gave lectures in the past. I'm a board member of the national livebearer society of our country. I also lead the national working group of guppies (wild and fancy). And I run my own website regarding livebearers (wild and fancy). Note that this is an informative website and not a commercial one.
I keep and breed rare livebearers to preserve them for the aquarium scene. And I support a project to re-release captive bred specimens into the wild again, where they are endangered.

 

[robmcd]

I kept fish when I was younger, from 8-18, then stopped into adulthood as my priorities changed and my life ran it's course, through the good and the bad.

I started keeping fish again in 2006, mostly ''monster'' and predatory types, and I have been ''pedal to the metal'' ever since, although I have dialed it back a few times. Right now I have 3 planted community tanks, with a 4th in the planning stages. I keep all SA fish (with the exception of some ''pest'' platys) and I no longer keep monster predatory anything. Everything is peace and zen

 

[Herpin Man]

I’ve kept fish since the late 60’s, when I was a wee lad. However, it hasn’t been consistent, and I don’t think I’ve ever had more than three aquariums going at one time. So from a practical standpoint, I’m still a newbie.
My main hobby is reptiles and amphibians.

 

[Uberhoust]

Off and on keeping fish since 1968, when my father gave me my own fish tank. Kept tropical and native fish over the years. Right now exploring keeping Angels. Have also raised some amphibians and lizards over the years.

 

[Gkat66]

I grew up in a fish household , my father had the addiction before I was born, with over 20 tanks. Some of my first memories are of pretty fish , humming air pumps and gurgling bubblers. Every weekend we would load up the car with coolers and visit fish stores. When I had my four boys we always had tanks with various goldfish and bettas, easy stuff because I also raised collies , show poultry, cattle, hogs, and registered Quarter horses. When the boys grew up and moved out I got into saltwater specializing in venomous fish. Unfortunately I have developed arthritis in my spine and after surgery I am very limited on what I can lift. I have started 3 small planted tanks because I just couldn't stand to have a fishless house.

 

[Uberhoust]

My Father was big on fish too. My first tank was a dinky little 20 gallon, my father always had at least one tank over 200 gallons, he used to build them then sell them as a hobby. One person we sold a large tank to lived in an apartment, they had to buy the apartment below to reinforce the floor, then hire a crane to put the tank through the living room window. I kind of thought this was normal behavior for people when I was younger.

 

[OliveFish05]

Wow. I was so proud of my little ”2 years in the hobby”, then I see the other responses...

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Wow. I was so proud of my little ”2 years in the hobby”, then I see the other responses...