How Many Young People Are There Who Have Interest Of Tropical Fish

[Gr!m]

hi i am 15 and i am wondering how many people are actually into tropical fish and actually know what they are doing or is it just a phase

 

[WILDER]

Not been a phase with me, been fish keeping 3 years now, took me a while to learn about fish and things.

 

[Gr!m]

cool but how old are u and how easy or hard has it been for you

 

[dwarfgourami]

Every so often we have a thread on 'how old are you', and invariably about half of the people who answer are under 20, including some extremely knowledgeable and experienced posters. Good for old wrinklies like me to know we are in safe hands. Whoever fed you that line about it being "a phase"? Sounds like the sort of thing one's mum might say.... Stupidly enough, when I was your age I listened to it, gave up fishkeeping, wasted 30 years of my life...
When you read about the great and good in the fishkeeping world, you often find the information "x has been keeping tropical fish since the age of 11". People with more sense than me, evidently...

 

[froggy]

I have been fishkeeping since i was 9 and now i am 13 so i would say good for me*Pats Self On Back*

 

[Gr!m]

i think it is good if young people like me and a few other people actually get into fish keeping becuase it is a fun thing to do and to watch them and to know what you have acheive by caring for them and by watching your tropical fish grow is amazing because if i think about it i watch my fish at at least for 3 hours or 2 hours a day

 

[WILDER]

42 and feel it, Made mistakes like most beginners but learnt by them, it wouldn't say fish keeping is easy as there is alot to learn, and most of all it's the time and effort you put in that counts like keeping up with maintance, quarantining new fish and keeping them on a good varied diet, plus it isn't a cheap hobby either.

 

[froggy]

Yes Me Too Arent They Amazing I love My Betta's Expcillay I am excited getting a few new one's!!

 

[Gr!m]

well monday saturday i will be gettin a aquarium and pump and that and then i will cycle it and then i will be on the following monday gettin a upside down catfish but i will need a heater for the tank unless me grandad has that as well he werent to sure then i will have 2 aquariums which i can then build on then which i think is pretty cool and is it true that guppys can be a cold water fish aswell

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would use a heater for guppies. It is true that they can cope with temperatures at the lower range of the tropical scale (lower 20s), but unless your house has a very stable central heating, temperatures may end up fluctuating more than is good for them; also, the modern breed of guppies is less hardy than they used to be. If you want a colourful coldwater fish, why not go for White Cloud Mountain Minnows?

Can I just ask one question? If you are getting your tank on Saturday, how are you going to have it cycled by the next Monday? The only way I know of doing that is by using Biospira- have you got a supply of that? Or are you able to seed the filter from an established tank?

 

[demonmagus]

I am 14, I consider this my start age as it is my first proper tank, but I did have another tank once, killed everything in it though , prefer not to go back to those memories tbh

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I'm almost 25 (3 months till cheaper car insurance!!) and I've been doing the fish thing since I was 8 so I guess that makes 16 years now. some people think I'm wierd but they always seem to be the ones drooling at my puffer tank when they come over! Stick with it, all it takes is experience, after a while it becomes very easy to keep even oddballs!

 

[guppy_man]

im 16 on the 20th of may, need to look for a weekend job, to get more money for FISH, thats all i spend it on.
got to get past my GCSE'S first

 

[CoolWater]

I am 16, spent two years reading books and forums like this before i even dared ask for an aquarium

But i feel i have fallen more into the coldwater/cool water part of the hobby, apposed to the tropical section.

 

[Rez]

I am 23 and I am days away from recieving my college degree finally after five years!!! I have been keeping fish for about 2 years now. I really don't think it is a phase for me, but again I started when I was 21 so I really don't know how I would have done as a teenager keeping fish. I do know that I started off with a betta and I worked my way through common livebearers like mollies and Platies. After mutliple huge births I had to ditch the Mollies and Platies. (space is limited in college) I tried my hand at Neon Tetras, but I did not do so great at those, they died off after about 6 months (maybe I'll try again next year now that I have more experience ) After the livebearers I worked my way to corydoras catfish where I am still at today. I love my cories and the pandas I have breed more like rabbits than their namesake I have just recieved some Endler's Livebearers, they are so gorgeous, so I am going to see how well I can care for them, so far so good (knocks on wood). Later this summer I am going to be getting some Bumblebee Gobies, and try my hand at breeding these wonderfully beautiful fish. So in two years my interest in the fish keeping hobby has not waned, but actually only gotten stronger. I started with a betta bowl, now I own 6 aquariums! My mom and especially my girlfriend do not understand my infatuation with fish and my girlfriend especially worries about me. I guess they just don't understand fish past "ooooooh pretty....... let's do something else." My girlfriend and I have been looking for a place to live, on her list she wants things like a nice kitchen, living room etc... I however have been looking for a place with a basement with enough space and plumming for a nice fishroom, although I'd never tell her that I guess some people are not fish people and some people are, I just wish I actually had a person like me close by so I could show my girlfriend and mom that I am not looney.

Keep on fishing Gr!m


Rez B)