I Just Created A New Aquarist!

[Ludwig Venter]

This little girl down the road (I did not even know her name).... comes to my house at least 5 times a week.....just to look at the fish...... In the beginning, I sat down with her watching the fish, but since I've seen them so many times..... I just left her in the fish room and tell her to close the door when she leaves..... I'd sometimes go back 2 hours later.... and she was still just sitting on the floor watching the fish......

To cut a short story long, I told her to ask her parents to get her a tank...... and she gave me a list of their excuses.....ït's too expensive.... too labour intensive... etc. etc.... So, at the weekend, I decided to see what I can put together out of my unused things..... and managed to gather enough stuff to set up a decent 2ft assembly for her..... I met her parents last night (first time) when I went with her to set up the tank in her bedroom...... Even took cycled water and an active filter with.... The fish will be introduced tomorrow.....

I now know her name is Christelle and I know she is soooooooo hooked on the hobby that she's gonna be like the most of us and in 10 - 15 years time, when someone asks her where did it all start for you..... she's gonna say.... "I do not know who he is, but there was this old man that lived up the road from us".....

Can you remember where it started for you

 

[ripil]

yeah my mum bought a 300 litre corner unit fish tank. she kept the most boring gold fish in it. seemed like a waste of such a nice tank to just put a few black fish in it. i saw the fish i liked in the tropical section but she said no. cant remember what fish it was i liked but knew that the fish tank would be mine one day. she ended up selling it a few years later when i was about ten. but now i've got my two tanks just the way i like them. cant wait to re-home the guppies and get some cichlids in the larger of the two.

 

[fluttermoth]

I can; it was visiting my great Uncle when I was 7; I spent almost the whole visit with my nose against the glass watching his neons.

I always wanted tropical fish after that, but was only allowed to have goldies, as my mum said that tropicals were too expensive and delicate; ironic really, as she now has a 5x2x2 community and a Mbuna set-up!

Took a long time, but I have now eventually got my neons; 42 green neons in a four foot at the end of my bed

 

[skinbad]

I can; it was visiting my great Uncle when I was 7; I spent almost the whole visit with my nose against the glass watching his neons.

I always wanted tropical fish after that, but was only allowed to have goldies, as my mum said that tropicals were too expensive and delicate; ironic really, as she now has a 5x2x2 community and a Mbuna set-up!

Took a long time, but I have now eventually got my neons; 42 green neons in a four foot at the end of my bed

For me it started with my Dad. He had a huge marine tank when i was around 6 or 7, lionfish, hermits, urchins, seahorses etc, i loved it, always wanted to help him feed them! First thing i bought when i got my first job, was a small tank set up, and had a Betta and small Plec, but my interest stalled there, until earlier this year when i took on a tank and fish from someone else, from that point, steep STEEP learning curve, but wont be turning back! Not ready for Marines yet though lol.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

My kids always loved to look at the fish when we went to walmart or other pet stores. My husband and I decided last year that a small 10gallon fish tank would be perfect for them! Well, trying to keep fish alive because we didn't research about cycling and stuff, got me hooked on those little fish and I just couldn't fathom them being unhappy or sick and I worked my butt off trying to save that tank! Finally got it going good. By this time, all I could think of is "A bigger tank would expand our options.." Then I joined the forum and with the help of the wonderful members here, I got my first large aquarium started..so ya, I got into the hobby last year lol

 

[Essjay]

I didn't start keeping fish till I was in my 40s. When I was a child, my dentist had a tank. Pretty, I thought, but nothing more. Then my teenaged sons went to the fair and came hone with some goldfish. No fishless cycling for me, I had fish before I had a tank. They spent the first night in a mixing bowl, and we got them a tank next day. They grew so fast we gave them away to someone with a pond 10 months later. While buying stuff for the goldies, I had looked at the tropicals, so when I had an empty tank I got a heater and tropical fish.
I still have that first tank, and another three.

 

[laura120381]

when i was around 7 years old, my mum took me to a local park and bought me one of those little kids fishing rods. i spent all day catching little sticklebacks and putting them in a large tub to show my mum. obviously we had the intention of putting them back into the river before we went home! however, whilst carrying the tub to show her, i tripped and dropped it. i had 4 or 5 fish flapping around on the ground and i was really crying as i thought they were going to die!! i was too scared to pick them up (probably due to the flapping!!). luckily my mum and another person visiting the park managed to get them back into the water so no harm was done. from that day on i was terrified of fish!!

this fear continued for years until i finally got fed up with it! (not being able to go in the sea on holiday in case i was carried off screaming by some sort of vicious mutant clownfish etc!) so at the grand old age of 20, i bought myself a 20l tank...then a 60l...then an 80l....then a 200l!! i have never looked back and i now love my fish more than most humans!!! lol. just goes to show that facing a fear head on does sometimes work!! i am never happier than when up to my elbows in fish tank water!!

L

 

[bae1994]

When I was 5-7 my parents had a 5x2x2 with big cichlids and it all went from there I've had a tank ever since except for a gap of two years when I was 10 until 12

 

[bullit]

nice story.

I kept koi fish for a number of years before getting a trop tank. I always wanted a marine tank but the recession and money restrictions havent helped, not that im complaining. I had a 10 gallon given to me when i did a job for someone and then it started from there. I joined this site soon after.

 

[mike455555]

a fun fair one a goldfish as a prize ... escalated from there... (went back got 3 more (lost 2 without knowing anything about fish) got a proper set up and then onto tropical =]

 

[snake007]

Well back when i was a kid i had a 10 gallon tank with neons and such, fish tank cracked at night, water and dead fish everywhere, i was very disheartened, 15 years later i got back into the hobby and im loving it!

 

[creeker]

You're awesome, Ludwig! I was like that little kid, hanging around the pet store and gazing at their fish for hours. We used to have these things called Blue Chip Stamps. You would get them from the grocery store depending on how much groceries you bought. You would save the stamps in these books, and redeem them for merchandise. We were dirt poor, but my mom redeemed some books for a metal framed 10 gallon tank setup when I was about 8 years old.

 

[tmh0921]

Had tropical tanks as a kid, but what got me back in as an adult was Pet sitting for a friend who has a 100g marine and a 55g freswater tropical.... The rest is history - currently have a 20g freshwater tropical, a 30g freshwater tropical, and a 75g soon to be dwarf cichlid tank. My hubby says that's it, we'll see

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Its funny how many people stemmed back from having fish as a kid. I always had cats and never thought to have fish cause well, cats eat fish lol. Now one of my biggest enjoyments is watching my kitty put his little paws on the tank and look in, then he looks back at me like"Can I have one, Mommy?"

 

[Shovelman]

we used to be amateur aquarists at my house when i was around 7 years old/or younger (keeping a gold fish and ghost shrimp). During a garage sale of ours we sold the tanks which is basically what started it up, but this time it was serious business (also was kind of lonely when our beloved chocolate lab passed away during that time), so i thought id give fish another try. 3 years have gone by since my first urge to start up a tank again, and now im now in high school and am going to check out a 75 gallon tank on Saturday lol. Possibly what shocks me the most is how much Ive grown to this hobby (and how its grown on me). As besides art and French horn, fish keeping is my main hobby. I just find it funny how i once went from keeping a fancy goldfish, to soon owning a shoal of Archer fish and possibly a spiny eel. Definitely one of the major parts of my life as a "youngster", and hope to continue keeping fish until the day i croak and start shooting up daisy's!