Why Did You Want To Keep Fish.

[mtnhomedude]

its was cheaper than my coke habit!!

 

[wendywc]

My older brother had a fish tank. I didn't think anything of it until he joined the Army Reserves; when he went to training camp, he asked me to take care of it. When he came back, he lost interest, but I've been more and more hooked ever since.

 

[Azaezl]

My dad's always kept fish, only memory I have of them is when I took all his fish out of the tank when I was 3 so they could play! I had a few goldfish bowls over the years in my childhood(from age 7 up, parents split up so my dad and his tank were gone), actually surprised they lasted for about a year or so,I did change the water in the bowl once a week but still surprised they didn't die v.quickly esp. because I didn't add any de-chlorinator, when they did die then they got the old flushing treatment and I got more, I wasn't really interested they were ok, but not as interesting as the numerous rodents I had.

Then when I was about 12(I think) my dad got me a 70L(or thereabouts) and 4 fancy goldfish, I wanted the ones that were huge but sensibly my dad said no, anyway I had these 4 fish for ages(prob about 6 months) then I decided to add some friends, in the form of 2 black moors from a pet shop that was a bit dodgy, of course this introduced disease in the form of white spot, I didn't treat it as I didn't know you could, I just assumed they'd either survive or die. The moors died the 4 originals lived, they lived for another 6 / 7 months, before I killed them. I'm not going into the details but lets just say I was a very spoilt selfish person then and thought nothing of killing some fish so I could have the tank for some mice.

Fast forward to last summer when on my (23rd)birthday after I opened all my presents my husband brought out a strange looking object covered in a brown bag. I liften the bag and there was a goldfish bowl with a black moor in it. Now I should have guessed what he got me as he'd made a card from our toddler for me that had fish / blood on the front with the words 'happy birthday fish murderer', but I didn't twig because he always said we weren't having fish because I couldn't be trusted with them! So I upgraded him from the bowl to a 18L plastic tank(unfiltered), then a week later I got him a friend as I knew goldfish were sociable, then I went out and got them an 80L with filter / light and got 2 more fancys who came with whitespot, 1 of the new ones died but the rest survived(I did treat it this time).

Then back in January I was looking for a bigger tank for them on ebay when I saw a bargain 4ft tank, but it came with some tropicals already so I thought okay I'll buy this now and keep looking for another for the goldy's. The 4ft I bought had a geophagus brasillies who was a big 7 inch bully, a 3 spot gourami and 2 terrified gold corys. At first I was going to give the corys away as I didn't like them(you never saw them) but my husband said he wanted them and we went out and got a 2ft tank for £15 with everything needed. I gave the geo to a guy at the lfs who had a male and he now has 250+ babies to rehome LOL(I discovered TFF around this time), I kept the 3 spot as she had such a nice personality, added 2 senegalus bichirs, 2 bn plecs and 3 more gouramis(not at the same time obviousley). My husbands 2ft cory tank wasn't to be touched he wouldn't let me add anything to it, despite me telling him they liked to be in larger groups.

I saw a tank for the goldys but after much moaning,measuring & financial calculation we decided we couldn't get it, so I sulked he bought me a 21L hex tank as a consolation, I rescued a betta, it died, I got another betta who was really healthy made bubble nests etc. The I rescued 2 baby panda corys from a tank full of gouramis and put them in the hex tank, with every intention of putting them in the 2ft tank, I just had to convince my husband. I did eventually, then after a few more weeks I added 2 bronze corys who the golds really liked, they liked the pandas but seem to like the bronze more. My betta died for no apparent reason, he'd made a bubble nest only a few days before, no signs of illness nothing, so that tank is now empty. One of the pandas also died for no apparent reason, although it was always a little less active then everybody else so maybe he was just a little weaker. Anyway I rescued a lone bandit cory from the lfs a couple of weeks ago and then just recently added 2 more pandas.

So now I'm on the lookout still for a new tank for the goldys, then the bronze / gold corys can go in their old tank and the 3 pandas and bandit will have the 2ft they are in to themselves. I'm also now looking for another 4ft tank as I think my bichirs are starting to hate each other, so it's either find 1 of them a new tank or a new home

Well that was long winded wasn't it, sorry I tend to waffle sometimes

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I've always loved fish since as long as i can remember, and always wanted fish for as long as i can remember. But i wasn't probably able to take up fishkeeping until i had moved out of home- when i was at school, a friend once gave me a goldfish in a bowl they didn't want anymore.
I really had little idea about keeping fish back then, everyone assured me that the goldfish was fine in a bowl so thats where i kept it- my mum and brother ended up killing it one day though when they over-fed it (kept on asking them not to feed it), so that was the end of little spliff the goldfish. I did want to give it a better life as even back then with my 0 knowledge on fishkeeping i was sure that it would be happier in something larger than a bowl which was probably only about 2litres, but my mother wouldn't let me buy a filter or get a larger bowl or anything like that for the goldfish (she said she didn't want it taking up loads of space, which was hardly the case or going to be the case either way ).
So yeah, i don't really consider spliff the goldfish much of a fishkeeping experience back then, i actually found it very heartbreaking as everyone kept on feeding it while my back was turned and it ended up dying of dropsy brought on by constipation from over-feeding. I looked after it to the best of my abilities back then, but due to my lack of knowledge and lack of ability to get much for the goldfish, i didn't look after it that well.

So when i finally moved out of home years later and was a lot more independant, i was positive that i would get back into fishkeeping and i would look after fish a lot better and do as much research as posible. I still made mistakes from going on poor petshop advice at the start, and to be honest i didn't really start learning much decent information on fishkeeping until i went online to do my research, but now days i know so much more about fishkeeping than i did back in the days of spliff the goldfish and i would say that i look after my fish very well now days and also take enjoyment from knowing that they are well-cared for and happy too . It took quite a few more years though until i got back into goldfish keeping (they are some of my fav fish), but i can say now that my goldfish are well cared for and happy and that no one feeds them unless they have my supervision .

 

[lilfishie]

Got a gold fish when i was 5, then when i was 7/8 we got a 3ft tropical tank, and i fell in love of course i had to pick all the fishlol never looked back since and hoping to get another tank for my 16th

 

[*blacksnapemoor*]

well went to fish store an bought snape(my blackmoor wich i sadly lost due to stupid equipment about 4 months after i bought him) an fell in love i got a lil bowl for him an worried so much that my whold life revoled around snape then as got gillmo(veitial goldie) and fell in love now i have a biggest tank of 170 litters and a betta i am totally addicted

 

[emmsy]

Being a vet, it's kind of in the job description. I have kept fish all my life, and so did my parents. I have a passion for any animal or invert, it's all I've been interested in.


Emma

 

[shroob]

I keep fish cos the puppies kept drowning in the tank.



But on a serious note, my first tank was a birthday present and its gone on from there.

 

[PrettyLittleLamb]

My daughter and I recently moved into a new house and I decided that it'd be great for us to have a pet. The landlords aren't happy with us having anything furry so I bought fish instead and it has just escalated from there. Started with a 70 litre and 2 months down the line I'm after a 240 litre

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Well my folks had fish for years when i was a kid. I'd sit on the sofa mesmerized by them and often sending me too sleep. Eventually i got a place of my own and out of the blue my misses got me an aqua 620t for xmas. I had no idea that was coming and i havent looked back since-I wish i'd started earlier in my life as i cant imagine not keeping fish now-its taken over my life.

 

[kj23502]

I've always been around fish...either catching them(fishing) or keeping them in tanks. I remember back into my childhood having an octagon tank w/neon tetra's in it!! I've had fish since probably about late elementary school...I'm 25 now. Of course, when I was that little my mom helped me w/them. For awhile I had 10g then 29 and now I have a 125 gallon w/african cichlids and a 29 gallon. I haven't decided if I want to keep my 29 to raise cichlid fry or if I want to turn it into a South American Puffer tank?

I def. want to do saltwater some day and as well as have some freshwater stingrays. Been joking w/my hubby that i need a fish room !!! He has his gun room so why not??!!

 

[Gillymore]

Because my son wanted to keep tropical fish.

 

[tibby25731]

It was kind of a whim.... We were meant to be buying a new cooker from a retail park but my husband said, lets go in Pets at Home. I didn't want to and said there was no point as we didn't have a pet, then he said well maybe you could get a fish.... From getting a bowl for a goldfish, we ended up buying a 60 litre tropical setup and then making lots of mistakes - but luckily I found this site! Since buying that first tank at the end of January, I now also have a 4ft tank with a 2ft tank underneath it! And when my house gets extended I fully intend to have more tanks... have become a little obsessive...

 

[Darkstar]

According to my parents, even from day one I've always been obsessed with water and what's in it...I couldn't even walk past a puddle without checking to see if something was living in it.

 

[Scotty001]

I started keeping fish because one day me and the better half (She made me say that) went to the pet shop to get a £5 bag of cat food, then she saw the guppy's and said "ohh they're pretty i want some of those"

1hr later and £150 less cash in (MY) pocket she walked out the door with the cat food and i came out dragging a 60L fish tank / stand and all the stuff needed to start it up.

within 2 months she no longer wants or likes "the pretty guppies" and is not interested in fish but i decided to go out and buy a 165 ltr then a month later we got her mum a 125 ltr and I just just got another 2x 112 litre's

And all because she thought the guppies were pretty.

Now she wants a hampster.......... I'm hoping she doesn't get one as i know who will end up looking after it and end up getting bigger and bigger habitats.