Well the first fishes would have been goldfish from the fair
even then as a 6year old I knew it was cruel but had no idea on anything and neither did the family. In a bowl of tapwater for as long as they survived and when they died it was 'because they were from the fair' Really is a disgraceful treatment of animals!
Saying that, first fishtank I got was for my 11th birthday (wasn't much of an improvement, fish welfare-wise!
but again ignorance is certainly not bliss!) I had something like 2 shubumpkins, 2 goldfish a pearl (?) and an oranda. Dunno what size the tank was, possibly in the 30 litre range (shocking I know!) but it got the water treatment and changes and as much care as we knew how to give. Then we got a 3ft tank (not sure on volume) for Tropicals and kept a community of tetras and over the years had either a betta or a pair of angels etc.
Coldwater fish went into a Pond, got a pair of Axolotls in another 3 footer.. then a big taller tank for mollies/platies and then they all got chucked but the tropical tank, which my brother took for his house as we moved away from my hometown
(by then the Axolotls had died, were about 8 years old when they both went (within a month of each other thereabouts)). He took the pondfish for his much larger pond. Four years pass without owning any fish and then we're back in Wigan and I go and order 2 tanks within weeks of each other
Cannot wait to get them set up and stocked!
Sorry for the fish-orientated life story
lol.. I don't know what it is about keeping fish that is so captivating, its exciting and calming at the same time - all about watching them discovery their little world and how they go about it. Funny thing now is remembering what my old tanks looked like, novelty ornaments and any heater or filter will do as long as its turned on
(not that there is anything wrong with ornaments and novelty items, each to their own!
) but my whole opinion of what makes a nice tank has shifted and its mainly thanks to spending hours on this forum and searching the net for images of aquascaped tanks that inspires you, you creative bunch!