# why did you start a tank



## Ziek

just wondering what got everyone into fish. i like them so much because i grew up with them and they aways gave me peace of mind and relaxed me. besides that i'm fascinated by the ocean and all those things we know are there but know so little about. thats why i keep my tanks.


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## Lupin

I started fish since I was 5 years old.:mrgreen: I was mostly fascinated by fish because my father used to have fish himself in a large tank which I now owned after he quitted on fish several years ago.


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## love_my_fish

When I was little, my brother had a tank with neons, an angelfish and a pleco (as far as I recall) and I just loved watching them. I think its just finding them so interesting -- their various sizes, shapes and personalities --- and how they move and interact with their surroundings and other fish that make them so entrancing!

The ability to maintain a little piece of their world is very rewarding.


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## dprUsh83

I started mine because we had oscars as a kid. My Dad didn't have the tank setup for years and going through the basement I found his old tank and grabbed it. It's in my living room now, I'm currently awaiting an upgrade. It's great seeing it up and running, I've always loved having fish (oscars particularly).


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## Rebecca

I got into fish because my sister had a tank, and I thought it looked so fun. Then when I had no pets like hamsters anymore and didn't have room for them even, I decided to get an aquarium.


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## Bristle nose

I first got a fish tank 6 year's ago when i walked in a pet shop and decided that i wanted to start fish keeping so i naged my Dad till he got me a fish tank!


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## Steman

i started out in bettas and then decided i wanted something bigger to look at and then its just got bigger from there. this was 2 or 3 years ago now


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## flatcam1

long time cory fan here.
then i got into plecos and then the big dollars came out LOL :lol: 
i do like the corys though.
i started fish keeping about 2 years ago. ( kind of a beginner ) Then i started to get other tanks and i could get better and more interesting fish.
i still have zoidburg ( my albino cory ) from my very first days.
he was 8cm when we bought him. 2 years later, he is now around 10cm.
i also love the light colour too LOL i dunno why, :lol: no jks.


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## sazzy

had fish all my life my dads influence rubbed off on me!
he used to have marine when i was small, he had 2 lionfish inbetween dividers, then decided to go tropical he has always had peaceful community tanks 

so as the reble i am as soon as i had upgraded my goldfish bowl to tropical i had seperate breeding tanks with guppys(food) and another with siamease fighters, whilst also having a large shoal of angels, red bellied pirana, oscars, anything bigger the better.

i have now only got one tank but it is just a pure catfish sanctuary i have rescued 5 of the 9 i own, so i am trying to learn abit about plecs now.
sarah


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## squiggles

mostly the same as the other posts, had fish when i was a kid, loved the colors and variety. then i didnt have fish for a couple of years. once my husband and i started living together we got a fish tank and so keeping fish kind of became something that we both enjoyed and did together. We're more educated and better equipeed now and our tank collection is only growing (some of our family think we're crazy to have so many) but really i can only see it getting bigger as the years go by! Plus they must not realize that alot of people that get into fish keeping for more then just a passing interest go a little crazy! :lol: my husband likes the whole contained enviroment idea. it's like a whole little chunk of the ocean or river. definitly a cool thing to have.


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## joeshmoe

a wal-mart gift card no lie :lol:


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## Guest

Well my husband and I grew up with fish tanks in our homes and as our children grew we decided to start off with a small tropical tank and its exploded from there. We currently have 5 tanks running now and are planning a 55 gallon saltwater reef come march 2007.


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## Melissa

well i have had a goldfish growing up. then after me and my husband got married we dicided to start a small tank. then one day we saw our neighbors 75 gallon reef tank. so we got a 46 gallon, but had freshwater. then one day we dicided to do saltwater. so from that 46 we wnt to 72 now to our 120. we also have 2 20 gallons one fresh and one salt. what i a say its an addicting hobby.


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## westwind

As kids we use to bring gold fish home when the fair ground
was about in our local park,
then progressed to a larger goldfish tank,
which one night for no apparent reason split on the bottom.
left the hobby,the fish went in the pond (thankfully it was summer)
so there has always been fish about at some time or another.
then around three years ago decided to come back to the hobby,
but try my hand at tropical fish instead of cold.
so here i am.


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## girlofgod

i started because i watched my mother struggle to keep her angels alive in a 10 gallon (a no-no, i know...) and i thought, "i will start keeping fish the right way, and then i will help her get on her feet". so i started with a 10 gallon in august, and i now have the original 10, and a 46 column tank with angels. 

and we both have healthy tanks now. =)


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## MilitantPotato

When I was around 10 years old I visited my dad's friend house one day, he had a 500+ gallon tank full of cichlids and 4+ giant plecs.
He helped me set up a 10 gallon tank and even baught my first fish (guppies.) 

The family hard a ruff time shortly after getting my tank, we spent some time in a shelter, I kept my fish tank running the entire time, I doub't I'd of kept my sanity without that small refuge from the struggle I was in.

13 years later I have 7 tanks running and two in storage and am addicted to plecos, go figure.


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## Jaysn

I've always had pets of some sort, and got a 10 when I was a kid that I had a bunch of guppies and neon tetras in. I brought a catfish fry home from the lake one day, and pretty soon I had a catfish that was too big for the tank and no guppies or tetras. The cat went back into the lake, and I had firebelly newts and fiddler crabs for a while. I went to college and had to get rid of everything, then when I got my own place I started another tank, with more guppies and an african ropefish. He escaped and turned into a fishy dust bunny. I kept just guppies for several years, and then recently got my 55 gal. I got rid of all the guppies too, and put the figure 8 into their tank. Right now in addition to the tanks, my wife and I have two dogs, two cats, and a beehive


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## dprUsh83

A beehive? WOW, send me some fresh honey!!!!


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## mamatoulouse

my mom owned a fish store when i was a kid... i just remember sitting in the room surrounded by big fish tanks of all types of fish.... and at home we always had at least one fish tank in every room in the kitchen some goldfish in the bathroom a betta... she took in all the unwanted impulse buys that people dropped off at the store.
then when i moved away from home i got turtles.. messy buggers... and realized i love crabs and crayfish... they were so interesting in their tanks... they just seemed like the cranky old neighbor..
then i got a 55 gallon tank at a second hand store 85 bucks for the stand lights and tank.. and i got a few koi.. then i found a 46 bow front for 15 bucks and got a few more koi.. i just felt so at peace watching them swim and eat and up root all my plants... and when they got too big i gave the koi to my mom for her out door ponds and started over with babies...
then i got pregnant with my own babies and moved across the country gave away all my fish and the tanks and now i am beginning again....


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## Bluebirdnanny

Brother in laws fault!!!! I used to watch his all the time. They had to move. Not room for multi tanks.... I inherited 5 of his 29 gallons complete!!! And even the fish from two tanks!!!!! He kept his larger salt water tank for the apartment. I got all the freshwaters!!

Ran those for 27 years until divorced and moved here. Only one tank made the move intact through winterizing and finishing the studwall cabin. Got eggs from neighbors pond and hatched 5 goldfish. Then had to get started again. 

Thanks to Buckman, Fishjoey and Calmwaters I started tropical again. Now am trading fry to the ONLY fish store within 2 hours of here!!!! Well not counting Meijer or Walmart (but they don't count as fish stores) and just as far as the LFS anyway.


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## SeaHorse

When I was a kid my brother was allergic to all things fuzzy! Bummer! So baby turtles it was but they were hard to keep in those tiny little turtle pans with the fake palm tree and diving board. OMG!! So the only thing we could have was fish. We got over run with snails and mom axed that too. After that there was nothing in the house pet wise until I had my own place and we had ALL things fuzzy! Hamsters, Guinnea Pigs, Rabbit, Cats, then when we got our first home we got dogs and the 90 Gallon with 3 Oscars, 2 Balla Sharks. We also had a tank of Pirrana as well at one point but the babies kept eating each other till we had one left. Funny how that is!! Many years later we sold the tank completely. Now I am re-married and it's taken many years to slowly upgrade to my 75Gal. 
I am so ready for my pond!!


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## aunt kymmie

My girlfriend was moving to Ohio and didn't want to take her little 6gl with her so she gave it to me. In it was one serpae tetra and an upside down catfish. I went out the next day (okay, this next part is embarassing ) and purchased a tiny pleco, a tiny pictus and three zebra danios and added them to the 6gl. After realizing that I had caught the "fever" I picked up a 100gl shortly thereafter. The pleco, danios and serpae tetra went back to the LFs in exchange for more appropiate fish.
Fast forward to now what is five tanks and some amazing fish. I'm also proud to say that my pictus is alive and well and doing fantastic.


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## stevenjohn21

WOW you really did get "the fever" from a 6gl to a 100gl ! ha ha 

I started because my bedroom dresser "would look good with a small fish tank on top" 16 months later i have 3 Fish tanks in my room and 0 dressers !


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## Plumkin

I always loved fish since a kid i had my own tanks when i was 13 along with leopard geckos , chameleons , chinchillas anything I could find to love really that was exotic, an last year my fiance and me went fishing and he wanted to bring a fish home from the lake which was a tiny fishy and i remembered i had a 10 gallon with filter rocks and everything that i let my mom use which was downstairs and she killed all of my fish  after i had them for so very very long and then let the tank go to crap after i sepnt so much money on it so we used that tank and after that it was all down hill we returned sammy [the lake fish] back to his home once he healed from being caught, cleaned the tank out really well got some mollies , cat fish platties , pleco , algae eater, then a week later upgraded to a 30gal mollies were breeding like crazy then I moved in to my own home saw some great deals on craigslist got 2 75 gallon tanks 2 ten gallons and my 30 gallon now there used to let my angels spawn and grow out with 1 being a community tank that i cant stop adding fish to :x so Ill be getting a 240 gallon tank soon enough and yea every pay check at-least 200 goes to my fish and I will love fish keeping forever its a great CLEAN healthy hobby Its helped keep me clean from anything.


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## Romad

Plumkin - you got it bad  Sadly, most of us can relate.


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## 1077

When I was about four or five, my grandfather took me to collect, (seine)bait from a creek to use while fishing.( Crayfish,bluegill,chub minnows). He placed them in a horse trough under a willow tree to keep them cool and I spent hours bent over the tank watching the fishes,crayfish.
Got my first aquarium around the age of sixteen and little has changed it seems. I still spend hours sitting in front of the tanks observing the fishes. :lol:


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## iamgray

I started keeping fish by accident. We got a free decorative fish tank with an office supply order at work. It was never meant for real fish; it came with fake plastic fish that floated around. My friend at work told me to try putting real fish in it, and I, not knowing anything about fish, did it.

There was a lot of death in that tank. When I was down to one surviving fish, I started looking for a proper fish tank, which is when another friend told me she had a complete 10g tank sitting in her garage that I could have. So that fish got a new home, and that's when I learned about cycling so she was alone for quite awhile in that 10g. 

Aaaaaaaaand just under 2 months after that, I bought a 67g tank for home.

The work tank now has a couple of dwarf pea puffers and some neons along with an oto. I know I'm asking for trouble by having the neons in there with the puffers... I have been thinking of bringing the neons home, freeing up some space in the tank to add a couple more otos.

The home tank has angels, mollies, harlequin rasboras, yoyo loaches, honey gouramis, guppies, and a bristlenose pleco.

I'm always trying to figure out where I can put another fish tank in my house... but sadly, i don't think it's possible.


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## Plumkin

Romad said:


> Plumkin - you got it bad  Sadly, most of us can relate.




i also have a tank at my moms house lol because i ran out of room here :X i need help O_O:lol:


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## dfbiggs

I believe my mom got me started as an enfant..lol she got me addicted...then I passed the addiction to my husband...and it's soon to be passed to someone new..


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## LasColinasCichlids

I have always been a huge animal lover since I was a young girl. My father always was bringing in random pets, my mom would throw a fit, and the pet would have to leave. So when I was 4 my dad got a big fish tank, i think it was a 55 or 75 gallon, and put it in the dinning room...a few weeks later my dad got me my first fish, an Oscar...I named him Oscar, not because of his species, but because my grandma's best friend's son's name was Oscar, and I had a crush on him, lol. 

Ever since that Oscar I have kept fish around...until I moved out at 19 and could NOT afford it. So I did the betta thing. Sadly, having multiple cats and a betta in a small apt was asking for trouble. A few years later my boyfriend and I set up a 10 gallon...after the first set of fish all died, I decided to break the tank down. Turned the tank into a mouse house and bought a peach/orange colored fancy male mouse I named Cheeto. I kept him for a few months, then the economy started to get rough, so I sold him to a good home and decided to just keep it my dog and my cat for a couple of years. After we moved to our new apartment last year, my hubby got me a 29 gallon fish tank...then two weeks later, I bought my 5 gallon. Now I am slowly working on showing my hubby how badly I need a 60 gallon for the dinning room!!! 

Also, I will be getting a 10 gallon in May to upgrade the 5 to.


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## GwenInNM

Great question. I had lived in Southern California for many, many years and now live in the desert. I really miss the ocean, so I thought this was a way to have water and peace in my home. I also have been working on a portfolio since October to move to a higher level of pay as a School Counselor, and have spent so much time on my weekends working on it, that this was my "treat" to reward myself, for the hard work. By the way, passed all sections but one, and today re-submitted that section - cross your fingers for me!!! With more money, I can justify treating myself to this hobby :-D

Never had fish as a kid, but love animals, and grew up with all sort of creatures, from a monkey, horses and now have 2 dogs, 2 rabbits and 2 ferrets, and of course, fish.

Gwen


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## Guppie luver

Ok lets see I started from my dad he had goldfish when he was little and so when I won a goldfish from a fair my dad went out and got me a 20 gal. and he got me 2 more and they lived for years until I tried to clean it was put dish soap in it an dthey all died then I would keep my goldfish in little pots they alwasy had a name and they would die because that had no filter and I have always had pets 2 cats then 1 died so we got 2 more now I have 3 and then 3 christmases ago I got a 1.5 gal tank with 2 glofish because I loved them then I added #3 and then they all died. Then my mom said that if I looked all the stuff up then she would get bigger tank and so for my b-day I got a 20 gal then I let it run for a day or so and got some guppies from a friend and all but 2 died so I let it run and then after about 3 weeks I got 3 more guppies 1 died because I only got 1 female and 2 males so she died then I went back and got 2 more females and then they had fry lots of them and then I got 3 glofish and they were fine then after I got my 100 in the spring my first 2 guppies died and 1 glofish died and now I have a 100 with guppies being born evrey day and in my 20 I have my Blueberry male guppy with them and he was sick so he was in a 1.5 all that I had and today I put him in the 20 so soon he will goto the 100 with the 6 zebra danios and 1 glofish so thats how it all started ya that was long!


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## SeaHorse

In case no one caught it.... Congratulations dfbiggs on the new fry!! When are you due? Woohoo!!


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## dfbiggs

Jakiebabie said:


> In case no one caught it.... Congratulations dfbiggs on the new fry!! When are you due? Woohoo!!


Thanks! Which fry? I had discus babies, red cherry shrimp babies and I am master of getting snails to have babies.. The shrimp are definately the cutest..


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## SeaHorse

dfbiggs said:


> I believe my mom got me started as an enfant..lol she got me addicted...then I passed the addiction to my husband...and it's soon to be passed to someone new..


You said it's soon to be "passed to someone new"... Does that mean you are having a little one?


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## dfbiggs

Jakiebabie said:


> You said it's soon to be "passed to someone new"... Does that mean you are having a little one?


 
:lol: not exactly. It means I talk so much about keeping aquariums to some friends and they are bound to get hooked. No human babies here..just animals for me.


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## SeaHorse

Ahhh. My apologies for making the assumption!! Glad you have fish babies at least. lol


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## Neutron

Well, when I was younger my parents always had a huge fish tank with so many different kinds of fish and I was always so fascinated by it.
Two years ago I went to the aquarium store just to have a look and seeing all the bettas in a little cup really made me sad so I brought one home. I still have him and about 6 months ago I decided to buy another betta, and about a week after that I bought another one. I find them so beautiful and relaxing to look at. And it's really rewarding when they build a little bubble nest to let you know they are content! 
So now I am starting up a 10 gallon tank to get some different kinds of fish! It's definitly a great interest of mine and its well worth the effort.


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## aura09

i worked in a fish store lol i knew nothing about them at all at first ! after working there and helping people and doing reserch everyday i became quite the expert cuz i was dealing with them everyday haha for 8 hours  and i got into having tanks for myself as i knew how to take care of them found it quite easier then taking care of fish at work cuz cleaning tanks for 4 or 5 hours everyday sucks!


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## DuskDarkVoid

Hi guys, I'm new here and I thought I would start by posting here =]

I started my aquarium hobby when I was 13. I always loved going to Walmart to check out the fish so I started by getting a 10 gallon started kit with a couple of Gouramis and sharks. By the time I was 14 I had my 10 gallon tank, a 20 gallon tank, and a 60 gallon tank in my room. It was a circus in my room because I would always be messing with the tanks and changing them and whatnot. When I turned 15 my family moved and I couldn't take my tank with me so I had to give my fish and tanks away :blueworry: 

Now I'm 19 and for my birthday my fiancee got me a 10 gallon tank :-D
So now I am starting up again and I hope to get a bigger tank soon.


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## kalae

When I was little I allways loved going to the aquarium and looking at the fishies!! I begged my mum for a fish, and the addiction began 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Tomsk

Why did I start a tank?..
..because I had nowhere else to keep my fish! 

Seriously,I have always likes fish tanks (my parents had one when I was small) then a couple of years ago I decided to have on myself (especially after seeing all of the nice aquascaped tanks).Im setting up tank number 6 at the moment :-D.
Tomsk


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