Seeing the thread about a book got me to thinking.
I believe we did this years ago but lets start again!
How did you get into the hobby!
I believe we did this years ago but lets start again!
How did you get into the hobby!
My parents always had 1 or 2 tanks going. Only 10 gallon tanks but they were huge to me.
I can remember them at least to when I was like 5. yes that's many years ago.
Dad always had live bearers and angels.
Of course one of the tanks had a diver in it. Had to have that.
About 5 miles from our house was Shacklford's tropical fish farm. Yes a fish farm in northern Maryland. It was an old dairy barn that was huge. It was filled with tanks and vats. Fish everywhere. As a kid I loved that place. It closed in the 70's or 80's. I still have to look over at that barn when I drive by today.
Anyway by the time I was 12 or so I had my own tank next to my bed. It exploded from there when I got my own place.
I can remember them at least to when I was like 5. yes that's many years ago.
Dad always had live bearers and angels.
Of course one of the tanks had a diver in it. Had to have that.
About 5 miles from our house was Shacklford's tropical fish farm. Yes a fish farm in northern Maryland. It was an old dairy barn that was huge. It was filled with tanks and vats. Fish everywhere. As a kid I loved that place. It closed in the 70's or 80's. I still have to look over at that barn when I drive by today.
Anyway by the time I was 12 or so I had my own tank next to my bed. It exploded from there when I got my own place.
My brother-in-law had a "Cheech and Chong" tank. I liked the idea, but preferred to be able to see the fish in the tank. Started with a 30 gallon, in 1975. Eventually got into cichlids (Other than angels) in 2014. Only have two tanks because my better half keeps me from turning our house into a 5,000 gallon tank.
Termato
Board of Directors
I was probably 8 or 9 years old at this point. My parents went out and bought a 75G tank. We went to the old fish store that was in Layhill at the corner of Bel Pre and Layhill. I don't think that store exists anymore. We picked up a bunch of tetras and some angelfish and set the tank up.
The problem was they didn't research on how to properly keep a tank. My parents would take the fish out of the tank, perform a 90% water change while completely disturbing the substrate, and then fill it back up again. They cleaned the filter with chlorinated water and it re-started the cycle every time. After a few months of this, my parents got tired of of the tank and got rid of it. I was sad about that because I really enjoyed the tank. I always felt that they hadn't been doing it right at the time, but I was too young to know better.
When I was in college, I went to the PetCo next to my house and I found myself in the fish section. I was instantly reminded of that 75G we used to have. They were having a sale for starter kits and out of nowhere I felt compelled to get one. I ended up buying a 10G starter kit (which I still have) and I set it up at my apartment. This time, having remembered what my parents went through, I did some research
hahah. Two months later, I bought myself a 29G for my birthday and then it just started snowballing from there.
The problem was they didn't research on how to properly keep a tank. My parents would take the fish out of the tank, perform a 90% water change while completely disturbing the substrate, and then fill it back up again. They cleaned the filter with chlorinated water and it re-started the cycle every time. After a few months of this, my parents got tired of of the tank and got rid of it. I was sad about that because I really enjoyed the tank. I always felt that they hadn't been doing it right at the time, but I was too young to know better.
When I was in college, I went to the PetCo next to my house and I found myself in the fish section. I was instantly reminded of that 75G we used to have. They were having a sale for starter kits and out of nowhere I felt compelled to get one. I ended up buying a 10G starter kit (which I still have) and I set it up at my apartment. This time, having remembered what my parents went through, I did some research
hahah. Two months later, I bought myself a 29G for my birthday and then it just started snowballing from there.Hard to pinpoint what got me into fish keeping but all of my first tanks as a kid were native tanks. I would walk to the park almost every day as a kid with a 5 gallon bucket, a fishing rod, rubber boots, and a big net and bring home lots of "critters". My room was always a zoo growing up and my parents were cool enough to tolerate it. Once I got into the idea of tropical fish keeping I was probably somewhere around 8 years old and I bought some books and a ten gallon tank with one of those corner sponge filters and an under gravel job. The tank was wildly overstocked with neons, gouramis, a ghost knife, and some African clawed frogs. I remember the tank would get really cloudy and I would put all the fish in buckets and scrub the rocks and plants and squeeze the sponge out in the sink. Lol poor fish.
SRAquatics
CCA Member
My career in the hobby began probably around 4 years old. My dad had been in the air force and spent many deployments in Japan and south korea places where the hobby is alive and well. One day he came home with a 20g high and that tank was just huge to four year old me. I remember it was a planted tank that always had a plethora of tetras, cory cats, and guppies. We had idea about aquarium science so we probably overstocked the heck out of the thing and didnt perform nearly enough waterchanges, ha ha! We had the tank for number of years until we moved in which the fish died during the process.
I believe we restarted it but it was nothing like before. Around 11 years old for christmas my parents asked me to choose between the new x-box and a larger fish tank. Of course I picked the tank! On christmas I woke up to see a beautiful 56 gallon bow front aquarium with a black stand and all the supplies i would need to start the tank. From about 11 to 15 years old the tank was life. I became enamored with learning everything I possibly could about the hobby from water chemistry to ichthyology. It truly was a gorgeous planted tank. Around 15 though when I changed schools other things took a little more priority (girls ha ha) over the tank and so the 20g high went back up and the big one came down.
Moving on a couple years into my sophomore year of undergraduate college I decided I wanted to get really involved again with something I had always loved. I started a 15g in my dorm room and then brought it home eventually as I visited on the weekends. Then I started a 10g breeding codydoras... Then another 10g... Then a 29g... And then in the process of starting a rió ucayali Peruvian biotope I discovered my passion and calling in the hobby I guess you could say: Apistogramma.
I began with apistogramma cacatouides as many apisto nuts frequently do, and now I own and operate a small apistogramma breeding business in a fishroom alley dedicated to apistos. The personality and relative small size captivate me, and the parental care they give is fun to watch. I will with any luck be keeping apistos for the rest of my life, and strive to learn all I can about them. Currently I keep about 10 different species and love every minute of it. I couldn't imagine doing anything else!
I believe we restarted it but it was nothing like before. Around 11 years old for christmas my parents asked me to choose between the new x-box and a larger fish tank. Of course I picked the tank! On christmas I woke up to see a beautiful 56 gallon bow front aquarium with a black stand and all the supplies i would need to start the tank. From about 11 to 15 years old the tank was life. I became enamored with learning everything I possibly could about the hobby from water chemistry to ichthyology. It truly was a gorgeous planted tank. Around 15 though when I changed schools other things took a little more priority (girls ha ha) over the tank and so the 20g high went back up and the big one came down.
Moving on a couple years into my sophomore year of undergraduate college I decided I wanted to get really involved again with something I had always loved. I started a 15g in my dorm room and then brought it home eventually as I visited on the weekends. Then I started a 10g breeding codydoras... Then another 10g... Then a 29g... And then in the process of starting a rió ucayali Peruvian biotope I discovered my passion and calling in the hobby I guess you could say: Apistogramma.
I began with apistogramma cacatouides as many apisto nuts frequently do, and now I own and operate a small apistogramma breeding business in a fishroom alley dedicated to apistos. The personality and relative small size captivate me, and the parental care they give is fun to watch. I will with any luck be keeping apistos for the rest of my life, and strive to learn all I can about them. Currently I keep about 10 different species and love every minute of it. I couldn't imagine doing anything else!
Funny enough I'm visiting my dad this weekend and made a stop at my first LFS in Salisbury md and was shocked to see that it was almost identical to how it looked years ago. The tanks have blue gravel piled high with undergravel filters in every tank in the store. They had live feeders swimming around in the few new world cichlid tanks in the store. They had more gold fish and blood parrots than anything else. This place is literally trapped in time.
rsanz
monster tank newbie
Most people seem to get sucked into this hobby when they are kids. My parents had a tank when I was a kid (maybe 5 or 6). I think it was a 29 gallon with some guppies. It was fun and I enjoyed it from afar, but I never got "into" it when I was that young. Eventually the inhabitants died off and fish-keeping faded into the annals of my childhood memories.
My next encouter with aquaria was when I was 20. The standard story of "I won a feeder goldfish at a carnival" story applies here. Got my new friend a cheapy 2 gallon hex tank with UG filter setup from Petco. After the feeder died due to an uncycled tank, I went to Congressional and got a Dwarf Gourami. He died pretty quickly thereafer as well. At that point, I did some Googling and found out about the nitrogen cycle and learned about how small tanks are often more difficult to keep stable. It was then that I was hooked, and determined to keep a fish alive for more than a week. I went out a got a HUGE 10 gallon tank with it's own dedicated hang on back filter. I even got a heater for it, and an API master test kit! At that point I felt like I was surely set up to succeed.
I began the interminable wait of a fishless cycle. It was definitely tough to wait to not get any fish. Looking at the big empty tank on my dorm room desk, while at the same time all of my dorm buddies asking why I had a fish tank with no fish in it, seriously tested my willpower. But I stood strong. I tried to tell them about the nitrogen cycle and why adding fish now would be certain death, but they got bored of the conversation and switched the topic quickly to something else like the new hot transfer chick down the hall.
Eventually, my test kit showed 0, 0, 5. Could it be that it was ready?! I trusted the process, and went back to Congressional to get another Dwarf Gourami. Much to my delight, he survived past 1 week! Everything was going great until about the 1-month mark, when his belly ballooned up. I panicked, and again back to google! AH, bloat. Off to Giant I went to buy a bag of frozen peas to stuff into my tiny dorm fridge's freezer slot. I spot fed that little gourami frozen peas 4-5 times a day, between classes. And then he died. I was distraught.
Google told me that this was a common ailment for dwarf gouramis, and that if I were to try again it would likely result in a similar fate for the poor fish. At that point, I decided to try other species...and live plants! DIY CO2 reactors, and Eco-Complete, and light upgrades abounded. The rest was just a whirlwind of upgrades and stock changes. At one point I was breeding peacock gudgeons, but after graduating and moving into our house with my then fiance, the fry all died off and the parents did as well.
Fast forward to just about a month ago, when I set up my first monster tank, a standard 6 foot long 125g, to house my baby Oscar who I knew would outgrow my 40g-long river tank when I bought him. With only the 125g running, I'm not as committed as some on here who have entire rooms in their homes dedicated to racks upon racks of fish tanks, but I have always enjoyed my time in the hobby even though I've only ever really gotten ankle deep into it.
My next encouter with aquaria was when I was 20. The standard story of "I won a feeder goldfish at a carnival" story applies here. Got my new friend a cheapy 2 gallon hex tank with UG filter setup from Petco. After the feeder died due to an uncycled tank, I went to Congressional and got a Dwarf Gourami. He died pretty quickly thereafer as well. At that point, I did some Googling and found out about the nitrogen cycle and learned about how small tanks are often more difficult to keep stable. It was then that I was hooked, and determined to keep a fish alive for more than a week. I went out a got a HUGE 10 gallon tank with it's own dedicated hang on back filter. I even got a heater for it, and an API master test kit! At that point I felt like I was surely set up to succeed.
I began the interminable wait of a fishless cycle. It was definitely tough to wait to not get any fish. Looking at the big empty tank on my dorm room desk, while at the same time all of my dorm buddies asking why I had a fish tank with no fish in it, seriously tested my willpower. But I stood strong. I tried to tell them about the nitrogen cycle and why adding fish now would be certain death, but they got bored of the conversation and switched the topic quickly to something else like the new hot transfer chick down the hall.
Eventually, my test kit showed 0, 0, 5. Could it be that it was ready?! I trusted the process, and went back to Congressional to get another Dwarf Gourami. Much to my delight, he survived past 1 week! Everything was going great until about the 1-month mark, when his belly ballooned up. I panicked, and again back to google! AH, bloat. Off to Giant I went to buy a bag of frozen peas to stuff into my tiny dorm fridge's freezer slot. I spot fed that little gourami frozen peas 4-5 times a day, between classes. And then he died. I was distraught.
Google told me that this was a common ailment for dwarf gouramis, and that if I were to try again it would likely result in a similar fate for the poor fish. At that point, I decided to try other species...and live plants! DIY CO2 reactors, and Eco-Complete, and light upgrades abounded. The rest was just a whirlwind of upgrades and stock changes. At one point I was breeding peacock gudgeons, but after graduating and moving into our house with my then fiance, the fry all died off and the parents did as well.
Fast forward to just about a month ago, when I set up my first monster tank, a standard 6 foot long 125g, to house my baby Oscar who I knew would outgrow my 40g-long river tank when I bought him. With only the 125g running, I'm not as committed as some on here who have entire rooms in their homes dedicated to racks upon racks of fish tanks, but I have always enjoyed my time in the hobby even though I've only ever really gotten ankle deep into it.
jonclark96
Past CCA President
My older brother was the one that got me into fish keeping as a kid. I don't remember when he got his first tank, but I wasn't too far behind him. It started with a 10 gallon tank that initially had some tetras and a betta (or rather bettas, as I wasn't that skilled as a young fish keeper). By the time I was 12, I had saved up my allowance and talked my parents into letting me get a really big tank! I set up my new 29 gallon and promptly went out and bought a bunch of fish that I shouldn't have, including an Oscar and a baby arrowana. They didn't last long, but I eventually learned about keeping fish correctly and stopped buying fish that I couldn't house correctly.
I shut down all my tanks when I went to college, but still had the bug to keep something and had set up a tank for a box turtle during my freshman year. I kept mostly reptiles and amphibians during school, but only had a single tank at a time.
Once I graduated, I still had a diamondback terrapin that I had for years, but never set up another fish tank. In 2008, my brother decided to move overseas and asked me if I wanted his 75. I said yes, and that was my springboard to get back into the hobby. Shortly after setting up the tank, I found the CCA and caught MTS.
I shut down all my tanks when I went to college, but still had the bug to keep something and had set up a tank for a box turtle during my freshman year. I kept mostly reptiles and amphibians during school, but only had a single tank at a time.
Once I graduated, I still had a diamondback terrapin that I had for years, but never set up another fish tank. In 2008, my brother decided to move overseas and asked me if I wanted his 75. I said yes, and that was my springboard to get back into the hobby. Shortly after setting up the tank, I found the CCA and caught MTS.
AndyNarwhal
Members
I used to catch minnows and salamanders in the creek behind my house. Got a Hartz Mountain 10 gallon kit from Docktor's Pet to keep them in when my mom got tired of me stealing her mixing bowls to put them in.
Took a few years after that before MTS set in but I was hooked from the first tank.
Took a few years after that before MTS set in but I was hooked from the first tank.
londonloco
Members
Goldfish bowl in elementary school, 10g in college. After marriage and 2 of my 4 kids were born, got back into it w/a 45g high tank which we kept set up for years, mostly tropical, a few times filled it with fancy gold fish, once it was a river tank. 21 years ago we moved to VA, a neighbor was selling his 125g cichlid tank. Bought it, studied the fish he had (most ended up being hybirds)....within 2 years I was up to 16 tanks. I've downsized twice now, I'm up to 7 tanks and looking for one more
Sped89
Members
Dad had a 29 gallon tank as far back as I can remember, 50 plus years ago. I had a small one gallon tank that had guppies in it, when we moved into the cabin I got a 10 gallon tank for my room and dad starting raising fish in the basement.
Over 50 years ago I visited an uncle who had a tank that was way overstocked with the old style guppies. I remember being fascinated with all of the colors of the fish and that and no two male fish looked alike.
Shortly after that, a pet shop opened up in my neighborhood (in Brooklyn) and I bought a fish bowl and a goldfish. I have been keeping fish ever since except for when I was in the army from 1970 - 1973.
Shortly after that, a pet shop opened up in my neighborhood (in Brooklyn) and I bought a fish bowl and a goldfish. I have been keeping fish ever since except for when I was in the army from 1970 - 1973.
dogofwar
CCA Members
When I was in maybe 4th grade, a friend of mine discovered a 10g tank in his basement and told me that he was planning to set it up. I recall fondly remembering a 10g goldfish tank that we had when I was really small and hoping I could find it in the basement. I couldn't but I did find an aquarium book with drawings of hundreds of fish. I must have read that book 1,000 times.
My buddy scraped together a few bucks to set up his 10g and I settled on getting a betta bowl (from my paper route proceeds). We'd ride our bikes to the various LFS after school. For me, one betta turned into 2 bettas and then dozens and hundreds when I learned to breed them.
That Christmas, my parents got me a used 29g set-up. That set-up turned to two set-ups and then a bedroom full of betta bowls, leaky 10gs, etc.
a couple of years later, we were walking through the mall and the local fish club was hosting a fish show. There were hundreds of entries of all species on display on 6' tables. The club encouraged me to enter a couple of fish into the junior class. I brought a divided 10g tank the next morning with my two entries and a bowl with the other...and ended up winning a couple of ribbons (they handed out the ribbons at an award ceremony at the mall...and then held the auction).
Even though he wasn't into fish, my dad started bringing me to monthly meetings and I got involved in BAP, bought a rack of eight 20L tanks and next thing you know our basement was a fishroom My dad and I traveled all over the mid-west going to fish events. It was really wonderful!
Matt
My buddy scraped together a few bucks to set up his 10g and I settled on getting a betta bowl (from my paper route proceeds). We'd ride our bikes to the various LFS after school. For me, one betta turned into 2 bettas and then dozens and hundreds when I learned to breed them.
That Christmas, my parents got me a used 29g set-up. That set-up turned to two set-ups and then a bedroom full of betta bowls, leaky 10gs, etc.
a couple of years later, we were walking through the mall and the local fish club was hosting a fish show. There were hundreds of entries of all species on display on 6' tables. The club encouraged me to enter a couple of fish into the junior class. I brought a divided 10g tank the next morning with my two entries and a bowl with the other...and ended up winning a couple of ribbons (they handed out the ribbons at an award ceremony at the mall...and then held the auction).
Even though he wasn't into fish, my dad started bringing me to monthly meetings and I got involved in BAP, bought a rack of eight 20L tanks and next thing you know our basement was a fishroom
My dad and I traveled all over the mid-west going to fish events. It was really wonderful!Matt
There was a fish store called The Fish Net in Bethesda. I used to go by and see the large piranha in the window tank but inside the store was dark and all the tanks were lit and the effect was mesmerizing. I then saw my first angel fish and that was it I was hooked. Been keeping them on and off since I was about 10. I had an angelfish in a 10 gallon tank almost until his fins went from top to bottom. Life was simpler then.
carl_d_c
Members
Love the stories!!! Takes me back
Some of my earliest memories are of the family goldfish bowl when I was about four, in New Jersey. We had one of the double old laundry sinks in the basement, and would fill up the one side with water, and let the fish go in there while we cleaned the tank in the other side, and then catch them again with our little baby hands (two sisters also)
Somehow, they lived, and prospered!
We moved to Virginia in 1965, on my fifth birthday, always had a fish bowl, and in elementary school, I would spend lots of after school time at Woolworth's and Sears, in the tropical fish department (sometimes, too much time) there were no aquarium shops in Petersburg, and read every book I could find on the subject. Got my first 15 gallon metalframe tank for my 12th birthday.
I've had tanks going to some degree ever since, except while in the Marines, and being a crazy ute . After going a couple of years with only a 3 gallon cube tank, while renovating and selling my old house, I'm back up to 9 1/2 tanks! and enjoying it more that ever! Going with only the small cube helped me to better appreciate the nano fish, and dwarf cichlids.
And it's been great being on this forum, learning from all you great folks, and keeping my hand in it!
Some of my earliest memories are of the family goldfish bowl when I was about four, in New Jersey. We had one of the double old laundry sinks in the basement, and would fill up the one side with water, and let the fish go in there while we cleaned the tank in the other side, and then catch them again with our little baby hands (two sisters also)
Somehow, they lived, and prospered!
We moved to Virginia in 1965, on my fifth birthday, always had a fish bowl, and in elementary school, I would spend lots of after school time at Woolworth's and Sears, in the tropical fish department (sometimes, too much time) there were no aquarium shops in Petersburg, and read every book I could find on the subject. Got my first 15 gallon metalframe tank for my 12th birthday.
I've had tanks going to some degree ever since, except while in the Marines, and being a crazy ute . After going a couple of years with only a 3 gallon cube tank, while renovating and selling my old house, I'm back up to 9 1/2 tanks! and enjoying it more that ever! Going with only the small cube helped me to better appreciate the nano fish, and dwarf cichlids.
And it's been great being on this forum, learning from all you great folks, and keeping my hand in it!
CichlidDan
Members
I got into the hobby when I was about 5, I won a goldfish at the Montgomery county fair had that fish for 8-9 years. I've always had a tank since then but took a "break" in 2008 til 2013 still had bettas in 2 gallon aquariums during this time then in 2013 I got into Africans and now I'm even more addicted to the hobby. Currently thinking of either getting a discus tank or try my first reef.
