The direction of the aquarium hobby

Seems that people have forgotten where they came from? We did not all wake up one morning with a tank in our living room and all the knowledge that went with it. We all started from somewhere, It’s not about how many tanks we have, how many fish we have breed and sure not about all the money that we have all made. It’s all started because we feel in love with the hobby and it seems like we have all forgotten that. For me it all started at the age of 9, my Parents had tanks. They were nothing special, but give us something to do together and help me forge a better relationship with my father. After he passed away I went and got a fish tank, because I wanted to reconnect with my past. We did not have all the answers; went to LFS and asked allot questions, watch YouTube, purchased an aquarium dummy guide and went on road trips to see what others were doing. Most people where open to helping and other acted as if we were out to take over there aquariums. We tried to take a little something positive from every one we came in contact with and head home to try it out. Pain or pleasure feast or famine, I did my best to figure it out.

Until that one after noon we went over to meet Jon and Jan Miller. We went there just to stop over say hi and see his fish room. Figured we would be in and out in less than 15 min. Boy was I wrong, Jon and Jan took us to each of their tanks explained everything in full details and provided us with enough information to fill a book and that 15 minutes turned into 4 hours. Still to this day I talk to Jon and Jan weekly and they have become more then fish folk, but very important part of our family. That is what make this hobby what it should be about helping one another, because the last time I checked there was no popularity contest that goes along with fish keeping. Promoting the hobby in a positive productive manner helps to keep this hobby alive, and I feel we need to go back to basic with our self’s and with helping others grow in our community. It’s time to give something back, time to start helping others, inspiring others and getting involved in the community; Building those memories for the next generation of hobbyist.

With that being said, why did you get into this hobby? Who was your major influence, and what did they do to help you out? For most of us this hobby is something that is completely opposite of what they do for a living. What drives you to still keep an aquarium?

Please note that this is not directed at any one person or any group. Just something I felt needed to be said.

Nice read!  

   I kept some fish when I was in high school, Oscars, Dempsey's and a big piranha. Then high school ended life hit, and I went into the Navy.   Fast forward 30+ years later and about 4 years ago someone left a 40 gallon tank at work with the stand for the taking.   So I got the tank set up and cycled then the family went to Pet smart and picked out some pretty fish for the tank without a clue of what we were buying, and of course the ignorant person at pet smart didn't have a clue either.    Once the fish started killing each other I started doing research found forums and the rest is history!  40gal to a 46 to 110 then a 160 to end with a 240.   I honestly never thought I would be keeping Tropheus, but that's one thing with this hobby it can take you in so many directions.  Large fish, small fish or all plus the multiple tank syndrome, which has not hit me.  

As far as where it might go I am not sure yet, life can throw curveballs at you, then sometimes throw a whole bunch of curveballs at you all at once. We take it one day at a time and see where it goes and for "me" what the Lord has planned my family and I..

Again nice thread started!

Wow!

Um, one day my boss was like I have a fish tank, want it? Never thought about aquatics up to then. He said it was a 50g, I spontaneously accepted. Twas a 56 g acrylic saltwater set up. I learned everything about plumbing, freshwater fish for the next two years from Clark & Jesse at Pet Pourri in Everett. They would catch me peering under their tanks learning how to plump sumps, lifting hoods to check out lighting. Twas good times!

My oldest son started keeping fish. Now my youngest is grabbing ahold of the algae scrapper and cleaning glass . NeatO!

I was first introduced into this hobby when my mom bought me a betta when I was 4 years old. It was my first pet ever, and I fell in love with him! Soon after my betta had passed away, my dad got me a 20 gallon tank and we kept goldfish (Red Capped Orandas and Ryukins) for several years. It was more my dad's tank than mine, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

After that, there was a dry spell and I didn't keep any fish during my middleschool/high school years... and then I went back into the hobby when I was in college, while I was in the Philippines. That lasted for the entire duration I stayed in the Philippines, and then it kinda died back down after I came back to Washington.

Then I started back into the hobby, stronger than ever, about two years ago when I finally ventured out of my parent's grasps. I could finally get as many tanks as I wanted, and whatever fish I wanted without my parents influence LOL... and I've been hooked, ever since

When I was little my Aunt had a 55 gal tank that I loved! But my passion for aquariums didn't really take off till recently when I found out about planted aquariums. The science of growing plants and the relationship between the fish and plants has always been interesting to me. I did have a rough start though, I got lots of bad information from my LFS and killed lots of plants  

I was a teenager when I got my first tank.  Of course I ended up with cichlids...a beautiful angelfish that just kept growing and growning.  I had guppies in the tank and a tiger barb.  My tiger barb was being so naughty I decided to take it to the local fish store.  On the way out of the driveway my jar with the fish in it tipped over, I leaned down to pick up the fish and jar and ended up driving through my neighbors yard and wiping out their mailbox.  Suffice to say...I shut down my tank and didn't get another tank for quite a few years.

Fast forward about 10 years and I was married to John.  He and I set up a couple of tanks...a 55G which we thought was a huge tank and a 20G tank.  Again...cichlids and a mixed community tank.  We loved those tanks.  Moving a few years later brought us to Washington State and here we simply didn't think about the fish for many years as we were busy raising chickens, rabbits, cows and other assorted animals.  Moving to town brought us full circle..we are back in the hobby and enjoying it more than ever.

I got a 10 gallon tank for Christmas one years as a request. I must have been about 12. It had the usual assortment of el cheapo fish. Our guppies were feeders. We had black mollies and platties and an angel fish. We had no idea of the nitrogen cycle (1967 or so) so we would take the whole tank down and clean it every week or so. Poor fish. Tank was broken with a broomstick accidentally and didn't have a tank again for years. Got a small tank in the 70s but that went nowhere. In the mid 80s I picked up a 29 and got my first fire eel along with a blue and an opaline gourami. I bred them and just got a kick out of it. (They are the same species.) Took a couple of year break while I was out of town and have since bred discus (don't have any now but I have a planted 55 that is ready for some when I can afford it) and other fish. I just recently got into Africans and have a yellow lab who is his own uncle (older brood). His mother was his grandmother. Had those genes around for 10 years but just started studying all of the variety in the rift lakes.

It started when I was 10, a friend got a ten gallon tank with tiger barbs and liverbearers. I'd spend hours watching it. He moved when we were 11, and got a 55 gallon with angelfish. At the time we thought it was a HUGE tank. The angels hooked him totally, so I asked for a tank and on my 12th birthday I got a 20 show tank. The rest as they say is history.

My wife made me get into the hobby. Sort of. Last year about this time, she asked for a Betta bowl for Christmas, which I really, really didn't want to do. One more thing to take care of around here. So as it was, I was doing some Christmas shopping at a Petco for the wiener dogs and decided the old axiom is true, happy wife = happy life. We already have enough animals to stock a second Ark, what's one more in the grand scheme of it? Off to the fish section I went. As I was looking at various Betta bowls and tanks, I noticed they were selling 10 gallon setups for $40, just a few dollars more than most Betta setups I was looking at. I decided that a 10 gallon with more fish and space would be more interesting than a single Betta sitting in a bowl. I picked up the 10 gallon and a $20 gift card, thinking that would be enough to get the tank up and running (ha.....ha......ohhhhh............).

Christmas came and my wife loved the tank. It was a completely unexpectd gift, as the last word from me on it was something to the effect of "No freaking way". What came next was pretty much what I expected was going to happen. It was up to me to figure out how to get the thing up and running, hopefully with some degree of success. So I spent a lot of time watching how-tos on YouTube, and reading various articles on fish keeping. I was getting into it, and looking forward to getting the tank set up. Eventually we got the tank running and stocked with little fishies.

By default I became the principal fish tank keeper, but that was okay with me. I continued to watch YouTube videos, and stumbled upon Dustin's Fish Tanks. That guy has a lot of informative videos and his enthusiasm for the hobby wore off on me a bit. So just a few months after getting the 10 gallon setup, I was on the hunt for a larger tank to try a planted setup. What was once something I dreaded was now something "I" wanted to do, and here we are now with me browsing fish forums and taking care of two freshwater tanks in the living room. My 3-month old daughter loves looking at the fish tank, so I think they are here to stay.

I don't recall how exactly we got the fish. Whether I asked or parents bought as a gift. I think I got my first betta in Jan 2000. Only survived like a month (he was white and I named him Cloud, lol), but then we got a new one. My brother also had one in a 2 gallon (named Rainbow). Rainbow lived a few years as I recall. I ended up with many other bettas over the years, even having up to 6 males at one time. I lost my last one this past year to columnaris. I want to get a new male, but I don't have the space or proper setup for one at this point.

Not sure what year my parents bought a 5 gallon for us, but I remember having African Dwarf Frogs, Zebra Danios, and Blue Longfin Danios. In summer 2002 we went on vacation - sent the bettas in their small tanks to my relatives (we probably only had 2 bettas at that time) and I'm assuming the danios were in a big jar or something, as the tank was still at home. When we got home, there was something floating in the 5 gallon... thought it was snail eggs or something but turned out to be danio eggs! I remember trying to count them, especially once we figured out they were fry. Gave some to relatives and kept a few. Two of them lived for 9 years and terrible conditions. We're talking minimal water changes, minimal feeding, filter system not really in existence (was UGF). It just basically had a lot of nitrates, but it was and stayed cycled as I recall.

After starting work at Petsmart in 2008, I bought a 29 gallon starter kit at the end of the year. I still have that tank. In middle of 2009 I purchased the 36 gallon ensemble because it was like $70 on clearance. Bought the 10 gallon from my best friend in 2011 I think.

I didn't really have anybody that encouraged the aquarium keeping. I think it was mostly stemmed by the fact the only pets I could keep were fish besides my dog (who was not an inside dog except for the garage). So I guess it was my dad that encouraged this growth because he was the one that restricted me. I'm very thankful though as I absolutely love my fish and keeping them.

I actually was born with a large aquarium in my living room.My mom says it was a 100 gallon.
That tank had american cichlids in it for years,along with a large Pleco. when I turned 11,My mom got me my own tank. I kept a convict,and a JD in there for  quite sometime. The JD outlived the convict by a couple years or so.  During those years,I added 2 Cobalt Zebras.I didn't know anything about keeping africans,and was lucky they survived together,just the two of them with the JD  for so long.Eventually my long time wet pet JD(named Kane) passed of old age. I kept the Zebras but eventually got out of keeping fish for about 5 years.During  this time I met the woman who would eventually become my wife.I had told her about my desire to someday keep fish again.One day after work,I came home to a 10 gallon tank,with a piece of decor,and a pet store gift card.Awe how sweet. I told her she opened up a can of worms,but she had no idea the size of the can.  That ten gallon now acts as my fry tank,and I now have 3 large aquariums,all housing my beloved Malawi Cichlids. I am addicted,and she reminds me of that from time to time.Then I remind her,she started it!!

Wow I feel bad... My story isnt near as neat as everyone else... When I was 22 I went to the Seattle aquarium... been stuck on fish ever since... well and chickens...

Chiisai wrote:Wow I feel bad... My story isnt near as neat as everyone else... When I was 22 I went to the Seattle aquarium... been stuck on fish ever since... well and chickens...

CHICKENS, WT? lol

Chiisai wrote:Wow I feel bad... My story isnt near as neat as everyone else... When I was 22 I went to the Seattle aquarium... been stuck on fish ever since... well and chickens...

Nothing wrong with that! Any way to get started is a good way!

I was born and lived in Virginia most of my life. My Mom was from a very small town in Arkansas, so we would go there for 2 weeks in the summer and stay with my Aunt. She had her own business and office. When I was 10 we were there and I went to her office with her one day and fell in love with her old battery jar with some plants and some guppies in it. Every day I would go in for a little while just to watch the fish.  

When we leaving for home on that visit she came out to the car with a battery jar with some plants (elodea, I think) and a few guppies for me to take home. The drive was 24 hours straight through back then, and I got them home without a problem.  That was the beginning of a great love affair for me.

Watching the birth of baby guppies was an event of sheer magic for me.  Watching the development of snail embryos in a little gel-patch on the side of the glass was my earliest lesson in embryology. 

And it is no different today!  This hobby has brought much joy into my life.

my mom used to replace the tv with a fish tank every few months when she thought we were spending to much time in front of it, now 20 years later the tv is just background noise while I watch my fish for hours.

I started with a 10 gallon tank about 20 years ago but I just couldn't make a fish stay alive for anything. I grew to care little for my fish because they always died on me. Then someone suggested I go with a larger tank and I got my 55 bow-front, it's been smooth sailing ever since. I have had a red-terror (Greta) in there for about 14 years. In my 40 gallon I have two Oscars (The Twins), and I also have a 10 gallon again with a blue cichlid (Stella) that's been with me for going on 10 years.

master chi wrote: I told her she opened up a can of worms,but she had no idea the size of the can.  That ten gallon now acts as my fry tank,and I now have 3 large aquariums,all housing my beloved Malawi Cichlids. I am addicted,and she reminds me of that from time to time.Then I remind her,she started it!!

Just 3? My wife would love for me to go down to 3 tanks... how big are the 3?

A 6 foot 75, a 55,and a 40!! Wifey approved me to go ahead with plans for a fish room too. I'm a while from starting that up, but when it's done I wanna challenge Madness to see who has the most tanks/ species LOL, JK, sorta!!

master chi wrote:A 6 foot 75, a 55,and a 40!! Wifey approved me to go ahead with plans for a fish room too. I'm a while from starting that up, but when it's done I wanna challenge Madness to see who has the most tanks/ species LOL, JK, sorta!!

sheesh.. I have 6 55s alone

master chi wrote:A 6 foot 75, a 55,and a 40!! Wifey approved me to go ahead with plans for a fish room too. I'm a while from starting that up, but when it's done I wanna challenge Madness to see who has the most tanks/ species LOL, JK, sorta!!

LOL  Hopefully by the time you are done with yours, I will have my new fish room up and running. (but thats a couple years out for me)

Ok my turn.

You see doc it all started when I was 7.

Seriously it did. My dad always had a tank up and running. He went through a lot of fish, now I know why. More on that later. My dad built a little room/closet to encompass the entire 40gal tall tank. He went through Angels, Tetras, he even tried Killie's, they always died. Reason is he never did water changes, NEVER!!!!

Fast forward to when I was 19 and moved out on my own. I purchased a 55 gal and had it in my room, I have always been fascinated with big Cichlids. I had a RD, Black Shark, Pengasious (probably spelled wrong) Shark, a GT and a Convict. When I moved to my own place (had 2 roommates prior to moving) I purchased a 125 gal so that my fish would have more room. I had this tank until I married at 24. Because this tank was nothing fancy and had concrete blocks as a stand, my wife (now ex wife) wanted something nicer. So we bought a brand new 75 gal. Because i learned how to maintenance my tanks from my dad, (bad idea) I lost all of those fish and then some. After my divorce I couldnt afford any fish for a few years. When I was 30 I set up that 125 and the 75 again, this time learning more about maintenance. I thought that I had it all down, and one day my fish started dropping like flies again. Turns out my son wanted a sunken treasure in my tanks and dropped a pile of pennies and nickles in the back corner. Yea, not good. LOl

Fast forward to when I bought my home here in Puyallup in 2002. I still had the 75 and 125. Then I made a major mistake, and that mistake was visiting APFP (a place for pets) in Burien and meeting Matt. Matt opened my eyes to all the new and wonderful Cichlids that are now available. I soon bought 3 more 55's and another 135.

A couple years go by and I picked up another 135. Then I meet Jeff from Eatonville. Jeff had just moved to Eatonville, from I believe Minnesota, he had this 300 gal Marineland tank full set up, along with a full set up of 2 x 20's and 2 x 40's. All of the smaller tanks were empty, the 300 was housing a beautiful 13" and 7" WC pair of Costa Rican Blue Dovii. That was my first big tank, I bought everything for $1500. That was in 2008 or 9. Since then I have acquired 3 x 300's, a 285, 250, 406, 210, 3 x 5' 120's, 2 x 75 and 10 x 40 breeders.

I blame Matt on my MTS. if there were still just RD's, GT's, JD's and cons I would have never got in so deep.

Not that I am complaining.

YET!!!!!!!

Think I remember Matt. He was the Peacock Bass guy with a 400 gallon tank with Bass & Pike!?

fishNAbowl wrote:Think I remember Matt. He was the Peacock Bass guy with a 400 gallon tank with Bass & Pike!?

Yep, that would be him

Chiisai wrote:

master chi wrote:A 6 foot 75, a 55,and a 40!! Wifey approved me to go ahead with plans for a fish room too. I'm a while from starting that up, but when it's done I wanna challenge Madness to see who has the most tanks/ species LOL, JK, sorta!!

sheesh.. I have 6 55s alone

Yeah. The reason for me getting a future fish room. My wife had no idea the obsession.
It's not just in how many tanks I have,or how many fish are in them. The amount of research I have done,the lengths I've gone to acquire high quality specimens,the abundance of knowledge I've acquired,and often exhibit to family,friends,and fellow fishboxers.
It all adds up to a very passionate aquarist.I'm always telling her about the origin of a certain fish,how they're named,why this one or that one can't be held in the same tank. she now knows more about cichlids than she ever wanted to.
She loves watching them,but I'm the one responsible for their well being.Plus,she doesn't want any more tanks set up in our living areas,so I had to stop at 3. Actually I sneaked the 40gal in.

I built a double stand for my all male tank a while back.with the secret intention of placing the 3rd tank on the lower rack
She was like" so you built that stand,just so you could get another tank without taking up more space,huh?"

       She was cool about it. Then she said "Maybe a room for you to keep as many tanks as you can fit might be a good idea,if you want to add more tanks"

Make sure the room is HUGE! Gives you some room to expand as the MTS progresses.  

So how many stages of MTS do you think there are?

I guess if I had the dough,I could buy a zoo sized aquarium....Oooh!!

I had plans for a monster malawi tank,which included a shoreline,so I could keep Malawi blue crabs.

Anyone who has been to the Point Defiance Aquarium might have an idea or visual there. When you 1st walk in your at ground level,and there is a shore/beach.
As you go further in the walkway takes you to ramps downward along the side of the shoreline,where you become eye level with the water,and there's many smaller fish to see face to face about 6 ft tall here.
going further in it expands to the shark tank,and it's as if your in depths with them. It all seems to be one big tank,with separate viewing depths. Pretty cool for a smaller zoo aquarium,well smaller than Seattle's anyway.
I'd love to do this with a malawi theme,shoreline with crabs,eye level view with mbuna,and peacocks,and then a fully covered deep water section with all the large predator haps swimming in the open.

It started when I help a friend move a 55gal on stand with piranhas (red belly) from liem's aquarium.  That made me want a fish tank.  Went to a LFS in Seattle.  The guy sold me a 20gal and a oscar. Man what a big mistake.  Well I returned him after he got too big for the 20 gal. Then my cousin gave me a 35gal hexagon with community fishes.  Had that aquarium and bearded dragon in 40gal long terrarium. Had fishes till I moved out but had the reptile hobby till I got  married, got 2 kids, and mortgage.  Family didn't like my pet lizards in the house. My lizards passed away of old age (13-15yrs). So I convinced my kids to ask their mom for a fish tank. Bought new 36 bowfront tank with different fishes that didn't belong together (petsmart employee said it was ok, new to the hobby again). NOT. Well my little MTS bug hit me when I bought a 55gal full setup from Craigslist for my africans and 30gal eclipse tank for my first attempt on planted tank.  Well after going around buying african cichlids on Craigslist,  55gal got too crowded. I got a 105gal tank to put the Africans in but the agreement was had to get rid of the 55gal and 30gal eclipse tank. I found Fishbox and started to learn better about the hobby from experience people.  MTS still hit me bought a regular 29gal tank, 10gal tank, and stand that holds both of them. And still had the 36gal bowfront tank. Thats 105gal tank, 36gal bowfront tank, 29gal tank, and 10gal tank. 4 tanks. A month ago gutted out the shelves of the stand of 36gal bowfront tank  on the right side. Put a 10gal in and hid it for a week to cycle. Then put lab frys in, turn on lights, removed the right side door of 5ft stand. Wife got upset oh well. Now I want more but no more room. So now I have 5 tanks, my friends and family thinks im obsessed. Only they knew you guys.

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Told my wife if I had this aquarium I promise to give up all my others.

Chiisai wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Told my wife if I had this aquarium I promise to give up all my others.

You would be broke maintaining that tank.

SiRWesDragon wrote:

Chiisai wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

You would be broke maintaining that tank.

Yeah but I would love every minute of it!!!