I haven't seen one of these threads, and thought it would be something fun to post about.

Do you have a story to tell about what started your interest in fish? Was it a life dream, or did you just happen to win a goldfish at a county fair one time? Did someone give you a betta as a gift, or did you spend countless hours of research before deciding to take the plunge?

Here's my story:

I've had limited experience with fish in my life. My older sister set up a tank with goldfish when I was 7, and I had a betta a few years ago that my younger sister abandoned (it died soon after). However, I didn't get into fishkeeping as a hobby until I got Braveheart.

After the last of my pet rats died, I really missed taking care of someone. I have a cat and a pet bird, but they really don't require a lot of care and their personalities are so independent anyway... My husband, seeing how upset I was about it, suggested we get a betta. After doing some preliminary research, we decided we wanted to get a 1.5 gallon filtered setup rather than a bowl. It wouldn't be fair to the fish to keep it in a tiny little vase, we thought. So we bought the tank and the fish, set everything up, and without further ado dumped the poor male betta (named Bettawulf) into the tank.

24 hours later, he was dead...

I was so crushed, and practically beat myself up over it. How could I have been so stupid?! My husband decided that he wanted to try again, though, so we read as much as we could and got another one. We named him Braveheart, and he adapted to his new home very well!

Then the spiral started. The world of the aquarium hobby began to suck us in, and we were helpless in its grasp...

First we noticed that Braveheart was a bit lethargic, and that the water was cloudy. We read about cycling, and did all we could to encourage it.
We also bought a 5-15 gallon heater. That was when I joined this forum, asking for advice on the cloudy water and other cycling tips. I learned that a 1.5 gallon is hard to cycle, and was advised to get a 5 gallon. I was also worried about the heater boiling my poor baby alive, and so I made my husband rush out in the middle of the night to get a 5-gallon starter kit from Wal-Mart.

With the 5 gallon tank set up, we hastily transferred Braveheart into it. He settled in very well, but after a while he started chewing his tail. After a month of trying various ways to assuade his self-destructive behavior, we concluded that he was lonely, and so we got two female platies...

You can guess what happened from there. He did NOT get along with the girls, and all the stress gave the whole tank ich. We decided to get a 10 gallon tank for the platies, but by the time it was set up both girls had died. With a newly set-up 10 gallon tank and no fish to put in it, we were forced to go and get more from the store.

And here we are. We've come to terms with the fact that we are officially obsessed, because as soon as we get a bigger place we're getting a 40 gallon goldfish tank and a 20 gallon tank for even more platies! Assuming Braveheart is still with us, he just might inherit the 10 gallon tank. Who knows? If he keeps biting his tail, he may just find himself with some non-aggressive tank mates that are large enough to fend him off if need be.

OK, now it's your turn!

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Great story Miss!

Hmm, let's see...
When I was little (8-14, I can't quite remember) I was doing "horribly" in school, as in I was getting B's and not straight A's. To motivate me, I convinced my mother that I needed a fish tank, and so a 25 gallon tank entered my life. It was a great tank, that I had for years, until when I was away at camp one year, mother dearest decided to clean it...with bleach. I lost every single fish in there, including some I'd had for 4 years. I was appropriately angry. To this day, that tank is sitting dry and lonely in a shed.

Sometime before the 25 gallon crashed, we acquired a 1.5 gallon betta tank from someone who'd gotten it, then gotten tired of it. It included my first betta, named Gill Bates (Bill Gates really), and when we noticed an algae problem from leaving the lights on 24/7 (we didn't know better) we got an oto named Steve Jobs. Those two lasted for about 2 years before they passed away, and mother thought that was the end of all this "fish nonsense". Then I got to college.

I have always been one of those people that needs to have something living and growing around them, and so my dorm room was full of plants. But there was just something missing...I needed a pet! I was going to go out and buy a 3-5 gallon tank, but then I was reminded that we had one at home...that little 1.5. Mother wasn't exactly happy at the prospect of me having a fish, but I can be...rather stubborn. I did my research, and decided to give live plants a go, so when I got my first betta Bleach, I also picked up a WalMart pack of plant bulbs. Well, long story short Bleach succumbed to my mom overfeeding him and not doing and water changes on the tank while I was away from it for a week while it was cycling, and the lilly took 3 weeks to grow, but is very pretty.

My next betta came a week after Bleach died, and for lack of a better description or name, he was a Red Dragon, very aggressive and very beautiful. I had him for 8 months, until he tragically died of fungus after I did some deep cleaned his tank. He started off being incredibly aggressive, but after awhile he did accept a small male wild/endler guppy and an amano shrimp as his tankmates. Unfortunately I also lost the guppy, to bloat, and now only have the amano shrimp and a large handful of MTS to populate my tank. This weekend I might get another betta, if fortune smiles on me.

I've been one of those people who really gets into their hobbies, so fishkeeping and I could be a dangerous combo for my wallet! Add into the mix I'm a college student and technically not allowed to have a fishtank at my apartment...It's going to be a fun ride!

Also, I wonder if the apartment manager would notice if I got a small pond? My yard is right outside his back window...hmmm....

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

Your story made me smile and frown at the same time... I was like, "Grr! What an insensitive mother she is!" and then I was like, "Aww, Gill Bates! What a cute name!"

I think I remember Red Dragon... Didn't you post about him a while ago? I'm sorry your other fish died, too... I hope you have better luck with the new betta (if you get him, that is).

lol Yeah, you should dig the pond in the middle of the night and then claim a meteor struck and created a "crater". Then fill it with "rainwater" and... "Oh, look, Mr. Manager! Fish! I wonder how they got there!"

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Prepare for a long block of text:

A friend of mine decided to spontaneously buy fish for three tanks. One of the fish was a spotted bullhead catfish which was not meant to be in a community tank with small fish that could fit in it's mouth. Poor thing was taken out and kept in the smallest container, probably .5 gallons, no water changes, water looked brown/green. (mind you this fish is 3.5 inches) I felt so terrible for it, I bought a tank just for him. When I moved him into the larger home it was so happy that it could actually swim, I also gave him quality foods. In about a day any signs of mistreat were gone.

Not too long after my friend decided to get a rainbow shark and it was aggressive towards her fish. I bought another tank for it, unfortunately, I had no idea it was a jumper, so I found it on the floor. I kept the tank because I had a feeling I would need it.

Now my friend got a Pleco and a Pictus Catfish. SO I bought ANOTHER tank. Pictus had fin rot so I wanted to keep it seperated. Both catfish were not properly fed. I kept those until they lost their concave stomachs and looked healthy and then donated them to my LFS, since I knew my tanks were too small for them in the long run.

My friend had gotten fish I didn't even know about, most who died. After, three Oscars kept in a twenty gallon got stressed and literally busted their way out of the tank, they decided to forget about the hobby.

I kept the spotted bullhead, I never knew what species it was.. no store could ID it for me. It was only after it had passed over 4 years of me keeping it, that I was able to find out. Being my first fish, and having such a personality, I'm fascinated by bullhead catfishes. Taking care of other catfish have made me interested in them as well, being my favorite kind of fish.

In those 4 years I had to move to a smaller apartment because of insufficient income. I sold the other tanks. I found Wild Platys at my LFS that were being given away for free. I had those in a small community tank with the catfish for quite a bit.

I never thought I would cry at the loss of a fish but I did when I lost my catfish.

About a couple months after my catfish died, my apartment literally had been infested by 3 different kinds of insects. One of them being bird mites, which crawled all over me. I could not handle it, I moved my tank returned the Platys, and practically nuked my apartment. I closed down any holes to the outside and as much as I love birds, I stopped letting them make nests near/on my windows.

I was on a one year break from the hobby, I hadn't been to my friends house in a while, I returned happy to see that there were no fish. But when I went to their bathroom. I saw a poor betta fish in a cup there. It disappeared shortly, so my guess is that it didn't last long. My friend moved in with a roomate, and their roomate keeps 5 koi fish in a ten gallon tank with orange water. Obviously not much improvement. I've tried asking to rehome them, but have failed to persuade.

I felt that some fish out there deserve a nice home, so I came here to plan out a new tank, Which I keep 3 Platys and a SA Bumblebee Catfish. Similar set up as before but I'm now using live plants. I also inherited a female betta which is also kept in a planted tank. I don't plan on switching out of planted tanks since I feel it is much more natural and beautiful. But yeah, that's how I got here. That's why I sometimes sound aggressive to others when they overstock/ get fish that are way too big for their tanks. A fish is a living creature and should be treated as such, not treated like a moving decoration.

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Hear, hear, Pigeonfish! :D Well said! I'm sorry to say this, for fear of offending you, but you have some really dumb friends...

I'm surprised you kept that unidentified catfish for four years before learning what it was! You must have had a hard time deciding how to care for it!

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Not offended at all. In fact I haven't been as close to them as before. They are the same in other aspects in their life, so they have turned themselves into a nuisance.

I'll be honest, after rehoming the catfish, it was always healthy. So, I assumed I was doing something right. Always had good foods and when the Platys had fry, that would be it's snack for quite a bit. I had no idea it would grow to 11" so, unfortunately I couldn't keep it alive as long as it should have been alive.

One day I plan to keep some Bullheads again, but I would have to wait until I have room for a pond. :3

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I hope you get to do that soon!

Sounds like he had a happy life. I love happy-ending rehoming stories like yours!

Oh, and the situation with your friends sounds a lot like a couple of people who used to be my friends... Only instead of neglecting fish, they neglect their kids; nothing as bad as the fish situation you described, but I've stopped talking to them because I get so angry whenever I have to be around them. Good luck with convincing them to give up the koi.

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Set up a nice big tank for the kids and maybe you can convince them to rehome.

I enjoyed the other stories so I'm going to share mine.

My first fish was in fact a goldfish won at the fair. Then I was given others that neighbors had won at the same fair. Being about five and goldfish bowls being the norm, they did not get the care and housing I would give them today but I did really like them and try my best. I managed to have enough common sense and scraps of knowledge not to kill my goldfish as quickly as most of my friends did. I did buy a couple of replacement fish over the years from the only pet shop in the area. I looked with awe at the tropical tanks and knew I wanted one of those one day. I frequently went into the shop just to look and plan the stocking list for my imaginary tank. I remember I wanted a neon tetra, an albino cory, a bronze cory, a common pleco and a male and female Siamese fighting fish. I'm glad that I didn't get a tank at that time!

My dad eventually converted an old bathtub into a 'pond' in the garden for me, and my goldfish went into it where they lived happily for several more years.

As a teen I remember climbing a ladder in the stacks at our local library to get to the aquarium books. They were from the time that under-gravel filters were considered the height of technology but I learned a lot.

It was only years later when I was already married I got my first tank. We lived in an apartment in the town. Having grown up in the country with a love of nature and a passion for plants I missed my garden! My husband and I visited a public aquarium and saw our first puffers. It was love at first sight! We soon had an aquarium with F8 puffers and I had my 'garden'. In fact we now have several 'gardens' and I am working on setting up a 90 gallon one. I think you could say we are truly hooked!

Wow, you must have really spent a lot of time taking care of those goldfish! I'm glad they got to go into a pond, though.

Good luck with setting up the 90 gallon! Are you going to keep puffers in that one, too?

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

I didn't really spend all that much time looking after them but by following the scraps of sort of correct information I had and some luck my fish mostly survived. Don't get me wrong, I don't recommend goldfish bowls. The survival of the ones that did had more to do with them being tough fish than anything and I did loose more than one They all lived for at least a year or two, some much longer. I now know that goldfish should live for at least 15 years, none of mine were that old but at least they lived for years rather than days, weeks or months like many.

I knew nothing about the nitrogen cycle or ammonia poisoning but I had been told goldfish will eat until it kills them so I was very careful not to overfeed. The bowl sat on a bright windowsill that got little direct sunlight and I always kept a few stems of Anacharis in the water. I knew that Anacharis produced oxygen but had no idea that it's ability to absorb ammonia was what was really saving my fish, mostly I just had the sense that it was natural for their to be plants in a pond so it must be good in my goldfish bowl too. I did weekly 100% water changes which I don't recommend but under the circumstances was probably a good thing. I knew chlorine would kill fish so I left the water for 24hrs before I used it. I knew those little round goldfish bowls are not good for fish 'because they don't get enough oxygen' so I had a bowl that was about 2 gallons and had straight sides. I now know that a 2 gallon bowl isn't a good home for goldfish either but it could have been worse. It makes me happy to know that some of my fish got retired to the bathtub pond and later a bigger pond.

The 90gallon is going to be for my pumkinseed sunfish so will be a cold water native tank. After my last puffer died I left the tank with no fish for several months, I couldn't bring myself to replace the fish, or to tear down the tank but then I found my pumkinseed sitting on the mud beside a drying up pool and took him in. He is a great fish, bursting with personality. His tank will be empty when he moves up so it might be time for something new, or maybe puffers again.

I've had goldfish before, and a betta or two. Never took it overly seriously. Then my daughter won two goldfish at the local fair, and the kids loved it so much i decided to try and do a little better and get them some more fish, ended up w/ 3 platys from petco...and bought a heater for the 5 gal. Then a friend of mine said hey, heck w/ that 5 gal, here have my 29 gallon and all the fixins. So i took it, threw it together and threw the fish in it and here I am trying to right all the wrongs I've taken in the past 2 weeks.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

Why am I here. Because I love keeping fish, meeting other people with the same likes. And even after 30+ years I still learn something new.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

I...I like it here.

Ok what got me started was a single little boy and girl betta.

Ruto,a very sweet little turquoise girlie was my daughters fish,and Ralis,a very handsome red butterfly boy was mine.I had gotten a ten gallon and divided it for the two.Mrs.Ruto was a naughty girl.She saw a nice sized nest and decided to jump the divider and spawn!

After seeing this I panicked and looked online for some help.Fast forward a few years,and I discovered real underwater treasures,wild type bettas!

No pics of Ralis sadly,but here is a shot of Ruto!

She liked to hang with the shark.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Summer: That sounds like a lot of our stories! Once you get one, others just have a way of gravitating to you, huh? lol

Susankat: Wow, that's a long time to be doing something and still learn from it! That's what I like about fishkeeping; there's always something to learn.

Majerah (oops, I mean Bev!): Ruto and Ralis, like in Zelda? That's cute! :D I can't believe you started out breeding them by accident. And Ruto's so pretty!

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Thanks!Yep like zelda!It was because of them that my grand plan for a wonderful tank is in the planning stages!

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Wow, grand plan? May I be nosey and ask what this wonderful tank is going to be like? Or had you already set it all up?

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Believe it or not my my story started with ny sister's hamster.
See, I have always loved animals especially fish, with my favourite animal being a green moray eel. So I begged my Mom if I could get a fish since my sister got a hamster. My Mother said that I could get a betta in a 5G. As long as I paid for everything. Though when I was ready my Dad took me and I ended up with a 20G. So I bought my first fish Killer the betta. Two days later I bought 3 kuhli loaches.
So now here I am with that tank full of 2 kuhli loaches still. 7 harlequin rasboras. And also 6 glowlight tetras.

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Ha Ha Ha, Ha Ha Ha, Haaa...
I don`t get it

To Future Marine Biologist: That was nice of your dad to upgrade you to a 20 gallon! Your story sounds a bit like how I first got into keeping rats. Started out with a turtle, ended up with two rats.

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

I am here because....when I first got back into keeping fish about 18 months ago I had not acquired as much knowledge of what it took as I had first thought. I had a lot of questions that I went to different sites and asked and this one seemed to have the quickest responses and the friendliest people.

So, what gets me back here everyday is just an attempt to try and give back. It may not be how the day ends out , but always the way I feel when I first log on for the day and search for unanswered questions.

For the other reasons....just look over to the left and read what it says under jrman83.....