How long have you been in "fish keeping"?

[xobettaox]

Honestly, I have never cared about fish.... I always thought they were a "stupid" pet. One day I was at Walmart for 2 hours waiting for my brother to get done with his driving class so I could pick him up. Out of boredom, I bought a fish. It looked sad in the little container so I just decided to get him. It was a betta in a 1 gal tank. 2 months later, I now have a 55 gallon tank set up, and my boyfriend calls me "the crazy fish lady" as a joke.. his mom even got me a gift card to Petsmart for christmas, lol.

[asukabetta]

Originally Posted by xobettaox

Honestly, I have never cared about fish.... I always thought they were a "stupid" pet. One day I was at Walmart for 2 hours waiting for my brother to get done with his driving class so I could pick him up. Out of boredom, I bought a fish. It looked sad in the little container so I just decided to get him. It was a betta in a 1 gal tank. 2 months later, I now have a 55 gallon tank set up, and my boyfriend calls me "the crazy fish lady" as a joke.. his mom even got me a gift card to Petsmart for christmas, lol.

Hhaha yeah it happens, fish itself is very interesting, and then aquascaping and such makes it a very entertaining hobby, I find it more rewarding than having any other animal. I've been fish keeping officially for 3 months, though, I always had aquatic animals when I was kid, but back then it was more my parents taking care of them than me.

[Olympia]

Just over a year.

[underdebate]

A year as of January! It's funny, I got into it because of a tank I received as a Christmas gift last year-- and the boy I bought with it will be marking his one-year anniversary of having survived some absolutely horrible fin rot in January, too. <3 I now have just under 30 bettas, six of whom are in a sorority.

[Kuro]

i've had bettas since was little(was 7 or 8 when i got my first) but it only been two years or so the i've been keeping bettas correctly...betta's went from 1/2 gallon bowls to 5g tanks with filters and heaters.

i aslo have three other tanks(a 50g, 35g and 20g) with different fish in them along with my two betta's who are in 5g tanks.

[DragonFish]

I've had a few tanks on and off throughout my life. Not much knowledge of course at first, but I've always enjoyed fish. Like some people are dog or cat people, I'm definitely a fish person. I probably have been since the start....always went fishing with my dad, ever since I was small, and what I liked best was when I caught little minnows in a net and brought them home to my little aquarium.

About six years ago or so, after going about just as long without any kind of tank, my dad got a 46 bow for his office. Over the next few years, this tank got moved around to about three different places and had many different occupants, from tetras, to mollies, to Gouramis. Sadly, I didn't know too much about fish keeping at the time either, but I adored the tank and its occupants.

On our third move with the tank Dad gave it to me for my room and told me to research fish keeping and care in the hopes that I could get a job at the local pet store(which I did ;)).
And it was all downhill from there. xD
Over 3 and a half years later, I am the crazy fish lady of my family/friends and couldn't be prouder or happier. I keep mainly just bettas now though, and have since discovering my great fondness for them just a few months after I started researching. :)

Fish in general really are quite surprisingly fun and interactive pets! I know I never really thought of them as stupid or boring myself....but I certainly saw and was wowed the difference of a well maintained aquarium and healthy thriving fish all the same! Its amazing! <3

[aemaki09]

Hmm my family has had atleast one tank running since before I was born, so 22 years?
I've had my own community, and betta tanks for about 7 years.

[Kytkattin]

Same as aemaki above, but I started keeping my own tanks (a 5.5 that I still have actually) about 12 years ago. I mostly had guppies, neons and the like. I have only had luck with betta fish in the last 3 or so years when I learned that they need heat, low/no currents, and within the last 2 years, plants! Since I started keeping plants and either eliminating or severely baffling filters my betta mortality rate has dropped significantly. Grow the plants well and the fish will thrive! Bettas are simply the living flowers in my aquatic gardens.

Of course tanks in general are becoming more than just a hobby. My entire senior project for college is based around a rejection of the current system put in place by careless pet stores out for profit and instead my project seeks to highlight the beauty of these animals and replicas of their natural environments for them to live in. It is kind of turning into an obsession.

[aemaki09]

Originally Posted by Kytkattin

Of course tanks in general are becoming more than just a hobby. My entire senior project for college is based around a rejection of the current system put in place by careless pet stores out for profit and instead my project seeks to highlight the beauty of these animals and replicas of their natural environments for them to live in. It is kind of turning into an obsession.

That sounds really interesting!! I'd love to see pics and hear more about that!

[SnowySurface]

I got my first fish my freshman year of college...so I'm going on 9 years now. :)