how long fish keeping

[MrsE88]

Well, my mom started a pond and a winter tank with goldfish when I was 8. I helped out, and one fish was even mine. I ended up keeping one of the babies in a bowl in my room over the winter. So sad looking back.
I thought ich and red streaks in their fins was a normal part of them getting moved so I always just expected it. I had no Idea it was because of not cycling and causing them so much stress.
We had those fish till I was 19 and we had to find them a new home with a bigger pond when we moved.
I didn't start keeping fish completely on my own till 3yrs ago.
I started up a small pond and grown from there. I've been reading a lot, joined multiple sites that are geared toward the fish I keep, and try my very best to take proper care of my fish.
There is so much I don't know and have to learn. I'm so grateful that unlike my mom I have the internet to learn from. Just learning about cycling alone has saved me so much heartache.

I just want to say a big thank you to those with years, and years of experience that pass it on to new comers like me. You are so very valuable to us all!

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Like a few others,I was born into the hobby.My earliest memories are of my dad's fish tanks and he still keeps a lot of tanks today.
I guess I've been keeping fish myself around 35 years give or take.
It looks like the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree again.One of my daughters first words was fish and she loves to get involved already.

If only she was big enough for water changes.

 

[tlindsey]

Like a few others,I was born into the hobby.My earliest memories are of my dad's fish tanks and he still keeps a lot of tanks today.
I guess I've been keeping fish myself around 35 years give or take.
It looks like the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree again.One of my daughters first words was fish and she loves to get involved already.
View attachment 1270912
If only she was big enough for water changes.

That pic is priceless

 

[Hendre]

Absolutely. I was like that too, but my parents didn't really know how to keep fish and the tank was packed away. I still have it, my quarantine tank


Now 10 years later I'm here with 100 gallons of water in my room

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Well, back at the time when I was a kid, I did look at my dad Beta "cup" (yes, they are live in a glass bottle cup, a bottle that cut in half) collection rack on our house wall. You know, if you go to an Asian fish store and look at their betas cup rack...Thats how my dad setup his hundred of beta "cups" LOL. I did have a setup like that when I'm around 6~7 years old and at that age I'm already "master" beta breeding in my town, my betas beat all other kids beta with ease (yeah, we Asian kids do have beta fight event daily after school )

 

[Gourami Swami]

My dad kept goldfish for my whole life and got me into it. Around 10 years old, the internet became a useful thing, and I informed my dad that our shubunkin needed more than the 20 gallon tank it had lived in for years. We donated the shubunkin somewhere and I got some tropical fish for the 20 gallon, no looking back since then. I'd say I've been an aquarist on my own for 15 years give or take.

 

[jeaninel]

30+ years here and still learning. That's what is so great about this hobby and keeps me interested, there is so much to learn and so many different species of fish to keep. I never get bored with it.

 

[SteelNSorcery]

24 yrs out of my 27. Though I agree that time is no substitution for dedicated research and serious comparative analysis. I have kept fish in many tanks, ponds, and once a humidity dome to save a feisty bichir who loved land too much.

Love fish, love learning. Easy to fall into the deep sea of keeping them.

 

[Hendre]

24 yrs out of my 27. Though I agree that time is no substitution for dedicated research and serious comparative analysis. I have kept fish in many tanks, ponds, and once a humidity dome to save a feisty bichir who loved land too much.

Love fish, love learning. Easy to fall into the deep sea of keeping them.

Humidity dome? Mind explaining?

 

[SteelNSorcery]

Humidity dome? Mind explaining?

Sure thing, bichir are air breathers and can live on land if they stay moistened. I used a glass dome and humidifiers to create a +100% humidity saturation. With a fine rolled gravel substrate. In about 3 years he could "walk" with decent proficiency.
I should also note that the longest he was ever out of water was almost a week in one stretch. And he was never removed while he had his external gills.