49 years in the hobby I have definitely learned some things, like how much I don't really know
To young and old
- Thread starter esoxlucius
- Start date
Ain't that the truth right there. This hobby, for me, is on a par with women, in as much that i'll never fully understand them either. Lol.
Haven’t hit double digits in that realm, but I know there is no end in sight to a better understanding...
I’m 29 and I grew up In Europe the homeland of the modern fishkeeping hobby. reading books and aquarium encyclopedias. I was born in 1991 and my dad always kept fish so he knew I was interested in them after I got bored of goldfish and wanted to keep “tropicals”
My dad would have me do all his research for him So I managed to get a lot of information from books.
As soon as I had my first larger aquarium I was hooked. it was a 90g Tanganyikan aquarium, and honestly I haven’t seen some of those species since I kept them lol.
This will probably Seem weird to North Americans but the internet caught on slower and many households like mine could only afford to get the internet around 2003-2005
I used the internet to browse information on aquariums, get cheat codes for console games, msn messenger and to play Age of Mythology matches online lol.
I’m sure we all remember seeing a picture of a fish in a book and dreaming of keeping it, for me it was streatocranus casuarius the blockhead cichlid and amphilophus alfari. I have Never even seen an alfari but i did manage to keep a colony of blockheads until recently
for me the change between moving to Canada and being involved in transatlantic fishkeeping was more jarring than going from encyclopedias to the internet. The styles and rules of fish keeping are vastly different. More often a tank is measured by its width than overall volume, and stocking Allows for bigger fish in smaller tanks, to this day I find aqua advisor hilariously stingy
My first job was at a LFS só I quickly put my knowledge to use, but I found when I shopped myself I ended up correcting the staff and they don’t like that at all lol.
for me the internet gave me a way to connect to others and ask questions, get ideas etc and help grow this hobby. I have never had a real life aquarist friend so this is pretty much a personal hobby for me.
In many ways I am part of a generation that grew up before the internet, social media and with only 5 tv channels but also came of age around the widespread use of the above concepts. I am a generational black sheep.
good luck getting back into the hobbY we at MFK will be here to help you when ever you need!
Rafini
My dad would have me do all his research for him So I managed to get a lot of information from books.
As soon as I had my first larger aquarium I was hooked. it was a 90g Tanganyikan aquarium, and honestly I haven’t seen some of those species since I kept them lol.
This will probably Seem weird to North Americans but the internet caught on slower and many households like mine could only afford to get the internet around 2003-2005
I used the internet to browse information on aquariums, get cheat codes for console games, msn messenger and to play Age of Mythology matches online lol.
I’m sure we all remember seeing a picture of a fish in a book and dreaming of keeping it, for me it was streatocranus casuarius the blockhead cichlid and amphilophus alfari. I have Never even seen an alfari but i did manage to keep a colony of blockheads until recently
for me the change between moving to Canada and being involved in transatlantic fishkeeping was more jarring than going from encyclopedias to the internet. The styles and rules of fish keeping are vastly different. More often a tank is measured by its width than overall volume, and stocking Allows for bigger fish in smaller tanks, to this day I find aqua advisor hilariously stingy
My first job was at a LFS só I quickly put my knowledge to use, but I found when I shopped myself I ended up correcting the staff and they don’t like that at all lol.
for me the internet gave me a way to connect to others and ask questions, get ideas etc and help grow this hobby. I have never had a real life aquarist friend so this is pretty much a personal hobby for me.
In many ways I am part of a generation that grew up before the internet, social media and with only 5 tv channels but also came of age around the widespread use of the above concepts. I am a generational black sheep.
good luck getting back into the hobbY we at MFK will be here to help you when ever you need!
Rafini
