My Father and I are old timers on this website, but we are getting to a point in our lives where we can no longer enjoy this hobby to the full extent to what we used to. I had to take all my tanks down in August when I left to attend Utah State University. Through the past years I had many different aquariums set up and kept many different fish. I started off with just goldfish pretty much like anyone else on this website, but then my Grandpa gave me a 55 gallon tank. Boy oh boy was I ecstatic. I had my Dad drive me down to the local pet store and I bought a couple Oscars and a Jack Dempsey. Thus, the madness had begun. From that point on, I saved every dollar and put it towards to the hobby. My Dad and I spent the weekends roaming the Salt Lake valley looking for new fish or good deals off the local classifieds. My Dad, an ex-Utah Ute football player, use to be just as crazy as I was about the hobby back in 80's, but he had been out of the hobby for a while. Well, because I had him take me to all these pet stores, the excitement of the hobby was reignited inside of him. He once again was crazy about fish and he went out and bought a 135 gallon tank. I was memorized by the size of that contraption. We spent about the next month filling that thing with whatever cichlids we could find in the valley.
So that is how it started. We both set up two decent sized tanks and went from there. After that point, all we did for the next several years is expand the size and the quantity of our aquariums and found more exotic fish to put in them. I ended up having five big aquariums set up in my childhood bedroom. Yes, it was kind of gross, but I loved the hobby. Keeping aquariums is such a great hobby because the possibilities are limitless to what you can keep. Like I said, I just started with goldfish and Oscars, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I was in seventh or eighth grade I was absolutely infatuated with the idea of me possibly keeping an Arowana. I found one on our local classified for cheap because the previous owner had died. I hopped on this deal like flies on dog poop. Little did I know that this was a 3 foot Jardini Arowana. In other words, way too big for my 125 gallon tank. I had to sell it immediately. I soon found a silver Arowana for sale for 100 dollars, and I was set on getting it. Even though 100 dollars is equivalent to about a million dollars in seventh grade money, I went ahead and bought it. I kept the silver Arowana with a clown knife and a shovel nose for a couple of years until I was ready to do something new.
At the time I was ready to broaden my horizon and keep exotic cichlids. I moved away from everything you can buy at a Petsmart like Oscars, Jack Dempsey's, Convicts, etc. I was now keeping Midas, Pike, different species of viejas, but nothing could compare to the pair of Festae I put together. The Festae I kept were the most beautiful fish I had ever kept. I was so unbelievably happy with my pair, but that was until they started to breed. When all of this was happening, I was near the end of my high school career and was thinning down my tanks. I only had two tanks set up, and I realized that when these two started to breed that they would need their own tank. Well, I could not get a tank set up in time and the female ended up being so stressed because she could not build a nest without another fish destroying it that she died. The male died shortly after that as well. I had never cried for a fish death until that happened. Not just because of how expensive they were, but because they were my favorite fish. The sad reality started to set in after that. I took down my other tank and did not add anything new to my new tank for about a year. I was too busy being a three sport athlete and my academics were taking up a lot of my time. My Dad, however, was still going strong. Regardless, I had to take down my tank. It was weird not having anything set up, but I had for I was moving out soon. I received a call the other day from my Dad saying that with me not being there to do the hobby with him he had lost all the joy from it. At that point I realized it was more than just a stupid hobby for my Dad and I.
My Father and I met a lot people through the past couple of years. It is impossible not to when you have been as deep in this hobby as we were. Sometimes when we would to a store or to a seller of the classifieds we would end up sitting there talking for hours. It is exciting to talk fish because you get to share your experiences and your knowledge with the other person. In a way you are building up credibility. At one point I was the man to talk to if you wanted to get into the hobby or needed advice on your tank or whatever it was. It was dignifying to be in that type of position that people trusted you that much.
The hobby of keeping aquariums has many different meanings that not a lot of people see. Some people simply just like to keep fish to enjoy the beauty of them. Aquariums even have a therapeutic sense to them. That is why they put them in doctor offices. I feel like keeping aquariums is such a big hobby in today's world because it gives us a sense of control. We live in a society where things are constantly changing and we have no control over most of those things. When you have an aquarium, you have 100% control over what it is. You can make it your own. The possibilities are endless. The choice is yours of what fish, what plants, and what decorations you put in it, and it is something that you created. It is dignifying for many people. For my Dad and I the meaning behind the hobby is much more complex for us. My Dad and I have always had a close healthy relationship, but this was a way for us to further our relationship. We both loved this hobby with all of our heart and the fact that we were able to do it together made it that much more meaningful and exciting for us. I cannot tell you how many times my Father and I have woken up early on a weekend and just drove around at the garage sales looking for cheap tanks. Or all the miles that he and I put into driving from store to store, from seller to seller. It was the talks that we had that made those drives special for us. We would talk about anything. Whether it had to do with the hobby or maybe it was about football. We would talk about more serious things as well. One day he told that one of the main reasons he was so close with his Father is because when he was my age he would drive around with my Grandpa. My Grandpa used to be a fake Santa Claus for parties and such and my Dad would just go with him everywhere, and just like my Father and I, their relationship was strengthened. He continued to tell me that it is moments like those that I will remember forever and cherish when it is his time to go.
I am glad I have chosen to spend the past several years keeping fish tanks. I could have been doing many other things that would not have been productive. Instead maybe I chose to play video games all the time, I would not have ended up being as close to my Dad as I am now. That is why I am thankful that I had the opportunity to keep aquariums.
So that is how it started. We both set up two decent sized tanks and went from there. After that point, all we did for the next several years is expand the size and the quantity of our aquariums and found more exotic fish to put in them. I ended up having five big aquariums set up in my childhood bedroom. Yes, it was kind of gross, but I loved the hobby. Keeping aquariums is such a great hobby because the possibilities are limitless to what you can keep. Like I said, I just started with goldfish and Oscars, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I was in seventh or eighth grade I was absolutely infatuated with the idea of me possibly keeping an Arowana. I found one on our local classified for cheap because the previous owner had died. I hopped on this deal like flies on dog poop. Little did I know that this was a 3 foot Jardini Arowana. In other words, way too big for my 125 gallon tank. I had to sell it immediately. I soon found a silver Arowana for sale for 100 dollars, and I was set on getting it. Even though 100 dollars is equivalent to about a million dollars in seventh grade money, I went ahead and bought it. I kept the silver Arowana with a clown knife and a shovel nose for a couple of years until I was ready to do something new.
At the time I was ready to broaden my horizon and keep exotic cichlids. I moved away from everything you can buy at a Petsmart like Oscars, Jack Dempsey's, Convicts, etc. I was now keeping Midas, Pike, different species of viejas, but nothing could compare to the pair of Festae I put together. The Festae I kept were the most beautiful fish I had ever kept. I was so unbelievably happy with my pair, but that was until they started to breed. When all of this was happening, I was near the end of my high school career and was thinning down my tanks. I only had two tanks set up, and I realized that when these two started to breed that they would need their own tank. Well, I could not get a tank set up in time and the female ended up being so stressed because she could not build a nest without another fish destroying it that she died. The male died shortly after that as well. I had never cried for a fish death until that happened. Not just because of how expensive they were, but because they were my favorite fish. The sad reality started to set in after that. I took down my other tank and did not add anything new to my new tank for about a year. I was too busy being a three sport athlete and my academics were taking up a lot of my time. My Dad, however, was still going strong. Regardless, I had to take down my tank. It was weird not having anything set up, but I had for I was moving out soon. I received a call the other day from my Dad saying that with me not being there to do the hobby with him he had lost all the joy from it. At that point I realized it was more than just a stupid hobby for my Dad and I.
My Father and I met a lot people through the past couple of years. It is impossible not to when you have been as deep in this hobby as we were. Sometimes when we would to a store or to a seller of the classifieds we would end up sitting there talking for hours. It is exciting to talk fish because you get to share your experiences and your knowledge with the other person. In a way you are building up credibility. At one point I was the man to talk to if you wanted to get into the hobby or needed advice on your tank or whatever it was. It was dignifying to be in that type of position that people trusted you that much.
The hobby of keeping aquariums has many different meanings that not a lot of people see. Some people simply just like to keep fish to enjoy the beauty of them. Aquariums even have a therapeutic sense to them. That is why they put them in doctor offices. I feel like keeping aquariums is such a big hobby in today's world because it gives us a sense of control. We live in a society where things are constantly changing and we have no control over most of those things. When you have an aquarium, you have 100% control over what it is. You can make it your own. The possibilities are endless. The choice is yours of what fish, what plants, and what decorations you put in it, and it is something that you created. It is dignifying for many people. For my Dad and I the meaning behind the hobby is much more complex for us. My Dad and I have always had a close healthy relationship, but this was a way for us to further our relationship. We both loved this hobby with all of our heart and the fact that we were able to do it together made it that much more meaningful and exciting for us. I cannot tell you how many times my Father and I have woken up early on a weekend and just drove around at the garage sales looking for cheap tanks. Or all the miles that he and I put into driving from store to store, from seller to seller. It was the talks that we had that made those drives special for us. We would talk about anything. Whether it had to do with the hobby or maybe it was about football. We would talk about more serious things as well. One day he told that one of the main reasons he was so close with his Father is because when he was my age he would drive around with my Grandpa. My Grandpa used to be a fake Santa Claus for parties and such and my Dad would just go with him everywhere, and just like my Father and I, their relationship was strengthened. He continued to tell me that it is moments like those that I will remember forever and cherish when it is his time to go.
I am glad I have chosen to spend the past several years keeping fish tanks. I could have been doing many other things that would not have been productive. Instead maybe I chose to play video games all the time, I would not have ended up being as close to my Dad as I am now. That is why I am thankful that I had the opportunity to keep aquariums.
Girls love it too, just get a quiet filter, not a buzzing air pump lol