What got you started in fishkeeping?

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I don't remember how I originally got started with fish, but I recently got back into the hobby by taking my girlfriend to the fair and throwing those ping pong balls like bud8fan. We won five fish which I was expecting to be dead by morning, but one was still kicking and I dug the tank out of the basement and set it up in my room.

Maybe its because I was too young to remember, but it seems like there are a lot of newer, more intersting species than when i was a kid. Now its turned into an addiction almost. I upgraded tanks shortly after the surviving goldfish hit 6", and he's quickly outgrowing that. Now, every spare moment i get is spent looking either here or on google about building plywood tanks, or craigslist looking for a good deal on a used tank locally so i can upgrade my stock too.
 
When I was young, (like 5, now I'm 13) I saw some really cool Birds for sale. I really wanted one, but my parents didn't. We made a compromise that I could get fish instead. So we bought a 6 gallon bowfront, and hugely overstocked it. (2 common plecos, 5 neon tetras, a zebra danio, two angelfish, a comet goldfish, 3 dwarf puffers, and a cory cat.) Most of the fish lived for a few years, but in the end the angels killed most of them. Then the smaller angel died so for about a year we had a lone angel. Then it died. By this time I was 10, and I got some tanks, did my research, and now I have a few tanks that are all stocked ok.
 
my mom has loved fish and when i was three we had a 30 gal community tank with a breeding pair of angelfish.

we later took down the tank :(

a little over a year ago, my dad let me buy a baby red ear slider so i got some feeder goldfish to keep him company in his 55 gal. later i gave away the goldfish and turtle to my friend and started getting tropical fish:headbang2
 
My coworker set up a little ten gallon at my old job and he took me around to some of the stores that I wasnt aware of.Back then I didnt know that filtration was soo advanced,I remembered the box filters that sat inside of the tank that were stuffed with cotton.He got me hooked in 91 and I have been into fishkeeping ever since.
 
Well when i was 15 i had 20 gallon tank,and kept it for a year than moved and tore it down and than last year my buddy died and my friend with a 55gal gave me advice to buy a tank i bought a 20, and than it just progressed now i have a empty 55, 75, a stocked 150, and 100, and as soon as i move in a month or so gonna build a 120 gallon tank out of acrylic,
 
I wasnt allowed having any other pets!! lol i pushed my mom into getting me a 20g when i was 11. Then my brother got one....we've kept it going ever since.
 
I had fish when I was little and swore I'd never have one again. Then comes what my signature says. Got my cats and thought, "How cute..." Somehow 5 years later I've gone from a 10 gallon with guppies to a 20, 40, 55, 94, 120, and 180. Also have a 270 gallon pond yet to be stocked. There is even a little talk about a used 500. We'll see on that one. I'll know in a month or so.
 
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