What brought you into this unique hobby?

[DutchMuch]

Just curious as to what brought you all into this hobby?
Here's my reason:
I'm 17 and I got into the hobby officially at around 15, but recognized it probably when I was 13. I am a "leader" so to speak so I saw people at my age (at the time 13-15) doing things typical teens would do, and I figured I didnt want to do that because it was so.... average, and boring, probably would never be recognized in a few years and didnt teach me anything lol. So I figured I would look into some hobbies in the fields I enjoyed- which was mostly taken up by gardening and agricultural pursuits. I believe I was searching on the interweb some information on aquaponics and came across aquascaping. And thats where my hobby started at.
As a 17 year old currently, I think my decision pretty much has shaped my life. It sounds funny but its true, my main income is from this hobby, and its what I spend most of my money on as well. I have found friends and different opportunities I would 100% guaranteed not have found if I were to focus on what my "friends" were focusing on or have done what they were doing. I would have most likely become a drug addict hobo with 0% education LOL.
All in all, if it weren't for this particular seldom sought hobby, I dont know what id be doing. So I thank the entire hobby for letting me be here

Whats your story?!

 

[Keith GH]

DutchMuch,
I started getting my interest by going to a very large public Aquarium close to 70 years ago and slowly developed from there to today no Aquariums at all (Health reasons) just three Terrascapes two being renewed at the moment.

Keith

 

[Ray_Norwich]

I discovered aquascaping when setting up a tank for my toddler son as he always got excited when he saw fish at the pet store. Thanks to my son it's now my No1 leisure pursuit

 

[mort]

We always had fish at home since before I was born and just got interested in them. When I was seven I took over the running of my dad's tropical tank, his clown loaches and catfish. I'm now 31 (well next month) and still have a lot of those fish, 6 clowns 25 years plus as well as an even older Dora and lots of fish 15-20 years old.

 

[Matt @ ScapeEasy]

I got back into fishkeeping (after having goldfish as a kid) when i bought my first house. It wasnt long before i found pictures of aquascapes on the internet and my obsession began with creating a beatiful piece of 'furniture' for my house. Watching GF on YouTube was another big inspiration for me. For me it seems so obvious... why wouldn't you want the tank to look as good as the fish? The problem for me was sourcing the hardscape and good plants. A) expensive at a time when I'd just got my first mortgage and B) really hard to find the stuff in the shops where I live. I had some good early success with my scapes, though it took a while for me to get good at growing plants.

 

[azawaza]

I was persuaded by colleagues at work initially about three years ago, then the interest waned as my marriage started to fail (any correlation? hard to ascertain but the ex didn’t like the hobby much). When the big day to move out came, I sold off everything and swore to stay away from poisonous hobbies ever again.

However, a few months back, depression took over and I had to battle it. I needed some clean positive distraction, away from bad thoughts.

My girlfriend suggested and urged me to restart a new; she loves fish and promised to help me take care of maintaining the tank. Also, my lil boy comes over on alternate weekends so that makes for excellent father-son bonding time!

 

[Lee iley]

We always had fish at home since before I was born and just got interested in them. When I was seven I took over the running of my dad's tropical tank, his clown loaches and catfish. I'm now 31 (well next month) and still have a lot of those fish, 6 clowns 25 years plus as well as an even older Dora and lots of fish 15-20 years old.

I didn't know fish could live that long that is some achievement nice one.

 

[Tim Harrison]

The goldfish bowl, way back when I was a toddler, was a constant source of fascination.
A few years later my older brother started to keep tropical fish, and set a tank up for me as well.
After that I was hooked and had all the tropical fish keeping books from the local library on permanent loan.
Then my parents bought me a fantastic book by Dutch aquarist Dr J D van Ramshorst and a subscription to The Aquarist, a monthly periodical, both had an aquatic plant section and I soon graduated to soil substrate planted tanks.
I guess the hobby also inspired the direction of my education and subsequent career in natural sciences. So even though there was a period when I didn't own an aquarium it's been a lifelong passion.

 

[Edvet]

I bought a small tank for my son when he was 4 or so.
Next thing you know i bought a second hand 150x50x50, moved this to our next house and replaced that with a home built 400 gallon one in 1998 or so. That one still is where we built it 20 years later.

 

[zozo]

as a kid from about 7 years old, we lived at the edge of a little forest with an old ruine castle and a ditch getting its water fed from a bog land.
It intrugued me so much i was about the only one of my age in the neighbourhood venturing in and exploring this bog. Finding my way in it from puddle to puddle wearing boots without getting my feed all to wet. I went in there with a bucket and a net and dragged everything home.There were loads of knee deep puddles teaming with life just one scoop with the net and it was full of water beatles, water spiders, sticklebacks, leeches, snails, tadpoals in all intermediate stages (such as baby frogs still with tails attached ), newts with colorfull bellies, fish fry of what i know what.

It got a little out of hand, i went back and forth about every free minute after school dragging buckets. I was the resident creature of the black lagoon.. Our neighbour noticed my enthosiasm and he still had a 250 litre old steel rim aquarium in the shed he didn't use. So he donated this to me and from that day on i had this tank in the garden. From spring till fall it was filled with about everything i could catch, it occupied me every single day taking care of this tank.

And as instructed during the fall i brought all back to the bog to drain the tank for the winter periode.

I guess my parents noticed me getting sad, depressed and lonely during the winter looking at a drained tank in the garden. And one moning at my 8th or 9th birthday in november i walked into the living room and they bougth me a tropical aqaurium.

That's how i got in in it never left me since.. It's not a hobby, it's an extension of my soul..

 

[mort]

I didn't know fish could live that long that is some achievement nice one.

I was thinking my Platydoras costatus was getting old when it turned 20 so I did some digging and found someone in Germany had one that was 47 (could be well over 50 now), mines about 27 now so still a long way to go. It's surprising how long some fish can live for and I was surprised when I read of cories over 20 but that seems more common than you'd think. The one I'm most surprised by is a botia stiata that we have that just turned 20. I thought they lived for 7-8 years tops as that's when we lost its partner.

 

[sciencefiction]

My mom used to buy live fish for dinner and I tried to save any that were still breathing by the time she got back from the shop. Little did I know that none of them was suited to either being kept in a bucket or a 5G tank subsequently, when I upgraded. I didn't know about filters for years. There was no internet those days and I pretty much didn't know anyone that was interested in keeping fish. I fed fish bread crumbs at some stage Later on I tried keeping guppies, some of the poor ones went into unfiltered glass jars

My love for bottom fish started with a cold water river loach that we caught for fishing bait. I kept two, one died the same day, the other lasted 5 years in a 5G tank with no filter or heater. He was hilarious, a pure pet, dog like. He would hide when we have guests, in the only ornament in the tank, and he'd be out when there was just the family around My mom managed to kill him when I went on a 2 week school holiday as she kept saying the tank is dirty and slimy. When I got back she said she had thoroughly cleaned the tank and the fish died

Bad memories, good memories going on for 30 years now. I reckon I was always enthralled by fish but it wasn't always to their benefit. And I am a hypocrite. I am not a fan of meat but I could eat fish all day, every day. These days I balance for the sake of fish

 

[Oldguy]

Gnat wrigglers in a jam jar. Then an old rusty steel framed aquarium that my Dad mended. Then a better steel framed aquarium and seasonal pond life, winter drain down. Goldfish bowl, then a second steel framed aquarium kept indoors with stickleback fish caught from the local clay pit. Started collecting other children's discarded aquariums. It grew, Dad encouraged it and bought out a work mates tropical fish collection, I was in heaven. Left school and then work and part time studies got in the way. Sold the collection, then many many years later returned to this beautiful and fascinating hobby. Wish I had more space and more money for it. However I do have other interests which also require more time and space and money. Not to mention family!

 

[DutchMuch]

wow I had a lot to read!!!! thanks everyone for the grey stories!!! Maybe well see more here soon!