How Long?

[Goodbye]

I'm sure this question has been brought up many times, but here it is again.

How long have you been in the aquarium hobby?

For me, I have been into it for 5 years now, but I got into it alot more within the last year.

[bushwhacker]

lol pretty obvious that no one but you or i have noticed this poll yet

[domjd05]

It's only been about a year and a half for me... but man did I learn A LOT in the past year and a half... Mostly thanks to this site to be honest! I have looked into other aquarium forums.. this one just seems like home! Even though I've only made 500 posts since september of last year haha

[Cristoff]

Just under 6 months here if you count me doing this as a SERIOUS hobby.

I've kept fish before, but had no idea what I was doing or how to correct things.

I like to think of it this way:

There are people that "play golf" and there are "golfers". Aquarists are much the same.

I used to have fish, now I'm a fish keeper.:1luvu:

[italianxmna89]

i just started and want to keep this hobby going...just a 20g tank now and im 20 so when i get a career and family going it would be nice to have a big 500g in my dream home =)

[MCHRKiller]

Seriously into the hobby about 13 years...really got into it when I was about 11. But I have had tanks/kept fish since I was 4....so in total next week will make 20 years :14:

[sheamurai]

I'm in the same boat as Cristoff - had fish years ago and got feeling guilty when they kept dying and when I found out how many died when wild caught was all you could get. Got bitten again by the bug this year, but now with the 'net its so easy to learn stuff! And there are fish breeders - no more feeling guilty about mass plundering of the wild fishes! And no more fish dying of mysterious causes! Who says progress is all bad?

[rich311k]

Six weeks now, I think, maybe seven.

[Cristoff]

Six weeks now, I think, maybe seven.

LIAR!!!! You know WAY too much!:hmm3grin2orange:

[sailor]

Almost 30 yrs off and on for me.

[Red]

about 5-6 for me.

[Lab_Rat]

I'm at a little over 4 as a serious fish keeper, that's about when I started really learning about proper fish keeping and expanded into real tanks. Before that, dear God, those poor fish. I really believed goldies and bettas were fine in a bowl (poor goldfish, the most abused fish in the hobby) and knew nothing about cycling, etc. I did at least put a filter in the goldies 1g death trap. (blush)

Since then I've kept quite a few different kinds of fish, my favorites being the cichlids (particularly mbuna, dwarf Americans, and now I'm really liking the American cichlids). I'd love to get a Tanganyika tank or a Victoria tank whenever I move somewhere I have more room (and when I have more money).

Now you guys know more than you ever wanted to about my fish keeping background. :hmm3grin2orange:

[BirdOfPray]

First set up my tank in June, but I got my betta a month ago and he was my first fish since college. So, I'm a complete and total noob... but I've done a lot of reading!

[thatcichlidguy]

I got into the hobby in the late 80's with some guppies , then in the early 90's my GF's mom bought me an Oscar for my 15g LOL. Needless to say , the rest is history. It's been a long and crazy road battling M.T.S. and feeding my cichlid addiction ever since .

[bushwhacker]

won my first goldfish at the fair in the mid 60's went and got him a 10 gallon tank and a filter few freinds lost em all of course.. we knew nothing about cycles or water changes back then ... its been on and off since then

[Goodbye]

When I started I had a 10g with 2 Gold barbs, 2 Tiger Barbs, 2 Green Tiger Barbs and 1 CAE. Of course, with many mistakes as most newbs make, that stock has perished. The Gold Barbs lasted almost a year though.

After two years I moved on to a 38g and had 7 mbunas and took down the 10g. They did fine until I had an ammonia spike from dead fry that I was unaware about. So then I moved on to planted tanks about a year ago.

[Dave66]

Been keeping fish since 1972.

Dave

[Crispy]

Had fish since I was 5 or so, but got seriously into the hobby and have had my 130 gallon for 16 years now.

[Mith]

I started maybe 25 years ago. For as ignorant that I am about the care of fish, I've had quite a few tanks. At one time I had anywhere from a 5g tank up to a 120g. I've had a lot of different fish to include a variety of lake fish (bluegil,bass,catfish etc....the list goes on (also saltwater).

Having said that, it really wasn't until I recently joined this forum that I have begun to understand how to actually properly take proper care of these suckers.

I'm even doing planted now....we'll see how that goes!

[Wiggs]

wow, when i think about it....

Set up my first tank in January... after researching starting in November.

So, 7 months for me. Seems longer >.<

[bluebluecow]

well i put 4 yrs but had a comet in plastic bowl as kid in my late teans, i brought a glass hex, with filter and had in it a goldie, shubkin, comet and golden orf, bad fish keeper

I left them when i moved home, mum an d dad negleted them ect. Then before i turned 30 we broght a smal hex trop tank, and cycled it with 5 danios before adding a siamese, clown and sucking loach. It was from a good lfs who told us about cycling with fish. Then for my 3oth i got my 4ft tank, moved the danios into that to cycle it, had a castle and various fish, ran down the hex before we moved. Then this yr found you lot and got my rekord 66l tank also took my big fish back to lfs and got int neons and guppys, all in my blog. And that sucking loach is still in my 44t tank

Liz

[Deleted User]

I voted "less than 6 months". My husband and I did have aquariums about 15 years ago, but I don't think we really knew or learned much. It's been just a couple of months since we set up our "new first" aquarium http://www.getsmile.com/emoticons/smileys-91853/aiw/good.gif

[Ampatent]

My mother got me a betta vase when I was like 7, unfortunately the thing died within a week or two. So I stayed away from fish keeping until the beginning of this August when I got my first aquarium.