First Tank

[dling]

Do you guys remember your tank?  Fresh or salt ? And why you went into saltwater . Im 61 and my first wasn't even a tank. I was 19 and just moved into and apartment with a buddy. I got a beta fish and one of the little 8-10 oz bowls it came in. Years later after a few freshwater tanks I saw a lionfish. That was it.  I had to go salt. Then of coarse the ultimate.  REEF!!!!!.  Wow what a journey for me and this hobby .BTW,still lovein it.

 

[Chadicus Meridius]

A 10 gallon freshwater with 5 neon tetras that I had for 3 years before they all passed. This was my first tank, it was not mine , but my families and I was not too into the hobby as I am now.

[dling]

I remember as a kid .Dad had a 10g tank. He made the mistake of adding a baby big mouth bass that the had captured in a net. Well Im sure you know the end of this story.  He ended up with only one fish in a very short amount of time. Sad and funny at same time. 

[debbeach13]

I got a used 10 gallon, metal frame, slate bottom from my Aunt. Guppies, Molly’s, and swordtails. Soon there were bowls of babies all over the house. Which lead to a second new 10 gallon.

[Clown79]

Yes! 

 

As a kid I had turtles in tanks that they should not have been in. They never lasted more than a few months. I now know why.  

 

I was a kid! 😊 I loved turtles and frogs but had no idea what they really needed.

 

First real tank.

 

20g red ear slider turtle tank- quickly upgraded

20g Fw community tank, angelfish, gourami, etc - quickly upgraded to 36g

 

36g upgraded to cichlid only tank. Mostly african. This tank was super fun.

 

Then came the 55g reef tank because that's what I was truly drawn to, reefs. The life under the sea always fascinated me and still does. It was something I dreamt of having. 

 

So glad I did it. Never ending enjoyment and learning.

 

 

 

 

 

[lizzyann]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

I got a used 10 gallon, metal frame, slate bottom from my Aunt. Guppies, Molly’s, and swordtails. Soon there were bowls of babies all over the house. Which lead to a second new 10 gallon.

YAS! I've always wanted one of those metaframe aquariums for a *cool* *vintage* lil planted betta tank.

 

We had lots of random pets growing up but never a legitimate aquarium. We had turtles (that my dad put in a box and buried to be the treasure at the end of a treasure hunt for my pirate themed birthday party lol) in an outside aquarium for a while but they got too stinky so my mom said they had to go and we would sometimes catch fish in the lake and keep them in our broken down hottub 🤣. I think some of them actually lived for a little while! Frogs would lay eggs in there too. Didn't get an actual aquarium until I was an adult though! Just a 10 gallon betta tank. And didn't get into saltwater until I had a shared income with someone who makes more money than I do 😂.

[aquarium]

When I was little I had a betta in a 2.5 gallon tank, rather imaginatively named "Mr. Betta". A few weeks ago I found a box in the basement with the remnants of that tank, including this little gem:

 

This document records the beginning of my involvement in the aquarium hobby, which I started in the position of the (frankly quite creepy) little kid.

 

The first tank I had any control over was a 50 gallon FW tank with fake plants and overstocked to the gills. That setup is still running even though nearly all of the components (including the tank) have been replaced since then.

 

That 2.5 gallon betta tank also became my first saltwater tank, and had a peppermint shrimp, a leather coral, and not much else. It had an internal filter, and a PC light fixture which I manually turned on and off every day, but it somehow survived long enough to be upgraded to a 10 gallon.

[dling]

That's a great photo of the family and their new aquarium.  I've had a number of different FW tanks. The largest was 55g with a cutting edge filter. Under gravel with a pipe on each end . The pipe had air stones inside.  The idea was as the bubbles rose up the pipes they would pull the dirty stuff down into the gravel. It needed to be cleaned quite frequently.  

[pmang6]

Basically some of my earliest memories are of the 12g Marineland Eclipse bowfront my dad had set up as a freshwater tank. It actually looked quite similar to the one in the book cover above. 

 

Is all been downhill from there😁