What got you into fishkeeping?

[amanichen]

Well, what was it? =)

For me it was being three years old and being mesmerized as I watched a huge school of neon tetras in my dad's 55 gallon tank. A year later my parents built two ponds, and I decided I wanted in on the action. I was one of those kids who won a goldfish at the fair and didn't understand the concept of water changes and the like. Of course by the time I hit the fourth grade I had my own 15 gallon tank, and from there things took off.

[briggs]

My parents use to have a large tank with schools of fish when I was small but i can't remember. They ended up getting rid of it at some point, also before i started remembering, but we always use to go to petstores and walk around the fish so that's engraved in my mind.

I never had any room or money for it but then my girlfriend was given a fish as a gift 8-10 months ago, i dindt thinkanything of it, thought it was kinda silly really as she had no time for this sorta stuff.

and then 2 months ago we were lookin around petsmart for the heck of it and i saw the fish and decided i had some extra money, alot more room and thought what the heck, and thats how i got bit.

[Flurry]

I voted other...

I just decided that it would be cool to have an aquarium in my room. After learning that 2 zebra danios and 2 white clouds don't belong in a 1 gallon, I now have a 10 gallon to keep me content and now I want MORE!

My dad used to have a 75 gallon though, but I was only 3 and barely remembered... some of my friends had goldfish too, so I really dont know what influenced me.

[teresa]

A friend of mine was given a Betta that a young girl didn't take care of, and she decided she wanted to get another. I was with her when she bought a new one and thought they were so great so I bought one that day with a little bowl and some basic stuff. after I found this site I learned the better way to keep Bettas, and have 4 of the little joys in 2 5.5gal and a divided 10 gal.

[akestler]

I was going to college and desperately wanted a pet ... unfortunately, the only thing you're allowed to have in the dorm rooms is fish. A friend of mine had a betta and I thought they were so pretty. So I headed off to Wal-Mart and came away with a betta, one of those BettaSphere bowls, and some water conditioning fizz tabs. Now I have 2 bettas, a 5-gallon tank, and a whole bucket full of supplies. And plans for MORE fishy friends when I move into my apartment and have some more space. Ah, the power of the betta.

[twoluvcats]

My daughter loves fish...so we got a 29g fishtank...in the process of stocking it we got a betta...after a few weeks we realized the 29g tank was not the best place for him...so he got his own 5 gallon tank...and the obsession blossomed from there

[Ella3]

My 2 1/2 year old son LOVED fish. We always had to visit every pet store and he only wanted to stare at all the fish tanks. He loved watching my parent's 55 gallon tank with their fancy goldfish. He also was in awe of the tropical fish screen saver on my Mother's computer.

I had never had fish and knew nothing about them. I had started teaching my son's Sunday school class and the weekday preschool teacher who used the room during the week had a beautiful betta in a bowl. I started thinking that these fish must be easy to keep if a teacher is keeping one in the classroom. Week after week, the fish was still there and looked healthy enough.

One day my son was walking around Petsmart and we saw all the bettas. I read the little booklet that was next to the cups of bettas. Then I talked with the lady working there and got some instructions on fish care. My son chose a blue/purple veil tail and we got a bowl, gravel, plants, water conditioner and food.

That's how it all started. I've now learned better care tips for bettas (thanks to this site) and I have become the "fish person" of the house. It has also rubbed off on my daughter. Now we have 3 males and 3 females and they are so much fun.....and addictive!! ;D

Ella

[Hannah]

I've always been fascinated with fish, especially bettas, but was not allowed to have a pet when I was younger (cause my parents would end up having to take care of it and my dad especially is not a pet person). It wasn't until my sister was given a fish for her birthday that I considered getting a fish of my own. Finally I caved and bought a fish . I have to say though, when voting I was very tempted in clicking being bitten by a shark just for the fun of it .

[iwuvmyfish]

well I love all animals and I like to study sharks and reptiles since we live in an apartment we couldn't have any snakes or lizards so I wanted to get a fish but it took time to convince my dad so we went and got all of the goodies for the fish and it took 2 days to pick out my fish.
now he's part of the family and we could never get rid of him. it'll be his b-day (from the day we got him) on august first.

[thradia]

I picked other because I have always been intrigued by all water creatures. I saved my money up when I was younger to buy a 10 gallon tank, and the love just went from there.

I had my first Betta when I was 12 and I loved him. Ever since then, I have always had one of these sweet little fish by my side. I love all types of fish, but I think the betta is my favorite.

[ickyfishywishy]

iv allways loved all creatures (but i hate monkeys:P) and especialy EVRYHTING that has to do with water,, ocean,, rivers,,, anything thats water and has creatures in it! i wanted to start a saltwater tank but then i found out how i had NO clue on how many things it takes to have a successful aquarium so i started out with freshwater n remembered that i used to allways see poor litle beautifull fish in gift stores called bettas! i have only 2 but would love more i have tooo many fish as it is lol i love um now and im kinda addicted

[bettamaster]

When I was the age of ten, my dad bought these arowanas, which I thought were spectacular, so I saved my money up from my newspaper delivery career to buy one. Unfortunately for dad, his arowanas got sick and it took a long time to heal, and I soon forgot about my arowana madness. I decided to get an easier fish, and my mom suggested that I get a betta. I wasn't really sure about getting a betta since it costs a lot here in Japan ( 3 Bucks for the old ones, and 5 bucks minimum for the nice young ones to breed with) so I decided to get guppies and one betta. Soon I got bored with them until I learned that I could breed guppies so I tried and I got this cool strain of nice green tailed guppies, which are rare. But soon www.bettatalk.com lured me into bettas again and I discovered that 10 dollars isn't the most you can spend on bettas ;D But then I also learned about breeding bettas, so I tried and eventually I got an old guy to mate with a young but fat with eggs female. They had eggs and the like, but the father probably got hungry and ate the eggs, or the eggs got attacked by mold so the dad ate them, and the soon to be fry was now dad's buffet. But I still keep trying to breed these things and now I have stumbled to this organized and fun site for betta people, so here I am!!!

[ilovefishstick]

I have other pets(dogs and a cat, and I used to have a turtle), and I wanted a fish because they are pretty easy to take care of and they can be pretty entertaining.

[BlueBetta]

Was given a tank,
I always wanted to keep fish so I researched how to do it. Been keeping bettas for 3 years and now keepiing other fish for about a year.

[bettaamatuer]

I have had a dog and cat for long time. I wanted to try something else. So i got a betta. I only have one, my first that i got a month ago. I love him to death. i will definitly stay with bettas as a pet.