Not for years. I know a few who started tanks-fresh water -during COVID. Their interest in cleaning the tank every two weeks waned and the tanks are no more.

Yeah, I have a bud with a fish tank...fresh water. It's beautiful, but it's a total commitment to keep them clean and healthy.

I have a small tank but it's not fish. It's fitted with a heated mat to keep my Australian sundews warm enough through our winter.

Not for a long time. We had one when the kids were young. Of course the mantaince was on me. Ugh. It brought no joy to my life. My daughter has had one for years and enjoys it.

My kids came home from camp with goldfish they caught in a pond. I begrudgingly let them keep them. Bought a good sized tank, all the equipment, etc. The upkeep fell on me, and despite decent effort they both died within a couple years. And they brought me no joy in those years; I couldn’t help think they’d be happier back in their pond.

I really don’t like the idea of caged (or tanked) pets. Get a dog or cat who wants you as much as you want them.

I don't have one now, but years ago, I raised fancy goldfish, mainly orandas, that I spawned in aquariums, hatched brine shrimp and raised the fry, and picked out the best ones to enter in fish shows as far away as Ohio. I collected varieties of fancy goldfish and had 16 different varieties and 22 aquariums. I had a backyard "fish house" where I kept most of the aquariums and fish.

I raise waterlilies, and have since 1967. I keep goldfish in the lily tanks. I have Shubunkins, which are calico single tailed goldfish, and comets....goldfish with long single tails, and a few common goldfish....single, short tailed goldfish.

It has been a very enjoyable hobby. I also had a pet Nankin lionhead goldfish named Fat Boy, that I kept for over 15 years. I would have another aquarium now if I had room for it.

I also raised koi for many years in mud ponds, and I still keep a few koi.

Regarding maintenance....it was a big commitment. Twenty five percent water change every week. High quality diet...earthworms, meal worms, green peas, to name just a few of the things I fed the fish.

Not a fish tank, but I had a pond in my back yard in Venice. I mostly had goldfish in it, to eat mosquito larvae, but I also had frogs. The first frogs were from tadpoles that we caught in Malibu Creek. We did not realize how much noise the frogs would make once they were grown. They sounded like barking dogs.

Later I bought some leopard frog tadpoles, and they stayed around the pond after they had matured. I had created some hiding spots for them at one end of the pond, where the waterfall was, and they liked that.

I had one for a year as a young adult. Funny as it may sound, it was an obstacle to having an active lifestyle. You can always board a dog for a long weekend or an out of town business or vacation trip but what can be done with fish?

It's probably fine for those with mostly stay at home, stay in town lives but it didn't work for me.

Back in the 80s when I was in the Air Force I bought an octogon shaped tank and stand. I never set it up and sold or gave it away because I got orders to Germany. Thinking back it was a really dumb purchase, can't imagine what it would've been like trying to clean it in my tiny dorm room.

We had an aquarium many years ago and enjoyed watching various Cichlids - Kribensis, Discus, etc. - raise their young. The maintenance grew tiring. Built our first pond in 1998 and never looked back. Most of the joys of having an aquarium with not nearly the maintenance, once its established. I still have some of my original Koi 24 years later.

I had a 10 gal one when I was young. I loved my fancy guppies and other small fish. Cleaning the tank got old so only kept it for 10 years. And my mom kept buying big fish like oscars and angel fish which ate all the little fish.

@Elmer J Fudd they gave slow food release vacation blocks.

food, something like that may have been available but what I remember at pet stores and thus what I used at the time (1970s) were little cans of food flakes. For me, the aquarium and the fish in it were an item of decoration, not a hobby, and I wanted to get by doing as little as possible. When it started demanding more attention (more cleaning than I wanted to do, fish getting different diseases that needed to be diagnosed and treated, periodic feeding that interfered with travel), I kept it going only until the last fish died and that was that. A goldfish in a bowl is a different proposition that a little kid can care for.

A goldfish in a bowl is a cruel and unhealthy proposition.

So is allowing cats to go outside. Which is more common? That's a bandwagon to jump on to make a difference in animal welfare.

My uncle had a salt-water tank, his son had a tank, and now his son has had a tank since he was about 10. Managed it himself (with a little help with the things he couldn’t do) and is quite knowledgeable about his fish. I think he has been dispersing the fish now in preparation for going away to college next year.

Funny story. In many colleges, the pet you are allowed to have is fish. So there are plenty of goldfish with the freshmen. But, what to do when you go home for holidays? Well, we were touring one college, and they told us they had to drain a retention pond for some maintenance, and at the bottom were all these dead goldfish. For years they’d been set free there, apparently when the dorms closed, but they couldn’t survive.

Near us is a pond in a small secluded enclave of 3 homes. A little trail runs by it. A few years ago we noticed a few goldfish on the spring. They grew, in size and numbers, but never larger than maybe 6” and maybe a coupla dozen. We wouldn’t see them after, say, August, always figured the heron or something got them. But in the spring, they’d be back. Haven’t seen them now for a few years. It’s a mystery, where they came from and where they went!

About 12 years ago, I setup a planted aquarium similar to Diana Walstad’s method with tropical fish. Once the ecosystem of the aquarium became balanced, I only needed to top off the water due to evaporation and did partial water change once a month. Auto feeder would come in handy when I was away. The plants needed trimming once a while to keep the balance in check. It was an enjoyable experience as I learned a lot about natural aquarium method. I enjoyed the natural pretty view and the fish too while they had lasted until they got old and died. Goldfish were also my favorite, had them grown and even spawned in an aquarium, but they were high-maintenance. I still have several empty aquariums around, big ones are 55 gal, and 120 gal. They may come alive with plants and fish some time in the future.

Aw, bpath, that's not a funny story. That's a sad story. :-(

I have a 100 gallon freshwater tank built into the wall. Viewable from 3 sides. It's not difficult to maintain nor is it difficult to have an active lifestyle. When we go away, our petsitter feeds them. If we just go away for a weekend, they are fine without food for a couple of days.

We have angelfish (my favorite), boesmani rainbows, congo tetras, neon tetras, plecos, cory cats. LOVE my fish!

For years I kept a betta fish in a large bowl which I cleaned regularly. When we bought this 185-year-old house almost 40 years ago there was a small pond built in the 1920's covered up. We uncovered it and threw in goldfish and koi being the stupid people we were. One goldfish lived 15 years but the koi kept growing and growing in the 4 by 6-foot pond. So 25 years ago husband dug out my perennial garden and built a large pond with a waterfall where we placed the three koi. One was killed the first day by a heron which meant from that day on till now it's been netted. I have 16 large koi who are all related. The oldest is 25 and most are of the orange and black variety. The largest ones must weigh 12 pounds and they will eat out of my hand. In retrospect, we should have never done it because maintaining a pond is a very tricky job.

I've never wanted to use petsitters. Because of regular absences over the years and regular but occasional long ones, I prefer knowing that when I lock the doors and leave, they stay locked. Especially as a lifelong dog owner who knows dogs aren't happy spending too much time alone and can get into trouble.

Not my dog, Elmer. She goes to someone's home where she lives as a member of the family when we go away. The pet sitter stays in our house and cares for our cats and fish. She works but her schedule is such that she is there for our cats and house and fish .... nobody suffers and our house is secure. Works for us because we have spent copius amounts of time finding the right people.

You've found what works for you, suzieque, and plenty of people do similar things. There's no personal space or home invasion feeling involved for me, just a different preference. When I want to leave, I don't need to coordinate it with anyone. Our dog's a favorite at the boarding service and always welcome, even without advance notice. I can leave anytime.

We have always had freshwater tanks with platys, zebras, tetras and catfish. We currently have a 30 gallon which used to house a community tank but as those died off and weren't replaced, a friend gave us a little upside down catfish. S/hehas been with us since a friend gave him/her to us in 1996, when s/he was about 2 years old. For a couple of years s/he had a betta companion, but the betta has been gone for about 10 years now. So s/he is now at least 28 years old, about 9 inches long and seems to be having a good time.

I like a pet that I can pet, preferably while it's sitting on my lap. Never been into fish. Except for fish served on a plate, which I enjoy.

I had a 150 gallon salt water in our living room. Had two tanks in our family room, one fresh the other salt. I got very involved with the hobby and the people involved in it. Salt water is complicated keeping the water constant and doing water changes on large salt tanks is time consuming. The chemistry of the water has to be exact. Water tests done daily. I was the one handling all the tanks.

I really enjoyed it for years. Having salt water fish and invertebrates is complicated but fascinating. I loved it. One tank in the family room was a 50 gallon and was just invertebrates, corals, sponges, etc. The water had to be kept pristine.

The large salt tank in the living room was a combination of both. Beautiful fish and corals.

When we went away on vacation, we hired a salt water person to come in and take care of the tanks. We also had a pet sitter for our dogs and cats. It all worked out. When you have animals, whether fish or dogs/cats, you need someone to look after them.

Jane