Age when you started

[Marc van Arc]

I had my first catfish when I was 9; it must have been a very lonesome glass catfish, because I couldn't afford two (let alone more!!). From that moment on things got better and better. Catfishes weren't that scarce then in The Netherlands. I've seen and kept loads of them: I used to help out a wholesaler who lived nearby. There was a time when I regarded Trachelyopterichthys sp., Chaca chaca and Synodontis angelicus for example as "common" fish. Looking back I should have appreciated things a bit more, because after the wholesaler closed in 1995 all weird catfish disappeared from the Dutch market, leaving us with little more than the usual Corydoras spp and some L-numbers in the LFS-ses. Wholesalers, however, have nice catfish from time to time, so I check their lists and order via my LFS.
Thus, I am able to obtain cats for my three tanks. But I can't help getting nostalgic now and then....

[Mad Duff]

I have been involved with fish almost all my life (32 years) my parents kept and showed fish and I started with my own fish when I was 5 and never looked back since.
We were involved wth Redcar Fishkeepers ( formerley Redcar Aquarists) for 20 years+. I was secratary for 3 years and also a judge for NEFAS (North East Federation of Aquarist Societies) before it folded a few years back.
The only catfish I have bred so far are bronze and peppered cory's and bristlenose plecs but have kept quite a few types of synodontis etc.