Sabi

What do you feel is the worst part of fish keeping?

Amnagrla

lol I don't even mind the upkeep and the water changes... I feel the worst parts are:

• Getting sick/injured/dying fish and there isn't anything you can do
• The cost
• The mentality that non-fish keepers have... and that they don't understand the attraction and addiction until they experience it for themselves!

Bonochick

As far as maintenance goes...vacuuming the gravel. If I don't have my boyfriend help me, I'm pretty much asking for a mess to be made...but the real reason I don't like it is because I always get paranoid that I'm gonna suck up a fish or that a fish is going to jump out. I also hate disturbing them.

But, of course, the worst thing is losing one of my aquatic friends. I just had a fish pass who had been sick/injured for almost 2 weeks. That was hard.

armadillo

The diseases, and how time-consuming the hobby is. I don't actually mind the water changes and gravel vac, but I'd love to have 15 million tanks and I simply do not have the time for that.

Callum The Cat

Sabi

Ay! Heres another with a time prob!

darkwolf29a

LOL. About the only thing I hate is that there isn't enough time in the day for every fish I want.

With 15 tanks...I have enough to keep my girlfriend and I busy during the weekend.

armadillo

Oh, and here's another one: finding a decent fish-sitter is near impossible. So I've come to hate going on holidays, LOL.

Tom

I would have to say that dealing with stupid pet store employees is the worst.
Tom

armadillo

Yeah, that's really frustrating. You don't want to be patronising or to make them feel cornered, but some know NOTHING! It can get really annoying.

purple_phoenix

The smell of the filter when you've gone away for a couple of weeks and haven't cleaned it out...

I'll go do it now before it gets worse.


I do have a few fish that worry me every now and then, and I've had a few deaths. They can be hard to take

Bill

The cost.

Dying fish - 13 of them

Allie

1. I hate when tanks leak. Only happened once with a 30g...of course I was home alone. I had to figure out where the leak was coming from, only to cut my finger on the tiny sliver of glass where the leak was. It was sharp. Our python wasn't working right at the time either. I have arthritis pretty bad in my right shoulder...so I had to carry the 10g buckets full of water I had to siphon out getting a mouth full of fish water.
I was in a huge panic.

2. Having favorite fish die

armadillo

I am so sorry, Bill. I just don't know what's up with your tank but noone should have to go through so many deaths so close to each other. I really am sorry. This must be awful.

And this is another thing I don't like about fishkeeping: it's so difficult to get good, clear, unambiguous information about how to treat.

Dino

Having fish die, and having no clue why.

armadillo

That still happens to you, Dino? I was hoping that after years and years and years I would end up with nearly all the answers. So it stays puzzling, hey?

Richard

Without a doubt, losing fish whether because of stupid mistakes made or for unknown reasons.

Dino

Yeah, it still happens.

We lost a couple of brochis splendens and some baby montie swords in the past month.

No clue as to why.

voiceless_kat

Dying fish, I have only been in the fish "addiction" mode since Feb. and I love it. Why do people think you are "weird" if you love fish? I have only lost 2, both bettas, and ya know how you forge almost a personal relationship with these puppies with fins?? That hurts. I research for hours, read, and ask questions, so I feel like every day I learn something new and am doing my best.

I am just about to launch a 55g community tank, and already am worried about the fish losses I will have...........so sad, makes you feel guilty.

Thanks for this forum, where you can get some reassurance that it is 'okay" and that it is cool to be a fish person!!!!!

COBettaCouple

Tell me about it! Especially since so many people don't want to open their minds to fish being pets and not "just fish".

COBettaCouple

Thank God for online shopping! I love to avoid Deathco like a disease.

armadillo

Oh that sucks. Sorry to hear that, Dino.

armadillo

Well I don't know. Ordered from 4 different websites about 2 weeks ago, and nothing's here yet.

COBettaCouple

both beautiful fish.

COBettaCouple

that sucks LA.. certainly there are a lot of poor sites, so i value highly the good ones when we find them.

Harley

The worst part of fish keeping is seeing you fish hurt and dieing but overtop of that is watching the fish take its last few breaths. Rest In Peace Plecy!

armadillo

Oh Harley. It's really sad that youv'e had to put it down. You were very courageous. That would really be the worst part for me but touch wood it's never happened to me.

timg

I have to agree with Dino and the others, that the worst part of keeping fish is losing them, especially when there is no identifiable reason, and even worse is finding one missing! It took me 3 weeks to find one of my clown loacghes one time, because it got inside the Under Gravel Filter! I was accusing everyone of stealing it!

COBettaCouple

true, i'm still not sure what exactly killed Ariel, but no meds had any effect on her and it was just a weird thing.. and so sad to watch her try that hard to live and not make it.

armadillo

And then there's teh weeks of paranoia after a suspect death, in case it was some horrid contageous thing that's lying dormant for a while and getting ready to strike again.