"It's either me, or the fish"... fishkeepers, what does your SO / family / friends think of your hobby?

My ex - emphasis on ex here - made me get rid of a beautiful 80G that I had in university because he hated the way it smelled (it didn't even have much of a smell, TBQH - so no, nothing was wrong with it).

My current, future husband? And why he's my future husband? He's not particularly interested himself, but he thinks what I do is incredibly neat. He has helped me with water changes, given his thoughts on stock, and told me that he thinks it's really awesome how I have such a unique interest.

He's a keeper.

edit: and as far as money spent goes, I'm the main breadwinner so he doesn't care because bills get paid, anyway.

 

My friends think I'm crazy. They all knew I had one in the living room. Then I had a bunch of people over one holiday and people were coming into the bedroom and realized I had one in there. "Why do you have more than one?!" is always the question.

Then I have to explain that different fish don't get along but I like them all. They don't get it haha.

My SOs complaint is that I have fish food in the freezer. I make sure it touches no food but I still don't live that down.

 

My parents are weird about it. My mom thinks they are cool/cute, but when I spend a lot of money she asks me if I am sure that I want to do it. My dad though likes cichlids. He isn‘t into fishkeeping, but he wants cichlids in my tank that‘s in the living room. He bought me 4 bolivian rams the other day, so that’s great. They only want 1 tank in the house (though my bedroom is an exception). The problem is, I have a small bedroom. I can’t wait to get my own house, although getting a job and paying bills will suck, at least I can have as many fish tanks as I want.

 

My parents don't really like pets in general. However they are fine with my fish since I only have one tank and maintenance doesn't take too long. They also aren't "dirty"(lol haven't seen my guppies poop.....). THe price though did kind of take them back a bit, but they aren't too strict about it as long as I don't spend too much money. The biggest one is that they are afraid that the tanks will leak and insurance can't cover it. Its one of the things they are most afraid of, we put the tank filled with water for a few days in the bathtub lol.

 

Overhere it's totally no discussion with the exception if someone comes over for the first time. There are two stores overhere which have less fish than I have... Isn't that fun...?

 

My parents don't really like pets in general. However they are fine with my fish since I only have one tank and maintenance doesn't take too long. They also aren't "dirty"(lol haven't seen my guppies poop.....). THe price though did kind of take them back a bit, but they aren't too strict about it as long as I don't spend too much money. The biggest one is that they are afraid that the tanks will leak and insurance can't cover it. Its one of the things they are most afraid of, we put the tank filled with water for a few days in the bathtub lol.

FYI... homeowner's or renter's insurance will cover water damage due to a leak. I overflowed a water reservoir when I was making up RO water for my saltwater aquarium a few years ago. I left the filter running and went to work and it ran for four hours. The water ran all over the laundry room and part of the upstairs and down through the ceiling. Our insurance covered it. I was terrified they would deny it because I made a mistake. I owned the mistake and they didn't even ask any questions, just sent the adjuster out and it was done. So you can share that with your parents and they might feel better. An accident is an accident

 

I recently got into this hobby over the summer, and within four months I'm up to eleven tanks, and I foresee a twelfth the next time I can find a good deal on craigslist for a 55 gallon or 75g. :B

Wow, you got me beat. I have gone from zero to six in six months. I thought I was bad. And it has distracted me from things I should be doing.

Five years ago, I got into motorcycles. Had five at one point. Down to three now. Selling one more.

I have become inconsistent with water changes because there is so much more to do. However, I have improved my water change efficiency to I should be better.

My wife likes the tanks. She feeds the Betta “Dave”. She likes counting the assassin snails. Started with five. Now have more than 60.

 

Interesting I missed this thread...

My partner is mostly jealous because they can't have a tank themselves right now.
Same goes for my dad, who got out of the hobby at the same time as me and who is now retired and begging my mum to at least get a small nano tank.

My friends are a mixed bag. From "What is so interesting about some fish?" to "May I just sit in front of your tank and stare at it?" everything is possible. Got a lot of support e.g. one friend driving me to stores to get equipment or fish I can't transport by public transport.

My landlord is indifferent, seems fish are the most popular pets among their tenants. Dogs and cats are not allowed and most other pets still need more space than a tank or two. We are 3 fishkeepers in my 12 party house, alone.

 

My family thinks the fish I want are cool.
My mum even fixed a broken filter for me, and my dad drove me out to pick up my tank.
MY dad is even going to take me fish shopping once the stores are open.
My sibs ignore the fish stuff and don't really care or like them.

 

My husband is 'Supportive'. He knows staring at a fish tank is calming for me and all the kids enjoy it as well. I am refurbishing an old tank and ran into a problem, and he says, "you've put so much work into this if I can't fix it I'll buy you a new one" which is cool. But he wouldn't spend the money if he didn't have to. A few days ago we were in town, both buying things, I bought fish stuff, he bought a hunting rifle. He says my stuff makes our kids cry and his stuff makes our kids happy. He went on to say if/when my fish die, I get sad and kids cry, but with a rifle, he goes hunting, brings food home and everyone is happy. (We live for venison here) so he says fish=tears and new rifle=happiness. Sure. I'm hungry now. I love his logic.

 

FYI... homeowner's or renter's insurance will cover water damage due to a leak. I overflowed a water reservoir when I was making up RO water for my saltwater aquarium a few years ago. I left the filter running and went to work and it ran for four hours. The water ran all over the laundry room and part of the upstairs and down through the ceiling. Our insurance covered it. I was terrified they would deny it because I made a mistake. I owned the mistake and they didn't even ask any questions, just sent the adjuster out and it was done. So you can share that with your parents and they might feel better. An accident is an accident

Thanks, they'll like to hear that!

 

It was my boyfriend’s idea to get into the hobby and I was a little hesitant but went with it and now I’m so happy with our tank and getting to explore different plants and tank combinations.
Our parents think it’s a bit of an investment time and money wise which is true but are overall pretty supportive.

 

My mom actually does care about the fish and helps me with WC sometimes. My stepdad could not care any less about them. My bf doesn’t understand and thinks they’re boring and always tells me to stop when I start talking about them lol.

 

My dad and aunt love my fish and they support my hobby a lot. My mom kept fish when she was younger, and acts like she knows more than me sometimes, she belittles water changes sometimes, and my brother just gets in the way.

 

My wife promised the baby a gold fish when she potty trained, and then left the details up to me.

So now we have a bunch of Gourami gold fish, some Cory goldfish, and some Rasbora gold fish. I was going to get some discus goldfish, but I travel frequently for work and they're kind of high maintenance.

Point being, this was her idea.

 

Lol "goldfish"

 

My mom thinks that my tank causes nothing but stress, and often makes decisions without my say, and I cannot change the outcome. She often threatens to take away my tank if I worry =/

 

No one gets the goldfish obsession. My parents are alright with it, but it annoys them sometimes. They like certain things, but want me to save up for a car. I don't want a car. I want fish.
My sibs sometimes do stuff to annoy me like feeding my goldfish chicken, poking the fish, making the fish "bite"/kiss them, and my little sister has on multiple occasions dumped entire containers of fish food into my tank which takes forever to clean, also she tries to catch them in the fish net.
My one friend with a betta rarely listens to my advice, and my cousin hates my fish and teases me about fish whenever anything bad happens to them. Or insists on giving unhelpful advice. "That stuff in your tank will kill the fish. My teacher had some in her tank and all the fish died." On the brown diatom in the tank.

 

No one gets the goldfish obsession. My parents are alright with it, but it annoys them sometimes. They like certain things, but want me to save up for a car. I don't want a car. I want fish.
My sibs sometimes do stuff to annoy me like feeding my goldfish chicken, poking the fish, making the fish "bite"/kiss them, and my little sister has on multiple occasions dumped entire containers of fish food into my tank which takes forever to clean, also she tries to catch them in the fish net.
My one friend with a betta rarely listens to my advice, and my cousin hates my fish and teases me about fish whenever anything bad happens to them. Or insists on giving unhelpful advice. "That stuff in your tank will kill the fish. My teacher had some in her tank and all the fish died." On the brown diatom in the tank.

Srry you have to deal with all the negative stuff. My brother is pretty supportive, both of us love goldfish especially.
Btw, idk if you have done this but (imo) you've gotta stop your sister dumping an entire can of fish food into the tank(as well as catching the fish, its really stressful)! Its bad for the fish and your wallet.

 

Srry you have to deal with all the negative stuff. My brother is pretty supportive, both of us love goldfish especially.
Btw, idk if you have done this but (imo) you've gotta stop your sister dumping an entire can of fish food into the tank(as well as catching the fish, its really stressful)! Its bad for the fish and your wallet.

I know, I try. I hide the net most of the time and the food, but sometimes she finds it. She's only four, so it'll get better.

 

They like my tanks but refuse to get rid if enough furniture to get some big ones.

 

I know, I try. I hide the net most of the time and the food, but sometimes she finds it. She's only four, so it'll get better.

My 4 year old brother used to do that with my fish.
I gave him my goldfish and he very carefully takes care of it( under supervision of course).
Now we have a very happy goldfish

 

My dad thinks that 1 tank is too many lol. My mom doesn't seem to mind since she doesn't have to do hardly anything (just get the water for wc since I can't read the thermometer). My friends all think I'm crazy, so does my brother and grandmas/aunts/uncles/cousins. My cats however, love my fish tanks. One tried to get on a lid and fell in (the tank was only plants at the time no fish thank god).

 

I know, I try. I hide the net most of the time and the food, but sometimes she finds it. She's only four, so it'll get better.

I'm surprised you are able to tolerate that . I would teach anyone a lesson if they did that to my poor fish, regardless of age.

 

I'm surprised you are able to tolerate that . I would teach anyone a lesson if they did that to my poor fish, regardless of age.

I was pretty upset. It's so annoying.

 

Simple and easy answer. My wife hates it

 

Not goign to lie, I really don't understand spouses who aren't supportive of each other's hobbies. It's a key part of my relationship with my fiance. We both have hobbies we don't share, but for example he bought me a new planter for my patio garden even though he doesn't have an interest in it. Similarly, we both play video games (it's how we spend time right now), but I have an interest in competitive MMOs or RPGs while he likes shooters - so I bought him a game pad that's designed more for shoothers.

Don't know; I'm not commenting on anyone's relationship here, but as we have a lot of younger forum members, I just wanted to encourage them to not look at our stereotypes of adversarial relationships, and instead at compromise and supporting our partners even if we don't have a major interest in it. If it's not hurting us and is kept reasonable (EG, I'm not going to let tanks take over my fiance's space in the house, and bills are still getting paid), then it's just part of being supportive.

 

I was pretty upset. It's so annoying.

Aw I would be livid if my brother did that, but mostly because he knows not too lol.

 

Aw I would be livid if my brother did that, but mostly because he knows not too lol.

Lol, when I owned a parrot, my at-the-time 2 year old nephew dumped 5lbs of bird seed all over my floor... He was trying to be helpful. (He said he was trying to "feed the bird"; I think he wanted to befriend her)

I should remind him of this now that he's in college and will have a girlfriend or boyfriend at some point.

 

My parents are ok with me having fish. They just think I am a bit weirded

 

My parents are ok with me having fish. They just think I am a bit weirded

As a future mom and someone with a lot of nephews/nieces, trust me, we all think our kids are weird lol

 

Lol, when I owned a parrot, my at-the-time 2 year old nephew dumped 5lbs of bird seed all over my floor... He was trying to be helpful. (He said he was trying to "feed the bird"; I think he wanted to befriend her)

I should remind him of this now that he's in college and will have a girlfriend or boyfriend at some point.

Haha, when me and my brother were younger we would feed the goldfish. If one of us didn't feed it while the other did, then we would feed it again and start arguing lol.

 

I have to lie to the wife about how much the fish I buy cost. Most of them come from a local breeder, we pick them up from his place. He’s a good guy and is in on the lie too

 

I have to lie to the wife about how much the fish I buy cost. Most of them come from a local breeder, we pick them up from his place. He’s a good guy and is in on the lie too

Did you see one of the posts on Fishlore Instagram? It says, "for an extra $4 (or so) we will print a receipt that matches what you told your spouse you paid."

 

My husband thought I was having some kind of mental breakdown when I first got into the hobby, because of how obsessed I became out of the blue. He was genuinely concerned about me lol!
A few years down the line I walk in on him talking to and blowing kisses at my gourami and bettas. Oh how the tables have turned

 

My husband encourages it but I’m 95% sure it’s because I only have two small tanks and he has en entire room of bourbon. So I know he has invested a lot more $$ on his hobby (or is it an investment?? Debatable...)

 

My cousin was actually inspired by me and got a fish too. So we both are Betta keepers now.