Bleu
- #1
So... I'm debating whether or not to get a 33 Gallon long tank or a rabbit. (Just a warning, long post!)
Just some back story; I gave up the aquarium hobby somewhere between 2018-2019. I was doing well with my tanks, I had way too many ("MTS") but I was having fun with it. Everything went south for me though when my imported betta died on me. Had him for a week and then he got sick, clamping and behaving strange. Water parameters seemed fine, and my female betta (they were in a divided 10 Gallon) was acting perfectly normal, same with the red cherry shrimps which I assume would be more sensitive. Sometimes I wonder if constant water changing with Prime even when it was 10%-30% changes caused a crash in my tank. All stemmed from paranoia and not being able to just leave it alone, cause I kept thinking I'd lose fish without understanding my cycle properly.
Months later, I basically lost everything besides my cull shrimps. Depression during this time kicked in after I was going through a rough patch in my life. I genuinely to this day felt like I hit utter rock bottom. Never would I had ever thought that losing a group of best friends, especially when you're 18 would impact someone so hard. It did for me. I was in denial about being depressed, emotionally eating to the point where I gained a lot of weight just to cope and couldn't recognize myself or walk up a flight of stairs. This went on for an entire year.
Fortunately for me, I turned my life around in 2019. Snapped out of it. One of my lifelong best friend's (sucks, we aren't on speaking terms again) reached out. I truly think in a way, she saved me as dramatic as that sounds. Despite being in a better place mentally, and now physically (I lost all the weight) my tanks remained neglected cause there was nothing left in them, and I sold the remaining. Now, I just have a 5 Gallon & a 10 Gallon.
Now, it's 2021, and I'm 21 years old. Life is still bumpy. I've basically lost every former friend I had, which still stings, but that's life I guess. Anyway, since my time away from the hobby, I've missed it. A week ago I stripped the 5-Gallon, rinsed it out, put some new black sand down and put my plants back in. Surprisingly, despite neglecting the tank for far too long, my plants thrived. So far the cycling hasn't seemed to go well. I dumped some fish food in it, but it isn't showing any ammonia. Don't know if my old test kit is defective cause it sort of is in bad shape.
Now, I'm working on restoring the 10 Gallon. There's two cull-cherry shrimps that remain from 1-2 years ago, shockingly. Though the bottom of the tank just looks awful cause of the waste buildup, I have no clue how I'm gonna clean it out and make sure the quality of the water is fine. So, I'm not sure if I should wipe it or not... Or even trade it for a 20 Gallon long.
Both tanks I'm hoping to just stock with shrimps only at the moment for small profit just for now. Putting the 5-Gallon together again does remind me how much I love the hobby.
Now, the real question and debate is, whether or not I should get a Rabbit, or a 33-Gallon?
My sister isn't fond of the aquarium hobby. She was actually against getting a Rabbit also. Just like my former friends, she looks down on the hobby. I think she would be supportive about it, if I did a saltwater tank. I really don't want to get into saltwater though. I haven't perfected the hobby at all. Far from it. For the past few months, I've done some research on Rabbits since a friend of mine has two. Which got me wanting to adopt, the one I wanted to adopt got adopted out (guess it wasn't meant to be) so, I called the idea off for a bit. Found another bunny recently, but I got cold feet. Sister keeps getting upset about the idea of me having a 33-Gallon long in my room, and pushing me into getting a Rabbit since she's become fond of the idea of having one, but I keep getting cold feet. Mainly because, I have a dog already, a large one, and whenever I ask people about Rabbits - they tell me they're complex pets, hard to take care of, and dare to say more work than a dog. I just cannot wrap my head around how a Rabbit can be more work than a large dog breed.
Lastly, I definitely have SAD (Seasonal Depression). It's become more obvious these past 4 years. I feel like having a tank in my room would help me a lot. Personally. But having a Rabbit as a companion, would be nice.
TL;DR:
* Quit the hobby after failing & depression.
* Have Seasonal Depression - I think a tank might help.
* Sister wants a Rabbit. I use to want one. Keep getting cold feet cause people say they're tough.
Plus, I have a dog. So I have concerns there & my room is quite tiny. Can't decide if I should get a 33 Gallon, or go with a companion like a Rabbit.
* Thinking of breeding Shrimp in my 5 Gallon & 10 Gallon for some time.
Just some back story; I gave up the aquarium hobby somewhere between 2018-2019. I was doing well with my tanks, I had way too many ("MTS") but I was having fun with it. Everything went south for me though when my imported betta died on me. Had him for a week and then he got sick, clamping and behaving strange. Water parameters seemed fine, and my female betta (they were in a divided 10 Gallon) was acting perfectly normal, same with the red cherry shrimps which I assume would be more sensitive. Sometimes I wonder if constant water changing with Prime even when it was 10%-30% changes caused a crash in my tank. All stemmed from paranoia and not being able to just leave it alone, cause I kept thinking I'd lose fish without understanding my cycle properly.
Months later, I basically lost everything besides my cull shrimps. Depression during this time kicked in after I was going through a rough patch in my life. I genuinely to this day felt like I hit utter rock bottom. Never would I had ever thought that losing a group of best friends, especially when you're 18 would impact someone so hard. It did for me. I was in denial about being depressed, emotionally eating to the point where I gained a lot of weight just to cope and couldn't recognize myself or walk up a flight of stairs. This went on for an entire year.
Fortunately for me, I turned my life around in 2019. Snapped out of it. One of my lifelong best friend's (sucks, we aren't on speaking terms again) reached out. I truly think in a way, she saved me as dramatic as that sounds. Despite being in a better place mentally, and now physically (I lost all the weight) my tanks remained neglected cause there was nothing left in them, and I sold the remaining. Now, I just have a 5 Gallon & a 10 Gallon.
Now, it's 2021, and I'm 21 years old. Life is still bumpy. I've basically lost every former friend I had, which still stings, but that's life I guess. Anyway, since my time away from the hobby, I've missed it. A week ago I stripped the 5-Gallon, rinsed it out, put some new black sand down and put my plants back in. Surprisingly, despite neglecting the tank for far too long, my plants thrived. So far the cycling hasn't seemed to go well. I dumped some fish food in it, but it isn't showing any ammonia. Don't know if my old test kit is defective cause it sort of is in bad shape.
Now, I'm working on restoring the 10 Gallon. There's two cull-cherry shrimps that remain from 1-2 years ago, shockingly. Though the bottom of the tank just looks awful cause of the waste buildup, I have no clue how I'm gonna clean it out and make sure the quality of the water is fine. So, I'm not sure if I should wipe it or not... Or even trade it for a 20 Gallon long.
Both tanks I'm hoping to just stock with shrimps only at the moment for small profit just for now. Putting the 5-Gallon together again does remind me how much I love the hobby.
Now, the real question and debate is, whether or not I should get a Rabbit, or a 33-Gallon?
My sister isn't fond of the aquarium hobby. She was actually against getting a Rabbit also. Just like my former friends, she looks down on the hobby. I think she would be supportive about it, if I did a saltwater tank. I really don't want to get into saltwater though. I haven't perfected the hobby at all. Far from it. For the past few months, I've done some research on Rabbits since a friend of mine has two. Which got me wanting to adopt, the one I wanted to adopt got adopted out (guess it wasn't meant to be) so, I called the idea off for a bit. Found another bunny recently, but I got cold feet. Sister keeps getting upset about the idea of me having a 33-Gallon long in my room, and pushing me into getting a Rabbit since she's become fond of the idea of having one, but I keep getting cold feet. Mainly because, I have a dog already, a large one, and whenever I ask people about Rabbits - they tell me they're complex pets, hard to take care of, and dare to say more work than a dog. I just cannot wrap my head around how a Rabbit can be more work than a large dog breed.
Lastly, I definitely have SAD (Seasonal Depression). It's become more obvious these past 4 years. I feel like having a tank in my room would help me a lot. Personally. But having a Rabbit as a companion, would be nice.
TL;DR:
* Quit the hobby after failing & depression.
* Have Seasonal Depression - I think a tank might help.
* Sister wants a Rabbit. I use to want one. Keep getting cold feet cause people say they're tough.
Plus, I have a dog. So I have concerns there & my room is quite tiny. Can't decide if I should get a 33 Gallon, or go with a companion like a Rabbit.
* Thinking of breeding Shrimp in my 5 Gallon & 10 Gallon for some time.