Sometimes, I am caught by the fact that aquarium fish-keeping is, in
essence, a somewhat "unnatural" hobby. Often, these fish are taken
from different regions and ecosystems of the world, and they are not
evolved to the aquarium "indoor" life in captivity. Why do we do it?
I can't speak for others, but for me it combines a strong nurturing
instinct (I am also an avid gardener - I SWEAR that these 2 hobbies are
related) with a strong response to the challenge of the whole
enterprise. Create an entire mini-eco-system so that fish from South
Africa grow and thrive in an indoor aquarium in Cleveland, Ohio? Hey,
no problem! I can do that!

At any rate, I know it's a hard thing, to lose fish. I lost 3 female
Colisa Lalia (Dwarf Gouramis) to dropsy/bloat in one month. (All from
the same fish store, BTW.) I keep thinking about what I might have
done wrong, and what I could have done to avoid it. I still don't
know. Also, 5 years ago, my favorite fish was a 3-y-o Blue Gourami
that finally succumbed to Old Tank Syndrome (OTS) because I wasn't
experienced enough to known about the importance of water changes when
I was a teenager. I can understand the guilt - and the hurt. We are
SO responsible for the lives of these small creatures!

I would suggest that you keep the faith. It's a neat hobby. To feel
responsibility for the lives of other living things can only be a good
thing, IMO. Don't let the losses get you down too much - it hurts, and
you can feel like a 100% failure, but the real failures never CARE
enough to learn about their mistakes and never try to improve their
fishkeeping abilities. So, you are (much) better than average! With
your sensitivity, I am sure that you will become a great aquarist.
Maybe, I will be one too, someday.

- Lisa in Central Coast CA, USA


Tom Randy wrote:
On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 15:53:16 -0800, wrote:

Hi guys,

I own a tank for more than a month now and right now I have mixed
feelings
about it.

It is not what I expected it to be and I am starting to think of
getting
rid of it.

It has nothing to do of taking care of the fish, the money spent on
hardware.

It's just I like animals and it stresses me to see fish die and I
am the
one to blame for it due to my inexperience and for putting fish
into a
tank and play with their lifes...

I had fish that died because they got sucked into the filter,
because the
water didnt have the proper qualities and now because of disease...
It's a constant battle for me to take care of the fish and I am
losing it.

Sorry for my venting but I am frustrated. Thanks


I have lost 6 fish in the past month. It happens. I had to put one
down
tonight actually. An albino cory that was sick. I lost 3 rasboras and
3
albino corys. I think the corys had a fungus on their mouth areas and
the
tails looked torn.

Point is, it happens. Don't get too down about it.

You'll do better soon. Really.

Tom