I am disenchanted with this hobby

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 am sorry to hear you are frustrated. I was once but my only excuse is
because I was so young at the time and didn't have the money to
properly take care of my pets. What turned me around was more of me
doing research and just plain reading a lot about it, and possibly me
getting older helped too. I don't know how old you are but I would
suggest doing research on the net and maybe subscribing to a great
aquarium magazine like tropical fish hobbyist (tfh) if they still cover
freshwater fish keeping like I suspect you are most interested in right
now or you would have posted your message elsewhere (i.e. sal****er).
Having to do research in this hobby to gain skill instead of relying on
luck proves people keep learning by leaps and bounds and the great
thing about this newsgroup is the social interaction that is the extra
plus of this group. You can learn while you converse with other people
with by and large the same interests as yourself. Good fortune to you
and I would like to see you keep trying and soon start keeping fish
that thrive like mine. Later!

Take a breather for a minute. Getting started in the hobby is always a
little stressful - especially if you care about the fish you keep, and
you obviously do. That's not a reason to give up. You've learned a lot.

Try starting out a little slower. Do you have any fish left? Try only
keeping a very few fish to start with - something like an inch of fish
per 5 or 10 gallons. That will give you lots of room to make mistakes
without hurting your fish. Then you won't get so stressed out and you
can learn and build up the knowledge to keep more fish.

If you are keeping very small fish and the filter seems to be giving
you problems try replacing it with a sponge filter. You can buy a
decent sponge filter for about $5 so you don't have to worry about the
cost much. And as long as you're only keeping a few easy fish a sponge
filter will be completely adequate for nearly any setup. It's even safe
for the smallest fry so you won't have any worries.

Since dying fish obviously stresses you out be careful to select a fish
that won't die easily. Stay away from guppies - yes they are easy
beginner fish but they have short lives and tend to die off quickly. I
don't think you would like that much. Try something longer lived. How
big is your tank? If you have a 20 or 30 gallon tank you might try bala
sharks, very easy and fairly long lived. If your tank is a 10 gallon
then try something like a couple of cory cats, or several danios.
Something small and hardy. Don't get tetras of any kind, they're much
more liklely to die than most other small fish. Just take it easy and
start slow, when you get more confident in your abilities then get more
fish.

And while you're selecting your fish go to the plant section and buy
either some hornwort or some anacharis and stuff it in your aquarium.
Those two plants grow easily and quickly and will provide a buffer that
will help control the water and give you a little extra time to react
to ammonia spikes and such.

Your fish will be ok.

-Daniel

Believe me we have all been there at some time : ( It will get better,
don't give up!

dfreas wrote:

Try something longer lived.

The problem with keeping long lived fish is that you can get so attached
to them. And when they do die it hurts even more. I kept a couple of
Bala Sharks for 4 years, and because of my complacency - I thought they
were practically immortal - they eventually succumbed to dodgy water
conditions. I was devastated. I even have a marked grave for them. I
won't keep any more of them. They are extremely nervous fish and will
outgrow any tank you keep it in, unless it's at least 6'.

If I could tell my past self which fish to keep, I'd say to start out
with a couple of mollies. These are extremely hardy fish and have a life
span of about 3 years. Well, it does help having liquid rock pouring
from the tap though. Soft water they may not do so well in.

Nikki

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

Thanks guys...

I just had a gourami that quit on me literally. it had popeye and I was
coming home with some medecine... too late...
I am still battling Ich but I thing the worse is gone for now.

Damn fish like them too much.

I had an entire 240 gal marine system crash on me. I received a sick fish
and the stress of moving made things worse. 8 fish later, I sold what I
could and converted back to freshwater where I have nearly 20 years of
fishkeeping experience. I still dream of sucsessfuly running a marine tank
and have learned a lot of tricks that only experience can teach: Even after
extensive reading on the marine system, the minute secrets aren't in most
books.

As for my new freshwater conversion, I still can lose fish in a new tank set
up. Mostly, it's the dreaded cycle that claimes at least one fish life for
me unless I have access to an established tank to where I can kidnap some
mature filtration media.

There are a lot of very knowledgable and helpful people available and this
newsgroup is a great source. Spend some time reading, researching and
asking questions to other sucessful aquarists. If you have a favorite fish
that you would like to have, find others who keep them well and see if they
can help. Experience is the best teacher and although there will always be
some that we can only gain for ourselves, try to gather as much as you can
from others.

Justin

wrote in message
ups.com...
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

"Nikki Casali" wrote in message
...


dfreas wrote:

Try something longer lived.

The problem with keeping long lived fish is that you can get so attached
to them. And when they do die it hurts even more. I kept a couple of
Bala Sharks for 4 years, and because of my complacency - I thought they
were practically immortal - they eventually succumbed to dodgy water
conditions. I was devastated. I even have a marked grave for them. I
won't keep any more of them. They are extremely nervous fish and will
outgrow any tank you keep it in, unless it's at least 6'.

If I could tell my past self which fish to keep, I'd say to start out
with a couple of mollies. These are extremely hardy fish and have a life
span of about 3 years. Well, it does help having liquid rock pouring
from the tap though. Soft water they may not do so well in.

Nikki


If you go for Mollies IME don't go for just a male/female pair. I did this
and unfortunately the female got so stressed with Mr Mollie chasing her that
I lost her. In the end got another two females and now have an endless
supply of Mollie fry :-) . Of course if you don't want to get swamped with
fry try keeping just one sex together but bear in mind a lot of female
Mollies can be pregnant when you buy them.

Gill

"Tom Randy" wrote in message
news
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



Just lost 3 fish in the last 5 days - two from one tank and one from
another. And yes, I feel real bad each time I lose a fish but try to
understand why it has happened...sometimes there is no answer and other
times I look on it as a way of learning how to prevent it happening in the
future. This week I know one was my fault but I'm still bewildered about the
others. As Tom says "it happens" :-(

I've been reading your threads since you first got the tank and the
impression I got was that you were excited and enthusiastic about your new
venture. Wish I had found this group when I first started with my fishy
adventure last August - there is such a wealth of experience and great
people willing to help.

I'm sorry that you have had the problems that you have had but I think
almost everyone has/does come across similar issues and most, if not all,
have felt the same way as you do at the moment at some point - I know I
have/do everytime I lose a fish. The only way I find is to try and take a
positive attitude and learn through what has happened - each problem that I
encounter teaches me more and more about this hobby of ours - and IMO the
overall rewards of seeing a tank(s) of healthy, happy fish make everything
worth while.

Gill