What do you get out of keeping fish??

[redtailfool]

So heres the big question : Why go through all the hassle?? Why buy big ,rare expensive fish that jumps at 3 am ? Why do water changes everyday to bring ammonia down??? Why bring in tanks when the wife /gf/bf/husband doesnt approve???

What do you get out of it?? What keeps you in this hobby?

[PeacockBass]

So heres the big question : Why go through all the hassle?? Why buy big ,rare expensive fish that jumps at 3 am ? Why do water changes everyday to bring ammonia down??? Why bring in tanks when the wife /gf/bf/husband doesnt approve???

What do you get out of it?? What keeps you in this hobby?


I enjoy science and comeptition... It just so happens that there is alot of compeition in fishkeeping.

I love debating.

I also love animals, I have more respect for animals then humans.

[Neo Baron]

yea ill 2nd that but i also enjoy them because i grew up with fish and i take marine bio, and bio courses at school. I also like the show that my gars do when i drop feeder goldfish in the tank all u see is glitter. :D

[Aimhigher38]

I love animals and the challegne. It feels great when your fishes get big and are healthy. And its an competition among your close friends when you got hold of a rare fish that they couldnt get a hold of. The whole thing about keeping fishes/animals is to also get experiences on them and to understand their natural behavior...that what I find so fun and interesting about it...

[PeacockBass]

I love animals and the challegne. It feels great when your fishes get big and are healthy. And its an competition among your close friends when you got hold of a rare fish that they couldnt get a hold of. The whole thing about keeping fishes/animals is to also get experiences on them and to understand their natural behavior...that what I find so fun and interesting about it...


:thumbsup:

[tigerfish]

maybe its nature, i got my first one at the age of 8

[guppy]

Don't know, Why keep cats? Just love them I guess.

[redtailfool]

wow thanks for the frank and unique answers. Didnt know that competition could be a prominent factor for keeping fish!! You do learn something new everyday.

I used to keep fish for my own enjoyment and satisfaction. With the advent of the internet, its nice to "show off" your collection online, learn ( and learn i did!) and teach others in the hobby.

Also had the privilege to meet and know a lot of cool fellow hobbyists and that certainly is a factor to stay. I am also tired of the bread and butter fish and i am in it for the challenge too. I like to keep sensitive fish to try to see if my 'wet thumb' is good enough to keep the fish alive and thriving.


But at the end of the day, it all boils down to personal enjoyment( to me anyway). When you are just bone-tired, you turn on the tank lights and just watch your fish glide and swim in their tanks... its more than worth the maintenance. Its just a great natural high for me.


Cmon people, lets see some answers here. We all wanna know what makes you tick!!

[redtailfool]

maybe its nature, i got my first one at the age of 8


I think keeping fish is in my nature too. We started right about the same age..
8 or 9 for me!!

[MasterMing]

Plain ans simple, it keeps me happy and sane. I work 80 hours a week, 7 days a week, with maybe a weekend off every month. All I do is deal with idoits all day. So feeding my fish twice a day, doing water changes every week, and raising cool ass fish that reward you by getting fat, is what sooths me every day. They sheath my blade and my family knows it. Thats why i can have as many tanks or fish as I please.

[guppy]

still don't know, just love em.

[neoprodigy]

Plain ans simple, it keeps me happy and sane. I work 80 hours a week, 7 days a week, with maybe a weekend off every month. All I do is deal with idoits all day. So feeding my fish twice a day, doing water changes every week, and raising cool ass fish that reward you by getting fat, is what sooths me every day. They sheath my blade and my family knows it. Thats why i can have as many tanks or fish as I please.
SAME here...

[slapper]

For me it's all about the fish. They are soothing,facinating.entertaining and interesting. They work wonders on my brain.

[PhullTank57]

It actually keeps me out of TROUBLE?!! :evil_lol:

[Steve_89]

I just find them facinating. It also keeps me out of trouble too :grinno:

[redtailfool]

HAHAHA I love Steve and Phullys answer...

MasterMings reply made me think a lot...i think were on the same page too. Though i dont work as hard as you and Neo... hehehe.

[rayman45]

It actually keeps me out of TROUBLE?!! :evil_lol:

dito

[nick]

keeps my money away from drugs and my g/f thinks my jardini is the coolest thing ever


the peacocks are pretty too lol

[juliuslim]

still don't know, just love em.

same here...
started this fish keeping last july only... but now just crazy about it.. almost visit different fish shop everyday.... :screwy:

[Gamble]

Well, on my part, I believe that I still dont know why I spend obscene amount of money and time on this hobby...I dont know why I worry about my fish when they get ill, like a father would his own child... I dont know why I continue to talk to my fish infront of my guess, and for some reason act like they talk back and i understand what they're saying back :screwy:

Hell, why am I in this hobby???!!! :wall: :grinyes:

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it helps me keep stress off(except for something goes wrong in the tank), I managed to quit smoking(40 sticks a day for about 7 years), I dont drink every other day, infact, I only drink once every 2 weeks or so...I dont burn a hole in my wallet when I go clubing...all in all, for some weird reason, I've become alot more cash smart because for everything thing i buy, i compare it to some new fish or filtration tech that I can invest on.. :evil_lol:

[iheartfishies]

still don't know, just love em.
BINGO. :hearts:

[Jay R.]

what kind of competion??

[pufferking]

i just like watching the fish eat other fish

[shovelnose]

mostly i get yelled at for the electric bill :grinyes:

[iheartfishies]

mostly i get yelled at for the electric bill :grinyes:
Tanks dont do THAT much damage on your electric bill, do they?....

Every time I set up a new tank I didn't think I noticed much of a change at all. :confused:

[kman]

ice hockey with da boyz.......$300 per season

beer and wings after each game.....$20 per outting

going home to da wife..... :naughty: :naughty: :naughty:

feeding, pampering and watching my fish grow in crystal clear water........ priceless

this hobby completely relaxes me and i take personal pride in my fish's health, appearance and crystal clear water

this hobby has turned me into calmer person

the look of crystal clear water in tanks turns my crank

plus i get to meet some really cool ppl like u guys from around da world..... :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Oddball]

This hobby is a constant reminder that no matter how much I might think I'm in control of my surroundings, I never had control.

[DiXoN]

i just like looking at cool fish in my house.
i like taking care of them and i spend most of the time when i am in my house looking at them.
dixon

[sleepyflight]

being a natural born redneck from the norther hills of PA....I practically grew up in the woods and if I can have one piece of nature to look at when I get home here in sh**y FL it's a stress reliever. Then I started watching them breed and that was cool so I bought more and more tanks for breeders and so on so forth. Last time I tried to figure out how much i've spent I stopped round a couple thous. don't wanna think about it, it just makes me happy to vegetate in front of one of my tanks.

[shovelnose]

Tanks dont do THAT much damage on your electric bill, do they?....

Every time I set up a new tank I didn't think I noticed much of a change at all. :confused:

I think running the heaters is where the biggest cost is my tanks are in the basement up against uninsulated outside walls. :uhoh:

[cenecker]

Stress Relief - for sure. I don't even have cable TV, why bother when I'd rather sit in front of my fish tanks for hours! Nothing calms me down more.

And as for the maintenience, for some reason I really don't mind. Probably because of the satisfaction I get when I test my water and look at my fish and everything is nice and healthy.

As far as big fish, I guess I'm just drawn to large predators. I've kept zillions of different species of reptiles, but all I have now and probably all I'll every keep again are Tegus. There's just something about watching a giant, tame lizard crush a mouse's bones with it's jaws and swallow it whole .... It just does it for me.

I'm relatively new to fish keeping in general, but I've quickly progressed to predators. It started with two senegal bichirs, then an oscar and now an arowana. It just works for me :drool:

[piranha45]

Tegu are savannah monitors, correct?

[Oddball]

They're monitors but, not any specific type. A friend of mine keeps monster lizards. He has a savannah, a red tegu, and another type of tegu (forget the name) in his collection. All are distinctly different lizards.

[piranha45]

all are very capable predators though right? no herbivores?

[cenecker]

Actually, no, Tegus are not monitors. :nono: They do bear a passing resemblence in apperence and biology, kinda like cats and dogs do...

Tegus (Macro-teiids at least - Red Tegus, Argentine B&Ws, Blue Tegus, Columbian B&W tegus) are large predatory lizards from south america. It has been established that Wild Argentine Tegus consume fruits and vegetables as around 40-60% of their diets, however captive ones generally accept very little if any herbivorous food. Mine eat Mice, worms, mealworms, pieces of fish, steak, chicken, turkey (just about any table scraps) and cat food.

Here's picture of Master Chief, my largest at about three feet long and 4 lbs. He's estimated to be about 8 months old.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/gallery/uploads/962/Outside7.jpg
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/gallery/uploads/962/Awake_at_the_crack_of_noon.jpg http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/gallery/uploads/962/Lunchtime5.jpg http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/gallery/uploads/962/Lunchtime6.jpg

[rayman45]

U NEED TO UPLOAD FRIST TO THE GALLIERY :NEWBIE:

[cenecker]

whoops, thanks for the advice

[piranha45]

Actually, no, Tegus are not monitors. :nono: They do bear a passing resemblence in apperence and biology, kinda like cats and dogs do...

Tegus (Macro-teiids at least - Red Tegus, Argentine B&Ws, Blue Tegus, Columbian B&W tegus) are large predatory lizards from south america. It has been established that Wild Argentine Tegus consume fruits and vegetables as around 40-60% of their diets, however captive ones generally accept very little if any herbivorous food. Mine eat Mice, worms, mealworms, pieces of fish, steak, chicken, turkey (just about any table scraps) and cat food.

Here's picture of Master Chief, my largest at about three feet long and 4 lbs. He's estimated to be about 8 months old.

do this in this order:

[rayman45]

or you can upload to mfk gallery or photobucket type website
then do it how u did

[rayman45]

p- killing tham softly is the stand up in sf or dc?

[cenecker]

okay it works now....mabye I should crop those down a little :shakehead

[guesswho2005]

They keep me from killing fools. I would say stress relief, however, I get more stressed when things are not going well in my tanks. I guess when it come right down to it I'm a fish person, thats all I can say.

[samjh86]

JOY my man JOY

[ewurm]

A piece of nature in my home. An unknown world.

[rottbo]

just sitting on my com with my big guys looking at me through the glass is good enough for me but i get real happiness from my fish they can cheer me up and put me in a bad mood when something goes wrong i would say the best part about them though is the stress relief i get by sitting in a room with only tank lights on and watching my fish

[ewurm]

just sitting on my com with my big guys looking at me through the glass is good enough for me but i get real happiness from my fish they can cheer me up and put me in a bad mood when something goes wrong i would say the best part about them though is the stress relief i get by sitting in a room with only tank lights on and watching my fish

Thats what I am talking about. Fish are amazing, you can't usually see them unless you have scuba, shallow water or a great tank.

[Gr8KarmaSF]

fish are relaxing and i love to learn....

[ewurm]

fish are relaxing and i love to learn....

Learning is also a great part of fishkeeping. So many people overlook it.

[rottbo]

one thing that puts me in a bad mood is when girls come over and say EWWWW whats that big ugly fish,,,,, that trips my trigger if you cant say something nice shut your !@#$&^% pie hole

[dacox]

I like having a little slice of nature to watch. I've always been an animal/nature/water buff, so when I can't be out seeing things for myself, especially the South Americans that I'm keeping now which I've never been able to see, I can get a little taste of it at home. I also like the satisfaction that comes with knowing you are providing a good life for another animal.

[chefdazza]

i have found that fishkeeping has taught me a lot of patience. i am nerdy and i enjoy the science behind everything. my fish relax me and teach me a lot of biology too.

[DULOS]

i really enjoy fishkeeping as its a distraction from the big bad world and where i can create a world that i like and that can manipulated to my satisfaction.
otherwise i think its very very cool to see how many fish are out there and what they look like and the cool things they do.

[dizlal]

The times when everything is running really smooth, it's a great deal of satisfaction just to sit back and watch.

[dtgshark]

one word, SATISFACTION!

[drdpc]

For love!!
I became a vet because I love fish!! And I don't think i'm crazy only because i do crazy things!!!

[gomezladdams]

Mostly for enjoyment.

It also gives a nice outlet/focus for my ocd and its more interesting than therapy

[stotty]

My father got me into it he bred tetras and showed them. As I child I was always in his fish room. Then later on I went down my own road of Cichlids followed by snakeheads I became fascinated with big fish and found it to be a rewarding bit of escapism. Now when work etc is bad I just tell my wife “I’m off to the fish room” have a tinker about forget it all. I remember once overhearing my mother-in-law saying to my wife “so what is he doing out there” “you tell me he sits out there on his own with the fish” “that’s not right” :screwy:

[GettingSassy]

Keeping fish to me is a challenge. Can I keep them happy? Alive? Thriving? It's also a learning experience. I have learned so much in doing this, in so many different topics, and I enjoy the thrill of learning something new.

To me, it's a hobby that brings me peace and joy. I enjoy doing water changes, tank maintenance, DIY projects... I'm seldom happier than when I'm working on my tanks, or when I'm laying back, watching the fruits of my efforts.

Finally, it's learning about, understanding, and watching nature. I've gotten to explore an amazing ecosystem in learning about Lake Tanganyika. I feel like I have a little piece of the lake, here in my living room. My children love it, and learn from it. And when the science fair projects start, I'm a walking book of ideas!

[Hunter74]

I get lots of enjoyment out of my tank. I to like doing water changes and general maintenance on my tank. Keeps me busy. and then sitting back at watching all the fish, cause they always seem happier after a water change. Also I really like sitting in the dark in my living room watching the fish swim around in the moonlight. and the big shadows they casr on my wall. Very cool

[hewhorunswithscissors]

I like the science and I am particularly interested in the behaviours of the fish I keep. Not so interested in the fanciest or best color, the "perfect" specimen... I am more interested in observince and wondering WHY they do this or that... what advantage might it give them in the wild? etc etc. AFter 30 years of keeping fish, I still learn something new EVERY DAY... literally every day. Plus, its relaxing to watch them for a few minutes every night and morning!!

[Fry]

food :j/k:

it's relaxing and i love animals, parents never let me keep any land animals so i fell in love with fish

[ewurm]

A tank full of poop, and a bill for the food. :ROFL:

[Opiate]

it cures my boredom and...i just love fish lol

[cougar579]

Relaxation.

[socalsurfer]

Relaxation.
:iagree:
When I was a baby my pops had a nice size monster tank, I think like a 300gal or something anyway, my mom said she would just sit me near the tank and I would just zone out for hours. Guess the Oscars were my baby sitters, while my mom was doing house chores. :naughty: Anyway it still works now, I can just zone out on the fish, water, and the sound of the water flowing. it's hypnotizing.

It is also nice to see your fish growing.

[skinless]

high times