How many fish have you lost since keeping fish?

I think a lot of us have lost more fish than they remember. I know that I have lost quite a few, at first from rookie mistakes, then just trying to figure out what works well with the set ups that you have. Personally, I've lost way too many soft water species trying to get them to acclimate to my tap water which is pretty hard and alkaline. I am on a well and have a system wide water softener, but I think that it does something to the water that many fish just don't like. Eventually, I learned what fish work well in my water and that is what I now keep.

Don't get discouraged. Learn from your mistakes and keep going.

When I first started I know I lost many. Some due to neglegence on my part, some to illness and other to unknown circumstances. Now, after 20+ years of keeping fish, if I lose one, I am doing some serious investigation. I've gotta find out what happened so it doesn't happen again. Don't give up. Everyone goes through this stuff in the beginning. Learn from it, and apply what you've learned to your next fish.

Yah, if you've been keeping fish for years, especially in multiple tanks...its hard to think about.

The worst are when tanks crash...I lost a LOT of fish after a week long power outage that I wasn't around for.

My tank leak once and i couldn't put them in a bucket because it was 19 fish and bucket wasn't big enough. I came down stairs seeing them on there sides it was dredful

Oddball said:

After 51 years in this hobby? Not a clue. More than I wish to remember.

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Same here. Although I only have 36 years of fishkeeping.

Hello; Started keeping freshwater tropical’s around 1959. Of the many thousands raised or bought all are dead except the sixty or so in three current setups. All your fish are going to die. The best we can hope for is to keep them as healthy as possible as we learn. Disease, power outages, equipment failures and mistakes will happen.

My best advice is to not buy fish you cannot afford to lose. Also if losing fish makes you so despondent, then consider not keeping pets as they are all going to die at some point. Perhaps the best trade off is a notion that many of the fish will live longer and possibly under better conditions than in the wild. The trade off is that they are confined in a tiny fraction of the volume of water in a natural setting. The hobby has an arguably cruel side that must be accepted and dealt with. Good luck with your personal dilemma.

Fiskeeping before the internet was even thought of, with that said lost lost my share of fish until I started buying TFH magazines.

Over the years I have produced more fry than fish lost. Still lost thousands.