fish friends

[ehh]

It's cool to see this thread as this has been bothering me for a while actually. I met 1 person through fish keeping who stopped but i still consider a friend, two buddys that I msg every now and again that keep little monsters and we do orders for each other (noone i have beers with but I would, you know?), and 1 guy that worked at a Lfs that seemed cool but ended up being intolerable. Every single other person I have met with fish keeping, mostly through buys and sales, has been elitist as can be and always ended up trying to start a dorado measuring contest if you know what I mean.

this is a problem i come across often around here. people just want to brag about how many large( eventual giant) predators or aggressive large cichlids they can stuff into their tanks. one of this clowns actually said "anything less than a 55 is child's play" lol

Most monster fish keepers or fish keepers in general talk on and on and on and on about their fish and the fish they have. I am slightly guilty of this and this is a habit i can sort of understand and definitely tolerate. It just seems with some people it is the absolute centre of their lives, as if no other hobbies or pets are present. That's why l love seeing threads here when ppl talk about cars, boxing, women, etc.

A lot of hard core fish keepers are... well... eccentric. Okay maybe borderline weird. Maybe I am included in this, it's possible, but definitely not to the extent that some people I have dealt with. And I dont mean to offend, i just mean that they don't relate too well with the mainstream stuff, like hockey, getting drunk, working out and stuff. Unique may be the word, and that's not a bad thing always, but sometimes it is.

for me fish keeping and school pretty much sum up my life. and what im studying doesnt interest more people. so i guess im one of those weirdos. i do love getting drunk though haha

This one is going to be very judgmental and completely unsubstantiated but i feel that a good chunk of the people I run across don't really have very many people to hang out with or party with other than their fish. Sorry, but it feels as though a ton of time is spent on the useless parts of this hobby, as though there is nothing else to do and their life revolves around their fish.

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dont get me wrong... i do have friends, only about 6 people i honestly care to spend time with (and im sure some of my classmates would be willing to hang out too but i think all we'd have in common is school which we talk enough about at school lol), but my fish arent my only friends haha

Rereading this post before posting it made me realize I'm probably opening up myself up to flames, but my intention is not to insult, it has simply been bugging me for a while why I don't quite like other people that I have met that keep fish around me. Is it cuz i have very limited exposure being where I am? Have I just had bad luck? I would love for people to tell me I'm wrong and keep trying because I wouldn't mind another friend that keeps tanks to chat and hang out with. I am greatful for the 3-4 people I have met and can connect with and are genuinely nice people, plus all the cool people here, but unfortunately I have run into a lot of bad eggs, definitely more than the 3-4. I think some of the common themes i see are just by virtue or nature of being in the hobby, but i feel a lot of the negative qualities can be avoided. Fish keeping to me is about peace and tranquility watching beautiful pets grow, i just want to keep the peace and not have my love of the hobby frustrate me.

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well i like i said earlier i know a good number of people that keep fish but my "morals" clash with theirs. around here people are only interested in buying, trading, selling, stuffing monsters into 125 gallons, feeding fish hotdogs or tilapia because its cheaper.... ugh. so i see what you mean about being frustrated by it. the further i get into the local scene the more annoyed i get by it.

 

[mudbuttjones]

I was really thinking about this thread and I realized that I'm at least lucky that although my friends don't keep fish they seem genuinely interested in mine. We can sit back, drink beers, and have convos about fish. Sometimes they willingly help me move and set up tanks. My one friend wants me to set him up an an African tank once he buys a house.

I've got one friend with a science/medical background who is amazed with the biology of aquariums and we can go on and on talking about them although he doesn't have any fish.

Another good friend of mine is a total gear head and a bit of a nerd. He plumbs up multi-thousand dollar liquid cooled gaming PC's. He actually comes to me for help with pumps, plumbing, basic fluid dynamics stuff. He's extremely intrigued by the mechanical aspect of tanks with sumps, canisters, air lift stuff, submersible mag drive pumps etc

Another buddy of mine is into taking pictures and social media. He's always sharing pics of my tanks/fish on instagram, snapchat etc.

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[ehh]

Gotta be more than fish. Otherwise can't call that person a friend. Just pointing it out.


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and i get that. i totally get that and agree with you. you may be taking the definition of friend a bit far though.
i guess i would like to know people that i can go have a few beers with and talk about fish without being annoyed by them. like i said earlier, without having to hold my tongue about their 40 gallon with 2 oscars. or them telling me how they lost another fish in the same fashion they lost their last 5 fish...
i dont meet too many people that are as into the hobby as i am.
i know one guy that i enjoy being around but our schedules conflict pretty much all the time.
one other guy is kind of awkward and only wants to talk about discus haha but he he doesnt get on my nerves haha he take excellent care of his fish.

 

[davenmandy]

The way I see it live and let live. Show me pics of your tank, i love seeing people's tanks, if you have something sick I'll for sure spot it and let you know, if not I'll still say sick because any successful tank is sick. And that's all I really want from it. I mean we can talk shop and you legit have a good idea about say nitrate reduction or something that's also sick, but I'm sick of "well see my tank..."

I have actually converted one friend to fish keeping i forgot about. Good buddy of mine, spent 8-9 month the gathering top of the line salt setup, built his sump, researched the hell out of everything. So meticulous with testing and everything, his system will run like a top, up in a couple of days. That was really cool to see, like a little franchise after he spent hours looking at my tank instead of playing nhl15 like the rest of us.

Oh btw wanted to add, the people I do regularly deal with in this hobby, the fish friends mentioned before, we all do cool stuff for each other and it's never formal like pick up the group order or grow out a fish for you if it's too small for your growout, or offer to help with tank moves even though they live in different cities or don't drove, not to mention temp house your fish. All real casual and no hassle.

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[azmtns]

This topic is exactly why some of the specialty clubs were formed. Killifish clubs and livebearer clubs, etc. It is really fun to have a group of people who are just as sick as you breeding and trading fish. I am fortunate enough to have a few really good friends that I have met through fish and fish clubs. We trade and give each other all kinds of fish. Also tanks, we try to keep them in the "family".

I completely agree that there is a faction of people who see their fish as a way to make a buck. A large group of african cichlid people that I know (could be any group) are always trying to sell fish for a profit. I'm not in it for that, it is not fun to do that... that is called another job. That is what turns me off to certain clubs in my area and certain people. If I am fortunate enough to breed something, I share with my friends if they want... keep the rest I want, and feed the excess to some big guys. It is a hobby.

Also alot of time in the fishroom just to putter, that is truly fun.

 

[xraycer]

Although we, as fish keepers, have a common interest, we are also humans and as such, we come with different personalities. Different personalities will at times clash and even a common interest cannot make things amiable. Basically, even though we have a culture as fish keepers, there are sub-cultures within our culture.

 

[Redearsunfish]

I miss having real life fish friends terribly. I mean who can I call to say "hey have you seen the new hydor canister line?"

 

[jprp]

I have a friend whose fiancé keeps fish. It's pretty funny...when he has something to tell me, he gives her the message and vice versa. She's like the middle man LOL

Lol, if your avatar is you i think i know why she doesn`t want you two to contact each other directly.

 

[CaptainS]

The only fish friends I know are at aquarium stores still trying to find some local clubs to meet people or find someone whos interested in predatory fish somewhere.