Refilling the Tanks for 2024

[DJRansome]

My participation in the hobby (as far as owning fish as opposed to participating in forums) has waned over the last 7 years. I had 7 full-time tanks and the odd utility tank prior to 2017.

I moved to the Jersey shore in 2017 and did not add fish while preparing for selling the house and moving the tanks. In 2017 I filled only the 3 big tanks and for a while struggled with filters that all gave up at once and the lack of good replacements on the market.

Then COVID happened and my local club/auction fell apart so no annual group buy.

I have been pondering which path to take next...shut down the remaining tanks or restock. I am going to restock when it warms up enough for shipping. I am NOT going new world like some do after a time with Africans.

Have you ever lost enthusiasm and what path did YOU take?

 

[ken31cay]

I lost some enthusiasm after my wild caught fish continually dying due to various mishaps and/or insufficient level of care. Must have spent upwards of $7k over two years ordering wild caught Frontosa for my tanks during that period. My answer was to get a bigger, more elaborate setup and so focusing more on the hardware and setup details rather than the actual fish. Not sure if this helps.

 

[james99]

I'm at the same place now. Got rid of my haps and peacocks a few years ago. I thought I wanted to go new world, but was really interested. I still have 3 tanks running, but stock is non-existent. My 125 has a handful of mascara barbs and synos left from my peacock tank, a 55 with 1 vampire pleco and a 40 breeder with 2 goldfish my son's teacher thought was a good idea to send home with him.

My tanks are a mess and anytime I get an idea of what I want to do, I think about it and lose interest. It doesn't help that the LFS that used to frequent got a new owner and went down hill really fast.

 

[duanes]

When I moved to Panama in 2015, it took me 3 years to get a reasonable tank to the island where I live, finally got a 180 and some local cichlids, and was planning on collecting more........., just like what happened to you, Covid happened and the entire country closed down tight. No collecting.
Since it opened back up I'm back collecting, and my tank is now basically a stretch of Mamoni River biotope (not just cichlids either)and I find the entire concept more interesting than buying a bunch of randem fish and throwing them together.
If I had access I'd do another biotope tank, with Madagascans, or maybe with the 2 species of cichlids from India, but that ain't gonna happen here.

I had a Madagascan biotope tank (above) in the states, they were fascinating, and challenging.
For a tank to be interesting to me, its not just about the some cichlids these days , but the entire geographical rigamarole, the species found together and their interaction and how they coexist in nature.
The Mamoni river Biotope below.

Just blathering, I guess.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Im right there with you. I tried for awhile to keep 5-7 tanks running but its come down to resources for me: time, money, space...i just have the 200g and 400g now and various impromptu Q tanks when the need arises. Although i built a few small tanks this year, 2023 was the first year in several that i havent built myself a new tank.

I actually staged my 135g up on the workbench a few weeks ago, made a few improvements to the diy frame and filtration....and never set it up lol. It was stressing me more just thinking about the added maintenance and associated costs than any joy i was getting from it.

I build my setups with efficiency, versatility, ease of maintenance, and reliability in mind these days. Any innovations im making these days involve improvements in those categories, anything else is just unnecessary stress that makes fishkeeping less fun for me. Im pretty well set with two tanks, i hope to just keep upgrading in the future.

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

Several years ago I went from New Worlds to Africans. All went well for a time, but things eventually became tedious dealing with non stop territorial aggression & the adjustments that had to be made to achieve equilibrium.
I realized that a mistake had been made and another big change was needed.
Most of the Africans were rehomed and for some reason New World Cichlids were no longer appealing.
I had very little enthusiasm left for the hobby but had so much time and treasure invested decided not to let it go.
I rearranged and added to the hardscape, which immediately bolstered my attitude. Instead of New Worlds, I went with an easy community of various Barbs & Loaches. No territorial aggression to manage. A lot of smaller fish in a decent sized tank rather than a couple of XL fish in an undersized tank. A much easier and less stressful situation. The whole setup looks really good to me now.
For what it's worth, include creative design to the hardscape. That's an aspect of the hobby that is rewarding but is often neglected.
It's no disgrace to keep non monsters in your setup. Go with species that are easily managed and a pleasure to keep.
I regained my enthusiasm. I hope yours returns as well.

 

[jjohnwm]

I've been keeping aquariums for almost 60 years and I just don't learn my lesson. I build and build my collection...more tanks, more fish, more more more...until the maintenance becomes unpleasant drudgery. I do a purge, cut back to the bare minimum...which has always still been 8 or 10 tanks...and the cycle begins again. Moved into and out of several homes over the years, usually got rid of the bulk of the collection each time...and then started accumulating again. I'm done with that nonsense now for good.

I currently have 9 more-or-less permanent tanks...15, 30, 75, 75, 75, 180, 240, 360 gallons...plus a few temporary quarantine tanks and several outdoor stock-tank/"ponds" during the summer. I won't be increasing significantly from that, and will likely downsize as I grow older; I have spent pretty much the past 10 years streamlining my maintenance set-up and will likely continue to do so. I occasionally think I want to try this fish or that set-up or whatever...but then I regain my senses and just say no.

My main goal in the aquarium hobby right now is simply to keep it fun. I will not allow my near-hoarder mentality to suck the joy out of the hobby ever again. I can't really say my enthusiasm has ever waned, but it has been overwhelmed a few times by over-indulgence so as long as I strike that perfect balance between work and enjoyment I can't see ever actually dropping out completely.

But...I have a number of assorted hobbies and interests, many of which I have enjoyed for many years and which will probably continue on as long as I do. Nothing wrong with that. I also have been into a number of others that kept me interested and engaged for years or even decades...but which eventually grew stale, and were finally phased out and forgotten. Nothing wrong with that either.

It's supposed to be fun. Keep it that way; don't turn it into unpleasant drudgery. But, if you lose that spark of enjoyment...then let it go and move on. Maybe you'll regain it and return...maybe you'll be done for good...it's fine either way. Life should be fun!

 

[Cal Amari]

I've been through a similar funk before. I evn sold my last tank and went fishless for a couple years, well a bit less, but other things in my life were more important and at the time I was pretty bored with the hobby. But when things settled down and I restarted it was as fun as ever. I did all new fish, ones I hadn't kept before, and it was refreshing.

Another time when I was a bit bored with what I was keeping but wasn't ready to give up the hobby I started keeping inverts, a crayfish, some shrimp and snails, I tried a couple small crabs too, and that was interesting too, something I may get back into someday.

It may depend on what you're bored with, the hobby or the type of fish you're keeping.

 

[DJRansome]

I would probably like to try a small marine tank with zoanthids...and a serious planted tank...but will focus on the 3 tanks getting Africans for the spring anyway.

 

[punman]

After getting back into fish keeping just over twenty years ago, I have had anywhere from one to five tanks on the go. Even though I have had tanks operating continually , I kind of had lost interest in fish the last couple years as fish were not spawning and some fish were dying. I sold off two of my biggest tanks in 2023 due to thinking that at some point we may need to downsize if we move to a smaller place as we age. At that point I only had one tank running.

Then I got a group of Peacocks that were supposed to be close to breeding age and sure enough, two months later they spawned and that renewed my interest in the hobby. I actually had to go out and buy another tank and as of today have four running again.

I am not suggesting you need to breed fish - in fact for some that would make them lose interest in the hobby, not the opposite. What I am saying is that it is fine to cut back or take a break from it altogether. If you sell off equipment be sure to keep some of it for a bit in case you want back in and don't have to start from scratch.