My short journey with MF

[Tunabish]

So I wanted to share my short journey in fish keeping so that y’all might offer some advice on what I’ve done and what I’ve learned seeings I haven’t met anyone local to talk to.
So I’ve never kept monster fish before when my autistic daughter of 10 yrs age asked for a Flowerhorn ? I didn’t even know what this was but when I saw it i thought oh heck yeah! Which got me researching new world cichlids.

Then I stumbled upon YouTube videos showing “possible” tank mates (I now know what possible tank mates means) and went nuts....So um yeah I bought a red dragon Flowerhorn, gold saum “green terror” (mine is psycho), blood parrot, golden severum, jaguar, albino tiger Oscar, and a firemouth all around 1-3” and plop into a 75 gallon tank ? ? I know ? but I’m learning

That was about three months ago...I’ve had to split the Flowerhorn, gold saum and jaguar into a 125g tank and I’m certain I’ll have to split them all up again soon...because yeah the Flowerhorn and jag need their own tanks... ??‍

Anyone else just stumble into this like I did and find yourself playing catch up to learn everything you can...after the fact? ? and buy more tanks to accommodate your errors?

since getting them I’ve been putting in heavy hours daily studying and reading everything I can and it’s helped a ton just wished I did that research on the front end ?
Anyway would love to find out if I’m not alone in my backward journey

PS because I didn’t know what I was doing I also ended up with tanks full of females and I’m pretty sad so if you are in Mississippi and want some female ca/sa cichlids that I’ve mentioned above, I may be up for a trade of some sort of let them go cheap so I can start over

 

[robmcd]

Welcome to MFK. WE have all made mistakes as newcomers, but most of us learn from them and never do them again.

Where are you from in MS? My wife is from the coast (Ocean Springs) and I've met a couple other fish keepers down there (I visit once or twice a year). If you are anywhere near them I can ask around.

 

[Tunabish]

Thank you! Yeah the lessons are tough but memorable so I apply everything I learn and try to never make the same mistake twice...the one mistake that’s hard to not make again is “lack of patience” that is I still want more fish and tanks! Lol oh well

I’m just outside Jackson MS so more central

 

[robmcd]

Thank you! Yeah the lessons are tough but memorable so I apply everything I learn and try to never make the same mistake twice...the one mistake that’s hard to not make again is “lack of patience” that is I still want more fish and tanks! Lol oh well

I’m just outside Jackson MS so more central

MTS (multiple tank syndrome) is real!! It's like Ruffles potato chips, you can't have just one

Anyway, I don't know any fish people north of Wiggins, so I can't really help you with rehoming your extras. Try making a thread to find other people in the hobby near Jackson. That was how I met the fish people on the coast.

 

[Caveden]

Thank you! Yeah the lessons are tough but memorable so I apply everything I learn and try to never make the same mistake twice...the one mistake that’s hard to not make again is “lack of patience” that is I still want more fish and tanks! Lol oh well

I’m just outside Jackson MS so more central

when i first started, i kept a florida gar, silver arowana, motoro stingray and two bichirs in a 55 gallon. after researching more and finding this forum i corrected my errors by returning the arowana and getting a bigger tank. but by then my consequence was the loss of the ray... oh well learnt my lesson

 

[Tunabish]

when i first started, i kept a florida gar, silver arowana, motoro stingray and two bichirs in a 55 gallon. after researching more and finding this forum i corrected my errors by returning the arowana and getting a bigger tank. but by then my consequence was the loss of the ray... oh well learnt my lesson

Wow! Wow! Wow! ? you’re amazing! So glad I’m not alone...though sorry for your loss but still very encouraging to not be alone ?

 

[esoxlucius]

I’ve never kept monster fish before when my autistic daughter of 10 yrs age asked for a Flowerhorn

There are a couple of autistic kids around where we live. They stumbled upon my tanks by accident one Halloween whilst out with their parents trick or treating. They saw the tanks through the window and pleaded to come in and look. They were totally mesmerised by my fish. They come down quite regular now. Your daughter probably has the fish bug more than you, lol.

and buy more tanks to accommodate your errors?

Lol, there's always something good to come out of errors!


By the way, welcome to the forum.

 

[Tunabish]

There are a couple of autistic kids around where we live. They stumbled upon my tanks by accident one Halloween whilst out with their parents trick or treating. They saw the tanks through the window and pleaded to come in and look. They were totally mesmerised by my fish. They come down quite regular now. Your daughter probably has the fish bug more than you, lol.



Lol, there's always something good to come out of errors!


By the way, welcome to the forum.

Oh yeah my daughter has made tons of videos of all the fish on her iPad and is constantly showing them to me she’s totally obsessed which is a good foil for me to prevent wife aggression “why do we have some many fish tanks?!!!!!” “Um they’re not for me but “for our daughter” ?

thanks for the welcome ?

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

My nephew is autistic and every time he visits he goes straight to my fish tanks and loves to feed them and just watch them up close.

 

[Tunabish]

My nephew is autistic and every time he visits he goes straight to my fish tanks and loves to feed them and just watch them up close.

Yeah fish are great for the autistic. They love to observe and study them. They bring my daughter so much joy when so much of life brings her frustrations