A sad story

[SalviniCichlidFan]

As some of you already know, i have 4 irredescent sharks(1 12inch, other two 7 inch and the last one 6 inch),four silver dollars, one oscar, one zebra tilapia and one raphael catfish in a 120 gallon four feet by four feet pond. I already know they don't have enough space and i have trying to convince my parents to buy me a bigger pond. We don't have much money, so they told me to sell my two parrots(out of 22) to get some money and buy a bigger pond. I tried to sell them but failed. I expressed my problem to my parents but they ignored and said"they have enough space and we don't care if they die or not". This saddened me and so i have decided to give away all my collection for free. At first i hesitated because i knew that no one who lived near me had a big enough space for them. But i have no choice since i can't watch my fishes die in my own hands. When i was first buying them, my elder brother and parents assured me that they would buy me a bigger pool a few months later but they didn't. Just wanted to share my story.

You can tell your parents about the educational/scientific/research benefits of fish keeping. This is what sets keeping fish apart from having a pet dog or cat. To successfully raise fish, you have to know biology, chemistry, ecology, environmental science, psychology, and much more. There's also some engineering involved if you want to DIY your own tank/pond.

Just from my own story, keeping fish was actually the factor that motivated me to pursue biology/pre-med in college. In high school, I did a research project on my cichlid's aggression and presented it at many high school research competitions. In fact, I even wrote about keeping fish in my college essay and how it made me interested in research and bio/pre-med. Through this, I was able to get into Johns Hopkins and now that I look back, I realized that I wouldn't have been able to do all this without buying my first every fish tank in 7th grade.

 

[JackEmerson]

For almost all of us, money and space are the limiting factors of our hobby. The aquarium hobby is expensive. aside from selling some stock, is there any way you could find a part time job? You could inquire at your local fish stores to see if they need some help ( and maybe score yourself an employee discount). I am not trying to minimize your emotions, nor am I taking sides. I am just brainstorming things that may be within your control.

 

[abominus]

Good news everybody! i found a very cheap intex 1700 gallon pool and quickly bought it. Now i am going to transfer my fishes in it.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

It's a good idea to have repair patches on hand because spiny, toothy, and prickly fish tend to puncture such liners once or couple times a year on average it seems.