It seems a lot of the stress you are getting is because your choice of fish are very destructive species in general, maybe its time to rehome some of the really agressive/territorial and destructive ones and opt for more peaceful and friendly hardy fish which are less demanding and time consuming to look after?
I'm packing it in.
- Thread starter Cross127
- Start date
I was going to pack in fishkeeping a few months ago, and i decide not to, and look at what i'm keeping now. I did shut one tank down, and i regretted doing that. And now i've setup another 4. I think it;s down to the fish you keep go for somthing less agressive like some of the cichlids you have been keeping.
I haven't sent 160 bucks on "chemicals" for my fish tank in the last 5 years of fishkeeping, you are overmedicating your fish.
ive felt the same way before after going up to 20+ tanks.
i shut all but one down and sold most stuff off.
i have 2 decent sized tanks now which are easy to keep and compatible fish.
its so so easy now.
it may be tine to downsize for you too.
i shut all but one down and sold most stuff off.
i have 2 decent sized tanks now which are easy to keep and compatible fish.
its so so easy now.
it may be tine to downsize for you too.
Down size......
me personally, I would pick out my favorite ones, and break down the rest. I think you should just down size to maybe 1-2 tanks. At 1 point I had 6 set ups running, now I know that's nothing compared to what all you other guys have but doin maintenance and the feeding on 6 tanks does not fit my schedule at this time, with work and help my lil one with her homework then runnin out to the gym. So what I did was I picked out my favorite fish got 1 tank big enough to house the ones I like the best and sold everything else off... Believe maintenance on 1 large tank is better that maintaining 6 smaller tanks. Hope you just dont pack up and sell everything like dragonfish you just may regret it....
me personally, I would pick out my favorite ones, and break down the rest. I think you should just down size to maybe 1-2 tanks. At 1 point I had 6 set ups running, now I know that's nothing compared to what all you other guys have but doin maintenance and the feeding on 6 tanks does not fit my schedule at this time, with work and help my lil one with her homework then runnin out to the gym. So what I did was I picked out my favorite fish got 1 tank big enough to house the ones I like the best and sold everything else off... Believe maintenance on 1 large tank is better that maintaining 6 smaller tanks. Hope you just dont pack up and sell everything like dragonfish you just may regret it....
I'm with you on that, I hate fish fish that are high maintenance. I used to have a fish called a jurapari that needed water changes every few days to be healthy ( stay alive?), special foods or they started to waste away and got sick a lot despite being being given frequent special care.
Horrid, horrid cichlid and a pain in the bottom to keep.
Just rehome a bunch of fish, let tanks sit empty.
Then choose lower care/maintenance fish. Maybe switch to keeping smaller fish as they generally need less water changes.
Then again quitting might be best for you.
Just might want to not make drastic quick choices because you might regret it.
Having the tanks sit empty will give you time to decide what's best for you.
Horrid, horrid cichlid and a pain in the bottom to keep.
Just rehome a bunch of fish, let tanks sit empty.
Then choose lower care/maintenance fish. Maybe switch to keeping smaller fish as they generally need less water changes.
Then again quitting might be best for you.
Just might want to not make drastic quick choices because you might regret it.
Having the tanks sit empty will give you time to decide what's best for you.
It seems that you are getting good advice.
Personally, the one time I ran myself into the ground that way I ended up turning most of my tanks into either species tanks or even specimin tanks, with only a single fish or at most, type of fish in each. This also reduced the maintainance a lot by reducing the bioload in each tank. It got down to just two community tanks which were well balanced and lacking aggression. I also ended up with fish in the rest of the tanks that were easy keepers. If you do take a break I suggest that as someone already said, you do not get rid of your tanks, just break them down and store them for a year or two while taking a rest, otherwise it is almost a given you will regret it.
Personally, the one time I ran myself into the ground that way I ended up turning most of my tanks into either species tanks or even specimin tanks, with only a single fish or at most, type of fish in each. This also reduced the maintainance a lot by reducing the bioload in each tank. It got down to just two community tanks which were well balanced and lacking aggression. I also ended up with fish in the rest of the tanks that were easy keepers. If you do take a break I suggest that as someone already said, you do not get rid of your tanks, just break them down and store them for a year or two while taking a rest, otherwise it is almost a given you will regret it.
reverse;1152601; said:
Very true.
I've never had half the problems related to fish keeping you claim to have. Fish breaking heaters i've had once but it was easily taken care of.
And unless you're just growing out a ton of little monsters, I don't see what you could be keeping in a 29 gallon that would cause any harm to anything.
As far as cichlids go... I only like them in single tanks, I try and replicate their natural environment and give them a tank all their own. When I have room and enough money my house is going to be filled up with a bunch of 120 gallon single specimen tanks.
It cuts down on a lot of problems and really lets the fish shine. The only thing id put with them is possibly a female/male combo.
dang cross look what you started,and i thought i was stressed setting up my only 125.i have other pets though.this reminded me however to stock compatable fish,thats for sure.i did this with herps,kindof helped but now i want more again,i may just stick to tiny ones,it does get overwhelming and hard to focus where its needed.good luck.
You have what we old timers use to call...aquatic burnout. You tryed to do too much too soon and didn't pay enough heed to compatability.
Take a step back....a couple of deep breaths and then sit down and decide what you'd LIKE to keep and what you baught just for the heck of it.
Once you have a clear plan and a direction then start finding homes for excess/incompatable fish.
We don't have a tank...fllter...heater...light...what-have-you in the house without a working back-up. Thats not just bieng anal about the hobby...it's insuring a low stress level...
No filter thats EVER been manufactured will EVER break when the store that has the replacement parts is still open.
Get away from your reliance on chemicals....the more you fiddle around with water chemistery the worse off you and your fish will be in the long run.
Take a step back....a couple of deep breaths and then sit down and decide what you'd LIKE to keep and what you baught just for the heck of it.
Once you have a clear plan and a direction then start finding homes for excess/incompatable fish.
We don't have a tank...fllter...heater...light...what-have-you in the house without a working back-up. Thats not just bieng anal about the hobby...it's insuring a low stress level...
No filter thats EVER been manufactured will EVER break when the store that has the replacement parts is still open.
Get away from your reliance on chemicals....the more you fiddle around with water chemistery the worse off you and your fish will be in the long run.
