Impacts of fishkeeping/mental health

[Hendre]

This is a good thread, nice to see all the different experiences here.

Fish keeping has not been rewarding for me lately, to be completely honest. Most of this was due to unforeseen circumstances or perhaps a reduction in maintenance due to an insane final year of school. It's pretty gutting when all your hard work goes to waste. Despite all my moping and the tough times of the hobby, I have taken some inspiration from fellow hobbyists and will be focusing my efforts on the remaining fish, making sure to take proper care of them. It's the least we can do.

On the mental health note, fish tanks and pets are Definitely a blessing to have. Looking forward to watching my fish in their new setups.

 

[Dalfrey86]

This is a good thread, nice to see all the different experiences here.

Fish keeping has not been rewarding for me lately, to be completely honest. Most of this was due to unforeseen circumstances or perhaps a reduction in maintenance due to an insane final year of school. It's pretty gutting when all your hard work goes to waste. Despite all my moping and the tough times of the hobby, I have taken some inspiration from fellow hobbyists and will be focusing my efforts on the remaining fish, making sure to take proper care of them. It's the least we can do.

On the mental health note, fish tanks and pets are Definitely a blessing to have. Looking forward to watching my fish in their new setups.

As along as there is a benefit I will keep going. Sure it's not easy to lose fish but hey that's a lesson for the future.

 

[JeanGuzman]

Hope you're OK with reviving this thread. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on fishkeeping and mental health. It's awesome to hear how it's been a positive outlet for you, even with the ups and downs.\ I really appreciate you mentioning how important it is to be aware of our emotions when it comes to fishkeeping. It can be tough to deal with the stress and disappointment, but it's important to acknowledge those feelings and work through them. Have you heard of the serenity prayer? It's a really helpful reminder to focus on what we can control and let go of what we can't. Lastly, I wanted to share a resource I found that might be helpful for anyone struggling with mental health issues. The website https://fherehab.com/learning/tips-serenity-prayer-mental-health offers a bunch of resources and support for people dealing with addiction, anxiety, depression, and more. Keep up the great work, and feel free to reach out for help or advice if you need it.

 

[Cal Amari]

Great thread, thanks for reviving it. I find looking at my fish tank soothing every day, but agree witht the OP, it can be stressful when you have a couple fish die and dont know why. You're doing water changes, testing parameters regularly, trying to feed the right amount, trying to pick good tankmates, and appropriate fish etc. then something goes sideways and you don't know what to do. Then the kids or wife or both are asking what happened, why did that fish die? And if you have already been trying to figure that out yourself it's hard. And if it's a solo death you can chalk it up to just part of the hobby, but if 3 or 4 die over a week or so and you're struggling to identify the issue while stressing about losing more fish, and trying to determine if its bacterial or parasitic, etc etc etc, then it does become less soothing for awhile.