Ready to quit. Need input.

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lolpard

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 4, 2009
64
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Calfornia
I have been keeping fish for about 30 years on and off. I just lost my beloved bullhead after 5 long days of watching her suffer.

I have had ONE fish, out of all of the fish that I have kept live a long life and die of old age.

It seems that they are almost all destined to suffer and die young because we just can not replicate nature. I think that all fish are even more delicate than reptiles which is saying a lot.

I feel like throwing in the towel. Watching my beloved monster fish die is just killing me. And I don't want to hurt another fish.
 
Like i said on the other thread, not a reason to give up. Think of it this way, better you rasing that fish than someone who does not care as much as you do!
 
First off, let me just say I'm very sorry for your loss. I get very attached to my fish, so I do understand it can be very upsetting.

What sort of fish have you kept in the past? What happened? I don't want to offend your fishkeeping knowledge by asking some of the basics, but without knowing what sort of parameters and fish were involved, I'm in the dark.

Fishkeeping has brought me through some tough times in my life. If there is anything I can do to help you keep at it, I am extremely willing to be of service.
 
Sucks man. My 13" Umbie just succumbed to a catfish barb wound in the space of less than a week, despite quarantine and antibiotics. The catfish was a small tank cleaner too.

Suck now, you'll get over it though!
 
I have had tropicals, cold water fish, 5cent gold fish that grew to over ten inches, you name it pretty much. I have endless stories about diseases, cannibalism, heater accidents, etc. etc. Fish keeping is HARD. It is always something...Fish die and you learn one more thing. I used to get an aquarium magazine so I read a LOT and know all of the basics...I even can give good advice but it seems that something happens and the fish die.

In this case she died because I did not fix the broken lid properly and the cat managed to knock a piece of glass into the tank right over the fish and she got two cuts. I also got deathly ill and had to lag on the water changes. And now I know that is when columnaris attacks. Wounds and bad water. I had no idea and now with another dead fish I know that I should have treated the wound as soon as I noticed it was slow healing. One did heal so I thought it was just a matter of time for the other.

It is unfortunately too hard to look at samples of all of the many fish diseases just in case....we wait and then when the fish looks strange we look it up or ask for help. And usually by then it is too late.

I think right now that keeping any fish is HARD. Maybe too hard. And crap just keeps happening no matter how hard we try. Heaters fail. No water is perfect. Fish are delicate and the least thing can make them sick. They eat each other. The possible crap is endless and you just do your best and try to deal with things as they come up and meanwhile, fish die, over and over, horrible deaths.

It is all just so sad.
 
You're right. It IS sad... but do you get more sadness than you do joy? For each tragic incident, can you match it or exceed it with a success? (Btw, raising the little 5 cent feeder goldfish to large specimens is a challenge, as they're generally not in good health to begin with. That's something to be proud of.)

Bad things happen. Even the best fishkeeper has to accept that sometimes things happen outside of our control. That's exactly how it is in the wild. The differences are in the details, but the troubles happen. That's part of life. The real tragedy is not seeing past the bad to notice the good you've done.
 
Losing any fish sucks, and I too have lost alot. I think the most important thing about fishkeeping is learning to only keep what we can handle. At one point in time, I had 6 tanks running ranging from 20 gallons all the way up to 220. Salt, fresh and coldwater all at the same time. Between work, my bands practice schedule and school, I felt overwhelmed. It seemed like all I ever did was water changes and filter maintenance. I had no time to just sit back and enjoy my tanks. My passion had blinded me and I literally became a fish hoarder.

Now that years have past, I've scaled back to just 2 tanks and I'm much happier for it. But either way, nature is brutal. Fish fight, prey on one another and will get sick even though it seems like we are doing all the right things. I'd give it some time and don't make any hasty decisions. Or better yet, maybe take a small break and scale back so that you can enjoy the art of fishkeeping.

Either way, I'm sorry to hear about your losses. And I can certainly sympathize. Good luck with whatever decide.
 
I had two tanks when I got really sick. One small one with a few of the prettier feeder goldfish. Then the 20 gallon so I was ok numbers wise. But I had a bad infection on my arm and could not touch the fish. The goldfish all died and I felt bad but hey they were feeders which are as you said not hardy fish. But that not being able to change the water combined with a slow healing wound on the fish is what killed her and I feel really crappy about it. I should have immediately changed the water as soon as my wound closed but I was really weak for a long time (I was hosptialized for 3 days and got anemic for whatever reason) Now my fish paid the price. I will wait for a while but no more monster fish for sure until I can set up my largest tank...my 55. I am on the third floor here and my landlord was afraid it would go through the floor.
 
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