Man I sold 2 of my adult L-25 plecos a few years ago now they are like gold. Impossible to find. But one day I will have them again that is what keeps me going. Some die some you sell like me and regret espicially since Brazil banned this pleco from export and they don't breed in the aquarium too easily if at all. Piont being there are so many cool fish out there so check them out and keep pushin on.
Ready to quit. Need input.
- Thread starter lolpard
- Start date
You know this happens to us all. Back when i started keeping gish i had awesome jack dempsey. I came home one day to find him on his side fighting to swim. I had him for over 5 years and he was my favorite fish. When he died i gave away my pacus, and my huge jag cichlid because I just lost my first fish that i bought. I currently have a 7 inch jack but like all the jacks i bought after mine died they dont compare so i end up selling or trading them in. You will get through. If you can give a fish a better life then its worth it
I have add some of my fish for 13 years. Maybe you should take a look at how you might be able to improve how you keep them. Also some fish do not live long in nature. With the products and technology out there today when can create there natural habitat and in some cases probably even improve on it.
lolpard;5024579; said:
I hear ya. I have been keeping fish for > 45 years and I have seen many, many fish die horrible deaths. I'm an animals lover. I have dogs, cats, parrots, rabbits, and iguanas in addition to fish. The fact that I have been responsible for so many painfully short life spans, makes me question the morality of keeping fish.
Heck the first 20 years or so of keeping fish, I never did a water change (nitrogen cycle not fully understood back then). Fortunately (or unfortunately), I lived near two of the largest fish aquarium stores in the world in the 70s and 80s (World Wide Aquarium in Upper Darby and Martins Aquarium in Jenkintown, PA.) and I would visit them weekly to replace the fish that died the week before.
You are correct that so many things can go wrong while trying to maintain a natural fish environment in our homes; (equipment failures, power failures, fish killing each other, water change lapses, diseases from adding new fish, lack of knowledge, etc.).
I stopped keeping fish for three long periods in my life;:
1st time - after my wife sprayed ant spray in the family room and killed all the fish.
2nd time -was when I rescued a baby snapping turtle at the onset of winter and after 5 months (and literally two weeks before I planned to release him back in my creek) he ate all the fish
3rd time was when the kids were born and I had not enough time or energy to take care of the tanks; unfortunately one fish died, and because I was not obsessing over the tank like I normally do, it lead to a chain reaction that ended up killing all the fish.
If I had caused that much pain and suffering with the other animal types I keep, I would quickly stop keeping them as pets. Fish (as pets) probably have the highest fatality rate then all of the pets people keep.
"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."
Don't know where I heard this, and it's a bit corny, but it's better to love and care for a pet, than to exclude it from your life because bad things may happen. In other words, it's better to have love and lost, than to have never loved before (or again in your case).
Pets make people better people.
Pets make people feel better about themselves and in turn about the world around them - and perhaps most importantly the other people in that world.
Is it selfish to keep a pet? Probably, but at the end of the day, keeping pets, even fish, expands your capacity to show love and care, and that can never be a bad thing.
Don't know where I heard this, and it's a bit corny, but it's better to love and care for a pet, than to exclude it from your life because bad things may happen. In other words, it's better to have love and lost, than to have never loved before (or again in your case).
Pets make people better people.
Pets make people feel better about themselves and in turn about the world around them - and perhaps most importantly the other people in that world.
Is it selfish to keep a pet? Probably, but at the end of the day, keeping pets, even fish, expands your capacity to show love and care, and that can never be a bad thing.
Sorry for your loss. I don't think you'll quit for ever, nor do I think you should. Thirty years, something has made you stick with this often frustrating hobby for as long as I've been alive. Even if you don't keep a tank anymore, I'm pretty sure you'll still spend more time than the average man thinking about fish.
Well he is not a monster by any means but I finally broke down and got a betta in a 5 gallon. Also got rid of the toxic boyfriend who hated me keeping fish. Not sure if this is a start of a new round or if I will just stick to the betta.
Still miss my big cat. The betta is now in the same general place that she was so I can watch him instead. I felt like there was a big empty hole there.
Still miss my big cat. The betta is now in the same general place that she was so I can watch him instead. I felt like there was a big empty hole there.
Once you get better 100% you can keep another cat. Watch it grow up.
I am fighting iron deficiency right now... I know how you feel.
I am fighting iron deficiency right now... I know how you feel.
