What to do after losing beloved fish

[IKeepPacu]

after both my rays dying within a week of each other for no apparent reason, im truly finding myself not even wanting to keep any fish anymore. i waited so long to take the plunge with rays, and now both of my first rays died on me. been tryin to keep on mfk makin a few posts, hangin around my tanks to hep some, but still to no avail.

i know i cant be the only person to lose fish they became extremely attatched to, but at the same time i got this feeling now like i cant freakin do anything right, and just shouldent be bothering keeping fish anymore.

for anyone else who's been in this boat, what the heck did you to to break out of this?? how long did it take?? my girl thinks im just plain out insane, so she isnt much help feeling better here. ive honestly stopped myself 2x today from listing my tanks and stock on MFK

kinda funny how fish can bring a full grown man to whine like a 5 year old child

 

[albyoscar]

I felt the same way after my retic ray died last month . we carry on , luckily i had another ray i had just bought that wasnt doing well so i focused my attention on him , now hes healthy and it made things a bit better

 

[koop171]

keep on keeping on man its not worth giving up its like when u have a dog or cat die u don't want to go out and buy a new one right away b/c u will feel like u are discracing the old animal. so keep your stuff and give it time it will all end up cool and you'll move on and maye someday try to raise some more rays but don't give up

 

[headbanger_jib]

i still feel bad for my hybrid and the electric cat and the TSN
they were all such awesome fish
the first few days was too hard everytime i saw the tub in which i had kept them i felt sad
but as every one says move on you move on but you will remember them
i have stopped buying any other fish but i do still lik the other fish i have

 

[JamieC77]

When my first ray died I felt the exact same way. I eventually just broke down and got another ray and haven't had any problems since. You just have to get something else to focus on. Don't give up!

 

[vanimate]

It has happened and/or will happen to all of us. Don't be hasty and go selling your stuff, because in a while your going to want it back, and you will end up spending more money than if you had kept it.

Try something new. Go to the LFS's with an open mind and see what you can find. Sometimes breeding fish helps when you lose ones you become attatched to.

Hang in there

 

[MommyJulia]

I think, regardless if it's a fish, cat, dog, or some other beloved pet, you have the right to grieve. It hurts right now and it's tough. Since you are already taking it hard, you don't need to beat yourself up here. Nothing wrong with being attached to a fish. I would suggest hanging on to your tank and everything, take your time, a week to months or however long you need. And then when you are ready you will start again.
I am so sorry for your loss. We are all here for you

 

[puffcrusader696]

when one of my fish dies i feed it to another fish lol (im mean i kno) and i dont usually get attached to fish that wont live long. still id pick my head up and trudge on regardless

 

[IKeepPacu]

when one of my fish dies i feed it to another fish lol (im mean i kno) and i dont usually get attached to fish that wont live long. still id pick my head up and trudge on regardless

my smaller fish and even most cichlid aside from my pacu, i dont generally get upset over, because i expect it after a few months or years. but i had been expecting on having this ray for the next 10-15 years, since it was one of the warnings i had always read. rays can live for a LONG time under perfect conditions, and i thought i was providing them

thanks for the posts tho everyone, helps a bit to see a few other people who understand

 

[IKeepPacu]

went lookin around a LFS store i generally dont use to grab some food, and se what they had to hopefully spark my interest.

out comes this little 4" clown knife, and starts following me from side to side. wasent going to buy him, but he was just screaming "get me out of this 10g"

so $15 later, i know have a clown knife that seems to be quite the human friendly fish so far