The real reason I love this hobby.

[shayfish]

A couple of Wednesdays ago, I had an experience that put into perspective why I love this hobby so much and why it means so much to me. I wanted to write this right away, but somehow it got pushed to the back of my mind. I have been thinking about it again and I want to share it with all of you.

I came home in an absolute state, as I often do. I had worked late and I had a test the next day that I wasn’t ready for. I remember bursting through my front door, fully expecting to have an awful, awful night. I quickly fed all of my creatures and started to work on feeding myself and preparing for my panicked study session to cram for the quiz the next day. As I walked past my 55 gallon community tank, I stopped to have a look. Very rare for me, I had just tossed food in without staying to watch. When I looked in, my eyes were drawn to my female gold ram. For a second, my heart sank when I saw her motionless against the driftwood. But in the next second it became clear what was really happening…

I had just caught them in the act! I have never seen any fish spawning before. Eggs had always just appeared before. It was amazing. I don’t expect many people to really understand this, but it was really one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

Suddenly my math test didn’t seem so important anymore… I pulled a chair over to the tank and decided that I was not going to miss this moment.

This is truly the reason that I am so fond of aquaria. To me, we’re not just talking about a box of water with a plastic castle here. This is an underwater world, and it is a (much needed) constant reminder that I am not the centre of the universe. That is why this world is so important to me. Just when I am being completely self-absorbed and caught up in the problems in my little world, they go and show me something amazing. Something perfectly natural, normal and totally amazing. It’s the same feeling I get when I stop and listen to the heartbeat of one of my cats. It beats so fast! It pulls me out of my own head and reminds me that there is a lot more out there than my panicky little world.
After an hour I decided that the math test still did matter after all, and so I brought my books over to the tank and started studying while occasionally looking back up to check on my rams. One of the times I looked up, my mystery snail was doing a tight-rope walk across a jungle val leaf. I said out loud “Nature is awesome!!”

At the end of the night, I decided that I had learned enough math to see me through the test and that getting to watch something so interesting for the first time was a perfectly good way to spend an hour of potential study-time.
My life is full of all kinds of challenges right now. But I got 100% on my test the next day. Maybe it has something to do with finally calming down a little bit over all of it. Maybe I got lucky… who knows. I have a fairly significant learning disability so these moments don’t happen very often at school for me. And these moments anywhere in life where I am shown how small and insignificant my problems really are happen even less.

This is the real reason for my interest and passion in this hobby. It pulls me out of my own head and shows me things I would never pay attention to otherwise.

My intention was simply to share this great experience I had with anyone who cares. But I was also hoping to open this up to hear from others about times you’ve had that really made this hobby something special to you.

Thanks for reading. Thanks in advance for sharing.

 

[malloc]

Great post. This is a big part of why I have been so fascinated with this hobby for the past few months (since I got into it). It always seems to be the most stressful times that make you slow down, think, and put things into perspective. Watching my fish always calms me down during these times (although I have never had an experience like yours). Thank you for sharing.

PS. Beautiful pictures of a beautiful tank.

 

[plecoperson]

The world you've created in there is beautiful. It is a great post. Some of my fondest memories of my dad are of watching his aquarium together, the two of us. Even in a very simple 20 gallon tank there are a hundred things going on that are just [insert whatever an atheist's word for "miraculous" might be here].

Thank you for writing your story and illustrating with pics-I think a lot of people at AA will enjoy it and maybe take a break from wondering whether their bulbs need changing, worrying about re-attaching that Java fern and researching filters, and just enjoy. I know I will.

 

[GlitcH]

yep......this kind of thing is my blood pressure medicine.

Great post.....thx for sharing that shayfish!

 

[LandGhoti]

Beautiful, beautiful story. The pictures are a perfect complement, and I think you reflect very accurately the things we all love about keeping fish. Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm going to bookmark it.

(Also, congratulations on your math test! )

 

[Glenc]

Thanks so much for sharing this, you put the feelings into words beautifully.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Very nice post, shayfish. Thanks for sharing.

 

[hamburgler]

Great post, it really is good to slow down once and a while and take notice to things like this.

In between the rush of doing water changes and feeding its nice to just stop and watch, i usually end up staring at the tank for an hour.

 

[Burks]

Now that the rams have bred, be prepared for breeding on a regular basis. Mine have bred twice at exactly 7 days apart since their first time. I expect to come home to eggs tonight again *crosses fingers*.

Good luck with hatching and raising the young. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again!

 

[tropicfishman]

wow that is awesome, its the small things like that about this hobby that I love, wether its waking up to see plant you've been growing has grown or your fish mating, I love it!

 

[hulkamaniac]

Very cool post. I find my problem often is that I don't take the time to really enjoy my tanks.

 

[Jchillin]

Very nice post Shayfish, it is part and parcel of the hobby for it to be a relaxing and educational undertaking. Sometimes folks forget to do that. When most life events attempt to push me over the edge, sitting down and watching my small part of nature allows me to appreciate the smaller things in life.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[QTOFFER]

Congrats on your breeding rams - hope you get lots of fry!!!

My most visually successful tank is a 10 gal that is ironically situated in my bathroom. It houses a five inch long red jewel cichlid that is drenched in a stunning red with blue and green flecks on the fins. I have three varieties of Java fern that are thriving in this tank, along with a huge clump of Java moss that gets larger every week. Because of this tank's location, I can't help but sit down at least once a day and spend 15 minutes or so admiring it! Definitely beats reading the newspaper!!!

My 29 gal and 58 gal are in the livingroom on either side of the TV set. These are colorful and lively tanks - one has barbs and rasboras and the other has angelfish and tetras. I can't tell you how many times I turn the TV off because there's nothing good on, turn off the room lights, and just watch the fish from my favorite easy chair. The muted spash of water and the way that the reflections from the tank lights play across the ceiling are very calming. I've been known to fall asleep while watching these tanks in my darkened livingroom

I agree that this is a great thread. We should all forget about jobs, school, and algae once in awhile and just watch the fish!

 

[shayfish]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I seem to go through phases where my appreciation for my tanks slows down a little bit. Then something happens, and the spark gets reignited and I am totally fascinated all over again. I feel lucky to have had such an eye opening experience. Usually I will just notice something and think " holy cow, is that ever neat!" and then move on. Those are great moments too though. Those are the ones that keep this all going I think.

Qtoffer, I would love a tank in my bathroom! I have an empty 5 gallon that is waiting for something, but the only electrical outlet in there operates only with the light switch on. Many times I have thought to myself that this is better than tv too!