I am a Fishkeeper, Hear Me Roar!

[absolutangel04]

I am a fishkeeper. I believe in giving fish the best quality of life possible. I spend time changing water. I cry when my fish die. I name my fish and I talk to them. I research fish I will never be able to own, just because I want to. I get excited about shrimp pellets and frozen bloodworms. I am thrilled when my guppies have fry even though they have done over and over again, and will continue to it over and over again. I fuss over my tanks. I post fish pictures on Facebook. I tell my boyfriend about what my snails did today. Some may call me eccentric, but I am proud of being a person who cares about fish. I am proud to care as much as I do. I am a fishkeeper, hear me roar. ROAR!
This thread is not about complaining or negativity, it is about being proud of the fishkeeper inside of us, even though other people don't always "get it." ROAR!

 

[0shayne0]

I like it

 

[Aces11]

Very well said.
A lot of people really don't understand all the knowledge that comes with fishkeeping. It's a lot more complicated than people think.
I'm a proud fishkeeper

 

[KonvictKeeper]

This completely describes me! Besides the boyfriend part... I found my self researching an alligator gar the other day...

 

[picture_117]

When my teacher brings up something about conditioned learning in psychology I attribute it to my fish always coming up when I open the hood thinking I'm going to feed them. Nitrates in biology class. I'm also known as the fish guy at school.
A rare breed we are.

 

[gabysapha]

I agree, I'm proud of myself for doing lots of research and maintaining a box of water well enough to support a mini ecosystem! My roommate got me into the hobby in our apartment because he keeps a pond back home. Well, he quickly learned that keeping a pond is different than keeping a 20g aquarium. I saved all of his surviving fish and now I'm the boss of the tanks. Luckily he understands he has not researched enough and can learn from me.

It's nice applying what i'm learning in school with these fish. Examples: i can relate stream ecology to the tank ecosystems, water quality management, invasive species management is big in this hobby, resource management in terms of where our fish and plants come from and how they are acquired, local geology that explains why my water chemistry is the way it is, fish ecology is obvious in how it applies, as well as animal behavior, and just basic plant biology. Population dynamics and ecosystem dynamics too: tanks have carrying capacities as closed systems. These tanks are great teaching and learning tools.

I find myself not really emotionally attached to the fish, but i can't tolerate having animals (or houseplants for that matter!) get hurt because of my ignorance or mistakes. So I take my responsibilty to the tanks seriously, even if that means doing water changes/maintenance before classes each morning.

 

[absolutangel04]

My boyfriends cringes every time I say I have to go the pet store because he knows it won't be a short trip. I get genuinely annoyed at people who put common plecos into tiny tanks when they KNOW the how big the fish is supposed to grow.
Everybody who has responded, I agree with all that you have said. We are indeed a rare and special breed of people who gain gain an understanding of a fairly complicated hobby. I know PetCo sells kits that look all perfect and it seems like just adding a bunch of colorful fish to it should be no problem, but alas, that is not so.
I take a walk on the ocean shore at sunset, and I am looking for driftwood that would look good in my tank. I have a chair set up in front of the biggest tank. I blanch fresh veggies for my otos while eating a tv dinner myself.
Roar.

 

[squidsquiggle]

Over the last couple of days, I have told anyone and everyone who will hold still long enough that my diy CO2 turned the drop checker a beautiful shade of green, that my danios like my pvc caves I made them, that each of my anubias plants have at least two new leaves growing, and that my pennywort has five new leaves after only a few days, because these things are so exciting to me it's silly. Everyone may think I'm crazy, but it just brings such a huge sense of accomplishment and joy when things go right in this hobby.

So cheers to that!