I walked away from this hobby when my daughter was born and we were moving. Now it’s been almost a year back in the hobby and my daughter and me bond over our tank and it’s an amazing feeling. Can’t see myself leaving anytime soon
@@KGTropicals i'm gonna quit this hobby actually because its soooo much work and they don't show affection fun fact: i have a hamster two actually an they love me soooo much will fish do that noooo:( i'm sorry i have to quit
I love my little aquarium, sometimes my plants are doing better than other times, I have lost a couple of fish friends, a snail and shrimp that I got ridiculously attached to. I love doing water changes, underwater gardening, creating a whole mini ecosystem. I have only been fish keeping for just over a year but learnt so much.
I was gifted 25lbs of ohko stone by a good friend, but my aquarium has dojo loaches in it and I knew they were liable to hurt themselves on sharp edges. I spent 15 to 30 minutes sanding down the edges of each stone, and quadruple checking my work before putting them in the tank. It ended up taking a good half of a day to get everything nice and ready and by the end of the process I was getting kinda annoyed at the work I was putting in to those rocks. However, immediately after I put those rocks in the dojo’s wouldn’t leave them alone. Now every time I look at the tank I see them perched on one of the rocks or hanging out under an arch of rocks, and I feel a strong sense of gratification that easily makes up for the effort I put in. 6 months since then, they’re as happy an uninjured as ever.
I was throwing away so much money on additives, meds, etc until I finally believed in the silver bullet this channel does such a great job promoting: water changes. Too cloudy? Water change. Too much, or not enough, nutrients? Water change. Something seem off but I cannot figure out what? Water change. More work for sure, but less expensive and stressful in the long run.
I disagree, but it really depends on the person. I reeeealy didn't want to have to do water changes so I got into more naturalistic dirted tanks, but fiddled around with this or that tank parameter, co2, ferts, etc. and ended up having to do lots of water changes anyway. Now that I've done a good deal of experimentation and continued with research, I'm getting close to figuring it out so to speak, but there's always more to learn.
Just started early this year and already got three tanks plus cycling one nano tank as a gift to someone. For people who are new to this hoppy, don’t know how much you have to spend. Filters, lights, Plants, substrates, test kits, medications, rocks/drift woods. The list could be very long even no fancy stuff. But in the other hand, it’s very rewarding. That’s why you keep getting multiple tanks😜.
Your channel has single handedly kept me in this hobby. It's absurdly difficult to find straight forward answers to simple questions about fish keeping online. Thank you.
At this point, I can't see myself ever quitting, unless old age someday makes caring for tanks impossible. Currently it's just a matter of trying not to let myself set up any MORE tanks (I have 2 29gal tanks, a 10, and a 5 stocked so far).
As someone who's a problem solver... the worst is when a fish dies for seemingly no reason. If parameters are off, I can fix that. If there is illness, I can at least treat the tank. When a fish dies for seemingily no reason - everyone else is ok, everything tests fine, etc. It's super frustrating because it feels like you have no control.
But you also have to realize that fish, like other species die from age as well. There are so many reasons newly added fish die and the biggest is stress from the move to your new tank!
Someone needs to watch Days of Thunder. Control is an illusion. None of us are truly in control. That's just something we use to rationalize our lives.
The other commenters said it well. I'll simply add a reminder that the average life of many aquarium fish is 5 years. That means that a lot of individual fish don't even make it that long. Sure, one fish died, who knows why. As long as the others are OK over a couple of days of increased inspection, not a problem.
So true. My wife was not in favour that I get an aquarium but I got myself a large one and set it up in my home office. She, however, loves it now and it impacted positively on our marriage. Now she wants me to set up one in her art studio. I hope that John reads my comment. Thanks John I learn a lot from you. Regards, Johann from South Africa.
My wife just came home one day with a fish tank. Since a young age I always wanted one. I helped out and did most of the more technical things and the heavy lifting so when she decided to quit I just took everything over. Now I am 2 weeks aways from moving the whole circus a 1000km. Roughly a 100 of so fish from monster plecos to malawis to common guppies and mollies a total of almost 1000l of water, 10 or so tanks from 250l down to my 4 stacked 30l fry tanks,all the equipment to run it and lots of extra bits and pieces and a spare pieces of glass. Also Johann from South Africa - what a coincidence?
@@KGTropicals For sure and my aquarium is good for our souls. Wish I knew how to post a photo of it here in the comments section. Hope it is not too cold there where you are in the US. Nice summer and sunshine here where I live in Pretoria South Africa.
OMG - my wife who was not a fan just asked me to set her up a shrimp tank for her office this weekend. She even went to 7 different LFS to pick out just the right shrimp!
A lady in my grandparents neighborhood threw out 2 29g tanks.... 🥺 my son and I watched those tanks sit for 2 weeks..... now we have 4 tanks... my poor husband. You can definitely get into fish keeping for the low low. Offer up is a thing!🙏🏾✌🏾🇨🇱
When I started in the hobby in 2020 I put tons of time into researching online about fish, water parameters, plants etc etc. It was exciting to soak up the information but I think it also caused me to worry more about "maybe my fish have this, or maybe they have that" because they were flashing or acting strangely. I scaled up way too quickly. I went high tech with CO2 within a few months and have hundreds of dollars worth of plants die due to horrible and inconsistent city water quality. I'm now back to a single 36 gallon bow front and that's enough for the time being.
Don’t feel bad . The videos make it look so fun and exciting . It’s easy to overdo it. Once I killed a bunch of “easy” plants I knew I needed to wait on trying CO2. Lol
@@ArtbyMagic I haven't quit. I still have one tank, and once I move to a new place that'll allow me to install a RO system I'll be getting back into high tech
All of these reasons are spot on. I recently started back up after many years "off" since childhood. I just wanted one beautiful tank. You are so right about multiple tank syndrome! I tried to prove you wrong, and couldn't. My "just in case" hospital tank became a fry tank. Then I needed a just in case tank. Then fish that are supposed to get along didn't. Then more eggs... ugh. I now have a 72 bow, a 10 on the desk, and a 20 tall. I think I am going to be good for a while now. I realized that this is my limit of when it becomes more work than enjoyment. I think that is where people go wrong, letting the hobby grow to where it becomes more work than they get back in enjoyment. It's easy to do. The only other factor for me is patience. Partly because I strive for big green lush planted tanks, and it just takes time. If you watch the videos on youtube, you will see these guys put together tanks that are amazing in 5 minutes, and if you try to duplicate that (without thousands of dollars) it just takes lots of time. I have finally learned to just be patient, and enjoy what I've got. I must say a big thanks to you and your wife and your channel. I have learned so much and feel like I am finally "doing it right" because of what I've learned through you guys. Now if you could just teach me how to get these plants to grow faster....lol.
I’m with you on the plants !! I thought I couldn’t grow Val which is supposed to be this easy huge thing. After I gave up it just took off and now I need to do a major trimming cuz I can’t see my fish!!!
Great topic and video. 20 years ago my neighbor boiled my African Cichlid tank while we were on vacation - she got the heater dial instead of the filter. Then we had a hurricane pass close by and I lost 7 tanks of fish due to losing power for 2 weeks. Got rid of everything. Got back in the hobby July of last year. Yes, it is still hard to lose some fish - lost a Parrot to bloat recently. Have faced all of the reasons you mentioned in the video! Keep up the good work. Your videos are such an encouragement to so many of us.
I had a fish tank as a kid but that was it. Then I ran into aquascaping and now I watch tons of UA-cam videos. I still don't have a tank, but I'll be moving soon and I'm getting my free time back so I plan to start a small tank once I've moved. My aunt had several small tanks (I think 15 gal. from looking at them) and I'm going to take one and whatever pieces are functional and give this a go!
I too was a young and dumb teenager before surfing the net and smart phones were a thing and had no idea how to keep fish and kept killing them the first several attempts at doing the hobby. I quit trying for a while and didn’t attempt again until I was a few years older living on my own and wanted a hobby so I knew I would give it a try again this time I had internet on a computer I could surf and friends that could share me knowledge. I still made the mistake of overloading my tank and killed some fish but I was able to keep fish alive for several years after finding the balance with the right fish for me. I now won’t give the hobby up for anything. Once I get myself a bigger house with more space I am gonna step up my game with bigger tanks like you guys have. I only have been watching your videos and subscribed to your channel since before the holidays but I appreciate you guys because you guys make me feel smarter and armed with enough information that I can confidently keep upping my game in this hobby! Thanks for everything and keep up the great work!!
I had aquariums when I was a kid, and in my 20's and loved it. I finally got an apartment big enough to get tanks big enough to keep some worth while fish, and I'm just too busy and tired to keep them happy, so I'm quiting for the sake of the fish after these guys pass on. Life changes.
indeed the work is part of the fun! i just moved 20x smaller fish into my 100g from a 50g and moved out my small flowerhorn to be solo in the 50g instead this whole process took probaly 3-4 hrs ( i cleaned out both tanks aswell moved decorations etc etc ) but once i got it all set it literally feelt so freaking good i couldnt stop smiling , it just felt right ( pretty much the same feeling you get when you leave the store with new fish )
The cost is definitely a barrier to entry. In the UK tanks are very expensive. We don't have dollar per gallon sales that you have in the US so even nano tanks cost a lot
been in the hobby for a year and i travel a lot and the person who i left responsible for my betta didn't do good so he recently passed away. Im so sad i did so much to provide for my little betta. Now I'm taking a break from the hobby because I will be moving soon so I don't wanna have to deal with moving a fish across a state. But i truly did fall in love with the hobby and the community.
John, The BIG reason you missed is "PATIENCE"! May people quit fish keeping early on due to the lack of patience! And I struggled with it at first too. You buy the tank, you fill it with ornaments & water then put in some fish. In a few days, they start to die off. You don't understand why your water is cloudy. THEN you do your research (too late). You then realize you must test your water and keep it balanced (ammonia, PH, KH &GH) for weeks to months before it is cycled. People today want instant gratification. They don't want to wait weeks to months for a tank to cycle. Thankfully I found your channel many months ago when I started this hobby and your videos is why I'm still here!! Now, my 29gal is CRYSTAL clear with ZERO ammonia and perfectly balanced PH, KH & GH!! Now, I am also cycling (2 fish in) a 10 gal to use as a Betta tank. It is so gratifying to see all the work you've done over time to get the tank cycled come to fruition. It all takes PATIENCE folks!! Thanks to you & Lisa for your advice and insight over the months..!!
I started with a 10 gallon for a betta. Now I have a 10 gallon, 20 gallon, and a 55 gallon and this is within less than 6 months. Also, my husband can't believe how much maintenance I do on these tanks.
Thing that discourages me is the expense. I started with 10 tanks now Down to 4. The thing I respect most is the knowledge of other fish keepers as can you always believe what u read on the net? The beauty of the aquarium far outweighs the maintenance for me. Plus it never gets boring as there are so many species to try but I think it's very much you get out what you put in. That's why I love watching the videos from you and Lisa and Jason and Joanna😊
Hey John, thanks for this video! It was very comprehensive and true. I got into this hobby at the end of 2021, got myself accidentally into a fish-in cycle and had to put in 110% of the work, doing 50% water changes almost every day to keep my fish safe... After a month my aquarium was cycled and I was falling for MTS, lol. I told myself no, just take care of your first aquarium now. I got an algae outbreak and yesterday I cleaned it all up and fell in love again with my tank :) Love your videos, have a nice day!
Not walked away, but lately more apathetic, due to sort of paralysis from stressful situations and lack of experience and/or help. Internet is worthless mostly, but for your channel and a few others! the constant feeling of not knowing what to do, conflicting information from so called "experts", having tanks crash, unexpected babies, dead fish, uncertain of illness, plants growing out of control, etc haha...got very overwhelming. My tanks are heavily planted and they are all out of control, especially with floating plants...water lettuce, frogbit, red root, salvinia, etc. Yesterday, huge snowstorm and I unintentionally started pulling frogbit off one of the tanks, and ended up spending the entire day on it, getting 4+ large totes of floating plants out. I did maintenance on the rest of that tank, water change, and saw an immediate reaction from the fish (female Betta and tetras), they're swimming again. It looks amazing, I don't know how it got so overgrown so fast, but needless to say, it felt good. I have three more tanks to go, had to take a break today. Gotta figure out what to do with the extra plants.. refuse to toss them.
I have a ten gallon at the moment with just a betta inside of it. As far as cost and maintenance goes though, it's a very nice setup, it's just short term initial set-up that's costly. Buying in bulk is great for worrying about costs as well, especially things like water conditioner. Invest in good filter systems and diy filter media, diy filters are honestly super fun as well as save money. Regular filters can be rinsed a few times before you actually change them, rinsing them frequently keeps em going much longer than the packaging states and saves money as well. I don't have a lot of strength lately, I've been sickly for ages now, having just a ten gallon is great though because I don't have to move a lot of water while doing water changes. I'd love to have a huge tank and fill it with cichlids but I don't think I have the time and energy for it at the moment. Sometimes we just gotta stick with a couple guppies or a betta in a five or ten gallon tank instead of have lots, but one of the things I always loved about fish keeping is that you can more easily work on a smaller scale than with other pets, like, teacup dogs for example are expensive and still need to run around and explore outside on walks like a large dog does, they don't just tire out because they're tiny. Meanwhile a handful of neon tetras don't need as much space as an arowana, ofc. It's still just as rewarding either way, it sucks I can't currently have my cichlid tank but everytime I see my bettas big bubble nests I get super excited.
Points well taken John! :thumbsup: Bit of a story... Back in the 60's my neighborhood LFS had little colored stickers on the tanks to show what fish can go with each other. The owner worked there helping customers and he knew his stuff. He never kept fish that would grow to big or kill every other fish in the tank. Now you go to a fish/pet store and usually the employees know the basics like you keep fish in water. Sometimes you get misinformation sometimes good. I've noticed fish stores pushing the more expensive equipment instead of the cheaper alternatives that will work just fine. Most people expect instant gratification. What do you mean I might have to wait 4 weeks before adding fish? I bring a puppy or cat home and I can play with it right away! I have to change water? No way it looks clean! The fish always acts hungry, that container of fish food didn't last very long.
So much truth, It has been alot of work and adjustment in my lifestyle but boy ever since i came accross your page and got my first beta tank, ive grown more and more attached to the hobby. Now here i am 5 tanks in and loving everybit of the work ive put in. I got my very first cichlid yesterday in a wood/sand tank i setup.... Big shoutout from virginia here as well. Im in bristol southwest. So glad you guys got me into this wonderful hobby.
I'm 52 and when I was in my 20s I had 5 big aquariums and I loved the hobby..as I started having children I got away from it..but move forward 25 years I lost my son last year and I need something to relax me and keep my mind on something enjoyable..so I started this hobby again started out with a 10g got one black moor..he died I started watching videos and learned that I need bigger tank for goldfish so i purchased a bigger tank and waited for it to cycle helping it along with seachem stability..once I cycled I got another black moor he was doing great I been testing my water doing my water changes the water good and he recently died..got white stuff all over him that didn't look like ick..anyway I bought alot if chemical's in begining and meds for my fish trying to save him..now I'm back to square one and feel just like your talking about here I feel responsible for killing this lil guy and now Im feeling anxiety with it.. the very reason I started up again with this hobby to help my anxiety..anyway I guess my whole point in telling you this is to tell you I needed this video
Thanks for the good advice. I live in Stafford in the UK and have just brought a 55 gallon tank after 20 years. Setting it up this week and hopefully going to stock it in March
Hi John, this feed just hit home. While dealing with with a stubborn algae plume, and a sick oscar, I just wanted to throw in the towel. Instead, I brought home a new 55 gal. set up, unfortunately, I lost the oscar 1 hour ago but refuse to quit. You re-instilled in me there's a reason for this! Thnx......
Just got into this hobby with my two sons, 10 and 8 four or 5 months ago. We have a 13 gallon and we are keeping some tetras, guppies, and a platy. We definitely had some growing pains the first couple of months with being so green in the hobby and trying to cycle the tank properly, but we are learning more each week and our fish seem to be doing pretty well now. Your channel has been my go to for the information and help we need. I appreciate you guys keeping it relatively simple and breaking things down in a way that us beginners can understand. There is a lot to learn in this hobby and maybe down the road we can get a bigger tank with some bigger fish. But for now we will learn to master our water changes, gravel vacuuming, and all the other basic maintenance for our fish tank.
I never get rid of my equipment when I need to take a break for whatever reason. I have had the same acrylic tank since I was in junior high. I keep all of the equipment so I can just throw it back together when I am ready. I have taken breaks, but have never truly quit the hobby.
I think you nailed all of this. I'm currently in the process of thinking about quitting (and it's a process). The fish dying is especially hitting home. Kept fish for 20+ years, and discus exclusively for the last 12+ years. And I lost my favorite discus over a year ago. It was almost 10 years old, and it still hits me. So I moved away from discus, to fish I don't feel attached to.. and now I don't like them enough for the effort of care. So I'm faced with a choice. Thanks for sharing your video. It's nice to see some outside perspective.
My graddaughter and I started our first little 5 gallon tank a little over a year ago. Unfortunately, we lost a few fish due to my lack of knowledge of proper water parameters. It was very traumatic as she had each fish named and was attached to each one. We now have 3 tanks; a 10 g, a 20 g, and a 29 gallon. All fish are doing pretty well. While it is sad to loose a fish, I look at our pretty planted tanks and say: "boy we have learned a lot in this past year about fishkeeping and our tanks are soooo pretty" This is thanks to watching your channel and others like it. By this next year we are hoping to start up a 55g:) That is about as large as we can go unless I throw out the couch-lol. This hobby, while yes, it is work at times, has been a lifesaver during a pandemic
Just know I have been watching your 10 years of content over the past month since becoming a tank dad. Me and my 2 albino oscars in their 75 gal thank you for your continued content for the fish keeping community, truly legends.
I love oscars so much awe give em some love for me, they're just big ol' water puppies. One of the species that kind of prove fishkeeping is underrated, I think.
Like most family, we got our first tank about 6 years ago for my 3 year old son who loves fish. Over the years I’ve killed many many fish. You name it I’ve killed it lol 😂 I was working 70 hrs a week and didn’t realized how much work it was to take care of it but never quit. When the pandemic started I had time to research and watch videos, your channel was the first one that I subscribed to. I have to confess now I have MTS. I’m up to 7 tanks all with different things. Went from plastic ornaments to fully planted tanks. Yes it gets expensive sometimes, yes it’s a lot of work but it’s so worth it. Great bonding time with my kids. Thank you for all the great videos. Great hobby to be part of. Im itching to start my eight tank once I can come up with a good lie to tell my wife lol 😂
I started this hobby with no knowledge of how to keep a fish properly. Lots of fish have died because of my mistakes and this is really stressful and emotionally exhausting. However, I've never thought about giving it up because the relaxation it brings me is ways more wonderful than words can describe. Furthermore, I've developed a bond with my fish and the very thought of giving them away and not caring what will happen to them is unbearable to me. They are like my kids and I want to take care of them myself. I totally agree that this hobby can be a life-changing thing. For me, it's for the better. I've learnt a lot since I followed your channel. Thanks a lot for sharing.
All great points on why people quit, but another one I know for sure is...your job. Yes, what you do for a living can have you quitting the hobby ASAP AFTER spending tons of money and having a super nice tank or two or 3. I used to live very close to Ft Bragg, NC. I'm a yard sale geek too so I would always hit the military yard sales because they just about give things away because they just got orders to go out of country for who knows how long. Can't take the tanks and fish. I would end up bringing home just about new tanks of all sizes with all the equipment AND the fish for twenty bucks, seriously. Military life is hard and if you're under E5 you most likely rent and no pets is almost always the deal. Fish aren't considered pets so a huge amount of military families buy tanks and fish. And when life swiftly and unexpectedly changes and you get orders to ship out of country when you were supposed to have 3 solid years at Bragg, you start sorting and packing and selling everything off. So yes, your job can be another big reason you got into and out of the hobby so fast. Really good video, John. I want to see the hobby grow also and for folks to pass the passion and love of keeping fish and aquascaping down to their children or grandchildren, or neighbors. 👍❤👍
I have taken some time off over the years(mainly because I was living somewhere I couldn't have a tank), but I always come back. I cannot image having only one tank anymore. I got some nice guppies, love CPDs, want babies. Goth them their own tanks. Everyone needs a betta or two (or ten). Need shrimp, and then there are the Opae Ula that require brackish... Now I want fancy expensive plecos. I set an Opae Ula tank for my nephew, and he decided he wanted a "real" tank. I asked him if he would enjoy setting up a tank after watching me set up the Opae Ula tank and he said no. I then asked him if he really wanted to work on a tank, he said no. I asked if he really wanted a tank, he laughed and said no. The Opae Ula just need topped off and I can check on that. Nephew is 16.
Great video, as usual ! I've been keeping my own fish for about 23 yrs. Had tanks as a kid that my parents took care off tho. Went thru the betta stage when they were kept in bowls. My kids had goldfish then we upgraded to an outdoor pond. Kept community tanks too. Currently have only one 5 gal betta tank. I had 2 but just lost one (I was crushed) so I have decided to just stick to the one for now, at least. I packed the other tank away. Had the two tanks cuz one of the bettas was my grandson's. He's my son's boy. Then his mother moved him a 1000 miles from us. So when his betta died, I decided to just stick with mine. They do bring me such joy tho. I even love the maintenance, I find it relaxing. The only downfall is when they die. I love them so much & it just guts me. I have dogs & cats too - Yes I am a nut ! I really love y'all's channels & always learn something & pick up cool tips, so I thank y'all for that !
Love the comment; you sitting looking at a weird, bald guy from Virginia. I was in the hobby in the 70-90's. Then I got married and got children, so I sold my tanks, because one of my daughters was born with disabilities and her needs took so much out of my energy. Today both Girls have moved out of home. Me and my wife got divorce, because she couldn't handle our impaired daughter. So for many years I was a singel parent with a daughter with special needs. Today I'm all alone, so I'm about to start up the hobby again. A couple of Aquarium with undergravel filters, connected with hang on back. The Hob's only to polish the water. Deep substrate, lots of plats and maybe with co2, It depends on how the tanks are doing. I plan to make the tanks seasoned with good watervalues before I even put in any fish. I had two Aquarium with undergravel filters in the old days. I only had to clean it about once a month, taking away some spot algae, vacuming the gravel and top up the water level. I never made waterchanges and the tanks were thriving. I am not planning to have gravel digging fish, since they can destroy the balance of The tank. The fish I intend to keep are corys, kuhli loaches, shrimp, endlers and a lot of different varieties of Guppies. I have always been a Guppy freak. I will raise a lot of mutt guppies, and when I have succeeded in getting hardy guppies, trying to evolve different strain of guppies. What do you think of my thought? A guy from Sweden.
Great video- been in and out so many times over my life with 10-75 gal set ups both fresh and salt water. Currently have an outdoor KOI pond which for me is a big outdoor aquarium. All your reasons are true but for me the ebb and flow have been life changes- kids, jobs, relocations,etc. Most recent life change is working from home. looking to get back in with a planted freshwater set up for my home office. Still lose a KOI every so often and stressed currently about the ice on my pond but indoor or out, when it all comes together there’s nothing more relaxing and satisfying.
Hey John, great video, Thanks a lot, I'm new to the keeping fish thing. I've had a tank for 2 years now but just recently got some cichlids from a friend and witness two of the females holding, nothing came of it... I didn't know what to do. Now, they are holding again, so I set up another tank that I had and I'm looking forward to seeing this keeping fish thing through. I've been watching your videos for a week now, and am looking forward to the rest of them as they pop up in the stream. Thanks again.
Confusion yes! The struggle is real, as a teenager I had Bettas and a koi tank. When I saw Ranchu goldfish it was instantly love like magical baby beluga whales you can have in your home and feed peas yes please. So I been doing research and it seems everyone has such polar opposite opinions on proper care for them 😰. Simple question like tank size becomes a never ending maze I seen 20 gallon per fish with ten to spare to some really crazy numbers. And also I understand bigger is always better but when looking at the bigger tank notices they are much taller than the recommended no higher than 16 inches tall. Something to do with to much pressure on their swim bladder is what I read. It really sometimes feels like an impossible dream. Thank you ever so much for sharing and best wishes always.
I've received my 1st Jack Dempsey at the age of 13. I'm 49 years old and I still love it. Got out of it for a few tears after getting divorced, but after finding your channel,, you have me the spark bro. I've had Oscars, Jewels, Pahranias, Jaguar Cichlids, and a ton of reptiles and amphibians. I love your channel and couldn't think of looking at anything else, thanks for jump starting me again bro!
I fall into the #2 category hardcore. I got my first fish in May 2021 (I made the classic mistake of getting a betta without doing any research and got a tiny 2.5 gal tank and just threw him in there). I eventually got him into a planted 5 gal tank and all seemed great. one day I woke up and found him gasping for air on the bottom of the tank and swimming erratically. I tried to help him to the surface to breathe but he was dead an hour later. I was crushed, I loved that little fish. he lived thru a lot of rookie mistakes on my part but always stayed happy right up until that day. I was sad but I didn't want his tank to go to waste and I really loved having a fish friend around so I went and picked up a female koi a week later. she lasted exactly a week. I had checked water parameters like a crazy person during this whole time and everything always came back perfect. her death truly made me want to give up on the whole hobby. it seemed the only things I could keep alive were some shrimp and a snail so that's all I had for a while. it really is discouraging to have a fish die seemingly for no reason. it got to the point where I didn't even want to look at my tank because it just caused me stress. it still does occasionally but I have bounced back a little and sometimes it makes me happy to just watch the shrimps and snail do their thing. idk I think people can underestimate the attachment you form with these little creatures and when they die it's really heartbreaking.
losing my clown loach colony I grew for three years from babies, was so proud and happy how big they were getting, was looking at upgrading their 75 to a massive 155. Had one power outage, lasted three days, i kept battery air pumps, i tried attaching hand warmers to the outside of the tank and a few DIY tricks i saw online to keep your tank warm during outage, but nothing worked for the 75g i had. I couldn't keep them warm enough. Within four five days, three of those days with no power, all of my loaches got ich. I battled it for just two weeks before losing all 8 of my 3 year loaches. One of which I was deeply attached to because he had a big spot on his side. When they died, I almost entirely quit the hobby. I broke down and sold all but two of my 10 fish tanks. I have been keeping fish since i was a toddler and am 27 now. I miss alot of my fish and my tanks, but I REALLY miss the work the therapy of taking care of all the tanks. I have slowly worked up to coming back into the hobby, this video helps. I have a 12g long desk Endlers tank and i still have my 75g bow front tank which I have a Turtle and fish habitat.
I quit for a year as OBVIOUSLY like most people I got multiple tank syndrome 😂 (anywhere I could fit a tank, I’d put a tank there) and with that and having a stressful job which was taking more and more of my time I simply couldn’t do it all!! I rehomed my fish and tanks for free (to an amazing family run aquatic business- and actually a few months later they told me my discus had had fry!) as I wanted them to have a better life BUT I ALWAYS missed my American cichild tank (controversial but I adore my parrot cichilds!) … so after keeping lots of different species I decided I simply couldn’t be without that tank and restarted again with one huge tank and have totally capped my fish hobby at one tank (I do have a smaller quarantine one but I’ll never stock that unless I have a sick fish!) - Thanks for these videos, you guys are one of the reasons I always stuck around in the hobby as your videos are super authentic and knowledgeable!!
fish-keeping is like anything else in life -- if it's important to you, you make time for it. what I love about this hobby is that it really does offer everyone something -- you can keep beautiful aquariums and healthy fish on a shoestring budget. But like any other involved hobby, it requires meticulous planning and COMMITMENT.
Every points you indicate is so true. I have 3 tanks, never would think I would pass even 1 tank. It is most relaxing to me. Thank you for helping so many people. Keep going.
Just started up two tanks, its has been very therapeutic. But i can say this channel helped me out so much on which way i wanted to go. It has been so much fun! So thank you so much!
I don't have normal fish, I have brine shrimp. I had Sea Monkeys as a kid and roughly a year ago I decided to pick it up again. Most of the Sea Monkey brand tanks are only 12 oz. I've scaled up the tank size to a 1 gallon tank and recently added a 3 gallon tank. I used generic artemia salina eggs rather than Sea Monkey brand. I know they're typically grown as live food for other fish, but in my case they are the pet. It's been interesting watching your videos, seeing the compare and contrast to normal fish keeping. I can't use filters because I'd filter the brine shrimp right out of the water. I can't do water changes because I'd literally throw the babies out with the bath water. Algae is a good thing, I feed them live nannochloropsis algae that clouds up the water column. Since they don't get much larger than 3/8 of an inch a 3 gallon tank is huge to them.
When I first started in fish keeping, I was in it deep, aquarium club, fish auctions, multiple tanks, the whole nine yards. It was great, nice fish, always spending money on something for the tank or fish related, (luckily my water was always crystal clear and man did that make me proud!) Anyway, i stopped for whatever reason but got back into it about two months ago, just a 10 gal. Nothing special, but I’ve had the worst luck with water clearing. The parameters are perfect but always cloudy. I was ready to give up, i tried another water change (the last one I vowed) and by George my water is clear! Oh what a feeling, it really is gratifying when it all comes together. That’s my little story, thanks for all your videos! Cheers.
Growing up, my family had many tanks around the house, including a HUGE Oscar tank. The Oscar tank sprung a leak and no matter how much my parents tried to patch it up, nothing worked. The fish all died and they lost interest in the hobby. I found one of the goldfish tanks last year and decided I would try my hand at this hobby. I became OBSESSED. The problem with becoming obsessed is that I obsessively Google what could be wrong with my fish. I'm currently in a constant state of anxiety after getting a Betta for each of my tanks. Blue guy is lovely and very cute, little bit of fin rot but he's being treated in a tank of his own. Green guy is perfect, both eating VERY well, he loves his neon tetra friends and doesn't bother anybody but pink guy in my danio tank isn't eating and hasn't eaten for the entire week I've had him and I can see his swim bladder through his skin. I have tried water changes, putting him in a jug, scooping him up in a net, changing his tank to be planted, I've tried giving him multiple different foods, I've medicated his tank now with a general aid medicine but still nothing. He is super active and doesn't bother the danios at all but him not eating is really worrying to me. Please tell me he's just trying to get used to his tank. Pink guy is in a 200L planted tank with 2 sponge filters and the water is kept at 27c.
Good stuff John. And in my opinion all of us who have gone through all those things and continued are not hobbyists, we're obsessed 😂. One thing worth mentioning is the chain stores. They give someone a 2 hr computer course and call them there experts. Hard to find those hole in the wall stores that only deal with aquatics and not dog food anymore. The kind of place where you know the owner by name and if you have a question you can ask him and have confidence in his answer.
Good list here and touched on why I almost gave up a month ago. Too much money, time, stress, for no reward. I lost two rounds of fish. Maybe it was all me, the place I got the fish, or a combo. What I have learned is to work smarter. Water changes a pain? I picked up a power siphon and pre conditioned water. Now it is minutes to do. Regular testing to keep ahead of issues, proactive vs reactive. The expense is amazing. Even with a good deal on the setup, I have spent near 1k on the tank. It is starting to be as expensive as my automobile hobby. 😀 Your videos help as they declutter and focus on what to do vs overload.
Thanks for this video! I'm a newbie fish keeper for 6 weeks now. And it's very scary at the beginning... so many times I just wanted to drop the towel (hydrogen cycle being reason #1) but yeah, now that I have my fish in - I'm so exited and happy to see them thriving !!!
hello john am from england i have been keeping fish since 1975 and i have been keeping rift valley ciclids for over twenty years now and yes ilove keeping tropicl fish and i am slil going i love watching your vidoes
I just started 3 months ago....29 gallon 8 bleeding heart tetras..lots of live plants..patience patience patience is the way to go..and be happy with what you created..
I simply love your videos, I’ve been at it for decades and have returned after couple years break (after a stressed out period). Learn a ton everyday, yours is one of my favourite Channels. Thanks so much, appreciate all the hard
Been keeping a reeftank for 5 years, starting to have reactions to the inhabitants the cost is mind blowing.(very expesive to get anythingin Australia) was going to pack it all up but have now decided a tank full of tetras would be amuch better option.
I love your channel and content... Thank you so much! I have multiple tank syndrome and at the grand old age of 49 I am finding it is starting to become a struggle with work commitments and the general lack of energy and enthusiasm that comes with age... 1 tank would be the way to go in my opinion... Love this hobby though. You talk a lot of sense dude 👍🇬🇧
Good video. Right now I am having some difficulties with my fish after not quarantining.... got ich in my 125 gl and 55 gl..... its so stubborn and won't go away and it just keeps costing so much $ and time and effort. Its so stressful and been dealing with random fish death and everything for over a month... trying so hard to stay positive and treat them but things are a bit. Hoping everyone becomes healthy soon.... not sure where I'm going with this but thanks for the video and perspectives.
About 6 months ago I came back to the hobby after being away for decades. Started small with a nano tank that was given to my wife. My wife (who had never had an aquarium before) went out and bought a LOT of fish. I mean WAY TO MANY FISH. So.... next came a 20 high to keep all of those fish. The wife was actually somewhat ambivalent initially, and then the Corys spawned! She is now hooked. The plan now is for a much bigger tank as 2 of the fish were these cute little Silver Dollars. They are now as big as saucers and have really outgrown the 20. Toss in a Pleco named Killer that is already about 6 inches and you can see we made a couple of rookie mistakes that now will cost us. I just found the plans for a 260 gallon online so that may be the next project. Hey, go big or go home.
LOL, its funny you mentioned mom. My dad passed a few years ago and she kept his 600 gallon indoor pond and turned it into a Koi pond. I do all the maintenance on it lol.
I almost quit when I went to study at university: Just one tank at my parents place which I would maintain once in a month with some easy fish (my parents would feed them). Almost lost an interest and also I had very little free time, but then I found out about nano-tanks and aquascaping. I think there was actually a fashion wave of nano aquariums, liquid carbon and aquascaping. In the past some fish and plants were hard to get. Around a decade ago this started to change: Dwarf rasboras, Endlers, shrimps, dwarf hairgrass, in-vitro plants and other things became widely available. All one could fit in a small tank on a desk and yet it would look like much bigger aquarium. Perfect for a dormitory or rented 1-room flat. Nowadays I've got several fish tanks, each different and special in some way.
A great video to draw the comments and discussions. As I prepare to set up my first tank since the 80's I must admit that I can feel the sticker shock as I order one component after another. But after watching UA-cam for months I decided to take the plunge (pun intended). Hope I can see it through and have the success that you and the other creators have had. Thanks for guiding us along the way John.
This is a very well done and thought out video. I went into this hobby with a 10 gallon tank and branched from there with the multiple tank syndrome. I recently set up a 120 gallon which is now my largest tank and I moved my fire eel to it just for him to figure out a way out and dry up on my floor. I was DEVASTATED, I used to hand feed him in my angelfish tank and I just admired him and his spunkiness. I beat myself up over it and had second thoughts on this hobby but after spending well over $5k at this point I wasn’t ready to give up. I reminded myself that this hobby is my therapy and that sometimes fish die but it’s no reason to throw in the towel.
I have a 37 gallon high, 10 gallon breeder, 2.5-3 gallon tank and able to manage well, with everything but it's expensive where I clean and do maintenance, plus I have to get dechloritinator and ect bulk, where I'm currently not working and still love the fish hobby
Great Topic, my first encounter with fish was when I was 4 years old, my first aquarium then was a Coco Cola Bottle of course all the fish died, 73 years later I have over 100 aquariums and building up to about 300. In my opinion, this is the greatest hobby and any child who is interested in this hobby should be encouraged by their parents because it teaches so many life skills, patience, discipline, creativity, and it is a real stress buster and many others. Kenneth Chin Toronto Canada
Hahahaha so true when you mentioned about the aquarium numbers, we started 2 months ago thinking to have only 1 fish in a tiny bowl, we are now doing nitrogen cycle for a 40 gallon, a 5 gallon aquarium for our betta, fish food, water tests, water treatments, aquarium decorations, buckets etc and a bunch less money in our account hahahaha but for some reason we are happiest... And while i am doing this comment my partner is taking measures all around to see where to fit another aquarium 😅 We have to much to thanks to your channel for all the wonderful advices.
In my case I quit for a couple of years and now I came back like two years ago. I have a 1 saltwater and 1 freshwater fish tank. One important adjustment that I did is recognize my limits in terms of how much time and money I’m willing to spend in this hobby. I did a lot of research before choosing my fishes. Making sure that are hardy, easy to keep and compatible. That saves me a lot of headache since you are not forced to be super strict in keep exact parameters. In saltwater I have some clownfish, cardinals, and 1 royal gramma. No corals or hard to keep things. Just live rock and a sump. They’re doing great and I’m now enjoying the hobby without the stress of measuring everything and a lot of water changes or spending a lot of money. Just some water changes to keep it clean and the glass. Control the food and that’s it. Keep it as simple as possible. Learning from my mistakes.
Every single word of this is true! It's not the easiest hobby in the world to get into, but it truly is worth it when it's done right. I appreciate you guys so much for all you do, and for bringing these challenges to light. Keep on fish keeping, everyone!
Well said. It doesn't help that those that run the industry are obviously clueless when it comes to design and focused only on the bottom line. Like just listen to us for a change, we often know exactly what we need. I'm looking at you Fluval, why no ability to turn the LED tank lights off on my 15 flex? Or the ability to turn down the pump flow? I offer a salute to fellow fish hobby folks who can jury rig and DYI their way through product design flaws and other issues in this hobby. 😎👍
Love these vids creates motivation for new fish keepers and old, also learning something new every time I have a 5.5 gallon and every month still learning new things to make my job easier and the fish happier
It started out as a pet betta in a 3 gal tank from my niece to my daughter. Now it's a 20 gal tank with other fish and a 5 gal for the betta. I can't wait to put a massive tank in our living room, as soon as I remodel it.
I’ve been in and out of this hobby for 20 or so years and got back in it 2 years ago and went full on. I think it is lasting this time because I done the work by empowering myself with the knowledge it takes to succeed. I’ve done that by watching people like yourself and gaining the skills to not only keep my fish alive but thriving but keeping the water conditions perfect. Thanks for the video’s and keep it coming.
I’m just a year in and while there have been some challenges along the way, I can see myself continuing the hobby long term. My biggest expense was tank upgrades, I went from a10 gallon to 55 in less than 6 months. Now it’s just getting/maintaining the fish. One tank is all I want, can afford, and have time to maintain.
Hi loving your channel , always great advice , I'm going through losing 1 of my favourite at the moment , she was stunning female red terror, saw her lip locking with 1 of my viejas , unfortunately she hid in her cave for couple of days , by the time she came out she looked horrific with the damage , got rid of the fungus straight away but her lips are so swollen , she is moved into smaller quiet tank but know I'm going to lose her , your fish and tanks are stunning , keep em coming from the UK
Great video! I recently had a tank collapse. The filter failed overnight, and the fish suffocated (live plants took the oxygen). I emptied it, but I can’t get the desire/energy/whatever to create it again.
I watch only a few channels. Researched a lot. All during the shut down. Was very expensive in the beginning but worth it. I keep my planted tank minimally stocked. I truly enjoy my 10 and 55. I do minimal maintenance at this point. I am biased. Planted tanks are the way to go. Very therapeutic.
Thanks so much John and Lisa! It was completely thanks to you I got my first tank! This video was so moving. You are so right about the cost- and I unfortunately might have MTS (Multiple tank syndrome) ‘cause every time I go to the fish store I just fall in love with new fish. I am hoping to get my first fish (Betta!!!!) and put him in his (planted) 20 gallon. I have a question though- I wanted to get some cycled filter media for my tank. Do you think my local fish store would let me borrow some? The man working there seems so nice. Thanks again! ❤️🐠
Great info, as usual. I am just getting back into the hobby. There is so much more info out there now. I realize I knew nothing when I started in the early 80s as a teenager. As a resident of Glen Burnie I am fortunate to have H. O. T. Right down the road
Great video! One other thing that I could see on this list is all of the misinformation, hatefulness, and people being snobby on social media when it comes to the hobby, no real fix for that though I guess. But thank you for all of the content, info, and ideas that you share.... Especially doing it as a real, down to Earth guy who many of us can identify with. Looking forward to getting a female Betta from you guys soon, I have to support my fellow Virginians when I can. (I am on the other end of the state in Blacksburg.) Anyways, thanks again!
I know a few people that quit the hobby, but they were not very serious about it to begin with, one thing that can be stressful is the fact that people usually start out with regular tropical fish, these fish do not last long and it becomes stressful, and it’s not because your parameters are slightly off your nitrates is slightly high, it’s just how those fish are, I think a good starter fish would be cichlids or even goldfish, parrot fish are good very hearty, another thing that can be stressful is starting a tank back up after moving like I’m doing and you drop your AC 110 filter case and it cracks in pieces, of course I’ll check if your online store has one, but that is one of the aspects of it, I also try to keep the expenses down by not buying fancy crazy equipment
When I started, I was living with my parents. I was limited in what I could do. Couldn't put a large tank in the living room. That was the biggest problem for me. Now I'm back doing whatever I want and with a lot more knowledge to back it up.
You hit it all on the button. I have 3 tanks and I still stress about them. I love my fish and get upset and stressed. Having said this I look at fish keeping as a challenge and a learning experience which I enjoy.
I probably will not make it a hobby but I love your guy’s information and very much appreciate the time people like you put into these fish I can’t thank you enough for helping me understand my beta fish and to get the necessary items for him to live happily rather then just living You guys are the best!
It’s a lot of stress and work. I decided to take in a fish that my girlfriend’s brother won at the fair. He brought it home and just kept it in the bowl but he never fed it or anything. My girl and I felt bad and after about a week of us feeding his fish him forgetting about the goldfish, I decided to take it myself and get a 20 gallon tank. Spent hundreds of dollars and did a ton of research. I do 25-30% weekly water changes with conditioner. Clean and change filters monthly, watch the temperature for any changes daily. I also have a ton of ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, hardness, chlorine, alkalinity, and pH test strips to make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be. I put an air stone in the tank for better oxygen flow. One of the rocks I have in there shoots out larger bubbles, creating small waves at the surface to enhance the oxygen in the water even further. The water is always a semi whitish cloudy color and the goldfish is always glass surfing horizontally at the front of the tank. I’m guessing it’s stressed. It does it all of the time. There are times where he will graze on the substrate and rarely roams around the tank, but most of the time he just glass surfs. I’m not sure what to do. I feel like after all the time and energy I’m putting into trying to take care of it, it’s just not enough. I’ll spend hours maintaining this once a week. It’s only one goldfish in a 20 gallon tank. I’m trying not to give up and give him away to someone that knows what they are doing as I took him in from being neglected, but I feel bad that I’m not making it happy.
I have been at this hobby for two years with pretty good results and only an occasional death. However, it is worse than owning a cat or dog. You cannot take them to a kennel and leaving them to the care of someone who follows directions but has not the least idea if something is off or what to do in emergency is nerve racking. I am retired, and occasionally would like to be gone more than a week, but so far, not confident my fish sitter would not run into problems that required my eyeballs on the tank. My other worry is what will happen to my fish if I get sick or become debilitated. I have some really large fish in a really large tank. It gives me a wonderful workout to keep it going, especially the water changes. I am doing great right now and have given my son instructions on how to re-home them if something should happen to me. Still, they are totally dependent on me and it is not suitable to leave their future to chance. I may have to re-home them before their care overwhelms me. Did not expect either one of these concerns when I started. They are so lovely to watch and they know me by sight. But, I can see how some day these concerns could force me out of the hobby.
I walked away from this hobby when my daughter was born and we were moving. Now it’s been almost a year back in the hobby and my daughter and me bond over our tank and it’s an amazing feeling. Can’t see myself leaving anytime soon
Thats awesome 😊
This! It's a hobby that my 12 year old and I bond through. It also helped calm the household right after we had our Irish twins over the pandemic.
@@KGTropicals i'm gonna quit this hobby actually because its soooo much work and they don't show affection
fun fact: i have a hamster two actually an they love me soooo much
will fish do that noooo:(
i'm sorry i have to quit
@@KGTropicals i think for now i'll go for the hamster hobby for now i'm sorry i have to quit:(
I love my little aquarium, sometimes my plants are doing better than other times, I have lost a couple of fish friends, a snail and shrimp that I got ridiculously attached to. I love doing water changes, underwater gardening, creating a whole mini ecosystem. I have only been fish keeping for just over a year but learnt so much.
I was gifted 25lbs of ohko stone by a good friend, but my aquarium has dojo loaches in it and I knew they were liable to hurt themselves on sharp edges. I spent 15 to 30 minutes sanding down the edges of each stone, and quadruple checking my work before putting them in the tank. It ended up taking a good half of a day to get everything nice and ready and by the end of the process I was getting kinda annoyed at the work I was putting in to those rocks. However, immediately after I put those rocks in the dojo’s wouldn’t leave them alone. Now every time I look at the tank I see them perched on one of the rocks or hanging out under an arch of rocks, and I feel a strong sense of gratification that easily makes up for the effort I put in. 6 months since then, they’re as happy an uninjured as ever.
That’s amazing
I was throwing away so much money on additives, meds, etc until I finally believed in the silver bullet this channel does such a great job promoting: water changes. Too cloudy? Water change. Too much, or not enough, nutrients? Water change. Something seem off but I cannot figure out what? Water change. More work for sure, but less expensive and stressful in the long run.
I disagree, but it really depends on the person. I reeeealy didn't want to have to do water changes so I got into more naturalistic dirted tanks, but fiddled around with this or that tank parameter, co2, ferts, etc. and ended up having to do lots of water changes anyway. Now that I've done a good deal of experimentation and continued with research, I'm getting close to figuring it out so to speak, but there's always more to learn.
Totally agree with this!
Just started early this year and already got three tanks plus cycling one nano tank as a gift to someone. For people who are new to this hoppy, don’t know how much you have to spend. Filters, lights, Plants, substrates, test kits, medications, rocks/drift woods. The list could be very long even no fancy stuff. But in the other hand, it’s very rewarding. That’s why you keep getting multiple tanks😜.
Your channel has single handedly kept me in this hobby. It's absurdly difficult to find straight forward answers to simple questions about fish keeping online. Thank you.
At this point, I can't see myself ever quitting, unless old age someday makes caring for tanks impossible. Currently it's just a matter of trying not to let myself set up any MORE tanks (I have 2 29gal tanks, a 10, and a 5 stocked so far).
I got a stocked 125 and 3 20 longs and two 29highs
My tanks will be a burden on whoever finds my body
As someone who's a problem solver... the worst is when a fish dies for seemingly no reason. If parameters are off, I can fix that. If there is illness, I can at least treat the tank. When a fish dies for seemingily no reason - everyone else is ok, everything tests fine, etc. It's super frustrating because it feels like you have no control.
But you also have to realize that fish, like other species die from age as well. There are so many reasons newly added fish die and the biggest is stress from the move to your new tank!
Someone needs to watch Days of Thunder. Control is an illusion. None of us are truly in control. That's just something we use to rationalize our lives.
Sometimes fish just die, even if you’re doing everything right. And no one is truly ever in control of anything
The other commenters said it well. I'll simply add a reminder that the average life of many aquarium fish is 5 years. That means that a lot of individual fish don't even make it that long. Sure, one fish died, who knows why. As long as the others are OK over a couple of days of increased inspection, not a problem.
So true. My wife was not in favour that I get an aquarium but I got myself a large one and set it up in my home office. She, however, loves it now and it impacted positively on our marriage. Now she wants me to set up one in her art studio. I hope that John reads my comment. Thanks John I learn a lot from you. Regards, Johann from South Africa.
Thats awesome that your wife is involved now. It definitely takes it to another level!
My wife just came home one day with a fish tank. Since a young age I always wanted one. I helped out and did most of the more technical things and the heavy lifting so when she decided to quit I just took everything over. Now I am 2 weeks aways from moving the whole circus a 1000km. Roughly a 100 of so fish from monster plecos to malawis to common guppies and mollies a total of almost 1000l of water, 10 or so tanks from 250l down to my 4 stacked 30l fry tanks,all the equipment to run it and lots of extra bits and pieces and a spare pieces of glass. Also Johann from South Africa - what a coincidence?
@@KGTropicals For sure and my aquarium is good for our souls. Wish I knew how to post a photo of it here in the comments section. Hope it is not too cold there where you are in the US. Nice summer and sunshine here where I live in Pretoria South Africa.
OMG - my wife who was not a fan just asked me to set her up a shrimp tank for her office this weekend. She even went to 7 different LFS to pick out just the right shrimp!
@@Heinrich_Pistor Just came home from the shops and also stopped at the pet shop for some fish food, wife made me buy 6 more Mollies.
A lady in my grandparents neighborhood threw out 2 29g tanks.... 🥺 my son and I watched those tanks sit for 2 weeks..... now we have 4 tanks... my poor husband. You can definitely get into fish keeping for the low low. Offer up is a thing!🙏🏾✌🏾🇨🇱
When I started in the hobby in 2020 I put tons of time into researching online about fish, water parameters, plants etc etc. It was exciting to soak up the information but I think it also caused me to worry more about "maybe my fish have this, or maybe they have that" because they were flashing or acting strangely. I scaled up way too quickly. I went high tech with CO2 within a few months and have hundreds of dollars worth of plants die due to horrible and inconsistent city water quality. I'm now back to a single 36 gallon bow front and that's enough for the time being.
I have a bow front too! By topfin
Don’t feel bad . The videos make it look so fun and exciting . It’s easy to overdo it. Once I killed a bunch of “easy” plants I knew I needed to wait on trying CO2. Lol
This is typical. Too fast too soon and then they quit.
@@ArtbyMagic I haven't quit. I still have one tank, and once I move to a new place that'll allow me to install a RO system I'll be getting back into high tech
All of these reasons are spot on. I recently started back up after many years "off" since childhood. I just wanted one beautiful tank. You are so right about multiple tank syndrome! I tried to prove you wrong, and couldn't. My "just in case" hospital tank became a fry tank. Then I needed a just in case tank. Then fish that are supposed to get along didn't. Then more eggs... ugh. I now have a 72 bow, a 10 on the desk, and a 20 tall. I think I am going to be good for a while now. I realized that this is my limit of when it becomes more work than enjoyment. I think that is where people go wrong, letting the hobby grow to where it becomes more work than they get back in enjoyment. It's easy to do. The only other factor for me is patience. Partly because I strive for big green lush planted tanks, and it just takes time. If you watch the videos on youtube, you will see these guys put together tanks that are amazing in 5 minutes, and if you try to duplicate that (without thousands of dollars) it just takes lots of time. I have finally learned to just be patient, and enjoy what I've got.
I must say a big thanks to you and your wife and your channel. I have learned so much and feel like I am finally "doing it right" because of what I've learned through you guys. Now if you could just teach me how to get these plants to grow faster....lol.
I’m with you on the plants !! I thought I couldn’t grow Val which is supposed to be this easy huge thing. After I gave up it just took off and now I need to do a major trimming cuz I can’t see my fish!!!
Great topic and video. 20 years ago my neighbor boiled my African Cichlid tank while we were on vacation - she got the heater dial instead of the filter. Then we had a hurricane pass close by and I lost 7 tanks of fish due to losing power for 2 weeks. Got rid of everything. Got back in the hobby July of last year. Yes, it is still hard to lose some fish - lost a Parrot to bloat recently. Have faced all of the reasons you mentioned in the video! Keep up the good work. Your videos are such an encouragement to so many of us.
I had a fish tank as a kid but that was it. Then I ran into aquascaping and now I watch tons of UA-cam videos. I still don't have a tank, but I'll be moving soon and I'm getting my free time back so I plan to start a small tank once I've moved. My aunt had several small tanks (I think 15 gal. from looking at them) and I'm going to take one and whatever pieces are functional and give this a go!
I too was a young and dumb teenager before surfing the net and smart phones were a thing and had no idea how to keep fish and kept killing them the first several attempts at doing the hobby. I quit trying for a while and didn’t attempt again until I was a few years older living on my own and wanted a hobby so I knew I would give it a try again this time I had internet on a computer I could surf and friends that could share me knowledge. I still made the mistake of overloading my tank and killed some fish but I was able to keep fish alive for several years after finding the balance with the right fish for me. I now won’t give the hobby up for anything. Once I get myself a bigger house with more space I am gonna step up my game with bigger tanks like you guys have. I only have been watching your videos and subscribed to your channel since before the holidays but I appreciate you guys because you guys make me feel smarter and armed with enough information that I can confidently keep upping my game in this hobby! Thanks for everything and keep up the great work!!
I had aquariums when I was a kid, and in my 20's and loved it. I finally got an apartment big enough to get tanks big enough to keep some worth while fish, and I'm just too busy and tired to keep them happy, so I'm quiting for the sake of the fish after these guys pass on. Life changes.
Don't worry once you have a house and 3 kids you'll have lots of free time hahaha
Lol at worthwhile fish! I love a single betta or school of neon tank!
indeed the work is part of the fun! i just moved 20x smaller fish into my 100g from a 50g and moved out my small flowerhorn to be solo in the 50g instead this whole process took probaly 3-4 hrs ( i cleaned out both tanks aswell moved decorations etc etc ) but once i got it all set it literally feelt so freaking good i couldnt stop smiling , it just felt right ( pretty much the same feeling you get when you leave the store with new fish )
I would clean my moms fish tank always, she passed away last March and now I keep her fish and it reminds me of her. She got me into fish keeping
The cost is definitely a barrier to entry. In the UK tanks are very expensive. We don't have dollar per gallon sales that you have in the US so even nano tanks cost a lot
Good points! I was listening while doing a water on my 129gal. Thanks for the encouragement to keep going.
been in the hobby for a year and i travel a lot and the person who i left responsible for my betta didn't do good so he recently passed away. Im so sad i did so much to provide for my little betta. Now I'm taking a break from the hobby because I will be moving soon so I don't wanna have to deal with moving a fish across a state. But i truly did fall in love with the hobby and the community.
John, The BIG reason you missed is "PATIENCE"! May people quit fish keeping early on due to the lack of patience! And I struggled with it at first too. You buy the tank, you fill it with ornaments & water then put in some fish. In a few days, they start to die off. You don't understand why your water is cloudy. THEN you do your research (too late). You then realize you must test your water and keep it balanced (ammonia, PH, KH &GH) for weeks to months before it is cycled. People today want instant gratification. They don't want to wait weeks to months for a tank to cycle. Thankfully I found your channel many months ago when I started this hobby and your videos is why I'm still here!! Now, my 29gal is CRYSTAL clear with ZERO ammonia and perfectly balanced PH, KH & GH!! Now, I am also cycling (2 fish in) a 10 gal to use as a Betta tank. It is so gratifying to see all the work you've done over time to get the tank cycled come to fruition. It all takes PATIENCE folks!! Thanks to you & Lisa for your advice and insight over the months..!!
I started with a 10 gallon for a betta. Now I have a 10 gallon, 20 gallon, and a 55 gallon and this is within less than 6 months.
Also, my husband can't believe how much maintenance I do on these tanks.
Thing that discourages me is the expense. I started with 10 tanks now Down to 4. The thing I respect most is the knowledge of other fish keepers as can you always believe what u read on the net? The beauty of the aquarium far outweighs the maintenance for me. Plus it never gets boring as there are so many species to try but I think it's very much you get out what you put in. That's why I love watching the videos from you and Lisa and Jason and Joanna😊
Hey John, thanks for this video! It was very comprehensive and true. I got into this hobby at the end of 2021, got myself accidentally into a fish-in cycle and had to put in 110% of the work, doing 50% water changes almost every day to keep my fish safe... After a month my aquarium was cycled and I was falling for MTS, lol. I told myself no, just take care of your first aquarium now. I got an algae outbreak and yesterday I cleaned it all up and fell in love again with my tank :)
Love your videos, have a nice day!
Not walked away, but lately more apathetic, due to sort of paralysis from stressful situations and lack of experience and/or help. Internet is worthless mostly, but for your channel and a few others! the constant feeling of not knowing what to do, conflicting information from so called "experts", having tanks crash, unexpected babies, dead fish, uncertain of illness, plants growing out of control, etc haha...got very overwhelming. My tanks are heavily planted and they are all out of control, especially with floating plants...water lettuce, frogbit, red root, salvinia, etc. Yesterday, huge snowstorm and I unintentionally started pulling frogbit off one of the tanks, and ended up spending the entire day on it, getting 4+ large totes of floating plants out. I did maintenance on the rest of that tank, water change, and saw an immediate reaction from the fish (female Betta and tetras), they're swimming again. It looks amazing, I don't know how it got so overgrown so fast, but needless to say, it felt good. I have three more tanks to go, had to take a break today. Gotta figure out what to do with the extra plants.. refuse to toss them.
I have a ten gallon at the moment with just a betta inside of it. As far as cost and maintenance goes though, it's a very nice setup, it's just short term initial set-up that's costly.
Buying in bulk is great for worrying about costs as well, especially things like water conditioner.
Invest in good filter systems and diy filter media, diy filters are honestly super fun as well as save money.
Regular filters can be rinsed a few times before you actually change them, rinsing them frequently keeps em going much longer than the packaging states and saves money as well.
I don't have a lot of strength lately, I've been sickly for ages now, having just a ten gallon is great though because I don't have to move a lot of water while doing water changes.
I'd love to have a huge tank and fill it with cichlids but I don't think I have the time and energy for it at the moment.
Sometimes we just gotta stick with a couple guppies or a betta in a five or ten gallon tank instead of have lots, but one of the things I always loved about fish keeping is that you can more easily work on a smaller scale than with other pets, like, teacup dogs for example are expensive and still need to run around and explore outside on walks like a large dog does, they don't just tire out because they're tiny.
Meanwhile a handful of neon tetras don't need as much space as an arowana, ofc.
It's still just as rewarding either way, it sucks I can't currently have my cichlid tank but everytime I see my bettas big bubble nests I get super excited.
Points well taken John! :thumbsup:
Bit of a story...
Back in the 60's my neighborhood LFS had little colored stickers on the tanks to show what fish can go with each other. The owner worked there helping customers and he knew his stuff. He never kept fish that would grow to big or kill every other fish in the tank.
Now you go to a fish/pet store and usually the employees know the basics like you keep fish in water. Sometimes you get misinformation sometimes good. I've noticed fish stores pushing the more expensive equipment instead of the cheaper alternatives that will work just fine.
Most people expect instant gratification. What do you mean I might have to wait 4 weeks before adding fish? I bring a puppy or cat home and I can play with it right away! I have to change water? No way it looks clean! The fish always acts hungry, that container of fish food didn't last very long.
So much truth, It has been alot of work and adjustment in my lifestyle but boy ever since i came accross your page and got my first beta tank, ive grown more and more attached to the hobby. Now here i am 5 tanks in and loving everybit of the work ive put in. I got my very first cichlid yesterday in a wood/sand tank i setup.... Big shoutout from virginia here as well. Im in bristol southwest. So glad you guys got me into this wonderful hobby.
I'm 52 and when I was in my 20s I had 5 big aquariums and I loved the hobby..as I started having children I got away from it..but move forward 25 years I lost my son last year and I need something to relax me and keep my mind on something enjoyable..so I started this hobby again started out with a 10g got one black moor..he died I started watching videos and learned that I need bigger tank for goldfish so i purchased a bigger tank and waited for it to cycle helping it along with seachem stability..once I cycled I got another black moor he was doing great I been testing my water doing my water changes the water good and he recently died..got white stuff all over him that didn't look like ick..anyway I bought alot if chemical's in begining and meds for my fish trying to save him..now I'm back to square one and feel just like your talking about here I feel responsible for killing this lil guy and now Im feeling anxiety with it.. the very reason I started up again with this hobby to help my anxiety..anyway I guess my whole point in telling you this is to tell you I needed this video
I certainly understand.
Thanks for the good advice. I live in Stafford in the UK and have just brought a 55 gallon tank after 20 years. Setting it up this week and hopefully going to stock it in March
Hi John, this feed just hit home. While dealing with with a stubborn algae plume, and a sick oscar, I just wanted to throw in the towel. Instead, I brought home a new 55 gal. set up, unfortunately, I lost the oscar 1 hour ago but refuse to quit. You re-instilled in me there's a reason for this! Thnx......
Just got into this hobby with my two sons, 10 and 8 four or 5 months ago. We have a 13 gallon and we are keeping some tetras, guppies, and a platy. We definitely had some growing pains the first couple of months with being so green in the hobby and trying to cycle the tank properly, but we are learning more each week and our fish seem to be doing pretty well now. Your channel has been my go to for the information and help we need. I appreciate you guys keeping it relatively simple and breaking things down in a way that us beginners can understand. There is a lot to learn in this hobby and maybe down the road we can get a bigger tank with some bigger fish. But for now we will learn to master our water changes, gravel vacuuming, and all the other basic maintenance for our fish tank.
Great video John. This is what I try to promote the hobby on my channel. I am small but if I can keep one in the hobby or get someone to join the fun.
I never get rid of my equipment when I need to take a break for whatever reason. I have had the same acrylic tank since I was in junior high. I keep all of the equipment so I can just throw it back together when I am ready. I have taken breaks, but have never truly quit the hobby.
I think you nailed all of this. I'm currently in the process of thinking about quitting (and it's a process). The fish dying is especially hitting home. Kept fish for 20+ years, and discus exclusively for the last 12+ years. And I lost my favorite discus over a year ago. It was almost 10 years old, and it still hits me. So I moved away from discus, to fish I don't feel attached to.. and now I don't like them enough for the effort of care. So I'm faced with a choice. Thanks for sharing your video. It's nice to see some outside perspective.
My graddaughter and I started our first little 5 gallon tank a little over a year ago. Unfortunately, we lost a few fish due to my lack of knowledge of proper water parameters. It was very traumatic as she had each fish named and was attached to each one. We now have 3 tanks; a 10 g, a 20 g, and a 29 gallon. All fish are doing pretty well. While it is sad to loose a fish, I look at our pretty planted tanks and say: "boy we have learned a lot in this past year about fishkeeping and our tanks are soooo pretty" This is thanks to watching your channel and others like it.
By this next year we are hoping to start up a 55g:) That is about as large as we can go unless I throw out the couch-lol. This hobby, while yes, it is work at times, has been a lifesaver during a pandemic
Just know I have been watching your 10 years of content over the past month since becoming a tank dad. Me and my 2 albino oscars in their 75 gal thank you for your continued content for the fish keeping community, truly legends.
Wow! Thanks for watching 🙂
I love oscars so much awe give em some love for me, they're just big ol' water puppies.
One of the species that kind of prove fishkeeping is underrated, I think.
“Tank Dad” that’s great!!
Like most family, we got our first tank about 6 years ago for my 3 year old son who loves fish. Over the years I’ve killed many many fish. You name it I’ve killed it lol 😂
I was working 70 hrs a week and didn’t realized how much work it was to take care of it but never quit. When the pandemic started I had time to research and watch videos, your channel was the first one that I subscribed to. I have to confess now I have MTS. I’m up to 7 tanks all with different things. Went from plastic ornaments to fully planted tanks. Yes it gets expensive sometimes, yes it’s a lot of work but it’s so worth it. Great bonding time with my kids. Thank you for all the great videos. Great hobby to be part of. Im itching to start my eight tank once I can come up with a good lie to tell my wife lol 😂
I started this hobby with no knowledge of how to keep a fish properly. Lots of fish have died because of my mistakes and this is really stressful and emotionally exhausting. However, I've never thought about giving it up because the relaxation it brings me is ways more wonderful than words can describe. Furthermore, I've developed a bond with my fish and the very thought of giving them away and not caring what will happen to them is unbearable to me. They are like my kids and I want to take care of them myself.
I totally agree that this hobby can be a life-changing thing. For me, it's for the better.
I've learnt a lot since I followed your channel. Thanks a lot for sharing.
All great points on why people quit, but another one I know for sure is...your job. Yes, what you do for a living can have you quitting the hobby ASAP AFTER spending tons of money and having a super nice tank or two or 3.
I used to live very close to Ft Bragg, NC. I'm a yard sale geek too so I would always hit the military yard sales because they just about give things away because they just got orders to go out of country for who knows how long. Can't take the tanks and fish.
I would end up bringing home just about new tanks of all sizes with all the equipment AND the fish for twenty bucks, seriously.
Military life is hard and if you're under E5 you most likely rent and no pets is almost always the deal.
Fish aren't considered pets so a huge amount of military families buy tanks and fish.
And when life swiftly and unexpectedly changes and you get orders to ship out of country when you were supposed to have 3 solid years at Bragg, you start sorting and packing and selling everything off.
So yes, your job can be another big reason you got into and out of the hobby so fast.
Really good video, John. I want to see the hobby grow also and for folks to pass the passion and love of keeping fish and aquascaping down to their children or grandchildren, or neighbors.
👍❤👍
I have taken some time off over the years(mainly because I was living somewhere I couldn't have a tank), but I always come back. I cannot image having only one tank anymore. I got some nice guppies, love CPDs, want babies. Goth them their own tanks. Everyone needs a betta or two (or ten). Need shrimp, and then there are the Opae Ula that require brackish... Now I want fancy expensive plecos.
I set an Opae Ula tank for my nephew, and he decided he wanted a "real" tank. I asked him if he would enjoy setting up a tank after watching me set up the Opae Ula tank and he said no. I then asked him if he really wanted to work on a tank, he said no. I asked if he really wanted a tank, he laughed and said no. The Opae Ula just need topped off and I can check on that. Nephew is 16.
Great video, as usual !
I've been keeping my own fish for about 23 yrs. Had tanks as a kid that my parents took care off tho. Went thru the betta stage when they were kept in bowls. My kids had goldfish then we upgraded to an outdoor pond. Kept community tanks too. Currently have only one 5 gal betta tank. I had 2 but just lost one (I was crushed) so I have decided to just stick to the one for now, at least. I packed the other tank away. Had the two tanks cuz one of the bettas was my grandson's. He's my son's boy. Then his mother moved him a 1000 miles from us. So when his betta died, I decided to just stick with mine. They do bring me such joy tho. I even love the maintenance, I find it relaxing. The only downfall is when they die. I love them so much & it just guts me. I have dogs & cats too - Yes I am a nut ! I really love y'all's channels & always learn something & pick up cool tips, so I thank y'all for that !
Love the comment; you sitting looking at a weird, bald guy from Virginia. I was in the hobby in the 70-90's. Then I got married and got children, so I sold my tanks, because one of my daughters was born with disabilities and her needs took so much out of my energy. Today both Girls have moved out of home. Me and my wife got divorce, because she couldn't handle our impaired daughter. So for many years I was a singel parent with a daughter with special needs. Today I'm all alone, so I'm about to start up the hobby again. A couple of Aquarium with undergravel filters, connected with hang on back. The Hob's only to polish the water. Deep substrate, lots of plats and maybe with co2, It depends on how the tanks are doing. I plan to make the tanks seasoned with good watervalues before I even put in any fish. I had two Aquarium with undergravel filters in the old days. I only had to clean it about once a month, taking away some spot algae, vacuming the gravel and top up the water level. I never made waterchanges and the tanks were thriving. I am not planning to have gravel digging fish, since they can destroy the balance of The tank. The fish I intend to keep are corys, kuhli loaches, shrimp, endlers and a lot of different varieties of Guppies. I have always been a Guppy freak. I will raise a lot of mutt guppies, and when I have succeeded in getting hardy guppies, trying to evolve different strain of guppies.
What do you think of my thought? A guy from Sweden.
Proudly have and have only had 1 tank my entire time keeping fish, over a decade.
Great video- been in and out so many times over my life with 10-75 gal set ups both fresh and salt water. Currently have an outdoor KOI pond which for me is a big outdoor aquarium. All your reasons are true but for me the ebb and flow have been life changes- kids, jobs, relocations,etc. Most recent life change is working from home. looking to get back in with a planted freshwater set up for my home office. Still lose a KOI every so often and stressed currently about the ice on my pond but indoor or out, when it all comes together there’s nothing more relaxing and satisfying.
Hey John, great video, Thanks a lot, I'm new to the keeping fish thing. I've had a tank for 2 years now but just recently got some cichlids from a friend and witness two of the females holding, nothing came of it... I didn't know what to do. Now, they are holding again, so I set up another tank that I had and I'm looking forward to seeing this keeping fish thing through. I've been watching your videos for a week now, and am looking forward to the rest of them as they pop up in the stream. Thanks again.
Confusion yes! The struggle is real, as a teenager I had Bettas and a koi tank. When I saw Ranchu goldfish it was instantly love like magical baby beluga whales you can have in your home and feed peas yes please. So I been doing research and it seems everyone has such polar opposite opinions on proper care for them 😰. Simple question like tank size becomes a never ending maze I seen 20 gallon per fish with ten to spare to some really crazy numbers. And also I understand bigger is always better but when looking at the bigger tank notices they are much taller than the recommended no higher than 16 inches tall. Something to do with to much pressure on their swim bladder is what I read. It really sometimes feels like an impossible dream. Thank you ever so much for sharing and best wishes always.
I've received my 1st Jack Dempsey at the age of 13. I'm 49 years old and I still love it. Got out of it for a few tears after getting divorced, but after finding your channel,, you have me the spark bro. I've had Oscars, Jewels, Pahranias, Jaguar Cichlids, and a ton of reptiles and amphibians. I love your channel and couldn't think of looking at anything else, thanks for jump starting me again bro!
I fall into the #2 category hardcore. I got my first fish in May 2021 (I made the classic mistake of getting a betta without doing any research and got a tiny 2.5 gal tank and just threw him in there). I eventually got him into a planted 5 gal tank and all seemed great. one day I woke up and found him gasping for air on the bottom of the tank and swimming erratically. I tried to help him to the surface to breathe but he was dead an hour later. I was crushed, I loved that little fish. he lived thru a lot of rookie mistakes on my part but always stayed happy right up until that day. I was sad but I didn't want his tank to go to waste and I really loved having a fish friend around so I went and picked up a female koi a week later. she lasted exactly a week. I had checked water parameters like a crazy person during this whole time and everything always came back perfect. her death truly made me want to give up on the whole hobby. it seemed the only things I could keep alive were some shrimp and a snail so that's all I had for a while. it really is discouraging to have a fish die seemingly for no reason. it got to the point where I didn't even want to look at my tank because it just caused me stress. it still does occasionally but I have bounced back a little and sometimes it makes me happy to just watch the shrimps and snail do their thing. idk I think people can underestimate the attachment you form with these little creatures and when they die it's really heartbreaking.
losing my clown loach colony I grew for three years from babies, was so proud and happy how big they were getting, was looking at upgrading their 75 to a massive 155. Had one power outage, lasted three days, i kept battery air pumps, i tried attaching hand warmers to the outside of the tank and a few DIY tricks i saw online to keep your tank warm during outage, but nothing worked for the 75g i had. I couldn't keep them warm enough. Within four five days, three of those days with no power, all of my loaches got ich. I battled it for just two weeks before losing all 8 of my 3 year loaches. One of which I was deeply attached to because he had a big spot on his side. When they died, I almost entirely quit the hobby. I broke down and sold all but two of my 10 fish tanks. I have been keeping fish since i was a toddler and am 27 now. I miss alot of my fish and my tanks, but I REALLY miss the work the therapy of taking care of all the tanks. I have slowly worked up to coming back into the hobby, this video helps. I have a 12g long desk Endlers tank and i still have my 75g bow front tank which I have a Turtle and fish habitat.
I'm about to start again. Thank you for all this info. You really broke it down for me and made it simple. I can see things have changed.
I quit for a year as OBVIOUSLY like most people I got multiple tank syndrome 😂 (anywhere I could fit a tank, I’d put a tank there) and with that and having a stressful job which was taking more and more of my time I simply couldn’t do it all!! I rehomed my fish and tanks for free (to an amazing family run aquatic business- and actually a few months later they told me my discus had had fry!) as I wanted them to have a better life BUT I ALWAYS missed my American cichild tank (controversial but I adore my parrot cichilds!) … so after keeping lots of different species I decided I simply couldn’t be without that tank and restarted again with one huge tank and have totally capped my fish hobby at one tank (I do have a smaller quarantine one but I’ll never stock that unless I have a sick fish!) - Thanks for these videos, you guys are one of the reasons I always stuck around in the hobby as your videos are super authentic and knowledgeable!!
fish-keeping is like anything else in life -- if it's important to you, you make time for it. what I love about this hobby is that it really does offer everyone something -- you can keep beautiful aquariums and healthy fish on a shoestring budget. But like any other involved hobby, it requires meticulous planning and COMMITMENT.
Every points you indicate is so true. I have 3 tanks, never would think I would pass even 1 tank. It is most relaxing to me. Thank you for helping so many people. Keep going.
Just started up two tanks, its has been very therapeutic. But i can say this channel helped me out so much on which way i wanted to go. It has been so much fun! So thank you so much!
Thanks for watching! We're happy to help 🙂
Your oscar tank behind you @9:57 is so cool! That trunk with the fish around it has a very Close Encounters of the Third Kind vibe.
I don't have normal fish, I have brine shrimp. I had Sea Monkeys as a kid and roughly a year ago I decided to pick it up again. Most of the Sea Monkey brand tanks are only 12 oz. I've scaled up the tank size to a 1 gallon tank and recently added a 3 gallon tank. I used generic artemia salina eggs rather than Sea Monkey brand. I know they're typically grown as live food for other fish, but in my case they are the pet. It's been interesting watching your videos, seeing the compare and contrast to normal fish keeping. I can't use filters because I'd filter the brine shrimp right out of the water. I can't do water changes because I'd literally throw the babies out with the bath water. Algae is a good thing, I feed them live nannochloropsis algae that clouds up the water column. Since they don't get much larger than 3/8 of an inch a 3 gallon tank is huge to them.
When I first started in fish keeping, I was in it deep, aquarium club, fish auctions, multiple tanks, the whole nine yards. It was great, nice fish, always spending money on something for the tank or fish related, (luckily my water was always crystal clear and man did that make me proud!) Anyway, i stopped for whatever reason but got back into it about two months ago, just a 10 gal. Nothing special, but I’ve had the worst luck with water clearing. The parameters are perfect but always cloudy. I was ready to give up, i tried another water change (the last one I vowed) and by George my water is clear! Oh what a feeling, it really is gratifying when it all comes together. That’s my little story, thanks for all your videos! Cheers.
Growing up, my family had many tanks around the house, including a HUGE Oscar tank. The Oscar tank sprung a leak and no matter how much my parents tried to patch it up, nothing worked. The fish all died and they lost interest in the hobby. I found one of the goldfish tanks last year and decided I would try my hand at this hobby. I became OBSESSED. The problem with becoming obsessed is that I obsessively Google what could be wrong with my fish. I'm currently in a constant state of anxiety after getting a Betta for each of my tanks. Blue guy is lovely and very cute, little bit of fin rot but he's being treated in a tank of his own. Green guy is perfect, both eating VERY well, he loves his neon tetra friends and doesn't bother anybody but pink guy in my danio tank isn't eating and hasn't eaten for the entire week I've had him and I can see his swim bladder through his skin. I have tried water changes, putting him in a jug, scooping him up in a net, changing his tank to be planted, I've tried giving him multiple different foods, I've medicated his tank now with a general aid medicine but still nothing. He is super active and doesn't bother the danios at all but him not eating is really worrying to me. Please tell me he's just trying to get used to his tank. Pink guy is in a 200L planted tank with 2 sponge filters and the water is kept at 27c.
Good stuff John. And in my opinion all of us who have gone through all those things and continued are not hobbyists, we're obsessed 😂. One thing worth mentioning is the chain stores. They give someone a 2 hr computer course and call them there experts. Hard to find those hole in the wall stores that only deal with aquatics and not dog food anymore. The kind of place where you know the owner by name and if you have a question you can ask him and have confidence in his answer.
Good list here and touched on why I almost gave up a month ago. Too much money, time, stress, for no reward. I lost two rounds of fish. Maybe it was all me, the place I got the fish, or a combo.
What I have learned is to work smarter. Water changes a pain? I picked up a power siphon and pre conditioned water. Now it is minutes to do.
Regular testing to keep ahead of issues, proactive vs reactive.
The expense is amazing. Even with a good deal on the setup, I have spent near 1k on the tank. It is starting to be as expensive as my automobile hobby. 😀
Your videos help as they declutter and focus on what to do vs overload.
Thanks for this video! I'm a newbie fish keeper for 6 weeks now. And it's very scary at the beginning... so many times I just wanted to drop the towel (hydrogen cycle being reason #1) but yeah, now that I have my fish in - I'm so exited and happy to see them thriving !!!
hello john am from england i have been keeping fish since 1975 and i have been keeping rift valley ciclids for over twenty years now and yes ilove keeping tropicl fish and i am slil going i love watching your vidoes
I just started 3 months ago....29 gallon 8 bleeding heart tetras..lots of live plants..patience patience patience is the way to go..and be happy with what you created..
I simply love your videos, I’ve been at it for decades and have returned after couple years break (after a stressed out period). Learn a ton everyday, yours is one of my favourite Channels. Thanks so much, appreciate all the hard
Been keeping a reeftank for 5 years, starting to have reactions to the inhabitants the cost is mind blowing.(very expesive to get anythingin Australia) was going to pack it all up but have now decided a tank full of tetras would be amuch better option.
Absolutely working on my 180G display during 2020 definitely kept my mind off all the bs and kept me sane! For that reason I'm in for the long haul 😎
I love your channel and content... Thank you so much! I have multiple tank syndrome and at the grand old age of 49 I am finding it is starting to become a struggle with work commitments and the general lack of energy and enthusiasm that comes with age... 1 tank would be the way to go in my opinion... Love this hobby though. You talk a lot of sense dude 👍🇬🇧
Good video. Right now I am having some difficulties with my fish after not quarantining.... got ich in my 125 gl and 55 gl..... its so stubborn and won't go away and it just keeps costing so much $ and time and effort. Its so stressful and been dealing with random fish death and everything for over a month... trying so hard to stay positive and treat them but things are a bit. Hoping everyone becomes healthy soon.... not sure where I'm going with this but thanks for the video and perspectives.
About 6 months ago I came back to the hobby after being away for decades. Started small with a nano tank that was given to my wife. My wife (who had never had an aquarium before) went out and bought a LOT of fish. I mean WAY TO MANY FISH. So.... next came a 20 high to keep all of those fish. The wife was actually somewhat ambivalent initially, and then the Corys spawned! She is now hooked. The plan now is for a much bigger tank as 2 of the fish were these cute little Silver Dollars. They are now as big as saucers and have really outgrown the 20. Toss in a Pleco named Killer that is already about 6 inches and you can see we made a couple of rookie mistakes that now will cost us. I just found the plans for a 260 gallon online so that may be the next project. Hey, go big or go home.
I got my 55g with ciclids for Christmas 2021, love it!! Yes it cost much but still love it!!
LOL, its funny you mentioned mom. My dad passed a few years ago and she kept his 600 gallon indoor pond and turned it into a Koi pond. I do all the maintenance on it lol.
I almost quit when I went to study at university: Just one tank at my parents place which I would maintain once in a month with some easy fish (my parents would feed them). Almost lost an interest and also I had very little free time, but then I found out about nano-tanks and aquascaping. I think there was actually a fashion wave of nano aquariums, liquid carbon and aquascaping.
In the past some fish and plants were hard to get. Around a decade ago this started to change: Dwarf rasboras, Endlers, shrimps, dwarf hairgrass, in-vitro plants and other things became widely available. All one could fit in a small tank on a desk and yet it would look like much bigger aquarium. Perfect for a dormitory or rented 1-room flat.
Nowadays I've got several fish tanks, each different and special in some way.
A great video to draw the comments and discussions. As I prepare to set up my first tank since the 80's I must admit that I can feel the sticker shock as I order one component after another. But after watching UA-cam for months I decided to take the plunge (pun intended). Hope I can see it through and have the success that you and the other creators have had. Thanks for guiding us along the way John.
This is a very well done and thought out video. I went into this hobby with a 10 gallon tank and branched from there with the multiple tank syndrome. I recently set up a 120 gallon which is now my largest tank and I moved my fire eel to it just for him to figure out a way out and dry up on my floor. I was DEVASTATED, I used to hand feed him in my angelfish tank and I just admired him and his spunkiness. I beat myself up over it and had second thoughts on this hobby but after spending well over $5k at this point I wasn’t ready to give up. I reminded myself that this hobby is my therapy and that sometimes fish die but it’s no reason to throw in the towel.
I have a 37 gallon high, 10 gallon breeder, 2.5-3 gallon tank and able to manage well, with everything but it's expensive where I clean and do maintenance, plus I have to get dechloritinator and ect bulk, where I'm currently not working and still love the fish hobby
Great Topic, my first encounter with fish was when I was 4 years old, my first aquarium then was a Coco Cola Bottle of course all the fish died, 73 years later I have over 100 aquariums and building up to about 300. In my opinion, this is the greatest hobby and any child who is interested in this hobby should be encouraged by their parents because it teaches so many life skills, patience, discipline, creativity, and it is a real stress buster and many others. Kenneth Chin Toronto Canada
Hahahaha so true when you mentioned about the aquarium numbers, we started 2 months ago thinking to have only 1 fish in a tiny bowl, we are now doing nitrogen cycle for a 40 gallon, a 5 gallon aquarium for our betta, fish food, water tests, water treatments, aquarium decorations, buckets etc and a bunch less money in our account hahahaha but for some reason we are happiest... And while i am doing this comment my partner is taking measures all around to see where to fit another aquarium 😅
We have to much to thanks to your channel for all the wonderful advices.
In my case I quit for a couple of years and now I came back like two years ago. I have a 1 saltwater and 1 freshwater fish tank. One important adjustment that I did is recognize my limits in terms of how much time and money I’m willing to spend in this hobby. I did a lot of research before choosing my fishes. Making sure that are hardy, easy to keep and compatible. That saves me a lot of headache since you are not forced to be super strict in keep exact parameters. In saltwater I have some clownfish, cardinals, and 1 royal gramma. No corals or hard to keep things. Just live rock and a sump. They’re doing great and I’m now enjoying the hobby without the stress of measuring everything and a lot of water changes or spending a lot of money. Just some water changes to keep it clean and the glass. Control the food and that’s it. Keep it as simple as possible. Learning from my mistakes.
Every single word of this is true! It's not the easiest hobby in the world to get into, but it truly is worth it when it's done right. I appreciate you guys so much for all you do, and for bringing these challenges to light. Keep on fish keeping, everyone!
Well said.
It doesn't help that those that run the industry are obviously clueless when it comes to design and focused only on the bottom line. Like just listen to us for a change, we often know exactly what we need.
I'm looking at you Fluval, why no ability to turn the LED tank lights off on my 15 flex? Or the ability to turn down the pump flow?
I offer a salute to fellow fish hobby folks who can jury rig and DYI their way through product design flaws and other issues in this hobby. 😎👍
Love these vids creates motivation for new fish keepers and old, also learning something new every time I have a 5.5 gallon and every month still learning new things to make my job easier and the fish happier
It started out as a pet betta in a 3 gal tank from my niece to my daughter. Now it's a 20 gal tank with other fish and a 5 gal for the betta. I can't wait to put a massive tank in our living room, as soon as I remodel it.
I’ve been in and out of this hobby for 20 or so years and got back in it 2 years ago and went full on. I think it is lasting this time because I done the work by empowering myself with the knowledge it takes to succeed. I’ve done that by watching people like yourself and gaining the skills to not only keep my fish alive but thriving but keeping the water conditions perfect. Thanks for the video’s and keep it coming.
I’m just a year in and while there have been some challenges along the way, I can see myself continuing the hobby long term. My biggest expense was tank upgrades, I went from a10 gallon to 55 in less than 6 months. Now it’s just getting/maintaining the fish. One tank is all I want, can afford, and have time to maintain.
Hi loving your channel , always great advice , I'm going through losing 1 of my favourite at the moment , she was stunning female red terror, saw her lip locking with 1 of my viejas , unfortunately she hid in her cave for couple of days , by the time she came out she looked horrific with the damage , got rid of the fungus straight away but her lips are so swollen , she is moved into smaller quiet tank but know I'm going to lose her , your fish and tanks are stunning , keep em coming from the UK
Great video! I recently had a tank collapse. The filter failed overnight, and the fish suffocated (live plants took the oxygen). I emptied it, but I can’t get the desire/energy/whatever to create it again.
That's devastating! Hopefully you give that tank a second chance, when you're ready of course 😊
I watch only a few channels. Researched a lot. All during the shut down. Was very expensive in the beginning but worth it. I keep my planted tank minimally stocked. I truly enjoy my 10 and 55. I do minimal maintenance at this point. I am biased. Planted tanks are the way to go. Very therapeutic.
I’m with you Jennifer! I think planted are probably harder to start but once that tank is balanced , you’re on easy street.
Thanks so much John and Lisa! It was completely thanks to you I got my first tank! This video was so moving. You are so right about the cost- and I unfortunately might have MTS (Multiple tank syndrome) ‘cause every time I go to the fish store I just fall in love with new fish. I am hoping to get my first fish (Betta!!!!) and put him in his (planted) 20 gallon. I have a question though- I wanted to get some cycled filter media for my tank. Do you think my local fish store would let me borrow some? The man working there seems so nice. Thanks again! ❤️🐠
Great info, as usual. I am just getting back into the hobby. There is so much more info out there now. I realize I knew nothing when I started in the early 80s as a teenager. As a resident of Glen Burnie I am fortunate to have H. O. T. Right down the road
I almost completely quit last year when I had a bad tank outbreak, lost all my favorite fish. Just got completely rejuvenated last month. Great video.
Great video! One other thing that I could see on this list is all of the misinformation, hatefulness, and people being snobby on social media when it comes to the hobby, no real fix for that though I guess. But thank you for all of the content, info, and ideas that you share.... Especially doing it as a real, down to Earth guy who many of us can identify with. Looking forward to getting a female Betta from you guys soon, I have to support my fellow Virginians when I can. (I am on the other end of the state in Blacksburg.) Anyways, thanks again!
I know a few people that quit the hobby, but they were not very serious about it to begin with, one thing that can be stressful is the fact that people usually start out with regular tropical fish, these fish do not last long and it becomes stressful, and it’s not because your parameters are slightly off your nitrates is slightly high, it’s just how those fish are, I think a good starter fish would be cichlids or even goldfish, parrot fish are good very hearty, another thing that can be stressful is starting a tank back up after moving like I’m doing and you drop your AC 110 filter case and it cracks in pieces, of course I’ll check if your online store has one, but that is one of the aspects of it, I also try to keep the expenses down by not buying fancy crazy equipment
When I started, I was living with my parents. I was limited in what I could do. Couldn't put a large tank in the living room. That was the biggest problem for me. Now I'm back doing whatever I want and with a lot more knowledge to back it up.
You hit it all on the button. I have 3 tanks and I still stress about them. I love my fish and get upset and stressed. Having said this I look at fish keeping as a challenge and a learning experience which I enjoy.
Your Orange African Cichlids in the background with your contrasting fluorescent violet lighting is super awesome. 👍🏽
I probably will not make it a hobby but I love your guy’s information and very much appreciate the time people like you put into these fish I can’t thank you enough for helping me understand my beta fish and to get the necessary items for him to live happily rather then just living
You guys are the best!
It’s a lot of stress and work. I decided to take in a fish that my girlfriend’s brother won at the fair. He brought it home and just kept it in the bowl but he never fed it or anything. My girl and I felt bad and after about a week of us feeding his fish him forgetting about the goldfish, I decided to take it myself and get a 20 gallon tank.
Spent hundreds of dollars and did a ton of research. I do 25-30% weekly water changes with conditioner. Clean and change filters monthly, watch the temperature for any changes daily.
I also have a ton of ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, hardness, chlorine, alkalinity, and pH test strips to make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be.
I put an air stone in the tank for better oxygen flow. One of the rocks I have in there shoots out larger bubbles, creating small waves at the surface to enhance the oxygen in the water even further.
The water is always a semi whitish cloudy color and the goldfish is always glass surfing horizontally at the front of the tank. I’m guessing it’s stressed. It does it all of the time. There are times where he will graze on the substrate and rarely roams around the tank, but most of the time he just glass surfs.
I’m not sure what to do. I feel like after all the time and energy I’m putting into trying to take care of it, it’s just not enough. I’ll spend hours maintaining this once a week. It’s only one goldfish in a 20 gallon tank.
I’m trying not to give up and give him away to someone that knows what they are doing as I took him in from being neglected, but I feel bad that I’m not making it happy.
I have been at this hobby for two years with pretty good results and only an occasional death. However, it is worse than owning a cat or dog. You cannot take them to a kennel and leaving them to the care of someone who follows directions but has not the least idea if something is off or what to do in emergency is nerve racking. I am retired, and occasionally would like to be gone more than a week, but so far, not confident my fish sitter would not run into problems that required my eyeballs on the tank.
My other worry is what will happen to my fish if I get sick or become debilitated. I have some really large fish in a really large tank. It gives me a wonderful workout to keep it going, especially the water changes. I am doing great right now and have given my son instructions on how to re-home them if something should happen to me. Still, they are totally dependent on me and it is not suitable to leave their future to chance. I may have to re-home them before their care overwhelms me.
Did not expect either one of these concerns when I started. They are so lovely to watch and they know me by sight. But, I can see how some day these concerns could force me out of the hobby.