Hmm My Views On The Hobby Are Changing :(

[kylealastairlove]

been thinking recently i've not been as interested in the hobby as i have been before, i dont really have much time on my hands due to working full time, i dont get home from work till nearly midnight and i dont really give myself time in the mornings to get up and do stuff as i wake up late, and when im not at work i end up going out with friends but anyway thats another story, i was just thinking am i as interested as i was? do i still wanna keep going with fish keeping? well the answer is yes i do i have a 64L tank so i have room for schooling fish, well a wide variety of fish but i think now what im looking for is something that is as low maintenance as possible so it would suit the free time i have, i was thinking more of a nice hardscape as i always try and do, and a not so heavy plant coverage, with easy low maintenance plants, fish wise i want something with personality something that i feel would be more interactive with the tank viewer than the average schooling fish, i was thinking along the lines of livebearers or some kind of gourami or betta, i still really want a betta last time i had one it was great and a very pleasing fish i guess this is just a random post as i dont really have any questions as i kind of know what i want just thought id let you all know about my change of plans i used to love my platys, and my betta (i didnt keep them at the same time) the only thing that really stears me away from the whole livebearer thing is that they're a typical begginner fish, however i still quite like them

guess in a way, im looking for a little inspiration and a bit of motivation, cus i really dont want to give up the hobby, i just want to shed a light on my situation and have a tank that makes me happy

 

[snazy]

It's normal when you are busy to lose interest. It happened to me several times but I always come back to it early or later, though I had a long period of years without fish when I was busy doing nothing that really matters
I'd go with a betta tank, fairly easy to keep a one fish tank . If you put a lot but very easy growing low light plants and a bit of ferts from time to time to keep them flourishing, low light, max 6 hours period to prevent algae, although it can go through a stage, it will mature and you'll have a super low maintenance tank that looks nice and green, with a happy betta addicted to bubble nests and a fish glad to stare at a big human head as much as we like sticking our nose to the tank glass. 64 litres for one betta is enough to even skip a few water changes if you run out of time or feel overly lazy

 

[Baccus]

Live bearers maybe the "beginner"or "newbie" fish but literally hundreds of live bearer dedicated fish clubs can't all be wrong

. The only trouble with live bearers is babies, babies and yet more babies unless you only keep a nice large school of males. A tank full of multicoloured male guppies makes a beautiful active display as does one with males almost all the same colour. At one point I had a tank of almost all blue male guppies in varying shades of blue, some with solid blue or black tails and others with mottled tails like grass guppies, and to tell the truth I miss that wonderful display of blue.

Another option would be endlers, again live bearing but very colourful and active.

I have always had a soft spot for sailfins and mollies as well, even though they dont come in a rainbow of colours the males are amazing with their full sails.

And just to put a totally different fish idea out there for you Harvey creek Blue Eyes, the males are fantastic when mature and displaying to the girls. They are an egg layer so you shouldn't end up with thousands of them.

 

[snazy]

I love my bunch of male guppies too. They can't stop playing, they are like little kids always doing something. I've never seen such a small fish going against a 2800L/H powerhead over and over again, getting blown to the other end of the tank and coming back for more. Mine literally occupy the side of the tank where the powerhead is and the few times I moved it around the tank, the hole bunch moved their regular residence.
As for platies, I didn't like them before but bought them because I got begged by my parner and I refused to pay attention to them for a long time, until they multiplied to the point I couldn't avoid them anymore(started with two females only that of course were pregnant). Now they are my best friends, love me more than my dog When they stayed in a tank with gravel, and I do the siphoning, they used to bunch up around trying to bite the little pieces going up the siphon and I had to either keep the bottom of the siphon constantly in the gravel not to suck one up, then once done, a sock on the siphon until the rest of the water is out, otherwise they'd go up the tube to check it out. The annoying things they did actually turned out to be memorable and eventually made me like them. Obviously they also think they are garra rufa fish and would take the skin off my hands too or bunch up for a camera shot without being asked or wanted there. They are also very hardy but they poop a lot, grow fairly big and a smaller tank like this would need more maintanance to avoid some surprises.

P.S. The Harvey creek Blue Eyes look lovely...

 

[Chad]

For me there are just so many avenues this hobby can go that I never get bored with it. You can do aquascaping, plants, marine, reef, breeding, etc.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I'd go with either the beta and some anubias plants, or, female guppies (bought from a breeder or board member who will guarentee them to be virgins)... I find female guppies to be very active fish... love that mine recognize me and come over quickly to see me... and aren't obsessed with mating like the males (though males are prettier... you can get some really nice females too such as blue moscows or various tuxedos). I have a red tuxedo and love her.

 

[msasa19]

im the same, over christmas i was so busy with work and stuff i just thought can i really be bothered with this? i dont like the way my tank looks , so im planning on completely starting again with it. I HATE water changes aswell, so annoying and my filter need replacing so the water is cloudy for hours after!!

 

[DreamertK]

I was thinking exactly the same thing as the thread title for the past few days, but for a completely different reason. I don't want to steal the thread or make anybody depressed, but I've been finding it hard to motivate myself. I've been skipping special dinner for them and need to clean the bottom of the tank of all the pine needles from the hornsworth plant. I finally obtained a 20 gal tank for xmas to separate my gouramis, but it's still sitting in my trunk. It's not that I'm quick to give up hobbies or get bored of things or have some depressive personality, there's a very sound reason for it that I don't think anybody could help with.

 

[kylealastairlove]

thanks for the replies people its nice to hear what you all have to say, it helps !
msasa19: exactly like me i ended up cutting down on feeding a lot i used to feed flake every day and some days throw in some blood worm for a treat, now i only feed flake every couple of days or so! i also hate water changes and when it actually comes to water change day i always end up getting part way through it and leaving it or just not doing it and doing at a later date which is kinda bad, also i would like to start again with my tank, change the scape make it look nice, simple ish not too complicated and then get myself some lovely livebearers to compliment the scape

dreamertkK: as i just said i have been skipping out on the feeding sometimes, i have hornwort too, loads of it, it just doesnt stop growing its crazy lol hmm well i would love to help but if you dont think anybody could help then thats fair enough, sounds like something bad though just keep your head up dude !

 

[msasa19]

today is water change day for me and i still havent done it, i also only feed every other day, flakes or blood worms and my poor apple snails hasnt had a treat for ages and has to do with the leftovers, should really get him something next week

 

[kylealastairlove]

my water change day was on tuesday or wednesday i think, my tank is still about 3 quarters full as i couldnt be bothered to top it up lol! im getting too lazy, but im not really motivated because i dont like my tank all that much, where as if i loved it and everything in it then i would be well motivated to keep it going and keep it looking good and well maintained!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Do something real low maintenance, like the walstead method, never really need to do anything then.

 

[DreamertK]

dreamertkK: as i just said i have been skipping out on the feeding sometimes, i have hornwort too, loads of it, it just doesnt stop growing its crazy lol

hmm well i would love to help but if you dont think anybody could help then thats fair enough, sounds like something bad though

just keep your head up dude

!

It's a christmas tree dropping leaves all the time!! I'm only glad that its got pine needles for leaves so that the dead leaves wouldn't decompose with enough impact.

I've got to decide on a living situation is part of the problem. I dont want to go through all the work of setting up another tank and then having to dismantle it for transport. Plus I was given a 20g tank when I really wanted a 30g, so I was thinking of exchanging it.

I guess it really depends on what you originally wanted from your fish tank. I wanted to do a planted tank, so all of my motivation is placed off in the distant future when the plants can overtake the tank. If you want some emotional satisfaction from your tank because you cant get a cat or a dog, then fish that recognize you like bettas and gourami's are very satisfying in that way. Or maybe you want a tank with a lot of action, and barbs and high wire fish are what you want to keep your interest.

I wouldn't blame you if you tossed the hornsworth though. Sometimes you just need a complete makeover to rejuvinate your interest.

 

[Flute]

I know everyone has hectic periods where it doesn't seem like we have much time to devote to our tanks, but at the end of the day fish are animals, and we all took on the responsibility of looking after them when we bought them. A water change doesn't take 10 minutes to do if you don't faff around, and it's as enjoyable as you make it. I love doing water changes, despite filling 8 buckets of water twice weekly (my back certainly doesn't love me for it!). I only have two tanks, so that's nothing really when you think about it, compared to those of us who have loads of tanks and still manage to keep up their maintenance routine without any problems. WC are also a great way to check that everyone is doing well, that everything is nice and tidy, etc.
I'm certainly not having a go at anyone, but I just wanted to point out that it's up to us to look after these little critters and make sure they have everything they need, even if we are bored of their tank, or very busy

 

[Ruskull]

+1 on Guppies or a Betta Tank. Low maintenance, low waste fish that are usually pretty active. Adding a lot of plants will also help keep the nitrates in check so smaller, less frequent water changes. Slow growing, low maintenance plants like Java Fern & Anubias.