Issues for the aging hobbyists to address

[Back in the fold]

This is something I’ve thought about a lot since my wife passed away in February . Any of us can go at any time for any reason . I run almost every day and “ think “ I’m healthy but cancer or anything could be lurking undetected . I’m as weak as a cat in my arms . I can’t do even one push-up without tremendous effort and doing my water changes now I use a smaller bucket and make more trips . I’m going to try to keep up with the hobby for as long as I can but the day I can’t keep up may come upon me as a complete surprise . Now about the fish . What happens to them ? My best friend had a fishroom crammed with dozens and dozens of killifish aquariums and containers , all full , when he died eight years ago at age 62 . I don’t know what his wife did with them and don’t want to know but I think it’s a safe bet that , unbeknownst to us , when our time comes , our fish might just get unceremoniously flushed down the toilet . Bearing that thought in mind I plan to slowly scale back but still keep one small easily managed aquarium for my personal satisfaction .

 

[JuiceBox52]

I don’t know what his wife did with them and don’t want to know but I think it’s a safe bet that , unbeknownst to us , when our time comes , our fish might just get unceremoniously flushed down the toilet .

This is why I made my family promise they would either care for them, find a suitable home, or take them to the lfs for rehoming.

 

[GaryE]

Legacy fish... frankly, their chances are small unless the family cares for them. Most of the time when I've helped break up fishrooms, there was nothing alive when we got there. They come after the loss, the funeral etc, and most families let them die without planning to. A fishroom is stamped with the fishkeeper's personality, and some people don't want to enter it til they have to.

In an online community, people stop posting and we often don't know their fate.

But if you're reading this, you're still alive, and while you may be old, there's nothing wrong with planning for getting older and keeping enough strength and health and vision to keep going. We can see our personal tank as 10% full or 90% empty, but we can still do our water changes and fix that for now.

Find ways to move beyond buckets. Make your set ups as ergonomic as you can figure out. We're all bright people here (&^&^ geniuses, really) and if we put our minds to it, we can find solutions. We shouldn't be passive about it. It's an activity, after all. Aquarium keeping is a pleasure, and is less hard work than gardening, for example. Many people have lovely gardens well into their 80s.

We all, quite frankly, want to keep our minds alive and sharp, and that involves becoming lifelong learners. There is no limit to what you can learn from this hobby. It's good for you to push.

When I played sports, I worked out to be better at it. Now my goals are more modest sounding, but I need to be active to make them real. I need to walk, to keep weight off, to target muscle areas to keep them working, to read, discuss fish and engage in the world - all maybe to keep fish and to be able to live my life as long and as well as I can. I died twice as a kid and was brought back by emergency doctors, and palm reading says I died at 44. Maybe I get to double that and be killed while discovering a freshwater leaping swordfish. Who knows?

I propose we soldier on and hope our luck is good, but use our noggins to raise our luck level.

 

[gwand]

I look forward to the next decade or two on the TFF despite the fact that one or more of us will cross over to the Great Beyond.

 

[Innesfan]

I look forward to the next decade or two on the TFF despite the fact that one or more of us will cross over to the Great Beyond.

Nope. They are gonna have a pill for everything any minute now.

But if they let us down, I have a cousin who is a few years younger and we've been fish buddies since childhood. We've agreed to jump to the rescue if either of us passes on...or forgets to take that pill they're coming up with.

 

[GaryE]

Another thought is that the fountain of youth could show up in one of your water changes, just at random. It's a key reason why you shouldn't skip them.