People Don't Realise How Hard It Is To Keep Fish

[tetraqueen]

Yes my goldfish was like that fill the bowl of water wait till its room tempreture go buy the fish the next day put in bowl change weekily and way hey.
Then with tropical is wait until ther tank is cycled etc etc etc. Then it worry worry worry.
I think they are like children developing etc and we parents should have read the book first only it cannot tell you everything.

 

[Lion007]

I think there should be stricter rules on lfs, it really boils by blood with places such as petsathome etc, im sure the rspca wouldn't allow them to sell any other pet without the buyer knowing how to care for them correctly, infact when i bought my cats, we had home visits! Theres far too much that gets overlooked.
Luckly i've now found an exeptional supplier (Maidenhead aquatics) who always state the information you need to know, with a top sales team (i dont work for them btw ) I use them for everything now, even though its an extra 5 miles out of my way.
When i started fishkeeping, the internet wasn't an option, as where i grew up was the typical "skinhead" estate, and the booklets that i bought, were as much use as a chocolate teapot! So as expected i had many bad experiences, but something made me carry on & i managed to successfully keep tropical fish aswell! (i still dont know how as the info i found here really openend my eyes to it all)

 

[Rob.S]

I want a kitten

Don't do it Dev! It will cause havoc with your aquascaping

 

[madgap]

They just think you fill a tank up with water and thats it.

You mean theres more to it than that?!

No, seriously though I know what you mean. But just think how many people you have lead to the right path when you've been posting your advice I think LFS's should take a little more responsibility when it comes to people buying fish from them, but equally people should realise that fish aren't just a disposable pet that you replace when its died due to your neglagence.

The thing is, and I quite agree with you, they are in retail. Theirs is the business of making money.
A car sales man won't tell you how to be a safe driver.
An electrical store dealer won't tell you what channels to watch.
You, the buyer have a responsability to look into your next purchase.
I personally think it would be better if they simply suggest you do some research.

 

[arvlyn]

Fish are different only in their environment. Cats, dogs, hamsters, etc. are all terrestrial animals and don't live in water. The whole water thing is what throws people off. You might have to change their water but you don't have to walk them or worry about them running loose and escaping outside or under the couch. They stay where you put them. They don't get rabies or bite (usually) and other than changing gears, it's really not much different. I find my kitten is more trouble than my fish.

Oh I've found fish under my couch more than once...not a pretty sight! That's when you learn to get a complete lid/light setup!

 

[arvlyn]

They just think you fill a tank up with water and thats it.
Alot of learning to keep fish healthy and alive.
I didn't realise there was so much to learn when I wanted a fish tank.

That's pretty much how it used to be...at least way back 30 - 40 years ago when my parents had aquariums! Even as recently as 10 - 15 years ago, I remember setting up a completely new aquarium, adding nothing but dechlorinator, waiting until the water got to the correct temperature, and adding the fish...all the same day!! Surprisingly there were rarely any fish deaths either!!

 

[AJGray]

Yeah theres a hellof a lot to it.

we bought our tank and i talked to my mate (maxta) which told me about here so i joined and ive read a lot on here googled for pics to see what people were talking about and i got myself some fishes.

through the forum andbooks ive learnt how to spot fin rot i knew about white spot coz me and my dad had a pond but we didnt know much about fin rot

weve had a few deaths but its our first batch of fish but we have only lost 3 fish and a snail (snail was its own fault he got stuck while we were at work on hte heater)

and we have a great LFS hes great lot better than our first one we found

 

[Biulu]

Maybe I have been lucky, but when I was in Europe last month, I visited fish stores in Germany and the Netherlands, and I was very positively surprised about the detailed info they were able to give me on very different fish subjects. And then the fact, that one of them, was not selling certain fish species during the summer to avoid casualties during transport!

In this visit I have gotten more info than from all my local LFS together!

 

[Dorkhedeos]

i actually find it quite easy to take care of fish, even when i was just starting like at 7 years old either you guys are nuts, or im just that good

 

[pandacichlid]

absolutely, after my first disease outbreak last year (whitespot) now stock meds for most just in case

it's the unknown parasites that scare me

I stock medicines too it's a good idea

 

[starrynightxxi]

i don't know, i don't think it's HARD - short of keeping very sensitive species - but it IS more work than many new people are willing or expecting to have to put into it.

 

[borissimo]

I didn't realise that the ongoing cost would be so much as well as quite a bit of worry. I think we spend a lot more on our three tanks (food, conditioner, meds, plants that get eaten too quickly, etc) that we would if we had a dog!

The thing that gets me is that everything goes along so swimmingly (excuse the pun) for quite a long time then out of the blue something awful happens, usually too quickly to do anything about it.

 

[dwarfgourami]

They just think you fill a tank up with water and thats it.
Alot of learning to keep fish healthy and alive.
I didn't realise there was so much to learn when I wanted a fish tank.

That's pretty much how it used to be...at least way back 30 - 40 years ago when my parents had aquariums! Even as recently as 10 - 15 years ago, I remember setting up a completely new aquarium, adding nothing but dechlorinator, waiting until the water got to the correct temperature, and adding the fish...all the same day!! Surprisingly there were rarely any fish deaths either!!

Speak for yourself. I just found my diary from 30 years ago- and if I had that number of fish deaths now, I'd give the up the hobby straight away. In fact, we did give up keeping fish after a few years because they were so disease-ridden.

And my mother-in-law who used to be ever so proud, 30 years ago, of keeping each goldfish alive for over a year! No troublesome internet to piss on her parade by telling her what the lifespan of a goldfish ought to be!

 

[Spooky76]

I think it is quite hard in a few ways. Hard as in the environment is so alien to us, we dont understand the principles and have to learn them.

For me it was a huge learning curve and I did learn the hard way about bacteria, water changes, lighting etc.

Deseases are still a big mystery for me, but forums like this one, take the edge off it. Having lots of peoples advise and experience to draw off is invaluable as long as your prepared to help others and share your own experiences.

Forums are only as good as the people who use it, and this one is about the best I know. Its been no end of help for me and made my fish tanks better for the fish.

 

[mlawson]

Fishkeeping certainly requires more knowledge than keeping most other pets, but when you understand it, it's easy and with the least labour.