what has fish keeping taught you?

[scott67892002]

for me it has't be patience

 

[bettaboi]

responsibility patence lots o stuff

 

[mlee0332]

respect for fish. Since getting them as pets, i've quit fishing and eating fish.

I have yet to learn patience, but most deff keeping up with scheduled appointments and things like that...

 

[Dorkhedeos]

well, it taught me how to care for things. most importantly, it made my arms big now my arms are uneven cause my right arm is bigger

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hmm, i still like sushi, i still want to see what platys taste like, i still have guilty urges come over me when im cooking fish in the kitchen in front of my main fish tank....

Other than that, its helped me have more self discipline and helped me learn on how fragile enviroments can be especially water ones and its also helped give me a better understanding on how fish are more intelligent than most people give them credit for.
Doing all those water changes heaving buckets and buckets of water around must have also made me shed a pound or too aswell

 

[nitro]

It has taught me to be repsonsible and has shown that i can care for living things.
Fishkeeping has also taught me about the nitrogen cycle which helped in school

 

[MAM]

I'd have to say that its given me a great appreciation for a type of animal I never really thought much about before. Before I started really keeping fish, I was with most of society, they were a throw away pet, a just add water pet. Then I decided to look into it more and found there was so much more to it. Then I discovered the diversity, the possiblities of what I could keep. It opened a whole new world and whole new hobby. It also opened me up to keeping other non-furry pets, such as my snake and lizards. Both are types of pets I never saw myself keeping or thought I even COULD keep fish or reptiles. But now I couldn't imagine a house without the sounds of gurgling filters and the glow of heat lamps.

 

[WILDER]

Taught me alot i love my fish,and need a constant supply of money.

 

[mlee0332]

i was just like MAM when i was starting out! I thought the same things!!! Throw aways, just need water, how weird...

@ wilder, I'll have to agree its taught me money managment as well. And also taught me how to piss off a bank

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yep if fish keeping has taught me anything, its that it is super adictive and you can never have too many tanks

 

[red-devil0602]

patience for me aswell, it has taught me to respect how delicate fish are and yet so strong, it teaches me something new everyday, and it's a great talking point for me and the family
oh and it taught me that i have got a very addictive personality and an expensive habit

 

[Carl]

what has fish keeping taught you Hmmmz

Never buy a fish with Big Teeth Painful

 

[fishman 1]

Here is what I have learnt.

On the negative side
It has taught me just how much man can destroy enviroments and habitats that some of the most amazing fish come from.
It has also taught me that mass breeding in the far east can lead to some very poor fish strains and mutations of species just to make them more commercial for less experienced fish keepers.

On the positive side
It amazes me how many completely different weird and wonderful species there are out there.
Also how dedicated some aquarists and hobbiest are to the hobby eg. The British Killifish, cichlid and Livebearer Asssociations.

It has also taught me that there are fish shop staff and aquarists that Know very little about fish, although they think they know everything about everything. With saying that there are shop staff and aquarists that I have a great deal of respect for as they know so much. So to some this up I think I can say it pays to listen to advice. Although you have to decide for yourselves how credible the advice is before you act.

Fish shows are a good way to see what fish other people have.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Keeping fish has taught me patience (which I have with fish but nothing else), how to crush up flakes really well for fry, how to spend ridiculous amounts of money on "the fish I had to have", how to feel guilty for spending money on anything else "I can't buy groceries, the fish need food", how to spend hours on TFF , how to moan about water restrictions where I live yet still manage to change 30gal of water each week in weekly water changes ...oh man, the list could go on.

Best of all, you know the shortcuts to any of the LFSs anywhere remotely near you as well as their opening hours, the shifts of the employees and when not to go if there is an employee you don't like

 

[Iron Man]

I would agree with a lot of the above that fish keeping has taught me the virtue of patience above all. It has also taught me an appreciation for how easily life can come and go....or how difficult it is for a survivor to be defeated....and thus the glory of sacrifice in life, because of life. It has taught me the value of budgeting as well as how important it is to keep up a routine, something I couldn't even do for myself. Lights out at a certain time, lights on at a certain time...feedings, water changes, vacummings, etc.

I learned these things as a child because of a "simple" interest in fish, a high appreciation for the varieties of life in God's world, no matter how "common" they may seem. Some of the most rewarding pets I've ever had were "feeder fish".

Many have come and gone in my life...but ALL had one thing in common. They demanded life. You have to respect it for what it is....and, wow, is it something wonderful.