Is my fish-keeping vision unrealistic?

I think even if you do things right you are bound to hit a bump on the road, I qt fish I add slowly test water ect ect ect, and yet I had a blue hippo get ich. QT him and today I had my kole tang get ich as well, qt him as well But DANG ive had chromises die/dissapear, I had numerous fish "dissapeare" I had to tear down my tank and set it up 4 times now. This hobby while stressreliever is a stressinducer at times. I lost my True percula by not covering the overflows and he ended up in the sump with a cut he never recovered from it. I like that lil guy more than my false clown. Fish loss happends Even though it was a clown fish it could of been worse it could of been a queen angel, now that would of hurt in the pocket as well as emotionally, Try doing things diffrent and dont forget to always :read::read::read: as there is ALWAYS something to be learned.

I am sorry for your loss,I have had saltwater fish live for over 10yrs in my 150g.Just recently lost my trigger he was a super cool fish.I have a 75g fresh water that I had a Red devil in.He lived over 20yrs.I actually almost cried when I lost him last year.One of the guys that owns a pet shop here in Louisville,Ky has had a Blue Faced Angle For over 20yrs in his display tank.Several other Fish over 15yrs.Keep your chin up.I wish you a healthy reef,Rick

Shhhtttuuufffff always happens when even the best precautions are taken.

Sometime back I lost 2 King Tiger Plecos (I know they are FW), but I QT'd them and they seemed fine. But it was like a switch was turned on and bam, they took turns for the worst. The QT had best parameters, I feed all sorts of food AND they were active too. But it was not meant to be.

Dont get disheartened by the loss. It always hurts, I know. If it didnt, then you should be worried. Just take the advise of many others who have been there before.

Aries

I'm sorry for your loss. But as was previously mentioned S-Happens. You shouldn't feel guilty about the loss either since I'm sure you are doing everything you can. Sometimes it is hard playing god. j/k.

The only time you should feel bad is when you knowingly neglect the tank. Take, for instance, my 10g. I used to have a Clownfish in there (Pogo the clown). One day I went to my tank expecting the usual greeting and I couldn't find him anywhere....until I looked next to the tank. From the state of the body it was evident that I hadn't been in that room in quite some time. It was my fault that he was dead. I neglected the tank and he jumped out. Big wake up call. I moved the tank into the living room that weekend.

that's another good point. i had a tank in my roomthat i treated like crap cause i was never in my room. i was always in another part of the house or out somehwere. i only go into my room to sleep at night. but that's changed, you just have to decide what's more important to you, your lifestyle and scheduale the way it is or what ever it is that you want to add/change.