View Full Version : How many of your friends think your weird?
Bigbob55
10-21-2005, 9:27 PM
All of us here know how cool and intersting keeping fish are, and how obsessive it can be.
How many of your friends think your just weird to spend hundreds of dollars on large aquariums and interesting fish?
I told my parents that I bought an aquarium. And they're like "Why? We have an extra 10G laying around you could have used"
me: "well, I bought a bigger one..."
them: "how big?"
me: "50 gallons.."
them: "Why the heck do you want such a big aquarium?"
me: "Cause I wanted to"
them: "..... well, how much did it cost?"
me: "140 dollars....... (good price! - all included).
them: "well.... its your money I guess."
And all my friends make fun of the fact that I go to petco or petsmart almost every day just to check out their selection. And that I get excited when I find a new petsmart that i've never been to, and am excited when I find they have something the other ones don't.
I'm an 18 y/o college student, and all my friends just think im weird for liking fish so much, even my G/F, and she's an animal lover.
How many of your friends or family think your weird for liking fish so much?
My "friends" just give me funny looks and move away when they see me coming......
sublime1184
10-21-2005, 9:36 PM
do fish count as friends? :huh:
hurdledude1298
10-21-2005, 9:40 PM
everyone thinks im weird! :dance2:
Maybe I just resemble my avatar a bit too much.....would you move away if you saw that coming near ?? :huh:
Kasakato
10-21-2005, 10:32 PM
There's:
Fish
Geeks :rolleyes:
XM Radio
Computers
Clothes
Hair
Books
Girls
And everything you can think of. No matter what someone at school will pick one and go with it all day, but I do too so its all good. :rolleyes:
For keeping fish? Not really probably because I'm not totally obsessed with fish like you seem to be. Your crazed fish obsession will probably climax in a few months give or take.(If your new to this)
Larissa
10-21-2005, 11:02 PM
Yup, everyone thinks I'm crazy. I've had my 10g for about 7 years and my 55g for around a year and a half and I'm certainly not tired of it yet.
aknif
10-21-2005, 11:13 PM
Friends? What friends?? I had to get rid of them all because they didn't like my fish......
:D
they all just roll there eyes.. :rolleyes: .. at first they say kool tanks .. but when we tell them we are getting another tank they think we are crazy ..
5.. 10g tanks .. 2 for snails 2 for the kids tanks .. one for the dwarf puffer..
65g Hex comunnity .. 11 inch pleco.. 3 inch pleco... 4 mollies.. 6 white clouds... 1 marbled headstander.. 4 cory cats.. 4 inch YoYo loach.. 2 gouramis.. 3 guppies...
30g extra high tank with a 5 inch Red Devil ..
20g high gonna get set up as soon as it is sealed .. has a slight leak ..and will be for a green spotted puffer..
would like to get atleast a 55 or bigger for a schooling community tank.
Marn
Harlock
10-22-2005, 12:07 AM
Heck no my friends don't think I am weird. They KNOW I am weird. Not just for fish though, I mean, i generally and a moody, funny, quirky little person. I was raised by sarcastic people with snappy comebacks so had to be a quick thinker. In some ways, it's great, I hear I am a blast to be around. On the other hand, once you've been around me a while you pretty much want to hang yourself because I never stop. So, in short doses, I rock, but otherwise, well, just ask my wife... sure, I have kept my promise to make her laugh everyday of my life but, sometimes I just know she is laughing AT me and not with me. Oh well, as the French say, comment dit-on mushroom en francais?
Raskolnikov
10-22-2005, 12:34 AM
All of my friends think that I'm strange, and my fish keeping habits aren't the half of it.
125gJoe
10-22-2005, 2:34 AM
I can say, there's nothing weird about the 125 gallon tank, except some 'visitors' really like it!
But then again, when it comes to explaining the tank and ,... it does become a bit strange...
No time to elborate now. Stop by. I'll show you.. :D
I have a little yellow spray bottle..... it is filled with 4/5 water 1/5 vinegar. I use it as a training technique for my puppy -- I spray it in his direction if he tries to steal food or chew on furniture. The smell freaks him out so I've only had to spray it 4 or 5 times and that was MONTHS ago... Now all I have to do is pick up the bottle and show it to him and he behaves himself. I use the same technique when my friends try to touch one of my fish tanks. Needless to say they don't come over much anymore. :confused:
Holly9937
10-22-2005, 2:45 PM
I'm with some of the other posters, people think I'm a little strange for reasons other than my fish tank. But my friends were shocked when I told them a while back... "oh, I'm so excited I'm finally getting a new tank...really? How big?? Oh only 180 gallons :eek: "
FreddytheFish
10-22-2005, 2:53 PM
Friend? What's a friend?
No but really, lots of people think I'm either wierd or mental, or a combination of the two. And its not just fishkeeping that gives them this idea. Whenever I start to talk about fish, most people roll their eyes and leave. Good thing i have antitang to talk to. :D
Freddy....I hear ya on the rolling eyes thing....lol....I have to really work hard to control my desire to talk fish just about everywhere I go. I work at a school and it's hard not to try to get into each of the classes to check out thier tanks.....it's a hard life...... http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/indifferent/indifferent0009.gif
FreddytheFish
10-22-2005, 3:42 PM
EMS, exactly how I feel. I'm in Student Council at my school and every Thursday I have to pick up paper recycling from some of the classes. Well, one of the classes I was assigned had a fishtank in it and so I was trying to look at it while picking up two full boxes of paper and balancing the ones I was already carrying, and the teacher was looking at me all funny and I almost dropped the boxes. :o
I think I need rehab, I'm addicted to fish. :help:
Marala
10-22-2005, 4:07 PM
Yeah, I say I have a passion for fish, but everyone else calls it an obsession. I try repeating to my self over and over that I don't need another tank, but I few days later and a new one is there! Not that I would EVER give this hobby up! It really is addicting! When I start talking about fish everyone in the room just looks at me funny so I am slowly learning to not go into all the details! I guess it isn't surprising that my friends don't come arround so much anymore!
daveedka
10-22-2005, 4:53 PM
Unfortunately most of my friends don't even know about my fish. They all know me through scouts, hunting, fishing or work, and they know I am Obsessive about anything I do. I'm sure they all know I'm wierd, but it has nothing to do with the fish.
Dave
Let's see, our house (custom) has no windows on the street side, we have no lawn, I grow bananas in the side yard (USDA zone 6), we have a kite tree in the living room, I have ~2 dozen fish tanks (but many more kites). Why would people think that we might be weird?
125gJoe
10-22-2005, 7:09 PM
Kites?
If it's not too much a problem... ....can you post pictures of the 'kites' ?
Thanks, in advance...
I think it's clear we're not weird because we keep fish. We obviously keep fish because were weird. As others have said everyone thinks I'm weird and most don't even know about the fish. One of my best friend regularly says "You're so weird", I say "Yes, we've established that already". She just smiles and shakes her head.
daveedka
10-22-2005, 8:57 PM
I think it's clear we're not weird because we keep fish. We obviously keep fish because were weird.
Nice summary :D :D :D :help: :D
dave
Oh yes and in addition to being boring, Normalcy is way over-rated.
nursie
10-22-2005, 9:54 PM
Friends? My family thinks I'm weird, and my coworkers too. Of course the coworkers are the ones putting puffers in betta bowls!
reiverix
10-22-2005, 10:12 PM
My wife thinks I'm a bit looney but at least my willow tree thinks I'm normal.
daveedka
10-22-2005, 10:35 PM
My wife thinks I'm a bit looney but at least my willow tree thinks I'm normal.
Kinda the pot calling the kettle black on that one John (your wife, not the willow tree)
dave
125 Joe - no shots of the kite tree that I know of, but most of the types of kites hanging in tree are visible at:
http://www.guildworks.com/perf.php
All are my son's designs.
OrionGirl
10-24-2005, 9:45 AM
I've never asked if anyone thought I was weird for keeping tanks. Some of my family thought it was odd at first, but now, they all ask about how the tanks are, and everyone had their favorite occupant to ask about (my grandmother always asks about my african clawed frog, for example).
As for my co-workers--they all have their own obsessions, some much more expensive than mine, so why criticize?
But, bigger than that--why would I care if someone did think this hobby made me strange? Their life, their choice, my life, my choice.
flyfly
10-26-2005, 3:14 AM
friends? who needs friends when you got fish. Right guys? um right... guys??
...guys???
mandimoron
10-26-2005, 2:35 PM
My tanks are right beside my computer, so I'm always recounting amusing anecdotes of crazy fishy-ness for my friends via MSN, but I don't think they get it. O_o
"Awww, my cory catfish is sleeping on the plant again! Haha, he's like an aquatic cat in a tree!"
"...What's a cory catfish?"
mogurnda
10-26-2005, 2:48 PM
I was blessed/cursed with a brain that is constantly free-associating. Some find it hysterical, but slow-witted people generally find it disturbing. Because I often didn't make much sense, some of my friends referred to me as "The Loon" when I was younger. I have learned to curb it with age, so now most people think I'm just a bit odd.
Keeping fish actually makes me seem more normal.
OrionGirl
10-26-2005, 3:18 PM
Another great point--serial killers don't keep fish tanks. Always a good defense, even if you do have predatory fish that would be able to 'hide' a body...
BUCKEYEMOLDED
10-26-2005, 3:57 PM
My Daughter and her friends call me the fish nerd!
the wife giggles when they call me that.
mogurnda
10-26-2005, 4:36 PM
Another great point--serial killers don't keep fish tanks. Always a good defense, even if you do have predatory fish that would be able to 'hide' a body...
That's what my defence attorney keeps telling me.
You go, Mo! You be as odd as you wanna be, man! We still lust... uh, er, I mean, we like you anyway!
;)
Intermision
10-26-2005, 4:47 PM
Suprisingly my friends don't think i'm weird, what's even more suprising is that this is y first hobby that my dad hasn't thought I was wasting money on.
Debra Mark
10-26-2005, 4:47 PM
You go, Mo! You be as odd as you wanna be, man! We still lust... uh, er, I mean, we like you anyway!
;)
LOL....spoken like a true evil twin and sexy fish geek afficionado....
.....I'm so proud.....;)
TommyR
10-27-2005, 4:08 PM
I've been called insain,crazy,nuts,etc. LONG before I got into fish!
All without taking any drugs or drinking my whole life too! I'm screwed up enough, I don't need drugs to make that worse! LOL!
I've always loved making people laugh since I was young, either ad libbing stuff, making noises,doing impressions,faces,etc. That's the main reason they think I'm nuts.
:duh:
I love it!
Having fish isn't crazy at all, it's perfectly normal anyway!
Tom
OrionGirl
10-27-2005, 4:48 PM
If it makes any difference, pretty well the first questions new visitors have, as they glance around with vague unease and shifting posture is: So how many tanks do you guys have, anyway?
The fact that I nearly always have to actually count them to come with a number doesn't reassure them, for some reason.
125gJoe
10-28-2005, 1:49 AM
If it makes any difference, pretty well the first questions new visitors have, as they glance around with vague unease and shifting posture is: So how many tanks do you guys have, anyway?....And, I went to your homepage, and didn't see a single tank... :(
Got pics?
:)
OG....lol.....I know what you mean about having to stop and count.....!
OrionGirl
10-28-2005, 9:54 AM
Holy lightning bolts! I haven't checked mu page in a long time--looks like it's been removed. I'll have to check into that--there really were pics of the 'glass boxes', but they were all outdated. I'll work on that sometime...
NotGumbel
10-28-2005, 10:54 AM
100% of my friends think I'm weird, but that doesn't amount to many people all told ... because I'm weird :cool:
Bryant
Troycool
02-10-2010, 11:36 AM
Well, Im well known arounsd my school so I dont have this problem
When i was in my "fish days" everyone thought my fish were cool. Nobody seemed to appreciate the anglerfish and zebra moray eel as much as I did, though... haha.
Although, my green spotted puffer did have a fanclub. My little sister still wears a tshirt I screenprinted with a pic of him on it... But i have weird friends so
lindsey crashed
02-10-2010, 11:47 AM
Well, Im well known arounsd my school so I dont have this problem
just because you felt the need to dig up a four year old thread and announce this, i don't believe you.
and just because you are "well known" doesn't mean you can't be a little weird.
you can be well known for being weird.
but of course, you meant popular by "well known", didn't you?
He's 16... being "popular" is still no 1 priority at that age. Just had to declare it I guess, although I doubt it's true if he so much feels the need to claim it.
Didn't notice how old this thread was when I posted.
lindsey crashed
02-10-2010, 11:54 AM
exactly... he's also a 16 year old EXPERT!
i didn't even see your post.. was too amused with the one before it..
how funny he had a fan club, t-shirts even!
exactly... he's also a 16 year old EXPERT!
i didn't even see your post.. was too amused with the one before it..
how funny he had a fan club, t-shirts even!
Yeah, puffers are very personable. Or seem that way at least, I think they just want to be fed all the time. He was definitely my favorite fish.
excuzzzeme
02-10-2010, 12:06 PM
No one thinks anything other than it's my hobby and keeps me busy. They don't freak out until they learn all the hobbies I learned.
Some of the things I do:
Maintain and breed fish
Knit (items are donated to the Veterans Hospital)
Crochet (hats and blankets for preemies)
basic sewing
Volunteer at the Senior Centers
Volunteer at hospitals to talk with fellow stroke survivors and care-givers
and many more . . .
Weird? Yeah, I guess so.
It's not weird until you know that I am male, retired military, stroke survivor.
Cheech
02-10-2010, 12:12 PM
my friends love my tank... We can all stare at it for hours...
however, they think I'm weird when i tell them I've been frequenting and helping mod a fish site for over 10 years.
not like it bothers me. :)
FishDreamer48
02-10-2010, 12:13 PM
Yeah I am a 20-year-old college student and I got like crazy addicted to tanks and fish. I have been buying and selling fish and tanks rearranging and currently have decided to keep some of the tanks I bought to resell to setup for babies from the new breeders I am ordering. So once that is said and done I have will have (4) 55 gallons, (1) 36, (1) 20, 3 (10), (5), and a 1.5 gallon. My only issue is the biggest I have ever had is a 65 gallon acrylic, but I sold it to get a double stand and two 55 gallons. Would love to try 100 plus gallons, but will have to wait, maybe if this breeding goes well I will consider trading, up just don't/can't afford that sort of money into a tank right now. But yeah, my parents think I am nuts!
rainbowcharmer
02-10-2010, 12:17 PM
I don't have friends. I have fish, cats, dogs and a bird. Who needs people?? Well, other than my spouse. haha
FishDreamer48
02-10-2010, 12:18 PM
Unique...really, awesome that you are willing to help out and not conform to unfair standards! Thanks for fighting for this country and protecting our rights and freedoms!
No one thinks anything other than it's my hobby and keeps me busy. They don't freak out until they learn all the hobbies I learned.
Some of the things I do:
Maintain and breed fish
Knit (items are donated to the Veterans Hospital)
Crochet (hats and blankets for preemies)
basic sewing
Volunteer at the Senior Centers
Volunteer at hospitals to talk with fellow stroke survivors and care-givers
and many more . . .
Weird? Yeah, I guess so.
It's not weird until you know that I am male, retired military, stroke survivor.
FishDreamer48
02-10-2010, 12:20 PM
Right on, I have fish and too cats that love me, but hate each other. Who needs more drama than that, hehe.
I don't have friends. I have fish, cats, dogs and a bird. Who needs people?? Well, other than my spouse. haha
xDetroitMetalx
02-10-2010, 12:44 PM
I know people think I'm weird but I doubt because I keep fish. It could be that my gf and I own a dog, cat, ferret and fish but I doubt that either. Who ever comes over LOVES one or more of the animals. I never really mention my fish outside of my home so I think it becomes a nice surprise for new visitors. It could be in combination that I'm obsessed with my 97 Trans Am and my girlfriends 01 Grand Prix GTP. I have a love / hate relationship with video games and cuss and yell at them a whole lot. I'm a graphic design student at WMU, art students are normally weird. I drink a lot of beer, I love beer. I kind of have a sick since of humor. I still collect comics at 24. Who knows really?
lindsey crashed
02-10-2010, 1:33 PM
art students are often weird... my little brother is an art student, and he is one odd kid.
i've never had anyone think i'm weird for keeping fish.. no matter how expensive it gets..
but many people think its weird that a pretty normal female would keep snakes and lizards. which was much more expensive to the extent that i took the hobby. keeping herps has been a passion of mine for as long as i can remember... and most people just don't get it. and thats fine.
but don't call me crazy.... :)
Jspigs
02-10-2010, 1:44 PM
Most of my friends don't seem to think I am weird for keeping aquariums, in fact they think it is pretty cool.
But there are people who I don't consider friends (for different reasons) who do think I am weird for being so interested in fish/other aquatic life.
Rbishop
02-10-2010, 7:50 PM
Iza normal....
lindsey crashed
02-10-2010, 8:36 PM
Iza normal....
:bs:
CrimsonBlush
02-10-2010, 8:37 PM
I don't usually talk "fish" with my friends or family. They think I'm strange! My parents don't get why I would want another tank, and I don't even know if they will let me! I'll have to ask again...last time they said no! :(
halfmoonplakat
02-10-2010, 8:38 PM
Holy guacamole all of my friends think I'm crazy loll
FISHSHROD
02-10-2010, 9:00 PM
What friends ? Maybe that explains it :(
Sevast0
02-10-2010, 9:27 PM
I usually don't talk about my fish with other people. One of my friends likes them, but she doesn't understand a lot about fish (like which fish is which or why a certain fish can't be kept with another). At least she listens though!
My other friends find it very weird. Very, very weird. I don't know why. Then again they are like those people who think a pet other than a dog is weird. I don't talk to them about my pets... at all. In fact I don't hang out with them very much either...
My boyfriend likes fish, but he hates when I talk too much about fish. He also thinks that I need 1 tank, maybe 2, but that's it. He has like 2 favorites and could care less about my other fish.
My brother doesn't know a thing about fish (-ahem- my sig), so I don't think he cares. He sometimes wonders where this random fish tank came from. My parents think fish are cool, but they also like only one tank. It also has to be very quiet to them, and it has to be pretty. My mom complains when there is just a little bit of algae in the bathroom tank. My mom is always urging me to throw every fish in one tank and call it a day!
Michwol42795
02-10-2010, 9:35 PM
I used to talk about fish with my friends...before all the blank stares I realized I was getting, lol.
Dangerdoll
02-10-2010, 9:48 PM
Right on, I have fish and too cats that love me, but hate each other. Who needs more drama than that, hehe.
hahaha, I have the same situation with my cats... the three of them.
I think this is a good thread to bring back up. My friends, they seem to appreciate my keeping fish and doing well with it... but when they hear about me and the fishboard and the tuime I spend here, the fact that I mod and the meetings, they laugh, roll their eyes, the works.
CrimsonBlush
02-10-2010, 9:58 PM
My parents think fish are cool, but they also like only one tank. It also has to be very quiet to them, and it has to be pretty. My mom complains when there is just a little bit of algae in the bathroom tank.
My parents are the same way, but my mom doesn't even think fish are cool! My tank has to be spotless or else its gross! Ugg
Crimson, you and i grew up in very different environments. My family is accustomed to snakes, geckos, fish (my mom actually had a 29 gallon saltwater whose fish she consistently killed despite my best advice), hedgehogs, my mom has a tortoise... my family for the most part thought my fish were neat.
FishDreamer48
02-10-2010, 11:13 PM
My family likes my fish they just don't get the addiction....
Soul Chile
02-10-2010, 11:54 PM
I used to talk about fish with my friends...before all the blank stares I realized I was getting, lol.
Yeah, I'm in the phase where I'm starting to notice all of the blank stares and the stares of "really? this guy is going on about fish?:y220d:" lol but I don't care.
My dad gets it (when he met my mom he had a 125 piranha/tiger oscar tank, a 110 cichlid/amazon tank, a 75 community tank, and a 30 gallon quarantine tank.) But my mom, brother, and girlfriend still don't really get it. They just understand that it brings me joy and just smile and nod when i talk about new LFS's, new breeds I find out about, and new products I find out about. lol
Oh well! They're the ones missing out! :raspberry:
jrow8162
02-11-2010, 12:11 AM
My kids get a kick out of it! My daughter calls me Scuba J! My brother saw my tanks and now he's obsessed! He's bought 3 in the past few months! My friends laugh every time they come over and see a new tank setup or hear about the hundreds of dollars I drop on my fish...
Kashta
02-11-2010, 1:07 AM
When I'm around new people, I'll mention my fish hobby (and cats, birds, lizards). If they show an interest or some curiosity, I'll continue talking about it. If they look bewildered instead... I find some other topic. It's pretty much the same thing with others I know real well. If it isn't something they think is interesting, I don't bore them with endless details. It works out rather well that way.
NorthcoastGirl
02-11-2010, 10:38 AM
the ones closest to me, my immediate family and best friends, don't think I'm too wierd, they do get bored with the whole subject of fish, though. =)
At this stage in my life, if I met somebody and they started rolling their eyes and thinking I'm wierd because I have hobbies, the friendship wouldn't go much further then a very casual acquaintance. All the people I hang around with on a regular basis are pretty eccentric and interesting themselves. One is obsessed with photography, the other collects Freddy Krueger memorabilia, etc. They may not SHARE my interest in fish and reptiles and all things nature-ey, but they understand what it's like to have interests other then shopping, drinking, and watching TV!
Now that I'm thinking about it... the people that would think I'm wierd are almost always pretty boring.
jpappy789
02-11-2010, 2:12 PM
I have a couple good friends from high school who are in to fish (although could probably use from help from AC) and my other friends admired the tanks when over at my house but never really thought much of it...a few of my newer friends up here know about it and one in particular sort of gives me a hard time about it, but I guess I enjoy being weird in this sort of way.
johnthesalty
02-23-2010, 11:59 AM
That's the sane thing same thing my parents said but im getting a 125 gallon tank. Just got done building the frame of the tank stand and its heavy duty for sure. Do you have any pics of your set up?
HrdWodFlor
02-25-2010, 9:10 PM
I just look at it this way.I'm not weird for liking my fish. Everyone else is for not liking it as much as me. I'm the normal one.
bluemeate
01-05-2011, 5:29 PM
I hadnt been home in like 4 days and when i did finally come back home and into my room it was with a girl and 4 forties.... and i swear i spent more time staring at the tank than her, lol... you think im kidding too
The Zigman
01-05-2011, 5:30 PM
Holy dead thread revival Batman!!
wesleydnunder
01-05-2011, 5:46 PM
Everyone I know thinks I'm weird. Fish have nothing to do with it.
Mark
FishDreamer48
01-05-2011, 5:47 PM
I just look at it this way.I'm not weird for liking my fish. Everyone else is for not liking it as much as me. I'm the normal one.
Ditto!
Fyurae
01-05-2011, 6:17 PM
Try being a horse person around a bunch of outsiders.
"I can't go out to lunch, I need this paycheck to buy a new slobber strap."
"... A what?"
Rbishop
01-05-2011, 6:26 PM
None. Completely normal on all accounts.
FishDreamer48
01-05-2011, 8:57 PM
Try being a horse person around a bunch of outsiders.
"I can't go out to lunch, I need this paycheck to buy a new slobber strap."
"... A what?"
Okay.. we have horses and I am not even sure what that is...please educate me...slobber strap kinda of fun sounding phrase..
Fishfriend1
01-06-2011, 7:48 AM
lol, all of them :D