Parents and Me (long rant)

I share your pain. Fortunately i'm old enough to have my own credit card, but i still get the comments every time i do a water change about how when my dad was a kid he had like 50 guppies in a 10 gallon and only topped off the water and changed when it got too cloudy to see the fish. Sigh... Just keep at it. When you get your lights and they see the results of all of your efforts, maybe they will come around a little.
 
I don't suppose there's any good books on aquarium maintenance written by people with doctorial degrees out there that you could get a hold of, are there? I mean, if you had something like that conveniently laying open on a page about old tank syndrome where your parents might take a casual glance at it, there's a faint chance they might at least start leaving you alone.
Sorry to hear your parents are so unsupportive.
 
You'll just have to ride this out until you're able to get out on your own. I'm sure your parents mean to be supportive. They honestly believe the way tanks are supposed to be maintained is the way it used to be done so many years ago. It probably drives them nuts to see you fussing with it too much.. from their point of view. There's no winning that battle, of course... but in time, you will out-last it all. That doesn't help much right now, but it'll get better.
 
It's not just parents, I am a parent and I can't get my husband interested in the hobby at all. And you would think he'd show some interest since I have 8 tanks in the house. Like the other day he said "Kim, what's this mold in this tank?". Freaked out I run to the tank only to find he's talking about duckweed. Even my 8 year old daughter said to him in her best snarky 8 year old voice"doh! dad! That's DUCKWEED and lettuce, not mold, don't you know ANYTHING?".
 
It's not just parents, I am a parent and I can't get my husband interested in the hobby at all. And you would think he'd show some interest since I have 8 tanks in the house. Like the other day he said "Kim, what's this mold in this tank?". Freaked out I run to the tank only to find he's talking about duckweed. Even my 8 year old daughter said to him in her best snarky 8 year old voice"doh! dad! That's DUCKWEED and lettuce, not mold, don't you know ANYTHING?".
lol :lol::lol::lol:
 
Hey stick with it - agree to differ etc. Don't give up your hobby & don't change a thing of what your doing.
 
I share your pain. Fortunately i'm old enough to have my own credit card, but i still get the comments every time i do a water change about how when my dad was a kid he had like 50 guppies in a 10 gallon and only topped off the water and changed when it got too cloudy to see the fish. Sigh... Just keep at it. When you get your lights and they see the results of all of your efforts, maybe they will come around a little.

Can't help if they won't LET me get the lights haha! I'll push a little harder for the lights and see what happens.

I don't suppose there's any good books on aquarium maintenance written by people with doctorial degrees out there that you could get a hold of, are there? I mean, if you had something like that conveniently laying open on a page about old tank syndrome where your parents might take a casual glance at it, there's a faint chance they might at least start leaving you alone.
Sorry to hear your parents are so unsupportive.

That is actually a very good idea. But, I have no aquarium maintenance books and don't really want to spend a good 30 dollars on a book to prove my point instead of spending on plants, equipment, etc...

You'll just have to ride this out until you're able to get out on your own. I'm sure your parents mean to be supportive. They honestly believe the way tanks are supposed to be maintained is the way it used to be done so many years ago. It probably drives them nuts to see you fussing with it too much.. from their point of view. There's no winning that battle, of course... but in time, you will out-last it all. That doesn't help much right now, but it'll get better.

Actually, that's a valid point. Never thought of that. Don't want to have to wait until I move out to enjoy it though, but I guess I'll have to.

It's not just parents, I am a parent and I can't get my husband interested in the hobby at all. And you would think he'd show some interest since I have 8 tanks in the house. Like the other day he said "Kim, what's this mold in this tank?". Freaked out I run to the tank only to find he's talking about duckweed. Even my 8 year old daughter said to him in her best snarky 8 year old voice"doh! dad! That's DUCKWEED and lettuce, not mold, don't you know ANYTHING?".

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Hah, that gave me a good laugh!
I can understand your husband not gettting into it - he's a guy, he does'nt and probably will never understand it. But these are my parents, who should support EVERYTHING I do. Unless it's drugs, stealing etc... But this is a harmless hobby. Gahhhh, it makes me so mad.


Hey stick with it - agree to differ etc. Don't give up your hobby & don't change a thing of what your doing.

Thanks for the support Coler.






Sorry if it seems like I'm jabbering to you guys, but I just had to tell someone... especially people who can relate :)
 
hey been there done that and still doing it,.

when i was young parents did same thing with my horse andi wanted fish but no too much agravation,.

then i got married and now it worse so it 42 i'm still being told what i can and can't do,.. what size tank do you have?
 
I hear you, parents are no it alls. Just give them this site and tell them to read.
Im teaching my kids how to care for a tank now so there is no hassles when they get big. they love our tanks.
 
I'm sorry they're being unsupportive :(

I know what you mean. I went with my dad to the pet store to pick up a few thing ;) Everything I got I had to explain to him, then he went and got the sales guy to confirm. He then made the sales guy go everywhere with us and give us his two cents. It was double annoying because the guy didn't know that much.

Luckily my parents both support me in basically everything I do :)
 
AquariaCentral.com