How can I be to serious?

I think it's an attention thing...my hubby is alway's saying "If I could grow gills and swim maybe you would give me more attention" :laugh: I just tell him I couldn't afford the size tank it would take to house him...then the research for tank mate's it just wouldn't be worth it!!!
We have 4 kids, a dog, a cat that just had kittens, I work a full time job and take classes online, so my tanks are my "get away" I guess, but he seems to think every spare second I have should be fully focused on him, not the computer researching, or cleaning tanks...so yes I agree there are underlying problems to the whole you care more about the fish then me thing...it's called I WANT ALL THE ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
LOL, my boyfriend said the same thing. He said "I wish I were a fish, so you'd pay more attention to me." When I was doing research on fish swimming last year, he volunteered to get in the tank and swim for me so I could study him! Aren't they cute, our human pets? ;)

But I have to be grateful to my significant other, as he bought me 2 tank kits (10 gal and 29 gal, with all the fixin's). That's actually what got me back in the hobby after nearly 8 years away.

By the way, starry, I went to your homepage. I have to say, your husband is a lucky man, so he should be thankful for what he has :D
 
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My girlfriend doesn't mind that I do spend a lot of my spare time with my tanks. She even helps out sometimes. But I did hear the "I wish I were a fish, so you'd pay more attention to me" line at first. After a while, she seemed to enjoy the fish more than I do. :dance2:

P.S. Your husband is really lucky ;)
 
I've got the opposite problem. After we moved in together, my S.O. gave me 29 gallon set-up for Christmas, to replace the old 10 gallon that I had for many years. Then he got his own tank (cichlids, of course). I told him that I would get him a large tank for his birthday, and he is very excited!

Frankly, I think he is better at this than me. I read, I research, I fuss, I experiment, I occassionally have fish disasters. He just changes the water and replaces the filter pad religiously, and it works like a charm. LOL!
 
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Millabird said:
He just changes the water and replaces the filter pad religiously, and it works like a charm.
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Yay, our advice works! :D Glad to hear another confirmation of the clean water, happy fish method.
 
Getting off topic, but I am always amazed when I hear the stories about people who know nothing about keeping fish being able to keep a small tank going for a long time. My sister kept a 2 gallon in her dorm room (one of those kits with the really weak UGF) with not heat source of any kind, and she successfully kept a couple fish (no idea what kind they were) for a good long while until they eventually died of ick. Getting back on topic, another reason my girlfriend bugs me about the time/money I spend on fish is because she claims her father kept a guppy tank when she was little and spent practically no time on it. They have well water, so nutrients were more plentiful and chlorine was absent, but still...

There is also the disadvantage that I got into fishkeeping while dating my current (and hopefully permanent) girlfriend. She had to put up with the transition from a 2.5 gallon tank to a 10 gallon when I realized the 2.5 was too hard to take care of, the incessant spending on better equipment, the many dead fish before I fully understood the cycle, and the constant work involved in a fishy cycle once I figured everything out. I know enough now that if I were to start a new tank now (and I actually am for her turtle) that I could do a fishless cycle and get it up and running without any significant glitches. Perhaps if I had done this the first time, she'd like it better. In any case, I'll either have to wait a few years until I can get a second tank and prove that I can get it up and running with minimal difficulty.
 
When I first got my tank, I was testing the water constantly (didn't know better and did a fish cycle) and getting worried because I did lose a couple fish, the two yellow guppies, amazingly, the neons made it. But anyway, my husband teased me that I was worrying too much about it, and I just would reply, "well if this was your tank, they would all be dead". But he is actually very supportive and encouraging, and does not mind if I spend some money here and there on fish stuff. That's because music and guitars are his hobby, and I encourage him when he wants to buy something new...within reason. So I guess I'm pretty lucky.
 
I tried to get my family into it. I figured with three smaller freshwater tanks, I could scooch on into brackish with a 20 gallon for a family pet.... a figure eight puffer! I told my parents that I'd buy everything and it'd all be on me... and they were still like "... no." :rolleyes: Luckily my grandma says she would like to keep fish again, so I think I'll just set one up for her.

Everyone else in my life really doesn't care what I do with my babies. ^^
 
No that I'm an expert, but wouldn't a F8 need a 30 gallon?

I'm jealous. I really am. I want a F8 right now, but time/money/space/fact that I'm a college student who moves around a fair bit are all against me. I never thought about a fish as a "family pet", but I think an F8 would be entertaining enough to be one. Go for the dream.
 
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