I love my fish...

I love my fish…

Whenever someone decides to bring a pet into their home be it a fish, dog or whatever it’s a big responsibility. That animal relies on you exclusively to provide it with an environment in which it can live a happy, healthy and enjoyable life. It is our jobs to provide them with whatever it takes to make sure they have everything they need. In return they provide us with joy and companionship that Is unconditional.

However sometimes as pet owners through no fault of our own we fall down on the job.

I have been at this long enough to have experienced my share of personal tragedies with our household pets (or zoo as I like to call it). Sometimes it’s just one of those things that you can’t control. As painful as it may seem on time, you just can’t control everything. However that is the risk you take to have a pet in your home. Some you become more attached to then others and I find that in my house for sure. If the cat were to disappear tomorrow I would miss her but it’s the cat, she never liked me anyway. If she became ill and I had to put her down (which always seems to fall to me) that would be a different story.

My fish are my passion and I care about each and every one of them. Some are just sort of fish and I regularly buy and sell them. Some for whatever reason make an impression on me and become part of the family.

So when I lose one it certainly hurts, especially if it’s one that really means something to you. If I lose one due to something that I did it hurts even more. I really feel like I let them down when they rely on me to provide them with a safe place to live.

Some people look at what I do and think I need to get my head checked. Look at all the money you spend on your fish they say. Well there is a lot of other things I could be wasting my money on and don’t bring half the enjoyment to our lives that my fish do.

So to all those people who think I don’t have both oars in the water, your right! No I mean “You need to get a Pet”

Steve

Well said Steve. I too love my fish :)Hubby and I often say that we'll eat rice for months if we have to in order to pay for required supplies to ensure our finned babies are healthy and content. They bring us such pleasure and so it seems only proper to make an effort to do the same for them.

The panda cories we lost to an unknown disease, along with Darling and Butterfly, are buried in our backyard alongside our skinny pigs, with stone decorations and flowers. I can see their gravesite from my kitchen window; thus, I think about them often.

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is check on each tank (and yes, I say good morning and have a little 'chat' with them all!) - I love my finned babies; each one a tiny little life relying on our actions and care.

I've come to a weird place in my respect for the animals I keep. I don't keep the long-lived fish Steve does, and go for smaller, shorter lived creatures.

I see them as species, and not as individuals. The goal for me is to keep the group going, even if the individual has a two or three year lifespan. I take a lot of pleasure from watching and learning about certain species, so I like giving them the opportunity to breed. With that, I can let others see those colours, or that behavior - whatever the appeal of the creature is. Plus, the fish seem to enjoy themselves.

I also take the rather eccentric view that all my fish are already dead. My pets are zombies. Any animal is a product of its environment, and of a habitat that has created it over long stretches of time. If we capture it to make a pet of it, or to eat it, the result is the same. It's removed from its habitat and it is dead to nature.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't do everything we can to keep our fish correctly. I like my zombies! Some of them have no habitat, or have a dying natural habitat because of the things humans are doing.

As a fish breeder with forty tanks, I have about a body a week in my tanks. After 47 years of fishkeeping, I'm afraid a fish graveyard here would look like a war graveyard in Europe. I'm pretty hard-hearted when I lose a fish, although I will work hard to keep one alive. I feel bad when I lose a species though. The generations can turn over and I'm fine with that.

I also sometimes decide enough is enough, and get rid of an entire species. I send them along to others, like a chain letter with some actual value, and move on. I've gotten rid of 40% of my tanks over the past year or two, and intend to keep that process going. Ideally, I'll get down to 20 tanks in a year or two, as my kids are becoming young adults and we won't need a house this size forever. With less space, who knows if I will even be able to have a fishroom in five years?

It's something we can need to get our heads around. We are long lived mammals, and in my time, I have outlived some wonderful dogs and cats. I have outlived a phenomenal number of annual killifish.

As for spending money - yeah, I look crazy. However, even if I had to start my fishroom from scratch, it would still be cheaper than a flashy car, a booze, coke or meth habit, two packs of smokes a day, or golfing. So what the heck. It's fun and it's educational.

I have always said that a home without a pet is truly not a home
However people who don't have a pet don't understand that so I certainly would never judge them!
We have 7 retired racers...greyhounds who have given our home such joy and blessings! In total in my life thus far I have adopted 19 of these four legged children and fostered countless others.
Now we have the fish, in addition to the dogs who are giving us joy and blessings as well......
As a child we had fish in our home and many other pets
As an adult I had my first beta as an intern...he lived in my office...have had a few since then ie Beta's
Our children and I adopted our first Beta together a few years ago and now have 3 of them in total
We are so looking forward to watching our goldfish grow and flourish and we have actually already begun to see some of this happening!!!!! Slowly but it is happening!
What great joy it brings!!!!