Sincere Opinion about having a Fishroom

[Lennie]

Hello Everyone!

Today, I wanted to write about my opinion regarding keeping a fishroom.

 

Around a year ago, I decided to build myself a fishroom in our basement after seeing all those cool videos and designs. I have been eager to try so many new species and such. The idea sounded wonderful. And today, I am writing this , I currently have 25 tanks.

 

Over time, it turned out to be a burden rather than joy. I understood that quality matters, not quantity. All the tanks require daily care and feeding. Boiling and prepping veggies, feeding, filter maintenance, water changes, more fish means more diseases, setting up and taking down quarantine tank way more often.... And ofcourse more money to spend on food, medicine, and other care requirements.

 

The more tanks I had, the less I felt connected to my fish. The time I spent for the tanks turned into a chore rather than spending good quality time for joy.

In addition to all of those, it limited my way of spending time out of the city/country, travelling and enjoying my time.

 

 

Many of us want to keep all those dream fish and have numerous tanks around. But it is a huge responsibility that ,at least for me, limited the joy I have from fishkeeping.

 

I just wanted to share my experience to make sure anyone who wants to build a fishroom has second thoughts.

 

My plan? Dropping back to 3-4 tanks overtime. Lucky me, I only had species only very understocked tanks, so I can actually easily end up with 4 tanks in total if I decide to mix them all, excluding the juvenile bristlenose tank.

I decided to prioritise my joy of fishkeeping and quality of time over quantity & the feeling of chore.  I have so many animals. Chickens, tortoises, parrots, fish, dogs and cats. I need to provide a good care and love to all and having a fishroom does not help it.

 

I cannot imagine going through such responsibility with having a partner and kids.

 

Please rethink before being excited and going for it without having second thoughts!🤗 Time is one of the most valuable things in this world. By choosing to clean fish poop all the weekend, you ignore other possible alternatives you would spend your time on 😆 -just similar to how opportunity cost works in economy-🤪

 

Edited April 26 by Lennie

[TOtrees]

Sharing feelings is always harder than facts or opinions. Kudos. 

Why did you build a fish room, in the first place? I don't want to put "was it this?" or "was it that" possibilities out there, I'd rather hear it unvarnished from you. 

[Lennie]

On 4/26/2024 at 3:17 PM, TOtrees said:

Sharing feelings is always harder than facts or opinions. Kudos. 

Why did you build a fish room, in the first place? I don't want to put "was it this?" or "was it that" possibilities out there, I'd rather hear it unvarnished from you. 

I had many fish I'd like to keep in the first place. I still do, now I know that it is a feeling that never goes away no matter how many tanks you have 😄

I have an experience of fishkeeping above 15 years. I thought I could easily take care of the room, but I forgot that life goes on and it will add a ton of workload as an extra, even if the tanks are very understocked and highly planted. Understocking helps to a degree, but not completely. A lot of those fishrooms that we see online, does make money out of it. A breeder, a youtuber or a store owner. We are hobbyists. That was a big mistake for me, because it is not a part of income/job for me but just a hobby. 

I have never sold any of my animals. There were few instances I gifted some to my fishkeeper friends that I know very well. So if I decide to have some fish , they spend their entire lifetime with me. Having one or two tanks at home really does not help with trying new species you like. 

Secondly, I wanted to breed a couple hard to breed fish. Not as a source of profit, but more of an experiment. Such as red lizard whiptails, where barely any info is available online. I tried to create perfect environments trying over and over again, and tried to find what works well. I may write a breeding report one day if I find time. I have always been hesitant of breeding fish due to rehoming issues. That sounds confusing maybe. I do want to experience witnessing unique breeding, fry raising, guarding, etc. phases, but I dont want to sell anything. Because majority of the people who keep fish take care of them quite poorly and do not educate themselves. I have witnessed so many occasions of people randomly entering a store and buying imcompatible fish and leave with zero fishkeeping knowledge or having no idea of how to keep an animal properly. And everyday I see numerous topics that fish suffer purely based on the mistake and ignorance of the keeper. Also I personally don't think animals should be bought or sold, but instead adopted. That's a personal opinion here. I see animals as my friends and I don't want to buy or sell a friend. But I do buy for sure, as we don't have anything like rehoming or rescuing fish here. Only cats and dogs really, which I already adopted 2 of each.

I try my best to take best care of every animal I have, and I hated the idea possibly someone buying my juveniles not potentially taking care of them in the same level as I do, or maybe even totally neglecting. So after breeding for a few instances, I quit the breeding attempt too. Because I am full of my own babies to take care of now 🤣 I have only tried breeding GBR and red lizard whiptails intentionally and I was not very good at raising the GBR overall, so I dont have a lot of  juveniles anyway.

 

I will gift some of my juvenile fish to very close fishkeeper friends and keep the rest with me. Except the LF super red bristlenose pair I was gifted, and numerous babies they keep producing. I have to figure out what to do with that one

 

Edited April 26 by Lennie

[mynameisnobody]

Thank you for the honesty. I’ve been through this and I am married with children, full time job, blah blah blah. I noticed that the smaller the tank, the easier it was to justify. I also began seeing them as numbers and chores, rather than a pleasure to keep. Collectoritis is a real thing. Now nothing under 75 gallons enters the house simply because it’s not as easy to drop a new one down (although I have it down to a calculated science). Now I’m down to 6 total aquariums and 2 stock ponds outside. My maintenance is always predictable and rarely does something happen to give me issues. I had many more sporadic issues when keeping a ton more aquariums. Good luck on downsizing. 

[Guppysnail]

Kudos for sharing honestly.  I see so Many folks go gung ho on fishrooms.  Often it begins interfering in relationships due to the time they take. 
 

When I was working I would have never considered a fishroom. 
 

I’m retired now so have more time on my hands than I can possibly fill. My physical health has eliminated many of my other hobby’s. My hobby is now what keeps me physically active and makes me still feel useful in life and is incredibly life affirming.  Losing my  usefulness in the workplace I lost purpose and focus in life.  My husband and I have no children and he still works full time. That is a lot of time to fill for someone who does not watch tv.  I do read but being sedentary is not a healthy lifestyle. 
 

As a hobbyist I prefer to keep 12-14 tanks and not more so I do get to experience that connection with each and every fish in my family.  
 

When I joined local fish clubs I found an outlet for all the babies my fish make. I’ve joined with two other hobbyists who made a business of fish. (To all those thinking of getting rich and quitting their job on fish: even this joint effort does not replace a full time income. Only allows for a few extra luxuries and some mad money) I’ve expanded by adding 7 grow out tanks.  
 

Im at a point now the 2 converted bedrooms are too crowded and become an obstacle course during water changes. 
 

I have decided to convert my spacious basement into a fish room in order to make the work easier and frees my living space of buckets and excess fish clutter, shipping supplies etc.

If building a fish room makes your life easier I highly recommend this.  If your goal is just to have more tanks and more fish please reread @Lennie account.  
 

When you do not have time to watch and form that connection it becomes a job.  A job that pays way less than minimum wage and does not have the fringe benefits of those fish being pets and fun vs possessions and work.

Consult with those in your life first.  Time is finite. Be sure they support the amount of time you will be dedicating to the hobby. 
 

If it’s not fun and fulfilling it’s no longer a hobby. 

 

[Lennie]

On 4/26/2024 at 5:56 PM, Guppysnail said:

Kudos for sharing honestly.  I see so

Many folks go gung ho on fishrooms.  Often it begins interfering in relationships due to the time they take. 
 

When I was working I would have never considered a fishroom. 
 

I’m retired now so have more time on my hands than I can possibly fill. My physical health has eliminated many of my other hobby’s. My hobby is now what keeps me physically active and makes me still feel useful in life and is incredibly life affirming.  Losing my  usefulness in the workplace I lost purpose and focus in life.  My husband and I have no children and he still works full time. That is a lot of time to fill for someone who does not watch tv.  I do read but being sedentary is not a healthy lifestyle. 
 

As a hobbyist I prefer to keep 12-14 tanks and not more so I do get to experience that connection with each and every fish in my family.  
 

When I joined local fish clubs I found an outlet for all the babies my fish make. I’ve joined with two other hobbyists who made a business of fish. (To all those thinking of getting rich and quitting their job on fish: even this joint effort does not replace a full time income. Only allows for a few extra luxuries and some mad money) I’ve expanded by adding 7 grow out tanks.  
 

Im at a point now the 2 converted bedrooms are too crowded and become an obstacle course during water changes. 
 

I have decided to convert my spacious basement into a fish room in order to make the work easier and frees my living space of buckets and excess fish clutter, shipping supplies etc.

If building a fish room makes your life easier I highly recommend this.  If your goal is just to have more tanks and more fish please reread @Lennie account.  
 

When you do not have time to watch and form that connection it becomes a job.  A job that pays way less than minimum wage and does not have the fringe benefits of those fish being pets and fun vs possessions and work.

Consult with those in your life first.  Time is finite. Be sure they support the amount of time you will be dedicating to the hobby. 
 

If it’s not fun and fulfilling it’s no longer a hobby. 

 

You are the best fish mom Gup.

 

Your attention and care for your fish is absolutely great. Not gonna lie, Your amazing fishroom was one of the few hobbyist rooms that impressed me to give it a try. It is beautiful and I know any following works will be even better looking.

 

I am lucky to have you as a friend and will support you through your great work. 

 

Sadly this fishroom thingy cannot work properly in my current state of life. I should enjoy this part through our chats with amazing fish you breed and raise. Your success makes me as happy as it is mine.♥

Edited April 26 by Lennie

[TOtrees]

I came to this hobby fairly late in life, like north of 45 (now north of 50). Perhaps I brought a certain selfishness or self preservation or business acumen to it. I won't bring in new fish unless I have a purpose or plan for them. Auctions are super boring when you have nothing to sell and zero intention of buying 😛

My fish room is a bit smaller in scale that yours @Lennie, with maybe 12 tanks running at the moment. There's a single 40 gallon, everything else is 20 or smaller. I'm actively trying to reduce the number of tanks so I can take on a fish room renovation a bit more easily at some point. I have expanded to dart frogs and mourning geckos, and have been very happy with the cross-compatibility (raising tadpoles is pretty similar to raising fry). I do sell to stores, not as a business endeavor but to subsidize as much of my hobby as possible. That has forced me to recognize the things that require a lot of effort, but give little reward, and that forms the basis of what I decide to remove from my collection. And I very rarely regret shutting down a tank after rehoming its occupants. 

🙂

[JettsPapa]

Like @TOtrees, I started keeping fish when I was in my late 50's, and I'll be 63 in about two weeks.  I currently have nine tanks and three tubs outside at home and one tank on my desk at work.  I know beyond a doubt that I don't want more than that, at least while I'm working.  If my tanks and work aren't enough, I take care off all the maintenance on the 22 acres my wife and I live on, with the exception of the yard work at the other two houses.  I am making a little money with my tanks, but only enough for a little spending money.

I have a well built storage building behind my house (about 12' x 14' if I remember correctly) that is mostly filled with junk that should probably be thrown away.  I have toyed with the idea of cleaning it out and making it a fish room when I retire in four years, but we'll see.

[Lennie]

On 4/26/2024 at 4:40 PM, mynameisnobody said:

Thank you for the honesty. I’ve been through this and I am married with children, full time job, blah blah blah. I noticed that the smaller the tank, the easier it was to justify. I also began seeing them as numbers and chores, rather than a pleasure to keep. Collectoritis is a real thing. Now nothing under 75 gallons enters the house simply because it’s not as easy to drop a new one down (although I have it down to a calculated science). Now I’m down to 6 total aquariums and 2 stock ponds outside. My maintenance is always predictable and rarely does something happen to give me issues. I had many more sporadic issues when keeping a ton more aquariums. Good luck on downsizing. 

That is so right!

You can always find an excuse to sneak in a new small tank. :') The biggest tank I have is 180 liters.  One or two very big tanks sound great. 

 

It is great too see between all these experienced people, I am not alone feeling this way.

 

[Tanked]

Kudos on your incite.

I've been keeping fish for 50+ years.  When you add a fish room you are actually adding dependents.  About five years ago I had a similar revelation to yours@ Lennie.  I've mentioned in other posts that I wanted a hobby, not another part time job.  I keep four active aquariums and have four more in storage.  I could set them all up, but that would require more time and expense. It would also require a dedicated fish room or removing the furniture from the living area.  Keeping it simple means that I know that I can go away for two or three days and the fish will be fine.  I also have avoided most of the issues that so many of the contributors on these forums have experienced.  

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I feel this, and I don’t even have a fishroom! However, I do have 14 tanks and am maxed out. I’m maxed out on both space and the time I want to dedicate to my tanks. 
 

Currently, I do maintenance to all of them on a weekly basis. Depending on what needs to be done, it’s somewhere between 3 and 6 hours of work. If it’s just water out and water in, it’s about 3 hours. If I have to clean sponges, clean canisters, scrape glass, etc it can get up to the 5 or 6 hour range. Either way, I have a routine, and I throw in my headphones and get to work. I enjoy listening to podcasts and singing to my favorite songs as I get my hands wet and do what needs to be done. I still enjoy this work. 
 

That being said, I’m perfectly fine where I’m at. I’ve spent the past 4 years setting up very healthy systems that mostly take care of themselves. I only really have to scrape glass on my Pea Puffer tank as snails are snacks. All other tanks are never to maybe once every few months. 
 

Although I’m currently content where I’m at, I don’t want to add any more. I don’t want to do more maintenance and take more of my time. There are definitely days where work ran long and the last thing I want to do is more work when I get home, but I still feed the fish. 
 

The only way I would ever consider an actual fish room is under specific circumstances. I would need to own my home (I currently do not). Additionally, I would only do it if I could set up auto water change. Having that would cut down on maintenance time tremendously, and would make it less of a “job” to actually take on more. 
 

The dream for me is to buy a house. In said house, I want a couple large display tanks on the main level. This would still satisfy the urge to actually do water changes and maintenance and get my hands wet. Then, in the basement, fishroom with auto water change. However, without auto water change I’ll never have that fishroom. 
 

Thanks for sharing your experience and educating all of us. I know I jumped right in the deep end when I got my first tank. I quickly got to the double digits in tanks, and then slowly added the couple more that I wanted. I’m thankful I was able to strike the right balance and not overdo it as a lot seem to do. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I got up to 20 tanks most in a garage fishroom and displays in the house. We moved and despite some learning that had taken place I was stubborn and ended up with tanks I was struggling to maintain, die offs from blown gfis and bunnies of all things and losing so many dollars in fish. My relationship suffered and my wife came to resent the hobby.

Im down to 10, 5 in the house and 5 in the garage and it’s so much better. I think you’re doing the right thing. Balance, ability to give each setup the attention it needs and then time to enjoy them while being human and wanting to keep your connections to the other humans as well as our aquatic animals. 

[Cory]

I myself am going to resize my fish room. I'm going to turn it into a an office with a computer and my tanks. I believe it's easy to get over stimulated in the aquarium hobby. Rare fish pop up, new fish pop up etc. Unlike most hobbies, fish aren't a hobby you can buy in bulk, let it sit there and wait for you to have time to get to it. I'll make a video on this for sure, and also document how I change my fish room.  I've got quite a few thoughts on it.

[Cory]

felt this meme was appropriate

[Little Guys]

Thanks for sharing.  I have one 7 gal tank with Tetras, shrimp, Corys and Ramshorn.  I might start a shrimp tank but that is my limit.  My  husband keeps teasing me about becoming the Fish Lady.  That is definately not what I want.  I am having so much fun with what I have and RESPECT to those with fish rooms, I just know I would not manage it well or enjoy it.  

[TOtrees]

On 4/27/2024 at 2:10 PM, Cory said:

I've got quite a few thoughts on it.

🤣

I was thinking more on this general topic (not @Cory's admission that he has opinions, but the thread topic of burnout; downsizing; how to decide what to keep vs what to rehome; etc). I distilled it down to 3 considerations for each fish or tank: First, do I get enjoyment from it? Ie does engaging with it charge the batteries, or deplete them? Second and third are cost and benefit (financial benefit).

Examples: cost/benefit can have 4 combinations or outcomes

• high cost + low benefit = bad
• low cost + low benefit = meh
• high cost + high benefit = justifiable
• low cost + high benefit = win

I'll tolerate bad or meh if I get enjoyment out of something. But if a fish or tank i) doesn't give me enjoyment, ii) doesn't give $ returns, and iii) has non-trivial carrying costs/effort, I'll be looking to first unload it (and happily take a loss to do so), and second replace it with something else. And I consider new additions or replacements based first on the enjoyment aspect. I'll never decide to add something to the collection on the sole basis of cost/benefit. 

The other thing I want to offer to those who have many tanks, are thinking about small fish rooms, or already have a small fish room is find ways to automate. Among my 12 or so current tanks, if I go away or just don't feel like being involved for 1-2 days, the only thing that'll get missed is feeding. Granted if you have small fry that's not awesome, but otherwise it's no big issue. This happens maybe once a week or so, ie I'm tired, I want to go to bed or movie with the fam, or simply don't feel like doing the fish room grind. To say nothing of the I don't have time today days. I can do that bc nothing bad will happen. Tanks are set up to not require daily or even weekly maintenance. Lights are all on timers and water changes are automatic. Being able to take 1-2 days off means being able to continue the investment the other 5 or 6 days of the week, right through the year.