How You Know Your Family Supports Your Hobby

[KaitieG]

Yesterday, my husband went and picked up a new (used) desk/bookshelf for our living room, the computer, and the kids' school area.  To fit it where it needed to go , the 20 gallon aquarium had to be relocated.  Did I have to move it to my office?  The basement? This was HIS idea of where to put it!  

So, what are your examples of family "buy in" to your hobby?  Funny...or not 🙂 

[Daniel]

I have photos somewhere of my wife and youngest son both inside my 500 gallon aquarium changing out the substrate.

[KaitieG]

Just now, Daniel said:

I photos somewhere of my wife and youngest son both inside my 500 gallon aquarium changing out the substrate.

I read your mention of that in a different thread yesterday...I'd LOVE to see those!

[Maggie]

None of my children are into fish, but my daughter-in-law agreed to be the beneficiary of my fish and all supplies. Not that I'm planning on going anywhere soon, but ya never know. It brings me peace of mind to know they'll be taken care of. 

[Will Billy]

My wife doesn't understand my fascination with the hobby. I have only the one 55g tank, and her most common question in regards to the tank is “what are you buying for that fish tank now?” Admittedly i am a tinkerer, so the one tank is probably a good thing. My 4 year old daughter loves it tho. She always wants to help daddy feed the fish or do tank maintenance. She is my role dog with everything i do, but the fish tank is such a great bonding experience. My wife may still roll her eyes at me from time to time, but she cant hold back that smile as she watches me and my daughter tinker with and enjoy our fishy friends. 

[H.K.Luterman]

My hubby is completely uninterested in my tanks. I mean he does look into them now and then and asks a question, or comments on a fish, but otherwise it's really not anything he cares about. He does listen to me ramble about what I want to do in them or to whatever fishy drama is happening and offers sympathy when something goes wrong. So I guess he's supportive in that he knows it makes me happy and listens to me blab about it. 

Edit: Oh! He did have a custom log shelf made for my old 55 gallon waaaaaaay back before I took my 10+ yr break (it now supports my 75). That's the most supportive and awesome thing he's done for my hobby. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by H.K.Luterman
Completely forgot about the shelf. Brain's not awake yet.

[Hobbit]

My husband doesn’t really “get” the fish either, but he’s very supportive anyway! He’s a very good listener, though I know he’s really happy I found this forum so I don’t have to tell him every fishy thought I have. He picked out the yo-yo loaches when we were stalking the 55 gallon—I dragged him into the fish store with me and those were the ONLY fish that got a “oooo!” Of course I had done no research on them at all but they came home with us anyway. He loves those, but the other fish he finds pretty boring.

Whenever I comment apologetically about how much money I spend on the fish or how much I talk about them, he’ll say something like, “Can you imagine if you were into makeup?!?”

I didn’t realize how deep his support went until last week, when he commented that he wanted to move our dining table into our sunroom off the kitchen. “What will we do with the space where the table was?” I asked. “Well, I thought you could put your fish tanks there. The corner in the sunroom where you were planning on putting them just seems too cramped.”

🙀

 

[Anita]

[Brandy]

My person...boyfriend...fiancee...whatever he is...actively HATES the hobby. Hates pets, plants, and throw pillows, lol. He is so with the wrong lady...

Anyway, he helps reinforce tank stands, built me a rack to hold the brine shrimp hatchery, and helped me install an undersink water filtration unit with a 30ft waterline for filling tanks. He hates it...but he still helps and even enjoys the projects. And he made a fish tank cake for his daughter last week.

[James V.]

I’m very lucky and me and my dad built a mini fish room kinda thing in our Landry room lol

 

[Andy's Fish Den]

I can say my wife puts up with my hobby. She always wants to pick out fish when we do stop at a LFS, but its always some fish that grow too large for any tank I have, or needs some care requirement that I don't have any tanks for. I have offered to set her up a tank that she can do whatever she wants, I'll show her how to do water changes etc, but she turns that down. 

[Kirsten]

My partner doesn't share the hobby, but he thinks the aquariums look nice and he even enjoys interacting with all the wiggly livebearers as they beg for second breakfast. He's genuinely happy I've found another hobby and get so much enjoyment out of it.

He'll go along for rides to far flung locations to help me pick up new tanks and help me move them in. He'll cook and clean while I haul buckets around. He knows my fishes' names and will check in on them.

His only request is that any new aquarium look good, intentional, and be a nice piece of furniture. No industrial shelving and PVC and tubes everywhere in our living spaces. That's totally fair. But he is excited to help me clean out the basement so I can maybe start a breeding project fish room down there.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Kirsten

[Jimmy Cleveland]

She will let me do this in the living room.(55g. 10g. 5g. Aquarium and then a 29 gallon terrarium. Then I have another 29 gallon 20 gallon long and a 15 gallon sitting empty there)They just had the so-called dollar a gallon sale so I picked up a few things. But she will not let me bring my motorcycle in the house. So i don't know..lol

[Jimmy Cleveland]

@Brandyhave you tried to have him make you say a 10g tank? And if he dose ask him if he can scape it because you don't have time. I know he would probably really enjoy building the tank and if you can get him to scape it on top of it every time he looks at it he will say I completely build that. It may get him to like at least one fish tank

[Sal]

It's a really fun hobby for both hubby and I.  He likes doing the water changes/gravel vaccing, and monitoring the water parameters...  I like doing the scaping, plant maintenance, and monitoring the fish for issues/treating them if needed in QT.  The kids get involved with feeding and help me keep an eye on everyone's overall health.

1 hour ago, Kirsten said:

His only request is that any new aquarium look good, intentional, and be a nice piece of furniture. No industrial shelving and PVC and tubes everywhere in our living spaces. That's totally fair. 

I can also completely relate to what Kirsten said...  I like the tanks to be intentional and look nice in my house, so I put a lot (maybe too much, lol) effort into that!  🤪

[Struggle]

I am very fortunate as my wife and I both enjoy the hobby. I guess we do everything together except for maintenance which I do alone. Which is great with me as I enjoy the alone time.