# What makes one give up the fish keeping hobby?



## ottomotto (Apr 2, 2015)

It's my third month and i never see myself quitting it. Taking care of fish is nice and relaxing. I absolutely love to watch them. 

I think people who quit were never into it too much.. I have read reasons that it takes too much time. Really? Quite often people like that don't have a skill to plan their time. They should get a tank with proper maintenance time/ size ratio. 

What is your opinion about folks that quit?


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Can only speak for myself ,rather than contemplate why other's may retire from the hobby.
You gotta love all things fishy.
When I first began in the hobby nearly Four decades ago,there was not the easy access to info /experiences of other like minded folks that one can easily find on the web nowday's.
Lot's of early failures can turn many off I believe.
Much of the failures can be avoided more easily nowday's but you can't fix stupid very easily or instill your dedication on other's very easily.
If you truly love all things fishy,,you will strive to learn.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

What makes people give up on planted tanks? Algae would have to be #1....


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

lee739 said:


> What makes people give up on planted tanks? Algae would have to be #1....


 Was maybe not the OP's question ?? But perhaps equally applied to both fishkeeping/weed growing.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

Seems a reasonable assumption though, that the OP at least in some way may have been including planted tanks.... given the website and forum he is posting in??


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## DexterFreeman (Dec 25, 2014)

Well I just re-entered the hobby after quitting some years before. 

My first tank I made to many mistakes as I didn't know quite what it would take. I had a light fixture that could grow algae well but not plants for instance. Thought doing DIY CO2 would be enough, but it wasn't and my plants still looked sad. Then I changed the substrate to something more nutrient rich, still not enough. And other problems cropped up along the way like a pest snail invasion I couldn't eradicate. 

I'd say the main reason I scraped that first tank and quit was that I was to focused on what I eventually wanted it to look like, the end result, and didn't relax and enjoy the process. That plus too many mistakes in the beginning and was slow to realize it, so it was frustrating to see my plants doing so poor.

This time I've done a lot more research upfront, and I'm plunking more money down on things that will make the upkeep simpler and more enjoyable. Before I did water changes with buckets (I must have been crazy), now I have a python. Going pressurized timed CO2 instead of DIY, getting two Fennix LEDs so I'm not limited by light, etc.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

I've been in the hobby for almost 50 years. I had to shut it all down for about 3 years in the middle of that. In a nutshell, working 80 hour weeks, three small children, and a home to care for made it just impossible. When the people coming into work the next morning started to notice that I was wearing the same clothes as the day before, the fish tanks had become a non-necessity.


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## Bob Madoran (Dec 22, 2014)

I had "given up" on fish keeping, but I returned to the hobby just a few months ago. I had not had an aquarium since approximately 4:31AM January 17, 1994. I was living about 10 miles from the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California. All three of the tanks I had at the time ended up on the floor and all of the fish I had died in piles of broken glass. You could say it caused me to loose interest really quick. The cost to replace everything was just too much at the time.

The biggest loss to me was a common pleco I named Charley. Charley was about 6 years old and almost 14 inches long. I paid 99 cents to get him when he was barely 1 inch long. Charley was the reason I had three tanks. I had to keep getting bigger tanks just so he would have enough room.


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## Sevamortner (Jan 20, 2015)

Moving, In my early 20's I moved alot, 4 times just from 18 - 23. I had several tanks over 75 gallons and it just became too much work to move the things all the time.


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

Tank wipeouts. Get to me every time.


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## Ripkord (Mar 14, 2015)

I had a tank about 8 years ago. I had it for about 6 months. I got back in the game about 4 months ago. I quit mainly because i lost interest. I was in a rolodex of different interests.
This time around, i have a simple maintenance plan, and a greater interest. Truth be told, i was always reading the forums for the past 8 years.


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## kelsier25 (Sep 16, 2013)

I think there are a ton of reasons that often boil down to tank failures, time, and money.

Tank failures are often either due to lack of research in the beginning, or misinformation while researching. Misinformation is a big one. For every "fact" you read about keeping aquariums, there is an equal opposing "fact". ____ fish is super peaceful and would never harm another creature | ____ fish killed every fish in my tank overnight. ____ substrate is the only substrate that grows plants well | ____ substrate sucks and will break down into mud in 6 months. ____ lighting is the only way to go. | ____ lighting is an overpriced piece of junk. Sound familiar? I see it every day in the forums and facebook groups. It often gets very ugly too - the amount of hostility and tantrums I see in facebook groups alone could put people off to the hobby.

The second one is time. People can't always predict the amount of maintenance a tank will take, and how much time they'll have in the future. I would've never thought this a few years ago when I started my tank (low stress job and no kids). Now, with a busy job and a 2 year old, there are definitely nights where I just don't feel like doing tank maintenance. I still do it because I have a successful tank that is great to watch, but if I couldn't get plants to grow and was having fish issues, it would be another story.

Last is money. This hobby can be expensive. People often try to go cheap and cut corners, only to end up with a failing tank. As a newbie, it's hard to know what you can go cheap on, and what you can't. For example, when I was starting out, I went with pool filter sand and root tabs. Everyone swore that it didn't matter at all. I tried and tried to get a plant to carpet, but nothing would spread. I finally got frustrated and went dirted (still cheap, but I had believed people who said it was a waste of time). Everything else the same, and I had a full carpet of HC in 2 months. Same thing with co2. I spent more money on alternatives to a pressurized system than it would've cost to just get one to begin with. I never had much luck with any of them either.


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## doughnut (Jul 22, 2010)

I recently got back into the hobby and throuroghly enjoy that I made that choice. I had a few aquariums around 2008-2011. After that I moved a few times in apartments, got married and then bought a house. For me, it was time and money. At the time, my wife wasn't too fond of "yucky fishy water" either so that kinda discouraged it. She now offers to help me every time I do weekly maintenance and enjoys it almost as much as I do. 

Its a very relaxing hobby for me. I can completely zone into it and lose track of time.


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

I think a tank wipeout would destroy me right now... would be hard to get back on the boat if that happened. 

I just repainted my whole living room, I had planned for a week how I would catch all my fish, bucket them up, drain the tank.. paint the wall behind it and put it all back together.

The night before the big job I had a horrible nightmare where I killed my whole tank accidentally, and horribly.. Messed me up so bad moving the tank was no longer an option.. I tossed a blanket over the top of the tank and painstakingly painted the wall behind it with the little room I had and without touching the fish.. took 2 days, a few clever inventions and alot of yoga like poses to paint the 6ft wall correctly, but at least I was not all stressed out.. possibly getting paint on my tank was better than possibly stressing my fish to death.

The guy who lost 3 tanks to an earthquake; that would be extremely hard to come back from.. cudos for getting back into the game.


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## NotCousteau (Sep 25, 2014)

I grew up with tanks, had a 10 gallon my first two years of college and then kept a 10 gallon for a few years out of college. I stopped keeping fish in my early twenties because I was working a lot, had a crazy schedule (worked nights, weekends), longterm employment prospect was unclear (possible moves out of state) and because I was young and prioritized going out and partying.

I didn't get back into keeping fish until about 10 years after quitting, although I always had the itch and would visit stores to get my "fix." Glad I'm back.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Going in too deep, like most hobbies. Getting over your head and not realizing how much you've spent.


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## davocean (Oct 11, 2009)

I've had FW and SW tanks for about 44 years now, do something long enough and there's a good chance life will get in the way for a spell and we have to put things on the backburner.
If you love it enough you pick it right back up when life allows.
In all my years I think I have not had a box of water in my home maybe a total of one year combined.


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## mattjm20 (Nov 2, 2013)

From what I've read/heard here are three main reasons:
1 - Stage of life where it is just really hard, e.g. when you are in college and moving every few months (this happened to me, specifically)
2 - Mass die off, either because you're not good at this hobby or just a freak occurrence -- either way it is discouraging
3 - No time due to children


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

mattjm20 said:


> From what I've read/heard here are three main reasons:
> 1 - Stage of life where it is just really hard, e.g. when you are in college and moving every few months (this happened to me, specifically)
> 2 - Mass die off, either because you're not good at this hobby or just a freak occurrence -- either way it is discouraging
> 3 - No time due to children



I think 1 & 3 are kinda joined at the hip in most cases. If you just started a new family, the chances are your job is higher on the priority list than your tanks too. Tough to manage both in most cases.

Bump:


Freemananana said:


> Going in too deep, like most hobbies. Getting over your head and not realizing how much you've spent.


Oh boy! The subject of how much you "invest" in this hobby is a whole 'nother thread by itself. Please refer to my signature, lol!


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2014)

I haven't been in this hobby for a year yet and I've been ready to quit on a couple occasions.

Firstly from my naivety, and not understanding what a nitrogen cycle was, and how it affected fish.

Secondly after a tank crash. Finally thought I had it all figured out, fish were living, plants looked decent....then it all came crashing down....saved my betta and a plant or two.

I was ready to give up at that point. I'm glad I stuck to it. I stripped my entire tank down, got better everything (filter, heater, light, fertilizer), added a ton of plants and have been having some good success now for the past few months.

I was very close to jumping out of the hobby just as quickly as I jumped into it.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Bushkill said:


> Oh boy! The subject of how much you "invest" in this hobby is a whole 'nother thread by itself. Please refer to my signature, lol!


I used that on my last hobby... it got me a new motor because it would last for years to come. :hihi:

But really. People start buying stuff, run out of money, go back and count, realize they are way over their budget and sell everything off to try and break even since they can't finish. Very common in cars, I'd assume it is similar here. I see plenty of equipment marked as "Used, but never actually used" or BNIB (brand new in box).


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## NotCousteau (Sep 25, 2014)

I think the fishkeeping hobby has advanced so much that we have so many new "toys" to equip tanks with, more types of fish, more types of plants, etc. I think that can sometimes be the downfall of beginners who do all this research and plunge head-first into high-tech tanks with demanding plants/fish.

It's easier to crash and fail when your setup is more complicated. And then you feel discouraged after all of the time and money you've spent.

That's just my two cents after taking a 10-year break. Coming back last year was a reeducation! I almost felt like it was too much to get back into. I kept my setup simple for cost and time reasons, and I'm glad I did.


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

For me it was motorcycles. I don't ride anymore and came back. Only gone about five years.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Why would motorcycles shop you? ^ 


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

treyLcham said:


> Why would motorcycles shop you? ^
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


New hobby was more fun and he moved on :hihi:


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## loach guy (Jun 2, 2014)

Having kids, moving, and a significant other are probably the three biggest factors. Usually when one of those happen though, it just puts our disease into remission for a while. Eventually kids grow up, and hanging out with your significant other isn't quite what it used to be. The disease will creep back up if the person ever loved their tanks.


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

treyLcham said:


> Why would motorcycles shop you? ^
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Long trips and evening rides dug into hobby time and tanks suffered so just stopped for awhile. Not saying you can't do both I just chose not too.


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## unclebuck21228 (Apr 5, 2015)

Gave it up in the mid 90s the first time. It was sad because the wife and I purchased a 55g as our first anaversary present to ourselves. Military life just made it difficult. Now I'm retired and we are settled in one place. Took us a few years but we got a 15g and put it in the kitchen. Just picked a 40g breeder ($1a gallon sale) just in case. Planning on 75g or 90g planted tank sometime soon. That's why I'm here. Lurking and learning.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

jrill said:


> Long trips and evening rides dug into hobby time and tanks suffered so just stopped for awhile. Not saying you can't do both I just chose not too.



Totally understand just was curious  


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## DHElder (Apr 18, 2015)

Well I am brand new to all this but I have quit several different expensive hobbies over my life time, basically for the same reasons each time.

#1 Lack of time - Wife, young AND older kids, very busy / long work schedule, home and cars to take care of, pets, etc. Basically just living a life.

#2 Hobby expense and complexity - Lots of cool stuff in most hobbies and plenty of eye candy to buy and advertisers know how to sell.  Then you find from item #1 that there is no time to use it all or get to it to work the way you thought it was going to work as it was more complex to use than you thought. Gets very frustrating to see what you bought and aren't using and kills interest.

#3 Large Amounts of Conflicting Information / Advise - As someone else already noted and I am seeing in these forums, always conflicting information. If you do research, takes lot of time to figure out the pros and cons as to how things work. Basically any forum (hobby or not) you go to now a days, it gets hot and heavy on conflicting opinions.

Still working on getting my first ever tank (planted) together but my wife had a nonplanted one for ten years and asked I wait until we finish the redoing the living room which will be completed by July. Focusing on as much simplicity as possible with simple maintenance, once the tank is established. Almost in retirement and I have more time on my hands now so #1 is no longer an issue. Going with a 20 gallon long and gravel only using combined ideas from Walstad and Barr with the back up to convert over to somewhat more frequent water changes if the ideas don't work. I have seen enough videos of successful tanks out that there that I feel confident I can make it work with adjustments along the way.

Time will tell! :icon_smil


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

I think the biggest frustration regarding equipment, that I have is there's this certain company that keeps coming out with these great filters, but they push them in the pet stores instead of their bread and butter market cough walmart :cough) , and then, because aquarists associate them with ah...cheap, the filters don't sell, and get abandoned.

Yes; I have some of their filters. I'm not using them at the moment because if I do, I'll have to cobble together their equivalent of a bio bag.

By the time I got a Milwaukee regulator - with the thought of going pressurized - I discovered everyone had abandoned them for the latest shiny object. Tha's ok, still haven't sprung for a controller.


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## Floris (May 1, 2015)

Algae it is for me, twice before. That and poorly growing plants (go together well ...)


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## Virc003 (Dec 3, 2011)

I quit for a couple of years because of my living arrangements. The apartments I lived in only allowed one tank of 10 gallons or less. And I am used to having 1,000+ gallons so you can see why 10 gallons would only have been a tease. I suppose someone could argue that it was more of a hiatus than outright quiting. Either way....


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## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

Skimming through this thread and you pretty much see a common theme or two. Time, and skill level not lining up with tank goals. 

I agree, it's presumptuous to make the blanket statement of "you should plan better" Someone can be passionate about the hobby, but being there are a limited number of resources and minutes in the day, that becomes a limiting factor. 

For instance. I like plants and corals. Fish are ok, and I would always strive to keep some sort of finned critter in the water, but I'm in the hobby 99% for plants and coral. If for some reason I was told I could have aquaria in the home, but I was only allowed to have a cichlid tank, or a fish only community tank, or a fish only with live rock saltwater tank, I'd just as soon not have a tank at all. It's alot of effort to keep clean, and almost none of the rewards.

That brings us in line to skill level. The thing that has had me contemplating leaving the planted tank hobby entirely has been skill level. I would have shut my tank down several times if my wife and kids didnt love the fishies so much. They could care less about the plants, light, or substrate. Took my wife 6 months to even notice I had a pressurized co2 tank running under the stand. I have a vision in my head of what I want the tank to look like. I want it to either look like Tom Barr's best work, or an award winning dutch aquascape, or one of the amazing amano style mountain scapes. 

Those types of tanks are incredibly difficult and expensive to make happen. Often dry started, and require almost daily pruning and replanting to keep looking perfect. With 50 hour work week, spouse in school full time, multiple kids, one being an infant, and a house and yard and other tanks and pets to maintain, I've just flat out not had the money or time to invest in making that kind of aquascape happen. And anything else is a disappointment. Perhaps I'm speaking in extremes here and being long winded, but I think that's the root of alot of people leaving the hobby. Becoming disinterested and disappointed with their work becasue of algae, or even despite following all the rules and making all the necessary investments, the tank just doesnt turn out the way we envision, and that can cause someone to lose interest real quick.

A catastrophic tank failure is also a certain death sentence. If one of my tanks broke or a stand failed or something like that and I flooded the house with 100+ gallons of foul smelling fish water, ruining electrical devices and costing thousands in repairs, you can guarantee that I would be out of the hobby indefinitely. Id miss it, but I would find something else. Most people do.


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

Or you come to understand your limitations and adjust your goals accordingly.

When I first started with a planted tank, lighting consisted of 2 shop lights and the strip that came with the tank. Planting was whatever I found at the pet store. I lucked up on that and found a huge Amazon sword mother plant. Fertilizer was...florapride, plantabs, and some iron supplement whose name has passed through the annals of time. I just know that what I was using was pretty much it. I remember being floored at the picture of a Dutch tank. CO2 supplement? What's what? It was vaguely mentioned in the article in FAMA, but they never bothered to tell you how.

My expectations started off pretty low - keep the swords green, see if you can keep anything other than swords and bulbs from walmart alive.

But...I hear you. I tried a nano reef. I don't have a nano reef. I made it maybe 6 months and threw in the towel. I had just enough info to be dangerous.


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## EChord (May 4, 2014)

Sometimes it's a matter of realizing what type of tank really makes you happy. A number of years ago I made the mistake of putting in an Auratus (I wanted something colorful and I had some interest in cichlids). He uprooted my plants, meaning my planted tank became a fish only. Years later, when he passed on, I was ready to get out of fishkeeping altogether as I simply didn't have any joy in the tank anymore. 

Still, I had some other fish still in there, and figured I'd wait to break it down till their lifespans were up. In the meantime, I picked up a crypt again, wanting to have something green in there, and suddenly found my interest reinvigorated. About a year later I overhauled the tank and turned it into a high tech planted, and I've loved it ever since. What I discovered in all that was that for me to be happy with a tank I must have both fish and plants or it's depressing for me. My error in not realizing what I really loved in a tank was what nearly made me leave.


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## WhiteCarol (Jul 26, 2016)

I quit fishkeeping recently and the main reason was that I did not want to keep cleaning the tank, it was too much of a chore,the tank was fairly small so needed a lot of water changes, and I couldn't afford a bigger one. Additionally when my goldfish died anyway I decided to give the other 2 away rather than face them possibly dying too. 
I agree it's a relaxing hobby though, I did really like watching them swim around. But I also like having the space clear and time for other hobbies. And I still like learning about fish.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Indecisiveness. I had planned about 20 different setups for my 55g, which I had for seven years. I never did put a single fish in it. I was too afraid to commit to anything that might not turn out to be perfect that I never did anything at all.

Also, trying to make money from the hobby. It's a hobby - you won't make money from it. You can offset the cost, but you won't actually make a profit unless it becomes a business. And once it becomes a business, it all becomes business, and you don't have a hobby to come back to when you need to relax. Since the nature of business is to produce things customers will want, not what the business owner likes, you likely will end up investing in things that aren't that much fun for you. You're also forced to do things in a low-cost and high-efficiency manner, which often results in the loss of beauty and peace. If the business isn't making money, or if it's too much work, people may switch to a more profitable business and get out of the hobby entirely.


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## Smooch (May 14, 2016)

Priorities.

The first 8 years I was married, I spent my time dealing with my FIL who was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after hubby and I got married. 

In between doctors appointments, discussions about bone marrow transplants and swollen lymph nodes, I spent my time fighting with our local school system that wanted to load my son up on every drug possible. 

When I wasn't doing that, I had a job that I had a love / hate relationship with. That job was taken away from me from a a now out of business company that thought they were all that. People always use the expression "If you build it, they will come." Nobody talks about how fast a group of the most arrogant people I've ever met can destroy a multi-million dollar private business. I'm still bitter, just not as much. 

Fretting over water chemistry and whether the fish keeping community would approve of my plant choices or not wasn't a blip on my radar. Much of the drama that occurs in the fish community today still does not create blips on my radar because, priorities.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Going into the service is one thing to knock me out of the game. Moving from a house with basement, all fish killed by a heater failure, going on the road in an RV? There are just lots of reasons to quit for a while. I recently stopped breeding and selling fish due to the idiots that want bargains and no bargain is ever good enough. 
There are almost as many reasons to stop as there are to start?


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## MCHRKiller (Jul 25, 2008)

I took a year hiatus after keeping/breeding fish for 15 years. I moved a couple hours away, changed jobs, bought a new house, and in effort to simplify life the house was 1/3 the size of my former home. I sold my tanks and fish, and honestly didn't have time to restart the hobby immediately. I did keep most of my pricy equipment for future use but that was it. I started small with a 56g column tank and only had it and a 50G for the next year. The last 2 years my hobby has grown to 10 tanks at home with a focus on SA/CA cichlids and low tech planteds. I was focused on making my 2 preferences of cichlids and plants work with a maintenance routine I can deal with...so far I'm the happiest I've ever been in the hobby. 

Breaks are good and sometimes dumping your livestock for something new is okay. Gives us a chance to refocus


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## Varmint (Apr 5, 2014)

I had a 29 gallon hex and a 20 gallon show in my first apartment. I am a chronic renter, have been for three decades because of the California housing bubble. My hex sprung a leak after my first move. My show tank got crushed by furniture movers during my second move. I wanted another tank, but didn't want to deal with the problems of moving them every couple of years. A couple of years ago I found out the hobby changed drastically. You could have nano tanks and grow plants successfully. I always wanted to keep Bettas again. I now have 5 tanks in sizes from 2.5 - 12 gallons. I would love to have a larger tank again someday, but I am here to stay now that I can scale down.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

For me it would be:

*Stems* - Cutting stems over and over and over, get's old fast. Now I use mostly ferns, moss, etc.
*Tall Tanks* - Scaping a tall tank. If it's not heavily scaped it's not a big deal, but if it's uncomfortable to get to the bottom it's not gonna be fun long-term.
*Low-tech* - If things stay static for too long, I find it boring. I'd rather see the plants pearl, put out new leaves. Stems are too fast, but ferns and things I find more interesting to me with co2 and good light.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

houseofcards said:


> For me it would be:
> 
> *Stems* - Cutting stems over and over and over, get's old fast. Now I use mostly ferns, moss, etc...


That sums it up for me also.


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## brandy3392 (May 2, 2016)

Bob Madoran said:


> I had "given up" on fish keeping, but I returned to the hobby just a few months ago. I had not had an aquarium since approximately 4:31AM January 17, 1994. I was living about 10 miles from the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California. All three of the tanks I had at the time ended up on the floor and all of the fish I had died in piles of broken glass. You could say it caused me to loose interest really quick. The cost to replace everything was just too much at the time.


I feel for you. Pretty much the same thing happened to me, but my disaster was a flood. Lost a 90 gallon and two 55 gallon tanks, plus all my equipment and several backup tanks. Everything was submerged in river water (and some raw sewage) for over a month. It didn't even seem worth trying to clean up the couple of things that might have been salvageable. I didn't think I would ever want to get back into the hobby. I made it almost 4 years, then the itch hit me again. Now I've got more tanks than ever.


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## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

At one point during middle and high school, I had 7 aquariums ranging from 5 gallons to 75 gallons. I had to get rid of them when I went to college because students lived all four years on campus, and we weren't allowed to have aquariums. After four years of a break though, I've been slowly accumulating equipment, and I'm ready to get back into the hobby.


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## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

I agree with what everyone is saying. But, for me I just can't imagine not having a tank. Even a small 3 gallon with fish or shrimp and the some plants is not hard to care for. I think time can always be made for such a small tank like that especially when you can customize the tank how you want. Want high tech? Go for it. Want a tank with barley any work involved? Low tech moss!


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## FuelingFire (Nov 8, 2012)

When I first got into the hobby, I had a cyanobacteria bloom just weeks after setting up the tank. It got so bad it killed a couple of my fish, I almost gave up then after trying to rid it for several months i think it was like 6 months or so of trying. nothing i did was working until I dropped the pH in my tank, I found out that my water supply at the time got their water from the lake behind my now house. and it had a bad case of cyano. it wasn't until I went with a black water tank and a pH of less than 6.5 that the bacteria started to die off. It was a nightmare and I almost wanted to quite. Now I love the hobby and sometimes i still make mistakes. But I love learning and i love to always make things better. And i tend to forget things I learn as well. but if i was to quit this hobby now, it be really for a break of a year or so to maybe explore other avenues of the hobby. (such as visiting different area's and learning about the wild species in their natural habitat). But i would never leave the hobby. I am to addicted to this hobby to give it up.


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## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

Crashing your reef tank and killing 3 years and several thousand dollars worth of acropora is a good motivator to quit. I'm hard headed though 


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## brandy3392 (May 2, 2016)

When moving out of our first house, we were transporting the fish in 5 gallon buckets. My husband tripped and dropped one of the 5 gallon buckets on the concrete, spilling fish everywhere. We ended up euthanizing all of those fish. We didn't think they would survive the stress of moving and being dropped onto concrete. Lost a beautiful jade goby and banded leporinus, along with lots of nice cichlids. Really wanted to give up the hobby that day. Kind of wanted to give up the husband too!


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## Cheetah2 (Nov 24, 2015)

I was planning to consolidate (not quit) for ease of maintenance. Even with a python the WC's come around all too often. That's when the LFS called to say my 12 dwarf pencil fish arrived (that I ordered 3 months ago). So now I have a nano tank instead of one less tank. Yeah, I didn't have to buy them, but I did.

I am very thankful that I found planted tanks as an adult, otherwise, I'd be unhappy with the lack of everything.


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## Oceangirl (Feb 5, 2013)

Im backing down my hobby, I now have a better job and have a possibly to travel more with hubby. I don't have kids but Im shifting my focus to reptiles. I am going to take 2-3 tanks down in the next month or so. Reptiles can survive without their heating for a bit, fish cant if the filter dies or burns out. Also dont have a lot of water to accidentally spill or tank leak. I am going to go down to reptiles, inverts and some choice guppies.


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## Albtraum (Dec 27, 2009)

I quit cause my tank broke. This was probably 2010 or 2011, I got a new TV, my tank shared the same cabinet/ entertainment table piece. I was taking my old TV off, and the power cord got caught between the wall and cabinet... and next thing I remember, I had 29 gallons of water and broken glass across my bedroom floor. No fish survived. I gave the plants to my brother, and pretty much quit. I saved my 60lbs of EcoComplete and spent _days_ just picking out glass and carpet dust and debris.


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## pseudomugil (Aug 12, 2013)

Lately I've kinda dialed back on aquariums, with just one very low maintenance tank running. The reason for this is partly that i'm at college where I am not allowed to have a tank, so the tank I have at home must be really simple for my parents to take care of. I also worked at a pet store taking care of the fish room for almost two years and got somewhat burned out on taking care of fish tanks. Once I leave college I plan on having a more complex setup, but until then it's one really simple tank.


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## Altheora (Aug 10, 2016)

Problems (for new and old hobbiests), which can eat up time and money. This could be something as simple as having to not take care of the tank for a week or two and it declines for whatever reason. Some people move. Your fish could all die out from a sudden illness, and you despair starting over. I could see lots of things causing the end for a particular person.

On the other side of the coin exists the problem of MTS and how to cope with that disease.


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## Jsin (Dec 18, 2015)

Freemananana said:


> Going in too deep, like most hobbies. Getting over your head and not realizing how much you've spent.


Yeah now that you mention it...Ive spent thousands on plants and fish alone since the start of the year, not to mention upgrading lights, a new pressurized system and now im looking into new filtration. Yeah, photography would be a nice expensive one time investment, but id prefer to keep handing out money to try to create a little peice of paradise in my home.:smile2: Then maybe once i get settled down with the hobby (probably will never), i will buy the nice camera and use it on my tanks. lol


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

ottomotto said:


> I think people who quit were never into it too much.. I have read reasons that it takes too much time. Really? Quite often people like that don't have a skill to plan their time. They should get a tank with proper maintenance time/ size ratio.


I think it could be considered rude to make these assumptions about people. 

I quit for a year-ish after I moved into my house. I didn't have the desire to upkeep the tanks after my move, so rehomed the cichlids I had. Eventually I purchased a used system from someone who was getting out of it because their discus died after relying on family to take care of them while he was on vacation.

People have reasons, some good, some bad. Interest in hobbies wax and wane. There's nothing wrong with that.


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## Judeamarco (Apr 6, 2016)

I almost did after the last of the 5 black skirt tetras I first had starting out died of old age. That black skirt tetra had lived through so much mistakes and it was painful for me watching him slowly fade away


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## K1963158 (Aug 15, 2016)

This is a good read. I'd like to add my 2 cents. I gave up keeping fish for about 30 years. I'm 52 and was really young when I started...probably about 10 years old, introduced to the hobby by my older brother. We started with a metal framed tank and also made our own glass/silicon tanks. Money was tight but we had fun. Eventually he left the house and took over the fish room. I was in my early teens and moved a 50 gallon tank we made from a homemade stand to a table I thought was strong enough. It was but the table bottom was not perfectly level.....Took about a month for the bottom glass to crack.....my Mom was furious, cleaning the water that was spewing from the tank while I was frantically saving my fish. LOL

Reason I quit the hobby....my Mom forbade me and forced me to get rid of the fish room...that and I soon found out about girls. Ha ha....come to think of it, it was mostly the girl part not my Mom.


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## nashmaeva (Jan 8, 2017)

I had to read comments here to avoid same mistakes,great info,thanks.I am a natural aquaria hobbyist and your information will help me complete my journey at The Best Aquarium Filter: Reviews and Buying Guide - Aquaria Hobbyist in keeping a safe aquarium.


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## malsprower (Oct 23, 2017)

Sometimes it can be frustrating when fish die out of nowhere and die so fast even when doing the right thing. Recently I purchased 6 small Harlequin Rasboras and they all died within 3 hours. It is a very well filtered cycled 20 long and I do all appropriate water changes. I have a betta living in there and he has been in and doing well for 3 months! I tried other tetras/barbs in there and they all started dying so I had to save them by moving them to outside ponds! I think what might be killing them is an aquarium ornament I purchased from Walmart!!! I removed the ornament tonight and it has a strange rubber smell! It upsets me but what am I supposed to do? Stuff like this makes me want to quit but I have to keep my head up. Oh and the plants in my tank have been thriving despite all this he## I am going through, I pick up the dead fish bodies once they die.


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## AbbeysDad (Apr 13, 2016)

Fish just don't get the respect that they deserve. I think people often get into fish keeping without enough awareness. They don't learn/understand the N2 cycle, tend to overfeed, and/or don't do sufficient frequency/volume water changes. And sometimes, they are just plain lazy and think they can have a no/low maintenance tank. 
In some cases, sadly, the fishkeeper has to move and just can't keep fish any longer...or there's the fishkeeper that passes away with no one to care for his fish.

The eventual failure leads to an empty tank in a garage sale, Craig's list, or a fish club auction!


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## Doogy262 (Aug 11, 2013)

you just have to be in a pet store and hear the sales person say yea we have this 20 gallon set up on sale it has everything.Just take it home add water and fish and your ready to go..... epic failure...


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Ha!! Great thread!! 
1. Girls... that'll do it. In my single days I had no time for fish. Work and girls!
2. Life.. divorce / moving. Lost all of my gorgeous mature Angel's and Rainbows in one move due to my wife forbidding me to set up the tanks until she figured out where she wanted things. She didn't realize the fish would die. She now makes my enjoyment of the hobby to a pretty substantial level possible. 265 gallon for the new house and a fish room and central sump filtration for display type tanks. 
3. Columnaris, various protozoa (neon tetra disease), and mycobacterium (fish TB). I am hoping theaddition of a new high quality UV sterilizer will halt the deaths in my 150 gallon. I've lost maybe 200 tetras... Neons and Lemon tetras. I've treated with everything I can that are plant and invert safe. Spent alot in plants and inverts. If it does not work my only option is euthanizing all of the fish and bleaching ansterilizing the aquarium and everything in it and related to it.


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Number of factors; but big one is cost and difficulty. I don't think there's another hobby out there that requires this much investment in terms of money, knowledge and time. Also it's on your mind 24/7 as a lot can go wrong and sometimes it can be catastrophic. 

As others mentioned, it can also be skill-level. How many times have you envisioned an aquascape and realized your reality pales in comparison to your vision. 

Any other hobby, you can quit and come back with relative ease [fishing, golfing, etc.] In this hobby, it often forces you to sell everything.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

What makes one quit keeping fish? They find something even more interesting to do! And that is prone to changing as we each do change, even when we don't really think about it. I knew I had changed when I stopped playing with cap guns. I knew I had changed when getting married was far more interesting. I knew I had changed when grandkids became more interesting. I'm far more interested in an RV and it sure doesn't meet the plan to drag fish tank along! 
I think it's called something like "maturing"? We grow, we change!


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## thechibi (Jan 20, 2012)

Others mentioned bad info causing epic failure, but I fell out of the hobby for a long time due to massive MDD (that's depression). I'm taking it back up to hopefully reclaim a hobby I once loved. 

I also no longer keep the 90s style clown barf gravel aquariums as I did when I was a kid. So. Much. Cringe.


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## KZB (Jan 3, 2018)

This is a great topic. I been on and off keeping fish since I was about 10, I had a 50 gal with an Oscar and other Cichlids. I'm 32 now. But maybe have around 4 years in trying to keep plants. Made every mistake possible and then some and still trying to find a balance. But I did tap out due to work and having a baby on the way along with 2 year old. Just got back into it about 2 years ago.


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## Wantsome99 (Nov 27, 2016)

Been in the hobby since 1990. The only thing that would make me quit is money. It's an expensive hobby and being on disability with a limited income is hard.


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## Thelongsnail (Dec 2, 2015)

For me, it would be the amount of research and stress that I find myself getting into, as well as outside factors. Lack of experience certainly comes into play, but sometimes you don't even know what you don't know. I grew up in a house full of tanks so thought I knew all the basics at least, but had never dealt with gh/kh/ph issues as the water back home is liquid rock. Here is the opposite, and I've found it difficult working out what on earth is going on and how to fix it, and don't deal well with losing/euthanising fish.

However, in the 17 years that my mum has kept fish, I've watched her deal with the following and bounce back - any one of these would have made me quit:
- Canister filter breaking and pumping ~100 gallons of all over the floor in the middle of the night. Hundreds of pounds of cichlids lost, carpet ruined, and the concrete floor took 6 months to dry out fully
- Neighbours spraying pesticides without telling us, wiping out a large shoal of synodontis in long and stressful deaths
- Having to euthanise an entire tank of fish that had been infected with fast-moving colmnaris
- Injecting steroids into the lateral line of a large Oscar every week, as he was suffering kidney failure, only to have to euthanise in the end. We'd had him for years after he'd been surrendered to her workplace after major neglect.
This isn't by any means a comprehensive list, but I have a huge amount of respect for her dedication and knowledge, especially as she only got into the hobby because I'd been obsessed with a friend's goldfish as a kid.


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## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

Raul-7 said:


> I don't think there's another hobby out there that requires this much investment in terms of money, knowledge and time.


Recreational airplane pilot? FIFA Ultimate Team manager? :grin2:


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Boredom can also play a role; you keep an aquarium for a couple years - realize the 'fun factor' wore off and now it's more a chore.


Like anything in life; the first few months with a new toy are the greatest. Then it quickly wears off...


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## Discusluv (Dec 24, 2017)

I haven't found a reason yet. Have had 1-4 fish tanks running continuously since I was 18 years old- Im 50 now. 
Wherever I go they follow me.


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## KZB (Jan 3, 2018)

Gotta give you credit @Discusluv. This is a very relaxing hobby. I plan to stay in for a very long time


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## Deanna (Feb 15, 2017)

For some, it’s bred into us. My father had a casual interest, for a few years, when I was about five. He’d take me on a bi-monthly visit to the LFS and I was always awed by the pretty colored fish. After a few years, he tired of it and turned it over to me. So, I inherited the family tank. I have one clear memory of a heavy tank cleaning when we were released early from school the day JFK was assassinated. Did lots of experimenting and found it fun. It’s been the same ever since. 

I’ve always found one tank sufficient to satisfy my interest, without the burnout factor. I spend less than an hour a week on the tank itself and I think it’s important to minimize that maintenance effort as much as possible to avoid the chore aspect to it. I’ve had more and would shed them as I approached burnout. When I was a kid, my neighbor friend admired my tank so much that he started one. Then, his father got into it. Soon, there were eleven large tanks in his house (his father went crazy). I was amazed …and a little jealous. A year later, they were all in the trash. They burned themselves out. Good things come in small packages. My advice is to get good with one small tank and, if the interest remains after a year or so, slowly get bigger.

A corollary to the OP's question is "what keeps us in the hobby?"


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## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

Deanna said:


> "what keeps us in the hobby?"


A burning desire to beat burr... :grin2:


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## Deanna (Feb 15, 2017)

MCFC said:


> A burning desire to beat burr... :grin2:


That's too much work! I think it's more that we are, basically, all masochists.


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## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

For me, it is completely based on time. When I do not have time, this hobby will suffer. I spend hours on a Saturday to perform maintenance.


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## Little Soprano (Mar 13, 2014)

For me it’s my Bipolar that shifts me away. Though it’s the most therapeutic hobby for me. Watching the fish interact with their environment is the most relaxing thing IMO. But usually with my bipolar I fade in and out of interest with things but I’ve always kept the tank running. And usually when I take a step back it ends up becoming a really stable system too.

Though I will add the larger tank compared to what I had keeps me interested. With the light stocking it keeps itself much healthier and stable, even without input from my end. My 40g was a struggle but this tank is honestly a set it and forget it.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

MCFC said:


> A burning desire to beat burr... :grin2:


Blasphemy!

You must come to terms with this.

Around here, @burr740 is Master Po...................and we are all Young Grasshoppers!:wink2:

I'm pretty sure Burr once said to me "Seek not to know the answers, but to understand the questions".










On second thought, that reference might not make sense to the youngsters here (under 50!).

Maybe this one is better............then we are all Daniel-San's.:grin2::grin2:


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## slipfinger (Jun 8, 2016)

MCFC said:


> A burning desire to beat burr... :grin2:


Who the hell is burr?


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## Pocho (Dec 3, 2018)

got into this 5 months ago as grandkid wanted a couple of fishes and i took it as a chore. 5 gallon tank but it seems I have to change water every 3-4days max as the Green algae starts to pop up.

Now it's a Hobby and am spending a whole lot for a couple of plants and fishes, man, there's a lot of stuff one can buy and I bit. lol, I ENJOY this hobby now, there has to be an upgrade of this or seeing results or this could become a chore as how I saw it from the start.

I'm half way into a wheel chair barring any falls that would shorten the time into it.
That's the End game for me, not being able to handle 2 gallons water changes back and forth.


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## Kfactor (Aug 15, 2018)

My firsts tank was a salt water and at first really loved it and slowly stared to get bored of it . Then I found my self wanting to go bigger and get more stuff and start a new build and got in to sumps and stuff making it more interesting. I had that tank for 2 years and then I had to move out of my parents House and could’ve t take it so I sold all of it . Then 5 years later I found out about discus fish and have to have them and it started all over for me . I find to stay interested in the hobby u have to keep adding stuff and changing out stuff on your tanks to keep it interesting. I find the build for me is more fun and seeing how it turns out . I just started my first planted tank a few months ago and love it but it does get pretty overwhelming I still have a lot to learn about them and I think that’s what keeps me going


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

For many the path of enlightenment can be a slow road!
Whoops, that was my inside voice that came through, Sorry! >


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## MCFC (Feb 12, 2017)

Greggz said:


> Blasphemy!
> 
> You must come to terms with this.


To be the best you gotta beat the best :wink2:


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Idk what you guys are talking about. Im still trying to get the damn wax off over here


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## varanidguy (Sep 8, 2017)

lee739 said:


> What makes people give up on planted tanks? Algae would have to be #1....


My patience has almost been exhausted dealing with this black-ish algae that nobody seems to know about. I have found that h2o2 and Excel will kill it, but only if it's treated out of water. The stuff is really, really nasty. The same exact treatment while it's submerged does jack.


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## Deanna (Feb 15, 2017)

varanidguy said:


> My patience has almost been exhausted dealing with this black-ish algae that nobody seems to know about. I have found that h2o2 and Excel will kill it, but only if it's treated out of water. The stuff is really, really nasty. The same exact treatment while it's submerged does jack.


I would hate to see you give up. I'm sure that you've explored it ad nauseam, here and elsewhere, but here are a couple ideas that you might not have considered (without going too far afield from this thread topic):

- When I get the occasional algae expansion due to some disruption, and if the algae is susceptible to glut (red algae), I dose about 2 ml/gal of Excel to my tank for a complete knockdown. You may not be hitting it hard enough. I have posted, elsewhere, the preparation needed and process. Of course, killing it is only a short-term solution.

- There are environmental testing services that will identify the algae type. They can be expensive at around $100 but, if you're desperate, maybe it's worth it to you. Two that I have found are:
http://www.oakwoodlab.com/ and https://www.enviroscienceinc.com/


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## CharleeFoxtrot (Jan 29, 2004)

I don't know what would make me give up keeping boxes filled with water and stuff, I've had tanks in one form or another for 40+ years now. When I get to that point of giving up I will let you folks know


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

CharleeFoxtrot said:


> I don't know what would make me give up keeping boxes filled with water and stuff, I've had tanks in one form or another for 40+ years now. When I get to that point of giving up I will let you folks know


Hey you are from Hell Michigan! Right down the road from me.

Used to spend quite a bit of time there and Silver Lake. Got a few old Hell MI bar t-shirts somewhere in a box in the basement. Saw your location and brought up some good old memories!


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## CharleeFoxtrot (Jan 29, 2004)

Greggz said:


> Hey you are from Hell Michigan! Right down the road from me.
> 
> Used to spend quite a bit of time there and Silver Lake. Got a few old Hell MI bar t-shirts somewhere in a box in the basement. Saw your location and brought up some good old memories!


Nice! We actually have 2 bars in Hell now, and a great ice cream parlor.


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## varanidguy (Sep 8, 2017)

Deanna said:


> I would hate to see you give up. I'm sure that you've explored it ad nauseam, here and elsewhere, but here are a couple ideas that you might not have considered (without going too far afield from this thread topic):
> 
> - When I get the occasional algae expansion due to some disruption, and if the algae is susceptible to glut (red algae), I dose about 2 ml/gal of Excel to my tank for a complete knockdown. You may not be hitting it hard enough. I have posted, elsewhere, the preparation needed and process. Of course, killing it is only a short-term solution.
> 
> ...




Thank you Deanna! Do you have a link to that thread or post? I’d like to decimate this stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Deanna (Feb 15, 2017)

varanidguy said:


> Thank you Deanna! Do you have a link to that thread or post? I’d like to decimate this stuff.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I just updated it.

https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/23-algae/1234042-hair-algae-consuming-moss-hc-advice.html
Post #6


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

*What makes one give up the fish keeping hobby?*

All of our jokes and such aside I can see where some would be disgusted and desert the hobby.

Major algae, phish death, green water, disease, quarantine tanks etc... and I could write a novel here and we all know it.

Fear, observation, and experimentation are at the top in this hobby.

Fear comes in many forms.
Gassing phish, fertilizer routines, algae treatment, over feeding phish, substrate selection, the scale and measuring compounds, etc.....

Observation, many are new and expect instant gratitude with very little input or experience.
This is a journey and a learning experience not an Overnight Sensation!
(Notice the Frank Zappa pun).>

Experimentation seems to be ongoing and most likely never-ending.

Stepping down from the "SoapBox" now.


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## thechibi (Jan 20, 2012)

Mental illness is also another one. Depression sort of kills my urge to do anything besides... maybe lay on the floor or bed. But I'm working hard on treatment, and even if recovery's not linear, there's still hope.

I am crazy excited for when my betta ships. I like my derpy little newbscape.


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## kaldurak (May 2, 2010)

thechibi said:


> Mental illness is also another one. Depression sort of kills my urge to do anything besides... maybe lay on the floor or bed. But I'm working hard on treatment, and even if recovery's not linear, there's still hope.
> 
> I am crazy excited for when my betta ships. I like my derpy little newbscape.


I know the feeling. My tank is my weapon Against depression though.


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## Mike16T (Jun 13, 2016)

School and work responsibilities over hobby... I've done it before when I started college. I was in the hobby before I went to school. Came back to the hobby after I graduate.. =)

It's not about being in to it, it's prioritizing what's more important first. It is hard for me though because the temptation was always there and I just had to suck it up. Being a full time student with full time job, hobby comes last..


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## Fisherking (Feb 27, 2012)

I 've had some sort of tank for 50 years. There have been some breaks, most recently when we moved across country and I only had room to take my 6 gallon.

Now, despite running two demanding businesses (plus a disabled 12 yr old) with just my husband and me, I've been slowly setting up tanks again. First a 75 g Jikin tank, then the 6g Betta tank. I know I only have the bandwidth for one more tank and am going slowly because of money and time. 

One great change in the hobby is the internet! I can so easily find everything I need from information to equipment to exotic snails, all I have to do is hit "Buy It Now" and it appears on the doorstep. That is simply epic to me, and helps keep me in the hobby. Otherwise, we live too remotely and the nearest LFS is several day's drive away. 

But there it is, a little stream of fish running through my life all the time, ebbing and flowing but always present somehow.


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## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

Fisherking said:


> But there it is, a little stream of fish running through my life all the time, ebbing and flowing but always present somehow.


great line, fisherking!


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

I think it needs to be part of your lifestyle; what defines you in a way.

That's why aquascapes like Oliver Knott, George Farmer, Felipe Oliviera, etc. never quit. It's part of their life. 


If you remove all the clutter from your life and focus on key items; I don't think you'll have reason to quit.


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## psych (Jan 7, 2013)

For me, right now, it's preparation fatigue, if that makes sense. Or the desire to want to see everything come out "perfect", whatever that might mean to you.

I've got a 125 sitting in the garage where it has been for months. Researching every little thing to try to get it right has become a chore and a second job instead of a hobby, and not fun or enjoyable at this moment.

I'm hoping that changes at some point, because I really used to enjoy this hobby. 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk


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## gjcarew (Dec 26, 2018)

Holy smokes, I've felt like giving up on it many times. I've killed 4 nano fish because I forgot to attach my prefilter, had to completely start over due to terminal algae problems... If there's a mistake to make, I've probably made it. At the end of the day, there is something just magical for me about having this little slice of nature in my city apartment. I love seeing the plants and livestock thrive, and with every mistake I keep in mind that that is one more mistake I'll never make in the future.

My other hobby is Brazilian Jiu jitsu, I'm a brown belt at the moment. I've competed in all the major tournaments, trained full time, and absolutely thrashed my body. I've inevitably faced injury, defeat, and all manner of things that could have made me quit. But I always go in, maybe even if I'm telling myself it is for one last time, and just enjoy what I'm doing. Remind myself of how good it feels and how far I've come. So far, I haven't quit.

I think it's the same thing with aquariums. There are so many potential disasters, but when I'm just watching the plants pearl or my Corydoras (my favorite!) root around, it's a simple pleasure. I've had to break down my tank due to moving apartments, but I can't wait to make some more mistakes [emoji16]

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


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## AbbeysDad (Apr 13, 2016)

CharleeFoxtrot said:


> Nice! We actually have 2 bars in Hell now, and a great ice cream parlor.


I'da thunk there was more than just two bars in hell fer when yer off shift from shovlin the coal! ;-)


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## AbbeysDad (Apr 13, 2016)

There's a lot of 'reasons' people give up the hobby. There's a learning curve and the avg Joe just sets up a tank w/o paying the dues. How many times do we see the 'I want a low/no maintenance tank'. Well, there is no such thing. Fish need to be fed every day. Filters need cleaning, water needs changing. Life steals people away and the fish suffer. Where's the SPCA?! (If they were mammals, there'd be arrests and fines). Most fish are relatively inexpensive...although I recently heard of a Koi that sold for $1.5m (who pays that kind of money for a 10 year old carp?!?!). Tropical fish could live 10-15 years, but most don't.
------
In any case, I suppose it's like a lot of hobbies....some come and go, others come and stay, some are real casual, others are real serious. I'm thinking most reading this on this and other fish related boards are fairly serious....at least for now.


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## Monchichi (7 mo ago)

ottomotto said:


> It's my third month and i never see myself quitting it. Taking care of fish is nice and relaxing. I absolutely love to watch them.
> 
> I think people who quit were never into it too much.. I have read reasons that it takes too much time. Really? Quite often people like that don't have a skill to plan their time. They should get a tank with proper maintenance time/ size ratio.
> 
> What is your opinion about folks that quit?


I think people quit because they don’t like to maintain fish tanks. If a person has any disgust toward anything in fishkeeping they are not going to last. They will name time and money as reasons but bottom line is if you don’t like maintenance if it’s not joyful to you to trim scrape and water change, if this is a chore then you quit.


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## ThreadFin (8 mo ago)

I'm so burned out on water changes with Discus I just want to be done with them!
15 years of that was enough.


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## junior123 (Jul 9, 2015)

Just saltwater specific but after 20 years, being one of the first people to propagate some specific corals and breed a species of fish, I am out and coming back to planted.
For me it was the change to all this “designer” corals. I miss people being in the hobby because of passion not status.
That said I am setting up discus first so ya…


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## number1sixerfan (Nov 10, 2006)

As someone really experienced with fish keeping that still has a few tanks, I agree that maintenance is probably the main reason. It definitely takes commitment and upkeep, and it's something that last a long time, so life changes also impact the time to stay committed. 

For me personally, I've given up on planted tanks for the time being because the maintenance is a large degree higher than without. Even in a low tech tank, with a decent ecosystem/stocking the plants grow like wildfire, and you have to be very mindful to keep a good balance to avoid annoying algae issues. I still love planted tanks, but took on a much more demanding job recently and I just don't have the time anymore. I'm really hoping to get back into it in a year or so after things hopefully settle down. Non-planted tanks have not been as rewarding, and watching the pics from all the threads here definitely make it hard not to just jump right back in.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

number1sixerfan said:


> Even in a low tech tank, with a decent ecosystem/stocking the plants grow like wildfire, and you have to be very mindful to keep a good balance to avoid annoying algae issues.


The trick is to keep plants that don't grow quickly. Ferns, crypts, Anubias and the like. Smaller tanks also make things easier - think under 30 or so gallons.

The only time I spend more than about five minutes on a tank is when I want to take time to slow down and enjoy the process. In five minutes I can trim moss, remove anything unsightly, squeeze out sponges and swap water.

Keeping low-light tanks where you conduct a 10-20% water change each week would be a good route for you to take. Use plants that you don't have to constantly dose with fertilizer - maybe something that will do fine with root tabs or use a nutrient-rich substrate. 

If feeding fish takes up too much time, shrimp and other invertebrates could be the way to go. Only have to feed 2-3 times per week. Can even drop in an almond leaf and leave for a couple weeks without worry.



number1sixerfan said:


> I'm really hoping to get back into it in a year or so after things hopefully settle down.


Definitely rejoin us on the planted side when you can! We'll help you figure out ways to make it easier and less stressful. 

But pro-tip: start now by keeping a text file or a page in a notebook with ideas for what you want to do. Maybe even a folder where you save photos or a bookmarks folder with links to specific tank journals you find interesting. Just doing those things will help you tremendously when the time comes to step back in. Then do _exactly_ what you want. Even if it means waiting several weeks to find just the right substrate, piece of wood or saving up. You won't regret getting everything just right but you might regret going with options you don't absolutely love.


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## number1sixerfan (Nov 10, 2006)

somewhatshocked said:


> The trick is to keep plants that don't grow quickly. Ferns, crypts, Anubias and the like. Smaller tanks also make things easier - think under 30 or so gallons.
> 
> The only time I spend more than about five minutes on a tank is when I want to take time to slow down and enjoy the process. In five minutes I can trim moss, remove anything unsightly, squeeze out sponges and swap water.
> 
> ...


I really appreciate this response. One thing I know I didn't do in the last stint that I should have, was to try and find the right low power or non-planted tank lighting to reduce growth. I kept shorter light periods and used the lowest settings on my lights (24/7 planted tank OR Kessil 160s on 75-90g tanks), but still the plants grew like weeds lol. And I became really bad with pruning. I also had mostly slow growing plants, but not ONLY very slow growers.. that's another change I'd probably make which would be huge. 

The water changes and fish upkeep was ok. It was the constant pruning and occasional algae outbreaks that were rough. I'll definitely be back and I'll try a few different things and ask for feedback here. Thanks again.


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## ddiomede (Feb 21, 2011)

junior123 said:


> Just saltwater specific but after 20 years, being one of the first people to propagate some specific corals and breed a species of fish, I am out and coming back to planted.
> For me it was the change to all this “designer” corals. I miss people being in the hobby because of passion not status.
> That said I am setting up discus first so ya…


That's what made me lose interest in the hobby. I've been a member of a local reef forum and moderator, but became completely disinterested a few years back. There were a group of reefers who became very pompous and would negatively comment on beginners posts, or build threads where the reefers were either not interested in the "named" corals or just didn't see themselves spending money on a name. The forum quickly became the "elitists" vs "beginners" and moderating the arguments began becoming a part time job. They folks would show up to local meetups at LFS and had the same elitist attitude. It actually killed the forum because today when you log in it is like 95% for sale threads. They literally killed the local reefing community. It had gotten so bad that I basically lost interest in reefing and mainly just maintained my tank and removed myself from the reefing community. Took my last reef tank down in July of last year. I still have all my equipment and will likely set up a smaller reef tank this time around, but it'll be a pretty simple tank rather than high end, expensive stuff that I need to monitor every single day apart from the once a day check to see if everything looks good. 

To the question posed by this thread....

I think people lose interest for a lot of reasons. 

It could be a life change (having kids, work, etc.). Boredom can also play a role, along with getting tired of maintenance. 

Usually when I start losing interest, what happens is I start slacking on maintenance. The tank doesn't do well, and I transition to something that doesn't require as much maintenance. Having just torn down a reef and all the maintenance that goes along with them, I knew that going with a planted tank wouldn't require even half of the effort that a reef tank required so slacking really isn't an option because it's easier than what I'm used to. 

But the number one thing that I think drives people out of the hobby is that they jump in really fast, believe they can learn it as they go, don't get the results they want in a timely manner or start dealing with issues without the ability to pivot and solve the issues, get discouraged, and then they decide to get out. I think this is very common, at least based on what I've seen in the various Facebook groups. 

It was very common in reefing. I'd see two different kinds of people. The first would jump in with both feet, spend thousands, have a nice looking reef tank, then suddenly you'd see for sale threads because they're getting out. Reef tanks seem great, and they are, but what you don't usually see is the work that goes into really nice reef tanks and the stress that goes along with them. The second type were the budget reefers. They'd do everything possible to achieve the results that some of the unlimited budget reefers would get, and while you can get most of the way there, you have to be willing to put in a lot more work and even then you were pretty limited. Planted tanks seem to be the same from that perspective. It's hard to low tech your way into high tech results. I think this can cause folks to lose interest in the hobby. 

I only have one other friend I grew up with who is still into keeping aquariums. My other friends had aquariums, then got bored with them. I've had aquariums since I was about 5 years old and now I'm 43. I'll likely have aquariums well into my twilight years lol. There are so many different things you can do that it's hard to get bored with the hobby.


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## mourip (Mar 15, 2020)

ddiomede said:


> But the number one thing that I think drives people out of the hobby is that they jump in really fast, believe they can learn it as they go, don't get the results they want in a timely manner or start dealing with issues without the ability to pivot and solve the issues, get discouraged, and then they decide to get out.


This is so true and reminds me of another hobby that I had for a while, astronomy, and of one that I still have interest in, photography.

People see all of those great Hubble images and jump into what can be an expensive hobby. They get very frustrated once they find out what can actually be visualized through a telescope in suburban light polluted skies. Then there are cloudy nights and winter which whittle down viewing time. Lots of good deals on used telescopes...

Planted tanks are similar. Lots of great YouTube videos which make setting up a tank look so easy. The reality of achieving an algae free balance and a tank that looks like an ADA showpiece can dampen even the most dedicated enthusiasm. Add to that ongoing maintenance which is essential. Lots of good deals on used aquariums...


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## ddiomede (Feb 21, 2011)

mourip said:


> This is so true and reminds me of another hobby that I had for a while, astronomy, and of one that I still have interest in, photography.
> 
> People see all of those great Hubble images and jump into what can be an expensive hobby. They get very frustrated once they find out what can actually be visualized through a telescope in suburban light polluted skies. Then there are cloudy nights and winter which whittle down viewing time. Lots of good deals on used telescopes...
> 
> Planted tanks are similar. Lots of great YouTube videos which make setting up a tank look so easy. The reality of achieving an algae free balance and a tank that looks like an ADA showpiece can dampen even the most dedicated enthusiasm. Add to that ongoing maintenance which is essential. Lots of good deals on used aquariums...


Astronomy was always something that interested me. I think the main reason is one of my cousins is really into astronomy and turned it into a career building home observatories for universities and private individuals. I just never really jumped into it because of what you mentioned....I live a mile outside of Chicago so aside from the really, really bright stars, there's really too much light pollution. 

If you're curious about my cousin's company let me know and I'll shoot you a link to his website through PM.


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## ThreadFin (8 mo ago)

"Planted tanks seem to be the same from that perspective. It's hard to low tech your way into high tech results."
Great words of wisdom right there!!! Well said!


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## MJB13 (Jun 30, 2015)

Wow... umm, never. I have had aquariums for over 35 years, the last being a high-tech dirted tank I ran from 2016 to 2021. Tore it down due to health issues and all the maintenance required. A year later I'm researching low tech, walstead, anoxic, plenum and all manners of low tech tanks. I have enough stuff left that I can do so for almost nothing. Shallow carpeted low tech planted tank with some shrimp or a diccus and a few cardinals or maybe a low tech apisto tank is coming SOON! It never ends!!!


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## Starry Night (May 31, 2013)

I had a tank as a kid, then stopped for 10 years or so - college etc. Started up again in grad school and got into both planted tanks and a reef tank. Stopped again for a bit when I moved, set up a tank for a while but had to sell/give away everything when I moved onto my boat. REALLY missed having a tank though, so once I was back in my office full time post COVID I set up a little 10g office tank. It's driving me crazy right now with algae issues but the benefits definitely outweigh the negatives. Same thing for houseplants, obviously can't have any on the boat but my office is full of them. The plants and fishtank make me happy!


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## heavensabvus1 (Jan 26, 2010)

I've been in the hobby 35 years and have loved it....but time commitments change. There's nothing worse than a tank that you cannot properly devote enough time to. It just looks bad. We want to travel, do other things, have more room. So it's time to move on.


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## feneco5 (Jun 3, 2014)

I think the ebbs and flows of interest is a natural progression of figuring out what one is passionate about. Keeping aquariums is a huge hobby and no one will like everything nor have the time. I've pivoted multiple times and have settled on flora as opposed to fauna as being my focal point.


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## Nature Freak (Sep 30, 2019)

I read somewhere that algae is a major cause. 

Or maybe exploding tanks like mine just did. :/ 

Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

I'm restarting after a couple of years off.. last time I kicked the heater plug out on a cold night and killed all my favourite fish... I just left everything there for ages.


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