Those of you who keep fish as pets, what do you get out of it?

I would like to have a large fish tank. It’s a peaceful kind of feeling, like having plants in the house.

As others have said, it’s a calming influence.

But keep in mind that fish die (so don’t get emotionally attached). You have to make sure the heater and the pump are always on, and you do need to keep the tank clean.

So… it’s not all fun and games.

I have a good friend who’s passionate about fish. I’ve really enjoyed sitting in front of his tank and hearing him give me a full personality inventory of each of the fish. He gets to know all of their individual characters and quirks, puts his hand in and interacts with them, studies how they relate to each other, what they like to do and when, which are smart and which are dumb, etc. He’s learned to get inside their little fishy heads and really bonds with them.

Fillets.

An outstanding, nitrogen packed punch when you water your, uh, plants with the dirty water.

I have a wonderful white and gold fish who knows me by the sound of my voice. Toby ignores everyone in the house but me. When I come into the room, he swims to the glass and makes bubbles until I come over and say good morning. Yes, I’m the only one that feeds him, but I don’t think food is why he reacts to me differently. When others try to get his attention, he hides behind his castle. I’m flattered that he has chosen me. He reminds me of how special I am.

Its like a world in a glass box that You made. And the fish contently move about in it.

There is a very large and meticulously maintained fish tank in the waiting room of my oncologist’s and his partners’ practice.

Watching the varied and brilliantly colored fish and listening to the soothing sound of the bubbler has a calming effect on me. I deliberately don’t read magazines or talk to anyone while I wait for the dreaded yearly exam, but breathe and observe the fish. The experience keeps my blood pressure from rocketing.

My mother used to have a fish tank, and just listening to the sounds and watching them swim around was very relaxing. I’d love to have a saltwater tank with Nemo and Dory fish, but I hear those are a bitch to keep up.

I’m much like @thorninmud ‘s friend. Going to school for marine biology as well so it’s nice to be able to study tropical marine life in my own house :)

@Blondesjon aquaponics

@WillWorkForChocolate IMO saltwater is easier to maintain and the fish live much longer. It’s just a lot more expensive to set up initially

A real screensaver.

We had a 50 gallon tank that, at different points, were filled with fancy goldfish, Africans, or similar fish. I got nothing out of it but a huge pain in my ass. My husband liked it, though I never understood why. I was glad when he sold all that shit.

@livelaughlove21 you had boring fish. It’s a bit different when you have something like this

How cool is the albino pleco? Someone just posted him in a fish facebook group. He looks like a cartoon!

@uberbatman A hell of a lot more expensive too.

I dream of having an entire wall of fish tank…wouldn’t that be cool?

Aw, @uberbatman your link gave me this:
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The requested resource/tanks/img/807_Reef_Tank_1.jpg
is no longer available on this server and there is no forwarding address. Please remove all references to this resource.
I have a 46gal tank; I have a pair of angel fish who terrorize the few tetras that I have, so I never see them, they’re always hiding in the plants. But I really like the angel fish. I just enjoy watching them… relaxing.

@Dutchess_III I always thought it’d be really cool if I lived in a warm location and had a pool to just fill it up with saltwater and keep fish in there :P

I find fish very therapeutic to watch.

Let’s go wild…EVERY wall in your house is floor to ceiling fish tank!

I just picked up a 40 gallon tank from Craigslist. And so it begins…:)

I’m getting one of these. Yay!

@Mama_Cakes Nice! These guys are pretty cool. Keep in mind though, as I’m sure you already know, goldfish are EXTREMELY dirty. So just stay on top of keeping the tank clean etc.

And make sure to put some pictures up here once your tank is cycled and what not :)

Uber, I’ll be going with a thin layer of Tahitian Moon Sand. Been doing a lot of research and I’ve read that they’re awfully messy (big poopers!). I’ll be all up on the water changes/substrate cleaning, don’t worry! I do have a great filtration system, too. A h.o.b. AquaClear Power Filter
70 (300). Plus, I’ll be getting a few large apple snails to help with the algae.

Check out these bad boys.

Hopefully the goldfish won’t eat your snails…

My oncologist’ office has a huge and beautiful tank in the middle of the waiting room. Even the sound of the bubbler is soothing, particularly since they have the good sense to not play music or have TV’s on.

@uberbatman, the more that I read up on it, the more that I see that apple snails are a bad idea. Someone posted this in a fish forum that I’m apart of:

I think u won’t have a problem with other snails though, the problem with mysterys and apples is they need to reach the surface or extend their breathing siphon – constant pecking will prevent the snails from coming out of their shell to move towards the surface so they will basically drowning/suffocating themselves.

@Mama_Cakes The problem is that most other snails like nerites are also small enough for the goldfish to just eat whole. Maybe consider a couple golden algae eaters or even a pleco

Someone on another site mentioned bristlenose plecos.

I’m apart of this group and they’re really helpful.

As far as plecos, this is what I read:

If you get a rubberlip or bristlenose, you won’t even have to worry about them attacking the golds. All the reports of plecos sucking the slimecoats of golds that I’ve seen involves commons, and only when starving & have nothing else to eat.

Fancies do better at temp of 75 or so, and that suits the plecos just fine. So as long as your goldfish tank is heated & big enough, a dwarf pleco should be just fine. I’ve had a rubberlip with my fancies for almost a year now & all is well.

I’m thinking about one of these guys.

Oh helpful hint…if your tank ends up being pretty void of algae you don’t need to buy those special algae pellets to feed the pleco. They will eat cucumbers as well. Just cut a piece off and sink it with some kind of weight.

There are many critters that will live in an aquarium my wife has crustaceans Yabbies and crabs they are so cool with their moon walks in the evening. There are feed fish in there as well although the crusties are vegetation.