How much do you care about your fish?

[Slocke]

For I think the 4th or 5th time in this hobby I lost a named fish, IKEA. She was always a coward and other than being pretty I can't really say why I cared about this fish more than others, but I did. She always hid when I walked in, let my maroon clown bully it, and my dragon wrasse groom it but when it died I buried it and have to admit shed a few tears.

However, there have also been fish that died where I hardly even felt sad.


So I wonder where we all feel our fish are in our hearts and cruelly rate them but also maybe tell me about the fish you care the most about?

 

[KrisReef]

Sorry you lost Ikea.

I can't raise the dead so I try not to abuse my fishes or my wife through neglect or overfeeding. Sadly my wife (who can carry on a conversations) would tell you that I am a lousy husband. If my fish could talk I suspect that some of them might also say this, but I can't allow their opinions to get me down. I do overfeed them all, but I did not make them swallow the food. They seemed happy to devour it.

I do hope I die before my wife because I don't want to deal with digging a hole in the backyard large enough and deep enough to hide my grief in.

My wife's name is Lisa, so she shared two letters of her name with Ikea. I think this is more than a random coincidence since the also both only have 4 letters each in their names. That's like 50/50 the same!

If my wife ever dies in mysterious circumstances I hope the investigators never happen to read this post. Parting can be sad, especially when you cared about something or someone. I don't grieve very well. I just let my feelings dry up like a fish that jumped out late last night and then died silently behind the tank. Is there even a proper name for that kind of idle detachment?

I'm gonna skip this poll. Again, sorry.

 

[rayadog]

^sus

I will go out of my way to fix, treat, improve quality of life but never utterly heart broken if 1 dies. Maybe demoralized. My tank gets more practical emotions; time to move on, don’t make the same mistake twice.

 

[CHSUB]

Been through numerous hurricanes and lost my entire tank in 2005. Since than my aquarium is prepared for power outages. I never evacuate however this year, Milton, I was concerned about storm surge and evacuated. Took my dogs and cat, but left the fish….so voting one level below dog/cat I guess.

 

[EricR]

….so voting one level below dog/cat I guess.

Same here

 

[Schulks]

I hate losing fish. Recently I had a carpenters wrasse who jumped behind the aquarium. To get him I had to lift a 10gallon water reservoir and when I did I crushed him flat. It was quick.. but there was just something about his personality. He was really shy and I felt like the monster he thought I was :((

Generally I am only sad for a day but that one stuck with me. So it really depends on the fish.

When I lose my clowns i will be very torn up. They were my first fish and used to follow me everywhere. Nearly 4 years with me!

Voted just below dog/cat

 

[Bob Weigant]

I do care for the fish and I certainly don't want them to die. I give them good food and they get to swim and eat and chill with there friends in a peaceful setting with no predators. Sometimes Id like to change places

 

[Reefering1]

Hard to follow @KrisReef 's post Huh...
But yes I care.
Like @CHSUB , in Florida, hurricanes(power lost after) was behind most my deaths and the best I could do I be better prepared. I am now.
My worse loss was my yellow wrasse. Was the happiest little fish, he would follow me around the pond with his dorsal fin out the water(like a shark) and let me pet him.. while cleaning he jumped and I didn't realize it, instead I stepped on him as I left the room- smearing him into the carpet. I felt something wt, saw something squishy- figured it was a snail and went to eat. It was gross looking so I left the "snail" there to dry up a bit so I don't have to handle it much. A week goes by and I realize the wrasse isn't just hiding and I take another look and realize that snail was my little yellow buddy.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I love my fish and grieve when they pass but the first losses were the hardest. Over time the grieving process has become more abridged. I am also more attached to some fish than others depending on the amount of time they’ve been with me and particular personalities. My worst losses were to ich. A clown and a fox face that hung out with each other until they lost their battle. It was terrible.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I care alot about my fish and I am definitely very upset when one dies. They are like my two dogs and have almost the same bond.

Sorry about your loss!

 

[Goaway]

I am sorry @Slocke

Fish have a job to do. However, I am slightly attached to my ribbon eel and copperband. The rest need to work and they are just lazy :(

If I lost my cbb or ribbon eel. I'll cry. There wont be a couple of tears. I'll just cry.

 

[Slocke]

I feel like maybe my top tiers are slightly miscommunicated. I feel like some cats and dogs can surpass average dog/cat tier and become “best friend tier”

 

[KrisReef]

I feel like maybe my top tiers are slightly miscommunicated. I feel like some cats and dogs can surpass average dog/cat tier and become “best friend tier”

Excellent.
We got you past the first stage of grief and now you are starting to think more clearly.

Additional tier suggestions:
"If my wife passes, I will try not to cheer."
"If my blue tang passes, I will grieve for a year."
If I pass, (you fill in the blanks. I won't have to be present to process it.)

Fill in your own blanks wisely.

 

[commod0re]

Somewhere in between the “shed a single tear” and “dog/cat” levels generally, I’d say. I get sad, and then determined to learn how to do better, whenever anything living that I’m responsible for even has a rough time…
My little clownfish came from the store with one of his fins nearly gone, he was in the LFS tank with 2 other clowns so we’d guess it was just normal clown tussling but I still wrung hands, researched repeatedly, and monitored closely for a good two weeks until it was showing extremely obvious signs of healing/regrowth even though he seemed completely fine otherwise

I’m also pretty attached to my Halloween hermit crab already as well and I’m unsure yet how hard it will hit me if something happens to little Harry lol

 

[BryanM]

For I think the 4th or 5th time in this hobby I lost a named fish, IKEA. She was always a coward and other than being pretty I can't really say why I cared about this fish more than others, but I did. She always hid when I walked in, let my maroon clown bully it, and my dragon wrasse groom it but when it died I buried it and have to admit shed a few tears.

However, there have also been fish that died where I hardly even felt sad.


So I wonder where we all feel our fish are in our hearts and cruelly rate them but also maybe tell me about the fish you care the most about?

I think its still too new/soon for me, but I do care a lot about them, and I'm sure if I keep them alive for 5+ years I'll be shedding a tear when they die.

I'm a blubbering mess when any of our pet dogs passes.

 

[RockRash]

Same here

Ya, I'm with you guys. Although I will say, this go around I have QT'd every fish in my new tank. I do feel more attached to the new fish than any other in the past.

 

[exnisstech]

Somewhere in between the “shed a single tear” and “dog/cat” levels generally, I’d say

This is exactly What I was going to say.
My dogs are at best friend level tho . Ok I'll be honest they are my only friends :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing: