# General > AquaTalk >  Aquariums are so addictive as a hobby!?

## enhanzed

wonder why i became so hooked on it ...initially keep telling myself not to spend so much money ... just keep it low tech and simple ...but now .. almost every week spend money on the tank although i only got very little time to spend on it . 

worse than drugs ...start liow cant stop  :Exasperated: 

mods ...wrong thread,.. please help move thanks

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## Salphur

Hi,
i share the same sentiments with you, and until now i don't know why. I was very glad to be hooked though. Haha.

Cheers!

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## genes

Likewise, i planned for a low tech tank when i first started out with cheaper equipments. But in the end, end up spending money almost every week to upgrade the tank. Regretted this approach because turns out i spent much more in the end.

So for beginners who might be reading this thread. If budget is not a problem. Do some reading up before you splurge on the tank. Get good equipments that are reliable so they can last. Of course, good equipments come with a premium price, but in the long run, they save you more money.  :Smile:

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## celticfish

easier said than done dude.
but the buying also provides for a good learning process.
i.e. how can you get "better" at the hobby without paying tuyition fees?!  :Grin: 
from the process you will know what equipment is worth spending more money on and what is money down the drain.

and if you think equipment is a black hole... wait till you start a liking for exotic fish...  :Knockout:

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## enhanzed

i keep telling myself , ok keep it this way , as long as flora/fauna don't die ok already...no more additional stuff...BUT ....salary come only spend like crazy

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## samhon

Will work for apistos, shrimps, mosses, chiller, additives, fish food (for me and my fishes)

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## hebi

haha same here. from an ugly low-tech 3ft tank, to CO2 cylinder, to plants and more plants and equipments. but i believe the price i pay is worth it if i can go home and see a beautiful tank everyday :Smile:

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## shumkaol

yeah i agree its really addictive I started with betta now I have arowana and discus aside from 50+ betta. :Laughing:

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## Justikanz

I started with 1 plastic tank on a washing machine that will cause major quakes to the tank whenever there is a load...

Now I have 10 tanks... And that's because I de-commissioned 2 over the weekend...

And I found myself slowly expanding my interest from fish to aquatic plants to emersed forms of aquatic plants to fauna that can live with the emersed aquatic plants to terrestrial plants... The hobby is evolving but it is still revolving around fish...  :Smile: 

If I was to saved up all the money I ended up spending on the hobby since I started some 14 years ago, I would probably can buy a decent medium sized car already...  :Laughing:

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## Goondoo

> I started with 1 plastic tank on a washing machine that will cause major quakes to the tank whenever there is a load...
> 
> Now I have 10 tanks...


You have a big washing machine :Opps: , at least my washing machine top can't hold 10 tanks  :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Angel:

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## Justikanz

...

It was a medium sized plastic tank...  :Roll Eyes:

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## wasabi8888

At least your OC let's you keep a tank on the washing machine... count your blessings man

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## Justikanz

My mum was the OC...  :Laughing:

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## trident

> You have a big washing machine, at least my washing machine top can't hold 10 tanks



hahaha you bad.............. :Shocked:  :Grin:  :Laughing:

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## Freshman

> wonder why i became so hooked on it ...initially keep telling myself not to spend so much money ... just keep it low tech and simple ...but now .. almost every week spend money on the tank although i only got very little time to spend on it . 
> 
> worse than drugs ...start liow cant stop 
> 
> mods ...wrong thread,.. please help move thanks


Hi,
Set yourself a budget for this fish keeping hobbyist. This will greatly help you solve the overspending problem. :Smile: 

Read up more.. Research more... This can ease the urge to get more fishes.  :Laughing: 

Practice and program your mind to associate visit to LFS with visit to the dentist. :Shocked:  i.e. go only when necessary.. OR visit once a month for checkout(check out on fishes :Grin: )

I believe if you have planned and researched what fishes/setup you are going to get - you have a pleasant journey in keeping fish.

Lastly, it is all about self control..self discipline. It's all in the mind.  :Grin:  right? 

Cheers & Happy lunar new year.  :Smile:

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## illumnae

> Hi,
> 
> Practice and program your mind to associate visit to LFS with visit to the dentist. i.e. go only when necessary.. OR visit once a month for checkout(check out on fishes)


not feasible for me  :Grin:  going to LFS for me is a destressing journey so i require constant trips there

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## yeoyl87

orhh..... seems like more people fell into the bottomless hole of fish keeping. I kept on buying even though my tank is already high on bioload. Just can't resist nice fishes.

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## illumnae

when my tank is high on bioload, i start buying and upgrading equipment...or new and better types of fish food...i have so much fish food that i can't see myself being able to use them up by next year

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## daoism

i'm addicted too. i go to lfs every other day.

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## Razorblade

I started with 1 plastic tank on a washing machine that will cause major quakes to the tank whenever there is a load...

I like that quake thing....wake up all the creature inside when ever you do youe washing...hahaha...

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## yeoyl87

> when my tank is high on bioload, i start buying and upgrading equipment...or new and better types of fish food...i have so much fish food that i can't see myself being able to use them up by next year


 
hehe~ Bro Illumnae, don't waste good stuff. If needed, I can help you use  :Razz:  :Grin:

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## illumnae

no problem alan. feel free to drop by one day when we're both free and you can get some if you want. coffee on me too  :Grin:

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## Ah_ZhaN

Addiction is only the beginning stage...... 


I believe most of us have already fallen into the *Hardcore* category.

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## Shaihulud

I have 3 tanks in my room, one which is 4 ft, 2 tanks in my office. When i was living in kampong, we kept fish in concrete tanks.

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## luenny

Hahaha ... reading this thread makes me feel less guilty. My story is like this. I have been keeping and breeding fishes since a very young age but stop for a long time. So when I got my own place, I thought I'll have a tank to keep me busy. So started with fish addiction. Then I see planted tank, so I got addicted to plants and driftwood and other aquascaping stuff. And I found out that the existing fishes doesn't really go with the plants so I got new fishes. Then I went on to shrimps - cherry, CRS, long nose shrimps, malayan, yamatoes, etc. Then almost gave up on all that when I started keeping discus. Then got addicted to Iwagumi style so started a tank on that. And the tank looks so empty so I started buying shrimps again.

Hahaha ... I guess the more I read in forums like this, the more I'll spend.  :Grin:  :Laughing:  :Grin:

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## pepe2403

Well at least everyone here spends their money on a healthy hobby. I would rather spend my money on fishes and beautify my place rather than to spurge them on drinks and visits to clubs.

My husband used to frequent drinking joints until we both went hardcore into this hobby. Now we hardly have time for other stuff. All free time would be spent going around LFS and farms looking for stuff we need. As for the rest of our freetime would be spent maintaining the tanks at home.

I am thankful that we both love this hobby. :Kiss: 

As for the addicton part, i would say it's all about self control. Sometimes i see something which i really like but i cannot afford the space or budget to get it,i would just have another look and count 10 and move on. And most important, never go back to have a second look. If you do so tendency you will leave the shop with that fish. :Blah:  9 out of 10 times this 'count to 10' method works fine for me.

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## Justikanz

That's why the hobby's called addictive...  :Laughing: 

And that's why I had reduced going to LFSes... Its such a pain to leave the shop without buying anything!  :Razz:

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## pepe2403

I strongly agree with the feeling bad leaving the shop without buying anything. That is why now i will never go to LFS when i have nothing in mind to get.

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## benny

But the fun is to go into a LFS with nothing in mind and leaving with a bag full of treasures!!  :Evil: 

Cheers,

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## illumnae

haha that's so true benny! i call my regular visits to LFS my "destressing time" because it's relaxing just going to see fish and more often than not doing some retail therapy by scooping unexpected finds back home.

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## illumnae

> Well at least everyone here spends their money on a healthy hobby. I would rather spend my money on fishes and beautify my place rather than to spurge them on drinks and visits to clubs.
> 
> My husband used to frequent drinking joints until we both went hardcore into this hobby. Now we hardly have time for other stuff. All free time would be spent going around LFS and farms looking for stuff we need. As for the rest of our freetime would be spent maintaining the tanks at home.
> 
> I am thankful that we both love this hobby.
> 
> As for the addicton part, i would say it's all about self control. Sometimes i see something which i really like but i cannot afford the space or budget to get it,i would just have another look and count 10 and move on. And most important, never go back to have a second look. If you do so tendency you will leave the shop with that fish. 9 out of 10 times this 'count to 10' method works fine for me.


i fully agree with you...fishkeeping might cause us to spend money, but what hobby doesn't? at least this hobby is healthy unlike drinking to oblivion every weekend  :Grin: 

like my fiancee says (jokingly) also...every minute i spent on fish is 1 minute i'm not potentially out with another woman!

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## pepe2403

Many a times we have to remind ourselves to do anything with moderation. Same goes with our fish keeping hobby. I would say it's all about self control and good management skills.
No point keep buying fishes and not being able to care and give them the best.

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## luenny

I cannot not go LFS. My discus wallop a box of frozen bloodworm every week or so. So I have to go top up every week because I only have a small space in my freezer that's meant for fish food. In fact I go so often that the shop keeper knows me already. I get automatic discount if I deal with the bosses.  :Smile: 

Anyway, you are right, LFS has a lot of temptations. So I try to get in, grab what I need and leave ASAP. 

Now if I can only get the thought of those @#*(# Sulawesi shimps and those @#@*( zebra pleco out of my mind, I'll be able to sleep peacefully tonight. Darn!  :Laughing:   :Mad:  :Opps:

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## pepe2403

Wow seems like we got the same headache.
Now my husband dare not bring me to NKS. Once i go there i will yak about the zebra pleco for at least a couple of days :Razz:

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