Thinking about quitting

[sarahlovesfish]

I have been in this hobby for around 4-5 years, and I am currently a junior in high school. I have been so busy lately, and I find I don't have the time for a saltwater tank. Every time I buy fish, something goes wrong in qt, and they end up dying with diseases. I had to take out fish several times due to ich even when they were quarantined. I put a lot of work into it, but nothing much comes out of it. I think my only fish in the tank which was a fire goby died, and I have a shrimp left. There is also hair algae. I am just way too busy right now with driving, math, high school, and pursuing my future career in animation. Should I just quit? I really love this hobby, and I plan on taking a break from it and restart when I am done with college. I still love fish, so I might get a freshwater tank since they are more low maintenance. I am really sad about this situation :'(

[twowordz]

I took a 4 year break and I'm just getting back into it.

Why not?

[toothybugs]

I was where you are once. A break isn't a bad thing if it's needed - it's a break, not a quit. The fire won't go out just because you have to put things on hold until life stabilizes a bit.

[sarahlovesfish]

I like reef tanks way too much to quit completely so taking a long break is a good idea, rather than letting my tank sit around and suffer. I might attempt to make a freshwater tank if I am up to it. :)

[toothybugs]

I would suggest you don't, I tried that and I found it just boring by comparison :)

[sarahlovesfish]

I would suggest you don't, I tried that and I found it just boring by comparison :)

now that I think about it, that's true. After seeing reef tanks, freshwater would be dull.

[joshky]

Nothing wrong with taking a break, sometimes you just have to put hobbies aside until you have more free

[Metazoer]

I had a fun little reef in high school. Then I took a nearly 20 year break, and now that I'm finally getting a house I will be getting a nice big reef =)

College is good time to take a break, for sure. Focus on your studies and saving as much money as you can.

[coralsnaked]

Turn this into an opportunity for you and the aquarium. Let it go fallow for 8 weeks with no fish. This should alleviate the iche parasite and with no feeding you should see a big improvement with the hair algae. Also give you a chance to work simply on driving, math, high school, and pursuing your future career. Then for a couple of months make your hobby one of researching how to properly quarantine fish. Buy a couple of compatible fish from the Divers Den or Blue Zoo or similar reputable OL LFS and put your recent knowledge into action. Learning is the best thing about reefing. Take the long slow road and stay off the hiways.

[Kearnel]

I'm not sure I'd call fresh water boring, it depends on what you do. Easier to maintain, yes, but at the same time they can be equally beautiful. I've seen many planted fresh water aquariums that I absolutely loved. If I had the space I would absolutely have a large Amazon themed fresh water tank but don't have the space for right now. By comparison yes, it's boring but can be fun and enjoyable in it's own right.

[phillrodrigo]

I agree with Coralsnaked. Or I would just do a fowlr with just a few fish. Quitting isn't a bad idea either if it's necessary. I just think having a fowlr would be about the same work as a freshwater tank but with cooler fish

[d2mini]

You are young, you need to worry about finishing high school and going to college.
Make these your priorities for now and when things settle down, get back into the hobby.
This is a tough hobby that can really take a lot of time and effort to be successful, so don't feel bad if you need to step away for a bit. You have plenty of time to get back into it someday. :)

If you just can't break away, set up a simple little 8g nano with a clownfish and a couple sexy shrimp or something. Something nice and simple. I have that at my office and it doesn't look great but I spend almost no time on it.

[GSMclowns]

sarahlovesfish,

you are still young, use that money to go and hang out with your friends.
If you are thinking about quitting, then quit for awhile. study, go to college. Come back when you have more time.

[RedStangGA]

I'm with the group that says just let your tank me for a few months. Without fish it will eventually die out. Without feeding and moderate water changes the HA should wither away.

I think the key to fish is getting healthy specimens in the first place. Make sure you aren't getting fragile or "expert only" species.

After a few months reevaluate where you're at. Did it free up any time for you? Did it still take up time you needed for more important matters?

You don't mention your system size. Maybe something smaller is in order.

[Ktm898]

being in high school, i have the same thoughts. in the end my tank is an escape from issues. It may not be pretty with only few corals and 5 fish in my 75gal, but its what i can do. If you feel it is really a burden take a break. Don't quit because your tank does not look like others.

[m0nkie]

I honestly think high school was my most free time period.. homework, work, test, sports and SAT... thats it..

College was fairly chill.. mostly drinking..

Now working.. barely any time left in the day.. work, dinner, clean tank.. 10pm -.-