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Is your hobby distracting you?
It's almost a year since I got into this hobby (plants+fish). I am getting distracted @work and @home. Whenever I have some time, I go online for hobby related info. I know there is a learning curve for fish, plants, water, equipments and diseases. But, I wonder what happens down the road - say 5 years, 10 years etc.
So, here's the question for you experienced folks out there.
Do you still get distracted?
On average, how much time do you spend weekly on your hobby?
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Dude, the wife thinks I'm having an affair with the fish, the internet, Simply! I'm on Simply when I'm awake, doesn't matter if I am at home or work. If I am at home, its a constant keeping of the fish, which makes my day worth while. I feed them all day, clean all the tanks, prep all the new water and its the same with each passing day. What do you think? Distracted or determined? :D
Eddie
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
what eddie said:D
sounds like you need to quit the job move out of the house and get a 70x50 building and set up more tanks:angel:
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Dude its all worth it after u see your school of discus moving from one part of tank to other part. :D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Does being completely new at this and actually contemplating putting up a video feed so that I can watch them while I am work count?
Mishka
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chaoslite
Does being completely new at this and actually contemplating putting up a video feed so that I can watch them while I am work count?
Mishka
That would be awesome! Could you just imagine how understanding your partner would be if they bought the equipment and set it up for you as a gift. Dreams......just dreams. LOL :D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
To To Funny Eddie and Chaoslite.....I'm still amazed you can go from one tank a year ago and have multi tanks and a fish room a year later...lol
Also, if the partner really loves you, they should do that for you........lol
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Eddie
Dude, the wife thinks I'm having an affair with the fish, the internet, Simply! I'm on Simply when I'm awake, doesn't matter if I am at home or work. If I am at home, its a constant keeping of the fish, which makes my day worth while. I feed them all day, clean all the tanks, prep all the new water and its the same with each passing day. What do you think? Distracted or determined? :D
Eddie
Eddie, you must be on simply when you're asleep as well!:)
Distraction is a wonderful thing! Taken in moderation of course.;)
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
I work at an internet service provider. I work with geeks that would do it for me, but I am trying to refrain?:D:D:D:D:D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
calihawker
Eddie, you must be on simply when you're asleep as well!:)
Distraction is a wonderful thing! Taken in moderation of course.;)
Definitely Steve, most definitely. ;) I do dream of discus.....doing water changes. LOL Just kidding! :D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Let's see, a year and a half ago I had one 72 bowfront. A year later I added a 55 to separate my 3 non-spawning discus and divided the four that were. Then one of the 3 none spawners started laying huge clusters of eggs, I sold the two remaining none spawners, and paid IMO big bucks to get a 99% sure male shipped in to have three pairs. That of course meant I need to get a 10 gallon QT. Then the 72 sprung a leak and I bought an emergency 29 and replaced the 72. Of course even though I've tried unsuccessfully to repair the 72 twice it's still sitting in the basement for a third try sometime. Now being on my third batch of fry I really want to quit dividing tanks and having to worry about fry getting to "the dark side" of the divider, so I just bought a used 26 bowfront off Craigslist. Lets see, that's one, two, three, four, five soon to be active tanks plus one leaker. I'm working on plans for a fishroom in the basement as I really want to get the two tanks and the BBS making bucket out of the guestroom. Distraction, what distraction? It's either work, fish, eat, or sleep, no distractions. Oh, did I mention I seem to be getting about 2 hours less sleep a night than I use to? Did I mention I have a wife? I still do have a wife don't I? Hang on...yup, there's a woman sleeping in my bed while I'm up feeding bbs. :D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
It has been 39 years of fish keeping distraction for me! It began when I was just a kid! Now, with a 125 gal. tank of discus it is extra pleasantly distracting. The only time I don't enjoy it is when I know I need to do a wc and can't due to being away or almost asleep.
Barb:D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
I'm single, don't have children and enjoy my job so the amount of time I spend on my discus hobby isn't a problem. I think when spouses, and particularly children, are in the picture, then the hobbyist needs to think carefully about his priorities.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
for most people (myself included) i think this infatuation phase passes and you eventually reach a happy medium.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
I can not get Discus out of my mind even when asleep, I have them in my dreams. and I spend 99% of my online time on Discus related sites.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Phew! Looks like I am in for the long run...So far so good, let's see if priorities change in the future. Till then, I guess I am "determined"....:)
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
When you move more than five times in under six years and still have some of those original discus with you, no, it's not a distraction, just part of your life.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Ya i have to agree with eddie, my girl was not to into the discus thing for sometime, me telling her i need to do a WC today, shes would say, those fish get more attention and eat better then she does ha ha.. it took awhile for her to catch on.. One time, i actually got her to make a seafood mix with me, i had her cut up all the fish and what not, when we were at the store i told her, hmmmm.. lets try this type of fish along with are others in the mix this time. Once we got it going she non stopped said how NASTY the smell was, i was laughing the whole time.. I secretly had 2 cups of prime reef, formula one and freeze dried brine shrimp, that i mixed up with my bullet befor she got home, and had it setting in the pantry where she couldnt see it.
She ran outside to say hi to a neighbor, i quickly added it to the mix and whipped it up really good.. I have not used this befor, but i thought it would work great. When she came back i told her i bet the fish will love your motherly touch in there food and she laughed and said, Nolan, there just fish, they wont tell, i said just watch, i bet they can taste the love you put into it.... When it came time to feed them, i said, drop this in there and lets see if they like your food. The fish MURDERED it! I was like WOW.. look at that. Shes like, man they really like that stuff i made.. Now she makes all the seafood mix. I convienced her that she does a better job at it then me.. And she knows how much i like my fish.. The words out of her mouth where something like, GOD DAMMIT! ha ha
Thanks prime reef and formula one!
Nolan
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chhabi19
It's almost a year since I got into this hobby (plants+fish). I am getting distracted @work and @home. Whenever I have some time, I go online for hobby related info. I know there is a learning curve for fish, plants, water, equipments and diseases. But, I wonder what happens down the road - say 5 years, 10 years etc.
So, here's the question for you experienced folks out there.
Do you still get distracted?
On average, how much time do you spend weekly on your hobby?
I have always wanted discus now I have been keeping them for about 5 months now and my fiancee is already sick of hearing about them. I don't have a lot like most people do but I spend about a hour or two every day on them. She keeps telling me if I am online it is either looking at motorcycles or fish. Little does she know 99% of the time it is fish :D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
dean9922
To To Funny Eddie and Chaoslite.....I'm still amazed you can go from one tank a year ago and have multi tanks and a fish room a year later...lol
Also, if the partner really loves you, they should do that for you........lol
Times like this makes me think of how nice it is to be single :D.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
machine77
Ya i have to agree with eddie, my girl was not to into the discus thing for sometime, me telling her i need to do a WC today, shes would say, those fish get more attention and eat better then she does ha ha.. it took awhile for her to catch on.. One time, i actually got her to make a seafood mix with me, i had her cut up all the fish and what not, when we were at the store i told her, hmmmm.. lets try this type of fish along with are others in the mix this time. Once we got it going she non stopped said how NASTY the smell was, i was laughing the whole time.. I secretly had 2 cups of prime reef, formula one and freeze dried brine shrimp, that i mixed up with my bullet befor she got home, and had it setting in the pantry where she couldnt see it.
She ran outside to say hi to a neighbor, i quickly added it to the mix and whipped it up really good.. I have not used this befor, but i thought it would work great. When she came back i told her i bet the fish will love your motherly touch in there food and she laughed and said, Nolan, there just fish, they wont tell, i said just watch, i bet they can taste the love you put into it.... When it came time to feed them, i said, drop this in there and lets see if they like your food. The fish MURDERED it! I was like WOW.. look at that. Shes like, man they really like that stuff i made.. Now she makes all the seafood mix. I convienced her that she does a better job at it then me.. And she knows how much i like my fish.. The words out of her mouth where something like, GOD DAMMIT! ha ha
Thanks prime reef and formula one!
Nolan
Hahahaa thats great, for the first time yesterday I got my wife to help with a WC!! Just had her filling the buckets with water... its a start...
I feel its only a "Distraction" if your wife doesn't care for fish...
but I can tell, she's breaking down! I see the way she stares at them lately! She says she doesn't care about them... only a matter of time :D :D :D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
I had a party the other night, and my boyfriend pretended to pour beer into the tank (after it had been thoroughly washed out and cleaned and taste tested and filled with water) to make me "laugh". It took me literally half a second to run across the house, grab the bottle out of his hand, point it at him, and tell him to get the hell out of my house, in front of all our friends. He nearly gave me a heartattack with his little prank and at the end of the night, he was constantly apologizing to me, AND my fish. Honestly, the whole thing made me cry! He promised to do water changes for me to make it up. And the tank is fine, thank god. I think one drop of water made it in before the bottle was in my hands.
I've been with him for almost 4 years and I would definitely throw him out before anything with my fish :D So maybe unconditional love and passion for this hobby describes it better than "distracting"!
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
I guess I have it lucky. My husband not only encourages me, but he is giving me his bonus from work to set up a tank and buy discus. He's also gonna drive down to the states for me to pick up said discus.
But back to the topic. I haven't even gotten the discus and I spend most of my day on here. I know after getting the discus I'll be here more often to make sure I keep up to date on the most "trendy" ways of improving the lives of my fish. Also I'm used to my pets getting better treatment than me. My dog and cat have had new zealand lamb, north american bison, and quite a lot more exotic foods that I couldn't afford for myself.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
setarei
I guess I have it lucky. My husband not only encourages me, but he is giving me his bonus from work to set up a tank and buy discus. He's also gonna drive down to the states for me to pick up said discus.
But back to the topic. I haven't even gotten the discus and I spend most of my day on here. I know after getting the discus I'll be here more often to make sure I keep up to date on the most "trendy" ways of improving the lives of my fish. Also I'm used to my pets getting better treatment than me. My dog and cat have had new zealand lamb, north american bison, and quite a lot more exotic foods that I couldn't afford for myself.
Wow, your other half is a keeper BIG time! If that ever happened to me, I would have died and gone to heaven! lol
Keep us updated on your tank/fish!
Eddie
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Will do once I have something to update. Right now I can just post a bunch of pics of empty tanks. Not too interesting...
I think I'm passing the bug since my husband did decide to try his hand with his own tank (zebras, ADF, and a betta). So far I've had to do the water changes/feedings since he keeps forgetting to do things when left alone. Given time, he'll be taking care of the discus.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
The Discus Hobby for more is an intense one...thats saying it lightly... between the forum and the fish....luckily, its part of my Family and they all enjoy what I do and what we do together.. My lkids are very involved and my wife enjoys the fish I keep....shes not always thrilled with the forum aspect of things but she knows where my heart is after all these years.
I'm pretty sure its distracting me though...I know if it wasn't for the forum and Discus I could become a rocket scientist or a beach bum somewhere in the world.:D
-al
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Just be careful that you don't use fish like a drug or any other addiction. Do not use fish to escape from the realities of life. I pretty much altogether stopped posting in any forum. Sometimes I browse like this morning and saw this post - felt it was worth posting in. And with the fish themselves I look at the tank for 10 minutes or so then move on with something else in the home. I'll come back to the tank for a few minutes monitor the situation but that's about it. I had to be honest with myself and realize that the so called "fish hobby" of mine was some sort of crutch. It can happen and I bet it's happening to more people then you may think. I bet some people are even justifying their addiction by saying things like - I don't gamble anymore, or drink anymore, or cheat anymore, or ___ ____ ___, anymore. But you don't replace one addiction with another. And, you don't deal with your relationship problems by looking at fish all day. Just felt like posting this after being in the hobby real hard for a few years and checking people out and their behaviours. So my answer is NOPE! My fish hobby is no longer distracting me at all. I enjoy them when I can on my terms.
Edit: Oh, and let me say this too - if you're spending tons of money on fish and you work for a living - perhaps you should really re-evaluate the situtation.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Hey to each his own. As long as you're happy with yourself at the end of the day.
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
CTD
I can not get Discus out of my mind even when asleep, I have them in my dreams. and I spend 99% of my online time on Discus related sites.
agreed with him.. after those horrible things happened to me.. i never let the discus off my mind.. i always think of them and trying to put things together.. and gladly that i am back on track.. now, i have 15 juveniles and loving taking care of them..
this is addiction..
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Hmmm.... I guess I'm guilty since when I go traveling around in East Asia on vacation, I have "visit discus breeder" as a "must do" item on my lists of things to do. :D:D:D
Walter
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
Tito
Just be careful that you don't use fish like a drug or any other addiction. Do not use fish to escape from the realities of life. I pretty much altogether stopped posting in any forum. Sometimes I browse like this morning and saw this post - felt it was worth posting in. And with the fish themselves I look at the tank for 10 minutes or so then move on with something else in the home. I'll come back to the tank for a few minutes monitor the situation but that's about it. I had to be honest with myself and realize that the so called "fish hobby" of mine was some sort of crutch. It can happen and I bet it's happening to more people then you may think. I bet some people are even justifying their addiction by saying things like - I don't gamble anymore, or drink anymore, or cheat anymore, or ___ ____ ___, anymore. But you don't replace one addiction with another. And, you don't deal with your relationship problems by looking at fish all day. Just felt like posting this after being in the hobby real hard for a few years and checking people out and their behaviours. So my answer is NOPE! My fish hobby is no longer distracting me at all. I enjoy them when I can on my terms.
Edit: Oh, and let me say this too - if you're spending tons of money on fish and you work for a living - perhaps you should really re-evaluate the situtation.
I think if people wanna spend there money on expensive fish, let them.. Its there money, and from the looks of it ALOT of people are.. its just your opinion, which only matters to you. Weather people spend there money on fish, boats, cars, animals, tattoo's, music or any other hobby, there gonna spend it somewhere some how. If they have the money, let them do as they please. No one has the right to tell someone else how to run there life or that they need to re-evaluate there situation.. Its a hobby and nothing more, not even a way of life.. And you said dont deal with your relationship problems by looking at fish, well i think if you use common sense, you'll see that will only make things worse. And who does that anyways... ha ha
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
machine77
I think if people wanna spend there money on expensive fish, let them.. Its there money, and from the looks of it ALOT of people are.. its just your opinion, which only matters to you. Weather people spend there money on fish, boats, cars, animals, tattoo's, music or any other hobby, there gonna spend it somewhere some how. If they have the money, let them do as they please. No one has the right to tell someone else how to run there life or that they need to re-evaluate there situation.. Its a hobby and nothing more, not even a way of life.. And you said dont deal with your relationship problems by looking at fish, well i think if you use common sense, you'll see that will only make things worse. And who does that anyways... ha ha
Wow! From somebody who got his first discus...last month?
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
I think the point of this discussion was just to chat. Let's stop taking things so seriously. Everyone has plenty of hobbies and they choose their priorities, can we just go back to joking around about our significant others?
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
setarei
I think the point of this discussion was just to chat. Let's stop taking things so seriously. Everyone has plenty of hobbies and they choose their priorities, can we just go back to joking around about our significant others?
+1 :)
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
setarei
I think the point of this discussion was just to chat. Let's stop taking things so seriously. Everyone has plenty of hobbies and they choose their priorities, can we just go back to joking around about our significant others?
+2 :D
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
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Originally Posted by
mmorris
Wow! From somebody who got his first discus...last month?
ha ha.. To clear the air, my first discus was not last month. Ive had discus for many years so.....
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
And MY significant other, bless her heart, admitted to me when I returned from a business trip, that she had OVERFILLED my 125 during a water change! But she cleaned it up, and how could I ever be angry ? ? ?:confused: Hey, she was doing the water changes ! ! !
She said she got distracted, and then she heard water spilling, sort of frowned, and then OMG, ran into the dining room, and HANDLED IT LIKE A PRO.
Now, that's what I call a SIGNIFICANT other!!!
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Re: Is your hobby distracting you?
Ya that just happened to my husband. Except it was a few gallons of water, on carpet... The room doesn't smell so fresh even though we cleaned it up good. Will get a carpet cleaner today and try that.