hobby guilt

[nihoa]

our tank was stricken with ick and while we do our best to try and fix things our poor little lemonpeel angel is not doing well at all. im amazed she has lasted this long and the way she is laying on her side, not moving much, we dont expect her to make it through the night.
when things are going well in our tank it is easy to convince ourselves that removing these animals from the wild and keeping them in our home is almost win-win. they are well taken care of and we enjoy their company. but when things go wrong and a fish slowly dies over 5 days it becomes very difficult to feel good about having removed them from the reef for such an existence.
i dont blame myself for the situation our lemonpeel is in. we are doing the best we can for her and if it wasnt our tank that she landed in with ick it would have been someone elses (she brought the ick with her). that said, i cant help but feel guilty for contributing to demand for these fish and paying into a system that by its very nature can never guarantee things wont get sick and die. it would be unrealistic to expect otherwise, i know, but that doesnt mean i cant vent about it.
my bottom line? i feel like ---- our fish is suffering when it could be cruising around the reef.

 

[snakeblitz33]

aww, there there. Everything's going to be fine. Research and diligence really does pay off in this hobby.

 

[eric b 125]

sure, your fish (all of our fish) could be on the reef right now, but that's not to say that said reef would be ANY safer than our aquariums.

 

[nihoa]

Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33
http:///forum/post/2945669
aww, there there. Everything's going to be fine. Research and diligence really does pay off in this hobby.
research and diligence would not have prevented us from getting a sick fish in the mail. the shop we bought from is reputable but ---- happens. you cant tell me research and diligence = nothing bad ever happens. i already said it would be unreasonable to expect no deaths in the tank but my point is that the responsibility weighs heavy when it does.

 

[nihoa]

Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/2945831
sure, your fish (all of our fish) could be on the reef right now, but that's not to say that said reef would be ANY safer than our aquariums.
true and besides my point. what happens on the reef is between the fish and the environment. i dont feel responsible for a fish getting eaten on the reef cus i had nothing to do with it. but i had a lot to do with our lil fish being where it is now.
i liken it to natural extinctions vs human caused. i dont really feel too bad about the dinosaurs biting it but its a diff stroy when we start talking about passenger pigeons, carolina parakeet, the laysan honeycreeper and all the other hawaiian birds gone, most likely the ivory billed woodpecker (to name a few birds from north american history).

 

[masterhobbyist]

I don't understand why you could not do anything. Did you try giving it a freshwater bath? I am not trying to be a jerk. I understand that fish die, but it sounds like you didn't try to save it.

 

[nihoa]

Originally Posted by masterhobbyist
http:///forum/post/2945919
I don't understand why you could not do anything. Did you try giving it a freshwater bath? I am not trying to be a jerk. I understand that fish die, but it sounds like you didn't try to save it.
of course we are trying to save the fish and we are doing everything we can to get her and the tank healthy but this thread isnt about the treatment of ick. this thread is about how i feel having sick fish. its good of you to call me out if it looked like i wasnt trying to deal with the situation but that isnt the case.

 

[snakeblitz33]

What I meant by dilligence was treating the fish, and quarantining it. Your supposed to quarantine any fish that you get. But, then again, many of us can not afford to buy an aquarium just for quarantine.
Sorry that happened to yah, better luck in the future.