Aquarium to orchid peeps?

[u bada]

I've been noticing more and more on here that many orchid growers seem to have had an aquarium/ fish keeping background... In fact it seems like there seems to be that transition from aquarium to orchid growing and not necessarily where people are doing both?

I wonder what you guys think the connection is there? and how fish/ aquariums to orchid growing makes for a logical change?

Me and the other half are nutso about living things in general so we have lots of plants and lots of animals in general, but certainly aquariums are are around... in fact as of late I've been all about my little planted nano tank (3 gl and that requires lots of water changes) with super cute nano fish inhabitants...

[estación seca]

We like living things

We like beautiful living things

We like beautiful living things we can keep and look at frequently

We like small beautiful living things that don't need a zoo to keep

[wintergirl]

I had aquariums for years but had to let them go dry to put in a woodstove. If I ever get an addition I plan on starting them back up or maybe I will put plants in them

[Pattywack]

U bada I've noticed this myself because I've kept aquariums most of my life. I have 6 empty tanks at the moment and I really try not to think about how much I loved having them. My favorite is a 125 gal., long tank. It would make a awesome terrarium if it weren't so deep and I weren't so short. I raised African Cichlids for years, such amazing fish with character and beautiful colors. They are quite aggressive unless you provide plenty of space for them.

In my case it began with our family dog becoming very ill and I was her care giver. My weekly water changes came to an end, my fish were neglected....you can see where this is going. Between vet visits, force feedings, cardiologist appointments and medications given three times daily, it all ended sadly. That had been my hobby and I needed something to fill that time and that void especially after the loss of our dog. Pets have been a big part of my family's life, our cat was almost 24 when we had to let him go. Plants just happened to be the outlet at that time and I've thoroughly enjoyed having orchids to care for. We have a new pup, she's nutz but we love her. The aquariums will probably end up sold in a garage sale or donated. It's too hard to go there again. They take a lot of time but they are beautiful when maintained properly. I understand the transition, some of my tanks were planted.

[u bada]

Awwww... so sorry for the losses, Patty... yes, there is a bit of a pattern from perhaps the losses of dear pets that leads us to orchids. I have a close orchid buddy who had lost the last and the most cherished of cats but found he couldn't bear having the heaviness perhaps of another love as animal thing again... and found the nurturing of orchids to be, well, to paraphrase what he said that I can't remember, more of a zen contribution to his life.... but wow 125 gl we could never have in our apt. yet we have so many 10gl tanks it's crazy LOL plus the 20gl and others well, basically adds up to 125, but we have a variety of little "friends" and their habitats... glad to hear you got a new pup! We lost one of ours a few years ago, it was really rough but we adopted a little rescue and she's nutz also, but we love her too...

... cichlids are just such huge fish and definitely aggressive, but what faces! There was a ginormous tank at a vet's office we visited (i.e. tried out) that had like 500 gallons and 50 cichlids in there, was a crazy sight!

Back to my friend who last his cherished cat... it's funny we both talk about how much money orchids are all the time, then whenever I bring up the aquariums, he- who likewise had a crapload of aquariums- goes off about how "aquariums, now that's a money sink!" (well, they are. For me orchids have been more, think he had big fish, maybe saltwater...)

But yeah, the water changes are a big time suck that's for sure... and the water monitoring and the making sure each fish eats... oy...

"... We like beautiful living things we can keep and look at frequently

We like small beautiful living things that don't need a zoo to keep"

made me chuckle, things that don't need a zoo is a definite plus... and this goes with the orchids/plants as well as the animals: it's amazing how you can get lost just observing these beautiful things... (when you're not obsessing why they're not growing or eating properly that is. lol)

I do think that maybe fish are the same sort of structured thing of beauty as orchid flowers is one thought for the fish keeping to orchid obsession transition...

Wintergirl, sounds like a woodstove was for happy hearth, so why not? Here's to a future addition to the house!

[Salixx]

I started with aquarium as well, as a teenager. I thought about getting back into them and had started when, like Pattywack, my dog became ill. She was diagnosed at the end of 2014 with two osteosarcomas, one in each leg. The bone, weakened by the cancer, broke in one leg. She had it in a splint for a few months, which I changed the bandages on ever few days to prevent sores. Amputation was not an option at that point, and the cancer was a death sentence for her since it is a very aggressive type that metastasizes to the lungs quickly. I provided all of the end of life care I could to keep her comfortable until it was clear that she had had enough. I will remember the way she looked at me asked me to make it stop for the rest of my life.

During that time, I could not care for the aquariums I did have properly nor did I have the money. Early last year, I thought about getting into them again, but, with the space and time commitment in addition to expense, I put it off. Then, for some reason, my dormant orchid bug bit me again. I had a few from when I was a teenager still around, but began buying like crazy and now probably have close to 100 .

I still have a low light, low tech planted tank that gets dosed with some SeaChem products occasionally. Most of the fish in it I have had for five years. Ones an angelfish that I am waiting to pass on so that I can stock with a largish shoal ricefish or other itty-bitties without worrying about them getting eaten. I also have a five gallon with a java moss "tree" and cherry shrimp. I won't be getting into aquariums again anytime soon since I always forget to do water changes, even though I have a Python and it's super easy.

To me, orchids are easier to maintain. Also, if I should neglect them, it's not the same as neglecting the fish since plants simply don't suffer in the same way. The are an easy outlet for me to continue my passion for living, beautiful things, especially since life has steered me away from my dream career, at least for the moment.

Seeing things in my care flourish gives me great joy, as well. It helps give my life meaning, as silly as that may sound.

[orchidsarefun]

Hmmm...I too started with aquariums and bred Siamese fighters, kribensis and others. Then kept and bred chickens. Now in adulthood I have propagated through seed many types of orchids........in between breeding 'foreign' cats like Havanas and Siamese. Usually moving countries put a premature end to each phase.

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[estación seca]

So sorry for your losses, Pattywack and Salixx. I keep multiple dogs, because I always am fostering for rescue groups. It's much easier losing one under these circumstances.

I've found with a densely planted, soil-substrate, low light tank, and just a few fish, I don't need to do water changes more than once every 2-3 months. I have a 2 gallon self-contained cube; the included LED is enough for great growth on low-light plants.

[Leafmite]

Yep. An aquarium is quite a bit of work. I had two tanks of fish once, then a pond for thirteen years and now I just have a tub pond and three Bettas. Those aquariums, though, come to good use. In the past, I have used them for gerbils, hamsters, frogs, and salamanders. I just fetched one of the two ten-gallon tanks from the cellar to set up for some Bulbophyllum and a Dracula. Maybe when the tank gets settled, hubby and I will look into buying a small amphibian or two to inhabit it.

The orchids replaced other plants, not fish or other pets. I have always collected plants. There is an endless variety and so much to fascinate about plants.

[pipsxlch]

I started keeping fish when I was...5? I have most of my life had at least 1 or 2 aquariums going, have worked at and run aquarium departments in stores, but like so many here now find myself in a time and situation where I can't have an aquarium. I do maintain my church's aquarium, but don't have time to do it right. (and I used to keep/breed discus, rams, brichardi...) And the loss of a special aquatic pet (the ranchu in my avatar) hurt.

I don't know if the fish led to the orchids, though. I always loved plants also, and got my first orchid- and the orchid bug- when I was 8. Since I can and do grow outside, the level of care required is certainly different from a tank, and much easier to deal with at this time. I do believe the orchids have taken up much of the need-to-love-and-care that pets occupied in the past, though. I can't have a dog where I am now either, and that hurts though I 'steal' my mothers and neighbors dogs.

My husband has called the orchids my 'slow pets' lol.