# how do YOU convince your wife/husband/g.f/b.f/mom to get more fishes or equipment?



## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

OK. I know this has been posted before( I was reading and laughing so hard) but I wonder how any other BCA members do it or find the new way.. Lol

I share my story with you. I told my wife that every saturday I take our 2 girls for the day and she can rest all day. I get lots of snacks( chips, candies always sneak them in the car ) in my car on Fridays for girls. Then we go to LFSs and I tell girls these fishes are good for mental health. I never bring fishes in the houses... Girls always bring them in..

I explain my wife they are only 99cents/fish and fish keeping is really good for young children ( this is true BTW). After little bit of cold treatment and look from wife and her seeing girls enjoying new fishes in the tank,she is ok

Equipment.. THANK GOD MY BRO LIVES VERY CLOSE TO J&L!!!!:lol: I drop my kids off at his place often. After dropping them off, I visit there and get some stuff..put them back of my CRV. Say" They must have came from the tank we bought! can't believe I found a brand new eheim heater and big bottle of prime" lol. 

So there it is... What is YOUR story/skill(?)? 

Btw if you see a 6ft Asian dude lifting 2 girls to the fish tanks and explaining about fishes or drooling over tank while girls are pulling shirts at LFSs, please say "hi" to me.. Lol


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

AHH! I wanna know how to convince my mom to let me get a few more tanks.. especially saltwater xD I think once I start breeding and selling more fish she might start to be a bit more okay with it.. Good story though jhj!


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

yeah steve! that is my next project! lol I ONLY have 3 tanks (90g, 15g, 3g) lol


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I convince my daughter Felicia that she needs another tank. So far, she has a RSM 35g reef with puffer fish, a 6g fw shrimp tank, a 8g fw tropical planted community Fluval Flora and a 2g Spec mini-reef. So I have my 165g, 60g 2' cube "Nemo" tank and the rest are Felicia's :bigsmile: 

I also get fish my wife loves, like Porcupine Puffers.


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

ding!! light bulb!! I think I may find the way to get a s/w tank.. NEMO!! lol



SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> I convince my daughter Felicia that she needs another tank. So far, she has a RSM 35g reef with puffer fish, a 6g fw shrimp tank, a 8g fw tropical planted community Fluval Flora and a 2g Spec mini-reef. So I have my 165g, 60g 2' cube "Nemo" tank and the rest are Felicia's :bigsmile:
> 
> I also get fish my wife loves, like Porcupine Puffers.


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## Grimas64 (Sep 28, 2012)

What I do is buy what I need and well don't say anything....


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## Grimas64 (Sep 28, 2012)

lying will put you in the dog house, and we want to be in the fish house. be sneaky and sly maybe she wont notice


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## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

I'm just like "I'm going to go get some fish/fish stuff"... She gives me a look, then I'm on my way out the door!


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## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

Ahh... The life of being single and not living with family. The worst I get is my roommate going, "Hey!! Is that ANOTHER fish tank?! What is wrong with you, ya freak!" And then it's over and I'm free to continue my hobby/obsession!


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

I work 2 jobs, my 8-5 goes to her account and my moonlight pay goes to my hobby.... no argument needed. No partime, no hobby :lol:


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I'm not lying. Those tanks are Felicia's. She even has been helping her Daddy with sw water changes since she was two. If you ask her, she will tell you those are her tanks and she feeds them and helps choose what goes in them. Irene also knows I won't buy anything unless it is a good deal so she doesn't bug me about how much I spend. She's more concerned about how much extra equipment and tanks I have stored around the house.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

well my mom likes the hobie and my dad has memories of jds so parents are good about it I had 8 tanks in the living dining room at one time lol

I got my girl friend to buy a pictus cat when one of thie employees told her that they liked to liv in schools and it was the only one left


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

I always say and she agrees I could be doing alot worse things


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Steve said:


> AHH! I wanna know how to convince my mom to let me get a few more tanks.. especially saltwater xD I think once I start breeding and selling more fish she might start to be a bit more okay with it.. Good story though jhj!


 Remind her that she should be happy you are spending time at home taking care of the tanks, and not out getting into trouble.


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

Mmm what I tell my gf is that my corals will grow and I can sell them. 
I said her nail polishes cannot be sold...and that my coral money can help fund her nail polish addictions ...once in a while lol. 

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 4


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## mendoza.inc (Jul 27, 2013)

i tell my wife u buy shoes i buy fish


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

My wife knows it's my hobby, and doesn't bother me about it as long as the money isn't taking away from what the house needs. That, and i let her go shopping whenever she wants to.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

In the past, I would give Irene a C note for her Boxing Day shopping when I go out to J&L and King Ed's for my Boxing Day shopping. That way she looks FORWARD to my going fish/coral shopping instead of giving me a hard time about how much I spend.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

this is good stuff for my futcher lol


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

ahhhhhhhh.......addiction...............already plotting how to cover it up....poor scott


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## inuudo (Sep 23, 2012)

mendoza.inc said:


> i tell my wife u buy shoes i buy fish


I buy shoes AND fish! :lol:

Seriously, though, we both have hobbies that have their own expenses and we both have jobs, so once the bills and savings are covered, we don't have to account to each other about our spending.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

My girlfriend is pretty understanding about my fish addiction. I can see she thinks Im nuts but as Dino mentioned I could be doing a lot worse things. 

I have a few tricks I use now when buying new fish. When I buy equipment I find it easier to not tell here. Some things are better left untold!!!

My fish trick is: Buy the fish. Bring it home. Open the garage and check to make sure shes not around. Quickly sneak the fish out of the car and into the garage. I wait a few minutes than go inside the house. I give her a kiss than comment on the water being low in one of my tanks. I go back to the garage and grab my fish tank bucket. I casually walk back into the house and fill up the bucket with tank water and return to the garage. I than float the new fish in the bucket for a bit. Than I start mixing bucket water with fish bag water. After 15min I let the fish out of the bag and into the bucket. I than walk calmly back into the house with a full bucket of water (plus fish) and dump him/her into the tank. I than top the tank off with another bucket or 2. I crack up everytime because it works like a charm. The best part is when she sees the new fish in the tank a month later and asks when did I get that fish? I tell her awhile ago. LOL. No lying. Im telling the truth.


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## Durogity (Jun 10, 2013)

Lol awesome. You sir are a fish buying ninja


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

lol hahahahaha This is my method as well! My wife does not pay attention to what fishes are in my tanks!
I wish I can do that with the nano tank(fluval or most likely eheim aquastyle) that i'm planing to get this weekend! 



jbyoung00008 said:


> My girlfriend is pretty understanding about my fish addiction. I can see she thinks Im nuts but as Dino mentioned I could be doing a lot worse things.
> 
> I have a few tricks I use now when buying new fish. When I buy equipment I find it easier to not tell here. Some things are better left untold!!!
> 
> My fish trick is: Buy the fish. Bring it home. Open the garage and check to make sure shes not around. Quickly sneak the fish out of the car and into the garage. I wait a few minutes than go inside the house. I give her a kiss than comment on the water being low in one of my tanks. I go back to the garage and grab my fish tank bucket. I casually walk back into the house and fill up the bucket with tank water and return to the garage. I than float the new fish in the bucket for a bit. Than I start mixing bucket water with fish bag water. After 15min I let the fish out of the bag and into the bucket. I than walk calmly back into the house with a full bucket of water (plus fish) and dump him/her into the tank. I than top the tank off with another bucket or 2. I crack up everytime because it works like a charm. The best part is when she sees the new fish in the tank a month later and asks when did I get that fish? I tell her awhile ago. LOL. No lying. Im telling the truth.


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## Reptiles&Fish (Apr 22, 2012)

The girlfriend and I do everything together, so once I got back into aquariums and got her involved(Explaining everything as I do it, talking fish, letting her pick things out.) she was right into it. Setting everything up with me, going on outings to fish stores, helping with maintenance ect ect (We are even planning a vacation around going to see some fish in the wild). Heck she's even on her way to starting a SW tank before me! This is a great hobby for couples, just got to get everyone involved.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

The Big Bang Theory "The Whip App" (HD) - YouTube


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Reptiles&Fish said:


> The girlfriend and I do everything together, so once I got back into aquariums and got her involved(Explaining everything as I do it, talking fish, letting her pick things out.) she was right into it. Setting everything up with me, going on outings to fish stores, helping with maintenance ect ect (We are even planning a vacation around going to see some fish in the wild). Heck she's even on her way to starting a SW tank before me! This is a great hobby for couples, just got to get everyone involved.


My girlfriend was into it at the start aswell but after awhile she became less interested. She knows lots about fish now. I became more interested and maybe a little obsessed with new fish and plants. She than started to see how much I was spending. Now I hide the new fish because its easier that way. 

We arn't married yet but we have both agreed it would be awesome to go to Africa for a honeymoon. Lake Maawi in paticular. I want to swim with the Africans, she is excited to aswell. Have fun on your vacation.

If your girlfriend is really interested in fish thats awesome. Not everyone gets as excited about fish as some of us do. If she sets up a SW that would be pretty cool. My girlfriend isn't into fish that much. Plus if she did decide to setup a tank I know Id be the one looking after the tank 6 months down the road LOL


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

jhj0112 said:


> lol hahahahaha This is my method as well! My wife does not pay attention to what fishes are in my tanks!
> I wish I can do that with the nano tank(fluval or most likely eheim aquastyle) that i'm planing to get this weekend!


If the tank is big, it makes it easier to sneak them in. Im always getting new Africans and selling old ones so she has a hard time keeping track. 

Good luck with the new tank. Hopefully your trick will work with the nano SW. You could always tell her the coral grew over a couple days. Fish might be a little trickier to sneak in


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

Simple

I built her a reef tank










(Now has coast to coast overflow, custom built 20x18x14 sump, speed wave dc return pump, maxspect razor 16000k led, mp10, etc etc etc)

I ran out of room in my nano tank so it's a good place for me to put all my sps


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

My wife rarely looks at the fish/tank so doesn't matter what I buy, she won't even notice any new addition. I never have to convince her so I don't know how to answer this one. Actually she was the one that convinced me to get the 120G and 135G.... so she could do more shopping without me yepping at her. Lol


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## ckl (Sep 9, 2013)

I have a couple of suggestions:
1. Complain that the equipment you have sucks (or too old) and it might result in a disaster if not rectified. 
2. If you buy something and she asks, tell her the truth... it was on sale ;-)


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

jbyoung00008 said:


> If the tank is big, it makes it easier to sneak them in. Im always getting new Africans and selling old ones so she has a hard time keeping


That's the key my friends and a charming smile works for me.


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

jbyoung00008 said:


> If the tank is big, it makes it easier to sneak them in. Im always getting new Africans and selling old ones so she has a hard time keeping track.
> 
> Good luck with the new tank. Hopefully your trick will work with the nano SW. You could always tell her the coral grew over a couple days. Fish might be a little trickier to sneak in


We( I and 2 girls) have decided to do pea puffer tank as per other BCA member's suggestion/advice. I got an used Fluval Edge 12 tank from another member. Even before I got out of car, my girls ran to my wife and " we got Alicia's tank!!!" so there goes sneaking(?) the tank in lol. she was ok though. I told 2 small pea puffers and that's it!  have not mentioned about eco complete though lol


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## Hollyhawk (Mar 28, 2011)

For me sneaking in a 55 gal tank to go by the sofa was going to be a little difficult. 

The truth was I really needed to cut down on the work it took to water change the 30 gal and the 16 gal. All the fish from both tanks went into the 55, plus a new flag and 3 ottos (which I traded for plants and driftwood I had). My mom helped out buying the extras, and I explained what a good deal the tank was... (it really was a good deal) maybe not aaaasssss good as what I told hubby. Once he saw it togther, and how easy it is for me he was happy for me. It's the first time ever I have not been totally forth comming about the $ so I gotta live with that... I have had some of these fishies for 8 years, some have names so no way was I going to get rid of them. 

Darn it! I will now have to sign in each time with my password!


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

beliimor said:


> I wanna know how to convince my mom to let me get a few more tanks


Just tell her it will keep you off the streets, and out of trouble. (both true)


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## Chronick (Apr 27, 2010)

I think your loved ones should be supportive and understanding about things you're passionate about as long as it's within reason. I've never understood the whole approval from your SO thing. I think they should enjoy seeing you happy and healthy, and if fishkeeping is something that helps you achieve those things, why should they have anything against it? 

If a woman ever gives me grief over fishkeeping I don't think she's the one for me, that being said, i'll try not to have more than 15 tanks


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## kivyee (Oct 15, 2016)

Well, I think "within reason" is the tough one - what might seem reasonable to someone bitten by MTS might not be to the SO. While we don't even blink an eye when we hear of someone having a "fish room" - I wonder how reasonable we would think a "shoe room" or a "watch room" etc is... :bigsmile:



Chronick said:


> I think your loved ones should be supportive and understanding about things you're passionate about as long as it's within reason. I've never understood the whole approval from your SO thing. I think they should enjoy seeing you happy and healthy, and if fishkeeping is something that helps you achieve those things, why should they have anything against it?
> 
> If a woman ever gives me grief over fishkeeping I don't think she's the one for me, that being said, i'll try not to have more than 15 tanks


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Now Angelica who is 14 months old loves the fish so I get more of the species which are her favorite, which coincidentally (cough cough) are my favorites. Of course her favourite fish changes due to evolving tastes (and whatever Daddy finds online) so I have to buy new fish every once in a while 😉 My wife has more or less given up on telling me what to buy or not buy considering I don't drink, party, smoke etc. My $$ goes towards the house, family & my fish & urban orchard obsessions.


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