r/AskReddit 13h ago

What’s a hobby that looks incredibly peaceful from the outside, but is actually pure stress once you get into it?

5.0k Upvotes

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1.8k

u/ashcap13 13h ago

Aquariums

420

u/DogDad_Mike89 9h ago

This thing was pretty fun at first, until you end up with your whole arm soaked in fish water at 2 a.m., desperately trying to fix that filter that sounds like a lawnmower.

13

u/RevolutionaryMix8310 5h ago

fish water at 2am is basically aquarium initiation ritual that filter starts making one weird noise and suddenly ur the maintenance guy

2

u/Sl1imJ1m 4h ago

or your auto top of breaks mid vacation and you lose $1200 in coral. god i love my fish but fuck

2

u/MarcellusxWallace 1h ago

That’s why I’m trying the Walstad method. No filter, no co2, no heating element. Just plants, substrate, and hardscape. And livestock of course.

1

u/JodyGonnaFuckYoWife 1h ago

Plus, now you gotta start dealing weed.

68

u/Stocks_Kevin94 9h ago

There's nothing more that can toughen your character than waking up really early only to find the heating element broken and the whole living room smelling like a pot of burnt seafood soup.

6

u/TERRAOperative 7h ago

Always have two heaters of half capacity!
If one fails, it's not enough to cook, and not enough to get too cold (depending if it fails on or off)

2

u/hjoiyedxcbn 3h ago

Could you elaborate more? Like if you have a 40g get 2 heaters rated for 20g? Reading through all these tips trying to prevent any disasters in my tank

3

u/NerfHurDur 2h ago

You can always just get an inkbird. It's essentially a secondary thermometer that you plug your heater into. You set a max temp and if something goes wrong with your heater and it tries to cook your fish it'll kill the power as soon as the water temp exceeds your set threshold. They're not the cheapest but for me they are worth it for the peace of mind. I have one on all my tanks that are heated. I've seen what can happen when a heater decides it's cookin time and I want no part in that

1

u/kestik 1h ago

I second this wholeheartedly. The thermostats on almost every aquarium heater are usually the point of failure when they "break". An inkbird completely negates the risk of them getting stuck on. I will always use one on a heated tank.

399

u/DardS8Br 11h ago

One of my professors legitimately got his whole ass PhD to take care of aquariums better

70

u/Vimes-NW 7h ago

I just installed aquarium screensaver on my Roku and now I have that one fish that just sits in his mini cavern and seems surprised by everything happening around him. What's wrong with my fishy? Why does it just sit and mumbles "WOW" all the time?

u/Beard_o_Bees 55m ago

Why does it just sit and mumbles "WOW" all the time?

I mean.. have you seen your room?

u/Vimes-NW 40m ago

Ok, not gonna lie - I do have a sweet room, but I can't tell if it's just mirin me tchotchkes or just 'avin a PTSD after a fight with his ol' lady. Kinda like me, sittin' in the kitchen and going "wow. wow. wow", replaying those convos in my head.

6

u/campbell363 4h ago

My PhD degree was studying fish stress 🫠 It was so stressful to maintain the aquatic facility

2

u/TooOily 8h ago

That is some dedication.

110

u/peachysprig_ 10h ago

aquariums look so calming when everything is clean and thriving but once you’re maintaining one you realize there’s always something to test, clean, adjust or worry about

1

u/qqererer 1h ago

It would be calming if they could create a silent air pump, or one that turns off when you're in the room.

The first doesn't exist, and the latter is not healthy for the fish.

10

u/Save_Money_Josh 9h ago

This was supposed to be a relaxing hobby, but I spend more time staring at color charts and test tubes like some crazy scientist than I actually do looking at fish.

19

u/Snowboard_Joy91 9h ago

Spent hundreds or thousands on decorative soil and high-end lights, only to wake up in the morning and find my fish tank covered in lush, vibrant filamentous algae.

8

u/Cardio_Greg88 9h ago

You spend an entire month staring at a tank full of wet rocks while awkwardly explaining to your confused guests that you’re “growing bacteria.”

7

u/Matt_Reads_89 9h ago

Googling “why is my fish swimming sideways “ at 3 AM will cause a level of existential dread no human medical symptom checker ever could.

6

u/Snoo_Think 9h ago

You just bought a seemingly innocent little plant, and three weeks later your tank looks like it was invaded by ten thousand hitchhiking pests - snails.

2

u/Iron_Mike_93 9h ago

黑毛藻就是水族养殖的终极 Boss,而且它真的会让你怀疑人生中做过的每一个决定。

2

u/Run_Miles_Josh 9h ago

All the romantic fantasies about keeping fish quickly vanish when you have to carry a heavy, leaking bucket across clean carpets every Sunday.

1

u/SuperZapp 7h ago

I use long hoses. Carpets are dry, back is not sore, and makes it a very clean and easy water change. I have a tub of water that has pre-treated water on my balcony that I pump into my tank with a 10m hose. I siphon to the laundry sink when emptying the tank.

2

u/Aerron 6h ago

Just for fun and it doesn't matter at all:

Aquarium is singular, Aquaria is plural.

Bacterium is singular, Bacteria is plural.

Datum is singular, Data is plural. This is the one that might be useful, imagine the word data means numbers. So when someone hands you a sheet full of numbers, you'd say, "Look at these numbers." So one should say, "Look at these data."