Isn't a pet fish kind of boring?

Question

Seriously, the only thing you can do with it is feed it and change it's water..........

Answer 1

cant be any worse than a pet rock anybody remember them??

Answer 2

basically.  they're cool to look at though and they can pimp out a room.  but you should get a dog.  

Answer 3

Isn't getting on a forum and asking dumb questions about stuff you know nothing about  kinda boring too ?  Get a life  

Answer 4

Well, it's not a pet ROCK!  

See, this idea of how fishes should be taken care of is why goldfish (which can live for longer than ten years) usually barely last a year or two, to which the owner thinks themselves lucky for having such a long lived fish.  No, actually, taking care of fish is not for everybody, and there are different fish for different people.  My friend has many Betta splendens in 1/4 gallon "tanks" with no decorations and no place to hide, while my betta splendens, while recently moved into a smaller one gallon tank (which I would like to move him into a bigger tank soon) lives in a gallon tank with plants, rocks, and a decorative "log" which he likes to hide in.  Very intelligent animals, Betta splendens.  They can really make you appreciate fish.  They can recognize their owners and be light-trained, and best of all, if you don't want a community tank, they do just fine on their own.  He gets Betta food and live brine and it's always a joy to see him chasing after the brine shrimp and chomping it down.

Recently, I had to treat my goldfish tank for fish rot.  My Black Moore was showing signs and that took two treatments and keeping a careful eye on my fish to make sure he was healing.  I also have to keep an eye out for ich, which would be a pain in the you-know-what to have to take care of, as it would require daily water changes.  For a ten gallon tank (mind you, that is a small tank in the fish world), it can be a pain, but it's what must be done to keep my fish healthy and happy.

So there's more to fish keeping than sprinkling fish food and change it's water.  And depending of what level you're at, you can always upgrade or get more tanks and keep fresh water (warm and cold) and salt water (warm and cold) tanks, each with different species that would have different needs and bring a different dimension to the tank.  I'm perfectly happy with a goldfish tank and a betta tank, but some people have 80 gallon warm water tanks with a mixture of many different species that were carefully chosen and gingerly added, then monitored to make sure that all the fish are safe and happy.  

And in the end, there is nothing more relaxing than watching your favorite fish interact with his environment.  I love watching my Betta shimmy into a hiding place, or how he charges out when I come near, probably thinking I may feed him.  And seeing my Black Moore goldfish's curiosity over the new tank mates, coming up to investigate (as he tends to do, since he can be the most dominant fish of the tank), is something I can expect to see him do and know to watch out for him.  Something that probably wouldn't happen when you simply put flakes in the water once a day and change the water bowl.

Answer 5

no

its the feeling of responsibility and the joy of having fish breed after all the hard work

also it is very relaxing keeping fish

edit:

fish should be kept in a nice clean TANK not bowl

if you just sprinkled flakes the fish would eventually die due to the ammonia buildup

Answer 6

Yup! Strongly agree!

Answer 7

No, they're not boring at all..

Responsibility? Yes, there is alot of that when it comes to fish.. You clean their tanks, feed them, check if their water is good quality.. You observe them, so you know if they're sick.

Fish keeping is actually rewarding. especially if you have the same fish for a really long time.. If you buy them as babies, you watch them grow.. and raise them. After a while they can recognise you, mainly because they know you're the one who feeds them. But in a way, its a special feeling when they dont recognise other people. hah

After a long day, I can watch my fish for hours, its very relaxing.

PS. You dont keep fish in a bowl, thats cruel. You wouldnt keep a dog in a closet would you?  Yeah, thats right.  

Answer 8

not if you get the right fish. some have personality. my texas will sway at the tank when she's hungry, jump out of the water and take food from your hand and even mimics, if i pull a fish face and pretend to talk, she opens and closes her mouth too. i can put in a ping pong ball and she'll push it around.

Answer 9

How much research have you done on fishkeeping?  Fishkeeping is one the most difficult hobbies to have IMO.  Especially saltwater.  Different fish do different things and just like any other pet, they depend on you to do it right.  Unlike a dog, fish can't run away when you mistreat them.  So buddy, don't knock it till you....read about it.

Answer 10

I used to puff my cheeks at my old Betta, and he would puff up as soon as I did that. I also watch my Neon Tetras play tag with each other.  

Answer 11

Couldn't be any more boring than a twit posting on a board asking the dumbest question yet....buddy, you have my vote for dumbest question of the year..

Fish keeping is an experience that a fish keeper enjoys, we see the challenge in keeping as one would feel excitement when playing a video game, or cooking, athletic sport, and it is the same as caring for a dog or cat, same responsibility in keeping the critters healthy, we just don't have to pay high vet bills, and this makes us happy.

Answer 12

i think it's a challenge. it's fun watching them and caring and watching them grow.  

Answer 13

lol yeah its easy!!!

...untill your fish gets a parasite, then a disease, then then the water turns bad, then algea over runs the tank.

its only easy if you stay on top of the tasks at hand, then its hard

Answer 14

I had a speckled goldfish named Steve that lived in a vase for 7 years. I could put my hand in the vase and he would swim around it. He would lay in the palm of my hand so I could pick him up, put him in a glass of water and change his vase water. Then he would swirl down to the bottom and play in his fresh water. I loved that fishy!

Answer 15

You can try raising differen strains of fish, like guppies. I raise snakeskin or cobra guppies.

Answer 16

Depends on what you want in a pet.  If you want a pet thats gonna play fetch with you or be more interactive than yeah, a fish may seem boring.  But if your looking for something low on the care scale thats pretty and calming to look at than a fish is great.  It can also be a huge challenge to create an appropriate tank as they are mini environments with endless possibilities for decoration and inhabitants.  

Not everyone wants a messy, slobbering, p**p factory running around their house.  Husbands and boyfriends excluded.

Answer 17

I think watching sports is boring. I even understand that some people will pay money for tickets and fight traffic to get to the stadiums, even on cold rainy or snowy days, to get what is usually, in my experience, a view of the game far worse than you can get in the comfort of your home.

Nevertheless, I understand that millions of people do enjoy sports. It seems very strange to me, but if they like watching people run back and forth chasing a ball for hours at a time, than I simply let them enjoy watching it.

Ditto with gardening and art...popular pasttimes whose enjoyment is utterly lost on me, but which other people seem to get something very positive out of. I let gardeners and artists enjoy their hobby.

You might find fish to be boring. That's fine; perhaps that means you shouldn't keep fish. Given your perceptions of proper fish care, it might be a good thing for the fish if you weren't their owners anyway.

Other people, such as myself and thousands of others, get some sort of positive emotional experience out of the hobby. The experience, to us, is worth the time and effort. That's all there is to it.