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  • Thank you to everyone who registered and showed up for the BIG Fish Deal #7.

is it just me?

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
Look, this is what I do:

Rule number 1.) Never lie...just exaggerate, a little. :)

Rule number 2.) Always make sure your new shipment of fish are mailed to your buddies house for pick up. Never your house.

Rule number 3.) Always make sure when ordering fish you pick up from the airport at a time when she is not home. That way you can sneak them in.

Rule number 4.) Important to have a large brown paper shopping bag from your nearest supermarket in your car or a work out bag in your trunk. They are perfect to conceal the new fish in and take immediately to your fish room.

I use a WholeFoods or Roots or a Giant brand with paper handles on it. Looks like you've been shopping or something and make sure you did buy something from the store.

Example, walk into the kitchen, remove the real grocery items and leave on the counter and then proceed to the fish room immediately, hide the stuff quickly and return to the kitchen.

Rule number 5.) When leaving the house with your styro always tell THEM that your going to sell some fish to make some Cash. Cash rings well for there beautiful little ears and you know we love their ears right. Don't have a cow guys this is a Family forum so all this is toned down.;) Then when you come back with new fish you could either say you traded for fish or some did not sell so you had to bring them back.

Rule number 6.) Always leave the wife or girlfriend in the car when going into a LFS( Local Fish Store), especially when you know what you want.
Ask the owner of the LFS if he could be so kind to hold your fish for you until you can target a time to sneak in the fish. Only go in with them to window shop.

Rule number 7.) Do not try to get your girlfriend into our sport, she's not interested. Just spend some time with her when she's home. After dinner is the best time to do your water changes and feed your fishies.

Rule number 8.) Sneaking in tanks is impossible, trust me I have tried and even the best of us get caught. They will count your tanks if you begin to get obsessed and are spending too much money on the fish and not on you know who. The best thing to do is barter with them. If you're a Neanderthal then do whatever you want. Otherwise, communication is key.

Rule number 9.) Diamonds....Travel...Wine and Dine them. Express to them how important the sport is to you. How it relaxes you and how studies out of Harvard University have conducted research that looking at fish for several hours lowers cholesterol levels and enhances blood flow.:eek:;);)

Studies show 9 out of 10 ten people felt relief from stress and gave them a stimulating sensation to express their feelings and talk about things they've never talked about.

Otherwise, if she loves you, she'll put up with you.

Oh, I forgot one important detail, Dinner parties. That's right, have friends over that have girlfriends or wives and show off your tanks. She will begin to be proud showing off your tanks and now it will become her tanks as well.

Dinner parties are great! When your friends are over invite them to your fish room to see your masterpiece and Show Tanks. Trust me, that's been working for me and now my little lady takes her friends and family downstairs when I'm not around to show off OUR tanks.:D

GET IT!!!! Great....I'm glad.;)

Men...we must keep United :cool:and of course our lady fish keepers too, sorry I left you out.:p

Good Luck, I hope my secret excerpts from the SubMariner Chronicles have helped you all. Remember, if all fails then go buy yourself a fish.:)


Richard
The SubMariner, Super Under Water Hero!

P.S. If they accept your fish then She's a Keeper.
ladies and gentleman we have a WINNER!!
WELL PUT RICH!
 

Paul S

New Member
I too love to buy new fish. I've gotten pretty good at avoiding detection. My trouble is overstocking my tanks!
 

dogofwar

CCA Members
Wise words from a wise man!

Another hint is to have your fish "held at the delivery center" vs. shipped to the house. There's a UPS delivery center near my work...it's better for the fish to be held there vs. in the back of a truck for half the day... and I just pick them up and bring them home when it's, uh, opportune :)

My wife's caught on to the "I'm selling fish" ploy...and checks the box on the way back in :p

Another tip for not pissing off the significant other: don't use all of the hot water before bath/shower time!

Look, this is what I do:

Rule number 1.) Never lie...just exaggerate, a little. :)

Rule number 2.) Always make sure your new shipment of fish are mailed to your buddies house for pick up. Never your house.

Rule number 3.) Always make sure when ordering fish you pick up from the airport at a time when she is not home. That way you can sneak them in.

Rule number 4.) Important to have a large brown paper shopping bag from your nearest supermarket in your car or a work out bag in your trunk. They are perfect to conceal the new fish in and take immediately to your fish room.

I use a WholeFoods or Roots or a Giant brand with paper handles on it. Looks like you've been shopping or something and make sure you did buy something from the store.

Example, walk into the kitchen, remove the real grocery items and leave on the counter and then proceed to the fish room immediately, hide the stuff quickly and return to the kitchen.

Rule number 5.) When leaving the house with your styro always tell THEM that your going to sell some fish to make some Cash. Cash rings well for there beautiful little ears and you know we love their ears right. Don't have a cow guys this is a Family forum so all this is toned down.;) Then when you come back with new fish you could either say you traded for fish or some did not sell so you had to bring them back.

Rule number 6.) Always leave the wife or girlfriend in the car when going into a LFS( Local Fish Store), especially when you know what you want.
Ask the owner of the LFS if he could be so kind to hold your fish for you until you can target a time to sneak in the fish. Only go in with them to window shop.

Rule number 7.) Do not try to get your girlfriend into our sport, she's not interested. Just spend some time with her when she's home. After dinner is the best time to do your water changes and feed your fishies.

Rule number 8.) Sneaking in tanks is impossible, trust me I have tried and even the best of us get caught. They will count your tanks if you begin to get obsessed and are spending too much money on the fish and not on you know who. The best thing to do is barter with them. If you're a Neanderthal then do whatever you want. Otherwise, communication is key.

Rule number 9.) Diamonds....Travel...Wine and Dine them. Express to them how important the sport is to you. How it relaxes you and how studies out of Harvard University have conducted research that looking at fish for several hours lowers cholesterol levels and enhances blood flow.:eek:;);)

Studies show 9 out of 10 ten people felt relief from stress and gave them a stimulating sensation to express their feelings and talk about things they've never talked about.

Otherwise, if she loves you, she'll put up with you.

Oh, I forgot one important detail, Dinner parties. That's right, have friends over that have girlfriends or wives and show off your tanks. She will begin to be proud showing off your tanks and now it will become her tanks as well.

Dinner parties are great! When your friends are over invite them to your fish room to see your masterpiece and Show Tanks. Trust me, that's been working for me and now my little lady takes her friends and family downstairs when I'm not around to show off OUR tanks.:D

GET IT!!!! Great....I'm glad.;)

Men...we must keep United :cool:and of course our lady fish keepers too, sorry I left you out.:p

Good Luck, I hope my secret excerpts from the SubMariner Chronicles have helped you all. Remember, if all fails then go buy yourself a fish.:)


Richard
The SubMariner, Super Under Water Hero!

P.S. If they accept your fish then She's a Keeper.
 

Sonny Disposition

Active Member
Those are really, really good, Richard. I can't match those. Here are two more that also might help:

1) Enlist the aid of a kindly older male. Have him gently point out to the spouse that while you're at home taking care of fish, you aren't out drinking, chasing women, or gambling your pay check away. I always work this in when talking with fellow fishkeepers' wives. It won't work if you tell her, it has to come from a third party. I usually volunteer this, as a kind of public service effort on behalf of fishkeepers. But, remember, I can't help you, if, in addition to keeping fish, you actually are given to going out drinking, chasing women, and gambling your pay check away.

2) Always tell her about the person you know who has more tanks than you do. (Next meeting remember to ask me about what Pat said to my wife when I won the 55 gallon tank in the raffle some years back.)

On that note, check back issues of the Biotope. Show her the articles on Frank Cowherd (60 tanks), or Matt Quinn (too many tanks to count.)

I agree about not trying to get her into fishkeeping. She's just not into it. And think about it: if she were into fishkeeping, she might not be into keeping the same fish you're into. Years ago, when I was heavily into natives, my wife asked: "Can't you keep small pretty fish instead of big ugly ones?"

(Now that I keep small pretty fish, however, she doesn't seem to care much.)

Submariner, you should put these rules on a plaque and give them to the new members that will join CCA on the 14th.:D
 
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Lively

Members
Laughing at all you men... those that say, "get her into the hobby..." Yeah - I was the gf that followed him around the lfs. Beware what you wish for - I just got my 3rd 55g and have been scouting the basement for the perfect area to build that fish room. I didn't fuss too much when he bought a whole bunch of materials and equipment to set up a basic wood shop - all the time I was thinking - yup, we'll need those when you build my racks :)
 

dogofwar

CCA Members
"On that note, check back issues of the Biotope. Show her the articles on Frank Cowherd (60 tanks), or Matt Quinn (too many tanks to count.)"

Sadly, I've become a cautionary example :rolleyes:

Our compromise is that I keep all tanks in my "man cave" (our furnace room). It makes maintenance easier and keeps fish-related activities from spilling out (literally and figuratively) to other parts of the house. As a bonus it makes keeping track of what goes on down there harder (for her). And we have an intercom to the kitchen. If only I had a direct door to the outside...

In Sacramento we had a 125g in our entry way. It started out as a pretty mbuna tank. But I got bored and wanted a bichir. And some frontosas. So I moved the mbuna to the fishroom. And the tank was no longer full of pretty, outgoing fish, but dark fish that always hide, that "big snake thing...does it bite?" (an ornate bichir that grew to nearly 20"), and some tin foil barbs ("why do they splash so much?"). Maybe some day I'll have a pretty tank again...but I'll have to resist my urges to turn it into something, uh, less than aethetically pleasing!
 

dogofwar

CCA Members
Thanks Bob!

Not an inspiration...More like I smell like perspiration (after too much time in the "man cave") :)
 

SubMariner

Master Jedi & Past VP
Laughing at all you men... those that say, "get her into the hobby..." Yeah - I was the gf that followed him around the lfs. Beware what you wish for - I just got my 3rd 55g and have been scouting the basement for the perfect area to build that fish room. I didn't fuss too much when he bought a whole bunch of materials and equipment to set up a basic wood shop - all the time I was thinking - yup, we'll need those when you build my racks :)


Welcome Lively! It's good to know that there are some cool ladies out there. My Submariner Chronicles were for the men, but I did place a political statement for all the ladies.

Richard
 

Lively

Members
Welcome Lively! It's good to know that there are some cool ladies out there. My Submariner Chronicles were for the men, but I did place a political statement for all the ladies.

Richard

LOL I saw your disclaimer... my message is to serve warning for all the poor poor boys who might think it's a *good* idea to get his gal into fish keeping... you might get more than you bargin for! ROFL!!
 
Dudes,
Pat nailed it on the head. If you do not wanna get into trouble just be upfront about it. Everytime I have purchased fish from breeders or have put in orders I always make sure I purchase something for her just so I can say I had to order the rest of the stuff to make the minimum! LOL!!

It is definately an addiction that cannot be controlled. My new addiction is photography as I spent nearly 5k on a Nikon D3x w/ lens. I don't even know how to use the darn thing and contemplated selling it, but, we'll see what happens.

Moral of the story; don't hide it b/c you will get the tail end of it. Trust me, you don't want the tail end of it b/c you end up in the doghouse for months!!
 

Lively

Members
It is definately an addiction that cannot be controlled. My new addiction is photography as I spent nearly 5k on a Nikon D3x w/ lens. I don't even know how to use the darn thing and contemplated selling it, but, we'll see what happens.


Nice camera. I have a D70 myself - and strangely enough was taking to a guy this weekend at the furniture store about the 300. I was additcted to photography before fish :) Best way to figure out how a camera works - go take pictures!
 

Barbara

Members
I have a different problem. My husband and I are BOTH into the tanks. He actually measured the wall behind the TV and said, in a serious voice, "If we get rid of the TV we could put another 6 foot tank here!"

Now he has plans for an outdoor pond, and turning our garage into a fish room. He spends hours per week figuring out how many tanks we can fit. I think one of us needs a little control, a little rational thought, but I see him checking Craigslist daily for deals on tanks. I live in a scary world!
 
Barbara,
SOUNDS LIKE ME :)! I have a storage unit packed with used tanks as people are in a "crunch" right now and they need the money. I actually kind of purchase them for .60-.80C on the dollar, however, if they want it back they pay the price that I paid them. I understand people are in a crunch but I always could use more tanks. In my thinking though, I am helping these people out with instant money and once they get back on their feet they can have their tanks back @ what I paid for them. If they do not want them back then I purchase some sweet tanks for some sweet deals. I sometimes turn around and sell them or put them up in friends offices and hospitals and charge a monthly fee for usage.

I am actually making the plans for a 18-25k gallon pond in the front yard. It will be rock/cement mixture with no liner as the cement should be significant enough until it cracks :(.. Hmm, might just put a liner in their to be on the safe side. I just hate the folds with liners! C-Ya!
jpk
 
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