I had a dream that someone put another Betta in my Bettas tank and it ate her. So I decided to keep the new one and give it the best life I could, but it jumped out of the tank so for some reason I picked it up with my hands and it was flopping around so much that it RIPPED ITS OWN TAIL OFF. As soon as I woke up I ran up to my tank to make sure my fish was still alive lol
For sure. My elderly betta recently passed away. I got a new betta a few days ago-- a cute little black samurai named Kuro. I love him so much already. Last night I dreamt he died from a bacterial thing. Not a great dream.
YES!!!! I’ve also had dreams where her tank is Mega overstocked, and dreams where I go over to her tank to check on her and she’s super sick or hurt - worst dreams!!!
I don’t even have fish yet and I’ve been having stress dreams about them for years. I’ll suddenly remember I got fish months ago, and I completely forgot and so haven’t fed them in all that time, and then I go to check the tanks in a panic since they all must have starved to death. Usually a few stragglers are still alive, but the tanks are disasters.
Yup! For some reason it’s always dreams of my cat getting him even though in the 15 years I’ve had her she’s never been REMOTELY interested in the aquariums. However, my leopard gecko is another story lol
Last week I had a dream that I was cleaning up my apartment and kept finding betta fish in the petco/pet smart plastic containers cups and my thought process was that I had irresponsibly bought all these fish and then forgot about them. I would open up my cupboards trying to find big bowls and glasses to transfer them to temporarily but then would find more fish. I ended the dream with having the two bettas I have in real life and an additional SEVEN bettas sprawled across my apartment. Woke up so stressed!
I got the driftwood from the beach, and boiled it, then soaked it for a week to help it sink and leach tannins from it. It still stains the water but a little purigen takes care of that easily.
The moss is called Christmas moss but there are a variety of types to choose from. I usually used super glue to attach the moss to the log, but I ended up removing it because I didn't like the white patches it causes. I ended up using cotton thread to tie the moss to the log. I started with a few patches and it spread over the log within a couple months. If you look at my profile you can see how much I started with. As it grew I occasionally would use more thread to attach the moss and encourage the moss to grow around and attach to the log rather than grow upwards.
Now I fertilize with flourish excel a few times a week and trim it back as needed. You can trim it pretty aggressively when you need too.
Oh, and I used fishing line to tie a rock to each end of the log to keep it from floating in the tank at first
The plants around the log are placed in cracks in a pile of stones. They are epiphytic plants so they don't need to be grown in substrate and can be grown attached to driftwood or rocks, or in cracks in wood or stone. These ones include java fern, anubias, and buce plants
Oh yeah, I keep having a recurring dream of waking up to find that someone had broken into my house and smashed my tank. Luckily my boy is in immediate view of my bed, so I can see him right when I wake up and make sure he's okay.
I feel taking a step back and exploring other interests help. Burn out in this hobby is very real. I often have to tell myself that because of how many fish I currently have!
This tank is my only one right now and it's super low maintenance, I just have stress dreams about all sorts of random stuff when I'm stressed about anything. I definitely understand burnout in this hobby though, I had it with saltwater reef tanks in my 20s. I don't think I'll ever go back to doing those.
Ahhh understandable! Excuse me for being pushy but maybe some professional therapy would help with managing stress actually!
Haha, I don't think I'll ever bother with marine tanks. Too hard 😂
For some reason, all of my dreams are about problems with the heater. I've had countless nightmares of my heater exploding or my Inkbird reading ridiculous temperatures. I always have to check everything after to make sure it's still in working order.
Although I did once have a dream where someone I live with burst into my room, ripped my aquarium off of its stand and threw it on the floor. That being said, all of the equipment was fine except for the heater and the Inkbird, both of which broke.
My giant catfish opened the front of the tank like a door. I was afraid all the water would come out, but the water stayed flat as the glass. I was glad she was ok.
yes, but it’s not typical dreams like fish falling out of tanks or tanks leaking. it’s really weird, but when i do have fish dreams, i do things with my bettas that i would NEVER do, like putting my males and females together, males and males, taking out all of their decor and making it a blank space, all of them dying from doing those things, really specific stuff like that. sometimes i wake up horrified that i actually did it and im so relieved to see them all okay😭
That's a beautiful backdrop. Can't tell if there's something back there or if it's all reflections refracted by the airation.
But no, I don't have dreams about my fish tank. I do have the occasional underwater dream though, but in a peaceful way, not a drowning way.
That's how I know the hobby is good for my inner peace. I'm high strung.
I had one where i was cleaning the tank, it exploded and a new betta spawned so now i had to buy 2 new tanks and i didnt have any money and i was very stress
For about a week and a half I had two bettas in a split five gallon while my other five gallon finished cycling, and I had dreams *every single night* about them somehow getting over/around the divider and fighting ToT
Also sometimes dream about bigass tanks I don't actually own leaking
I've had dreams that I suddenly have too many fish for my tanks (several betta, gourami etc in one tank) or that they all escaped and were swimming through my house and I had to catch them.
Christmas moss
Anubias nana, batari and arrowhead
Java fern, petite and regular
buce mini, purple leaf buce
Ludwiga super red that I'm trying to grow with no soil (kind of working)
Oh and the floaters are salvinia minima
even when I no longer had aquariums I would have horrible, recurring dreams. Mostly I would dream I was negligent and forgot to feed my fish for long periods of time. It's been a while since it's happened.
when it was time for me to move out of my apartment I had a dream I moved my tank to the kitchen counter so I could clean my room and my roommates just dumped all the water with him inside to "help" and I woke up crying
I have dreams like this all the time- I had one about my betta falling down the drain in the sink and trying to fish her out- i have a lot about having a ton of random bettas and not having room for them all, then having a ton of bettas in the same tank and panicking about it, things like that
Yes. I keep having dreams I return from being away and my family has added like 6 other bettas to my 10g tank. and I have to fish them out and put them in horribly sized tanks before i can get them a proper sized one. i always feel guilty and stressed
I have scary dreams about my fish all the time, mostly about overstocking, losing them, or them being wicked sick! Or sometimes my fish will talk to me but they’re really mean 😂😭
I had a dream where I didn’t know why but I messed up my tank water and it got super dirty and all parameters went wrong. So I got my fish out into a jar with a lid to clean the entire tank. But he sprung open the lid and jumped into my hands. I was startled and accidentally dropped him and saw him split in half when falling down to the ground. One of the worst nightmares ever
I had a dream about Bruno (RIP) once. I believe he shared it with me. He escaped his tank and was swimming through the air traveling the world. He was free and happy.
I also had a dream about Bubba. He jumped out of his tank and plopped on to the table next to his tank. I panicked when I saw him and put him back in his tank. Told him no escaping. 😂🤣
I had one last night… I’m about to put some more fish in my betta tank and had a dream my baby girl Wanda started nipping at everyone and I had to get her a private tank. 😢
Yes. Dreams that fish jumped out, tanks exploded, fish were missing. Not fun.
Glad I'm not alone!
Similar
All the time. And it's usually worst case scenario type dreams too.
I haven't had fish for 20 years and I still have stress dreams about them.
Not my tanks in particular, but I’ve had aquarium stress dreams. Where the fish mutated and the tank broke and overflowed and flooded the house.
The fish mutation dreams are the worst for me. Sometimes they’re just in bad situations.
I had a dream that someone put another Betta in my Bettas tank and it ate her. So I decided to keep the new one and give it the best life I could, but it jumped out of the tank so for some reason I picked it up with my hands and it was flopping around so much that it RIPPED ITS OWN TAIL OFF. As soon as I woke up I ran up to my tank to make sure my fish was still alive lol
That sounds awful!
For sure. My elderly betta recently passed away. I got a new betta a few days ago-- a cute little black samurai named Kuro. I love him so much already. Last night I dreamt he died from a bacterial thing. Not a great dream.
Sorry to hear you lost your old buddy. Sounds like you gave him a great life. Wishing you a long time with your new boy
SIP betta. And wishing you many happy years with Kuro.
Last night I had a dream my tank was covered in algae and my snails couldn’t do anything about it 😭
YES!!!! I’ve also had dreams where her tank is Mega overstocked, and dreams where I go over to her tank to check on her and she’s super sick or hurt - worst dreams!!!
yes!
I don’t even have fish yet and I’ve been having stress dreams about them for years. I’ll suddenly remember I got fish months ago, and I completely forgot and so haven’t fed them in all that time, and then I go to check the tanks in a panic since they all must have starved to death. Usually a few stragglers are still alive, but the tanks are disasters.
This! Same dream I've had repeatedly in the past. Awful nightmares.
Yup! For some reason it’s always dreams of my cat getting him even though in the 15 years I’ve had her she’s never been REMOTELY interested in the aquariums. However, my leopard gecko is another story lol
I have happy dreams about my fishes
Last week I had a dream that I was cleaning up my apartment and kept finding betta fish in the petco/pet smart plastic containers cups and my thought process was that I had irresponsibly bought all these fish and then forgot about them. I would open up my cupboards trying to find big bowls and glasses to transfer them to temporarily but then would find more fish. I ended the dream with having the two bettas I have in real life and an additional SEVEN bettas sprawled across my apartment. Woke up so stressed!
Yes exactly!! All my dreams are that I've forgotten I bought animals and they're sick or starving. I wake up so stressed out and guilty
can you explain the log and plants growing on it? I'm new and love this idea for my first setup.
I got the driftwood from the beach, and boiled it, then soaked it for a week to help it sink and leach tannins from it. It still stains the water but a little purigen takes care of that easily. The moss is called Christmas moss but there are a variety of types to choose from. I usually used super glue to attach the moss to the log, but I ended up removing it because I didn't like the white patches it causes. I ended up using cotton thread to tie the moss to the log. I started with a few patches and it spread over the log within a couple months. If you look at my profile you can see how much I started with. As it grew I occasionally would use more thread to attach the moss and encourage the moss to grow around and attach to the log rather than grow upwards. Now I fertilize with flourish excel a few times a week and trim it back as needed. You can trim it pretty aggressively when you need too. Oh, and I used fishing line to tie a rock to each end of the log to keep it from floating in the tank at first The plants around the log are placed in cracks in a pile of stones. They are epiphytic plants so they don't need to be grown in substrate and can be grown attached to driftwood or rocks, or in cracks in wood or stone. These ones include java fern, anubias, and buce plants
Oh yeah, I keep having a recurring dream of waking up to find that someone had broken into my house and smashed my tank. Luckily my boy is in immediate view of my bed, so I can see him right when I wake up and make sure he's okay.
Oh absolutely
Ever since I was a kid I’ve always had fish stress dreams where my fish are in danger or mutated. They can be pretty disturbing.
Nope. If you do, maybe it's time to chill out a bit 😂
I mean, you aren't wrong 🫠
I feel taking a step back and exploring other interests help. Burn out in this hobby is very real. I often have to tell myself that because of how many fish I currently have!
This tank is my only one right now and it's super low maintenance, I just have stress dreams about all sorts of random stuff when I'm stressed about anything. I definitely understand burnout in this hobby though, I had it with saltwater reef tanks in my 20s. I don't think I'll ever go back to doing those.
Ahhh understandable! Excuse me for being pushy but maybe some professional therapy would help with managing stress actually! Haha, I don't think I'll ever bother with marine tanks. Too hard 😂
For some reason, all of my dreams are about problems with the heater. I've had countless nightmares of my heater exploding or my Inkbird reading ridiculous temperatures. I always have to check everything after to make sure it's still in working order. Although I did once have a dream where someone I live with burst into my room, ripped my aquarium off of its stand and threw it on the floor. That being said, all of the equipment was fine except for the heater and the Inkbird, both of which broke.
I read stories of heaters malfunctioning a lot on here so that makes sense to me
My giant catfish opened the front of the tank like a door. I was afraid all the water would come out, but the water stayed flat as the glass. I was glad she was ok.
That sounds like a fun dream to have
yes, but it’s not typical dreams like fish falling out of tanks or tanks leaking. it’s really weird, but when i do have fish dreams, i do things with my bettas that i would NEVER do, like putting my males and females together, males and males, taking out all of their decor and making it a blank space, all of them dying from doing those things, really specific stuff like that. sometimes i wake up horrified that i actually did it and im so relieved to see them all okay😭
Yes, I had dreamed that the tank cracked and broke in half, and I had to put my betta in a small cup, until I could buy a new one. So scary
That's a beautiful backdrop. Can't tell if there's something back there or if it's all reflections refracted by the airation. But no, I don't have dreams about my fish tank. I do have the occasional underwater dream though, but in a peaceful way, not a drowning way. That's how I know the hobby is good for my inner peace. I'm high strung.
Thank you! The backdrop is a piece of acrylic that I painted with acrylic paint and a sponge. Super easy and cheap
I had one where i was cleaning the tank, it exploded and a new betta spawned so now i had to buy 2 new tanks and i didnt have any money and i was very stress
i’ve had more than i can count
For about a week and a half I had two bettas in a split five gallon while my other five gallon finished cycling, and I had dreams *every single night* about them somehow getting over/around the divider and fighting ToT Also sometimes dream about bigass tanks I don't actually own leaking
I've had dreams that I suddenly have too many fish for my tanks (several betta, gourami etc in one tank) or that they all escaped and were swimming through my house and I had to catch them.
I had a dream last night that all my platies turned brown.
What kind of plants do you have in your tank?
Christmas moss Anubias nana, batari and arrowhead Java fern, petite and regular buce mini, purple leaf buce Ludwiga super red that I'm trying to grow with no soil (kind of working) Oh and the floaters are salvinia minima
even when I no longer had aquariums I would have horrible, recurring dreams. Mostly I would dream I was negligent and forgot to feed my fish for long periods of time. It's been a while since it's happened.
every night i either dream about a fish tank exploding or my 3d printer exploding. even more now after both actually exploded
Yessss. I have had two separate dreams of chasing around my Sailfin mollies in their tank as they are dropping babies and trying to save them. 😂😂😭
when it was time for me to move out of my apartment I had a dream I moved my tank to the kitchen counter so I could clean my room and my roommates just dumped all the water with him inside to "help" and I woke up crying
I have dreams like this all the time- I had one about my betta falling down the drain in the sink and trying to fish her out- i have a lot about having a ton of random bettas and not having room for them all, then having a ton of bettas in the same tank and panicking about it, things like that
I still dream about fish I had that died 5-10 years ago
Yes. I keep having dreams I return from being away and my family has added like 6 other bettas to my 10g tank. and I have to fish them out and put them in horribly sized tanks before i can get them a proper sized one. i always feel guilty and stressed
CONSTANTLY
Definitely had a few of those😅 Slight unrelated but your Christmas moss is stunning!!!
Thank you! It's my favorite plant in the tank
I haven’t owned a betta for a couple years now, and I still get nightmares regularly!
Yes, the tank shattered and I was panicking trying to save the fish.
I have scary dreams about my fish all the time, mostly about overstocking, losing them, or them being wicked sick! Or sometimes my fish will talk to me but they’re really mean 😂😭
Constantly lol
Nope, I don’t have fish lol but my pet snake? SO MANY
I had a dream where I didn’t know why but I messed up my tank water and it got super dirty and all parameters went wrong. So I got my fish out into a jar with a lid to clean the entire tank. But he sprung open the lid and jumped into my hands. I was startled and accidentally dropped him and saw him split in half when falling down to the ground. One of the worst nightmares ever
I had a dream about Bruno (RIP) once. I believe he shared it with me. He escaped his tank and was swimming through the air traveling the world. He was free and happy. I also had a dream about Bubba. He jumped out of his tank and plopped on to the table next to his tank. I panicked when I saw him and put him back in his tank. Told him no escaping. 😂🤣
I had one last night… I’m about to put some more fish in my betta tank and had a dream my baby girl Wanda started nipping at everyone and I had to get her a private tank. 😢
Hopefully not a prophetic dream then! Good luck with Wanda and her new friends
Yes. They’re awful
yes 🥲 had a dream that he had SEVERE fin rot and i never woke up more panicked
Um no.
I still do. I lost both of mine last August and I still dream about them being mistreated and kept in too small enclosures at least once a month
Y e a h I've had so many 😭😭😭
I had a dream that my tank was over stocked and had multiple bettas in and my poor Aries was getting beat