Spouses happy?

[Denisk]

My wife is completely supportive, pretty awesome to be honest. But I wouldn't say she would stop me if I said I'm taking it down.

 

[Lowstorm]

My bf doesn't care. He thinks it's nice to look at, but things I say go over his head.

And I bought him a puppy. Soooo he has his hobby (cars and now a pup) and I have mine.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

 

[germs101]

It was my husband's idea to get a saltwater tank to begin with, however he is totally hands off. Even though he gives me crap about where this hobby has drained us in time, money, frustration, space, etc, I'd say he's probably way more supportive than most would have been. That being said, I don't think he'd shed a tear if I told him I was getting out of the hobby altogether.

 

[Pola0502ds]

My master dislikes it more than she likes it because of how absolutely addicted i am to it. Whenever an arguement comes up the tank usually comes up. I think its been said more than once "You love your tank more than you love me". Im pretty sure i said "I do" because i was in the moment. But from time to time I catch her staring at the tank and she will ask questions like "whats that? Thats pretty". Its good for the family and my kids so im sure she appreciates it for that. My is really into it, all her school projects relate to fish or coral like her valentines box she needs to make and my wife sees that.

She has never said all the things i want her to say like "here honey, take this money and go buy some coral" or "instead of new furniture, how about a new tank!" Or "instead of going to my moms house why don't you just work on the tank".. We can all dream, right?

 

[Pola0502ds]

Ive never seen the word "but" used so many times in a thread. My spouse likes it "but"....

 

[cgdcinc]

Luckily mine became enthralled with corals once she started learning about them. I have let her pick the last couple euphyllias and she can't walk past the tank without stopping. She lets me do all the chores with the husbandry and tells me if she thinks something should be different and tries to problem solve if something isn't right. It is easier to spend time and money on the tank when they are involved.

 

[Frop]

I am curious how people's spouses feel about them keeping a reef tank. I think my wife enjoys it but wouldn't care if we had a reef or not.

If coworkers ask my wife she usually says "I don't mind. It's better for him to be into fish than into drinking or other things."

Plus I have all our spending on a spreadsheet. All bills and all credit card debt and what categories we spend in. My wife has a bigger allowance. Happy wife happy life.

 

[Pola0502ds]

Has anyone met a couple where both are equally into the hobby?

I have, one time i walked into this guys house to buy coral and i saw a yuma i wanted. I asked how much it was and he said i dont think its for sale, its my wifes. So he calls her into the room, started talking, and she knew more about the hobby than him. It was really nice and nice to see a couple who share a lot in common. And i did end up buying it!

 

[happyhourhero]

My teeters on likes or tolerates it. She likes that our baby likes it and she likes that it makes me happy. Time and money going into it she does not really like. However, last night I was watching people outbid each other on the WWC ebay auctions last night and she took the ipad and "got caught up in the rush" of winning auctions so now I have 6 frags on the way. lol. I'll take that all day long

 

[DeniseAndy]

My husband loves that I love it and have such a passion for it. He also has helped build things like lighting system, stand, plumbing and such. He set up the Apex. I can, but he loves to help with all that stuff. The rest he could care less about as long as I do not ruin the house or have things that make too much noise.

 

[saltnewb]

my wife doesn't really care either way as long as i don't spend too much at one time. most of what i have is DIY to try and cut costs and I'm only starting out in the hobby, so I'm not in super deep like the "how many things you have plugged in" thread. She did say she was fine with upgrading to our empty 90g with the 40g breeder for a sump, but i won't be doing that until december, too much to buy still to get ready for it.

 

[Bob E]

My wife enjoys it and has a say about what happens/ goes into tank but she doesn’t want anything to do with maintenance

 

[Radman73]

My wife likes the tanks but dislikes the money and time spent on maintaining them.

Pretty much sums it up. She tolerates it at the very least. Although, when I considered getting out of the hobby once, she threatened to leave me lol! She likes the tanks more than she lets on. And the kids have loved them.

 

[Reefinny Verified Sponsor]

My wife was happy with the first tank.... until she went into the basement and saw my Lab and 4 other tanks! Then the electric bill came...

Overall she loves the (1) tank

 

[AlexG]

This is an interesting topic. My wife l has always loved my reef tanks once they are setup and running. I think that my current build is testing her limits though. I always hear why did you need two tanks and why do they have to be so big? I say but dear I told you what I was going to do and you said it was okay. The term I have been hearing lately is her referring to the aquariums as a monstrosity. She knows its my hobby and I am sure once it gets to the point where I am buying corals and fish she will get more involved.

 

[Swoody]

She loves the fish and the beauty of it etc...Not interested in maintenance, so when I am off to work I have to pay a guy to do my water changes etc.... (I fish in the Bering Sea and am gone sometimes for 3 months at a time).

 

[mmw64]

My husband is supportive and helpful but hates that it ties us down. Haven't figured out how to make it self sustaining for vacations etc.

 

[cmcoker]

My wife likes the tanks but dislikes the money and time spent on maintaining them.

^^This.
She is attached to the fish and has a few must have corals in the new tank, I wasnt planning to put any euphyllia in the new setup but I have been informed otherwise, lol.

 

[JBradford]

My wife got me into FW tanks. She didn't own any when we met but she was looking for something to relieve my stress from work so she bought me a tank. She's dealt with the repercussions since (upgrades), but she is also found the reef tank we have now and told me to buy it.

She picks the corals that are pretty and place them in the scape. I watch husband the tank and do all the feeding. Win win.

With my wife's hours (retail) I work on them while she is away. Somebody mentioned vacations, that's one we haven't mastered yet either.