Either way, it’s always a good sign when someone comes back for more supplies. It usually means the tank is working.
My favorites are the children. Full of wonder and not really too apt on arguing about what a fish needs. One kid sticks out, though. He's maybe 5 or so. His grandparents had agreed to get him a fish, but he knew there were constraints. His grandparents didn't seem to speak English as a first language, so he was mostly the point of contact. I helped him set up a tank and answered all his questions and got him the essentials. He was dead set on no filter. As they were checking out, I mentioned that it would be a really good upgrade in the future. His grandparents didn't mind and wanted to get one, anyway.
Fast forward a few weeks to today, and I see him and his grandpa in for some fish. They didn't mention any deaths, so that's always awesome. They ended up getting a pair of Mollies for their 5 gallon.
While I would always recommend a bigger tank for Mollies, this was something I could let go.
It's not really about these fish in this particular tank that I wanted to help guide his decisions.
Rather, it's about the next tank with the next fish.
In the hobby, we tend to get caught up in absolutes. I am in no way suggesting that there shouldn't be high standards of husbandry with any animal. Rather, I'm suggesting that perhaps good enough is a good launch pad to better. Reality is not such that every betta will end up in a heated, filtered, planted 10 gallon tank. Ideal and realistic often don't match.
What is worth it, though, is inspiring the next fish keeper with animals that live. I think about my first real tank. It was a 10 gallon tank. It was not cycled and I put 5 guppies in there. Those 5 guppies lived. They were around for a week, then a month, then a few more months. They survived my first upgrade. Then the next.
Those guppies only lived about a year or less. Not their full lifespan by any means, but longer than any other fish I'd ever tried. They got me interested in so much more. They were the gateway to my current knowledge.
How many fish have died in your tenure of fish keeping? How much did you learn from that? How much more do you engage and want to learn more when things go right?
I’ve killed more fish than I’d like to admit. Not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t know yet. My childhood tanks weren’t heated, filtered, or even appropriately sized. That’s where most people start.
The goal isn’t to pretend that step doesn’t exist. It’s to move people through it faster, with fewer losses along the way.
So, no, it's not about the mollies being in a tank that might be too small. Of course it's not ideal, but it's inspiring. Every time those mollies interact with the kid, every time they eat and everything they do is going to help our little friend want to know more.
It’s a good example of setting expectations, too. Not every fish fits every tank—and tanks need more than just water.
The real goal post for helping people with new aquariums is not to get them to an ideal place, but a better place. After all, we're still learning too.
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