OpenTube

This Is Why People Quit Fishkeeping…

KaveMan Aquatics

58,320 views

Want help with your own aquarium?

I offer a few different ways to work together, depending on how much help you need:

🐠 1-on-1 Coaching — one focused session to solve a specific problem or answer your questions
🐠 30-Day Consulting — I'm personally involved with your tank for a full month
🐠 KaveMan Signature Aquariums — my team designs, builds, and installs the whole thing for you

👉 See which one fits: https://kavemanaquatics.com/kaveman-a...

Thinking about quitting the aquarium hobby? You’re definitely not alone. Fish dying, algae taking over, cloudy water, constant maintenance, wasted money, and conflicting advice can make fishkeeping feel WAY harder than it needs to be.

But here’s the good news: most of the problems that make beginners quit are actually pretty easy to overcome once you understand what’s causing them.

In this video, I’m breaking down the biggest reasons new fishkeepers give up on their aquariums—and, more importantly, the simple solutions that can get you through the frustrating stage and into the part of fishkeeping we all actually enjoy.

We’ll talk about fish loss, aquarium maintenance, algae and ugly-tank syndrome, wasting money on unnecessary equipment, information overload, comparing your aquarium to experienced fishkeepers, and what to do when a major setback makes you want to throw in the towel.

Trust me... get through the learning curve and the hobby becomes COMPLETELY different.

🚨Grab 1 or ALL of these FREE tools to help with your Aquarium Hobby 👇

📘 Crystal Clear Aquarium Water eBook (Free)
https://kavemanaquatics.com/crystal-c...

📗 Keeping African Cichlids eBook (Free)
https://kavemanaquatics.com/african-c...

📲 THE, Aquarium Keeping App | Aquabuildr | Download (Free)
https://aquabuildr.com

😁Facebook Group (Free) - Best group in town!
Facebook: kavemanaquatics

😎Discord Server (Free) - It's the best in community engagement!
Discord: discord

Want to dive in deeper? 🤔

🕺 Become a KaveManFam Member and get extra perks for supporting the channel!
https://youtube.com/kavemanaquatics/join

💪 Get 1-on-1 Premium Coaching - Just You and I!
https://kavemanaquatics.com/kaveman-a...

💻 Keeping African Cichlids Full Premium Course!
https://kavemanaquatics.com/keeping-a...

🎁 Looking for some KaveMan Merch? Tees, Hoodies, and more!
https://kaveman-aquatics.myshopify.co...

🚀 Looking for Anything/Everything KaveMan related?
https://linktr.ee/KaveManAquatics

📨 Shoot me an email | https://kavemanaquatics.com/contact

✅ How You Can Support The Channel
1.) Hit the LIKE Button (It helps a ton!) 👍
2.) SUBSCRIBE (and press the bell icon) 🔔
3.) Comment during the first hour a new video drops (I'll be there!) 👀
4.) Purchase products from the KaveMan Shop - 🏪
https://bit.ly/KaveMan-Shop
https://www.amazon.com/shop/kavemanaq...

✅ LET'S LINK UP on other Platforms
Website - https://KaveManAquatics.com
Instagram - Instagram: KaveManAquatics
Tiktok - TikTok: kavemanaquatics
Facebook - Facebook: KaveManAquatics
Discord - Discord: discord

#KaveManAquatics #AquariumHobby

20 Comments

@KaveManAquatics Creator 9 days ago (edited) Pinned

Thanks for watching! 😁 If you want help with your own tank, I do 1-on-1 coaching, 30-day consulting, and full custom builds depending on what you need.
Everything's here 👉 https://kavemanaquatics.com/kaveman-aquarium-coaching/

@michaelmcclendon3220 1 month ago

I had to pick up my phone while watching this on TV just so I can like and comment..This is the kaveman that we all become accustomed to. Brute honesty no bs no perfection just the honest truth. Great job on this one!

@angelmika2010 1 month ago

I stopped fishkeeping 4 years ago due to not being fully prepared when I had to move to a new home and all my fish died due to stress. It broke my heart. Now I’m back into the hobby and love it. I definitely learned a lot during my time off and my tanks are striving.

@509734 1 month ago

3:03 “and now you’re mad” how dare you paint a bullseye on me

@Brittany-pd2pn 1 month ago (edited)

I recently lost a betta we had for about a year about 2 months ago. I was that person who did no research prior to buying all the BAD decor and just throwing our betta into straight tap water. After hundreds of hours of research including watching majority of your videos on REPEAT daily I eventually got the right set up for our betta! He was living the luxury life, spoiled fish! After a year he got sick and we had to put him down. It wasn’t an easy thing. After that happened I decided to shut down the whole tank. Maybe I will jump back into the hobby later in the future, but I just want to say thank you for helping me understand the fish hobby so much! I now know a lot where I can pass on information to new fish keepers! THANK YOU! 🙏🏻

@InfallibleGrace 1 month ago

Sooo I’ve been keeping fish since December
& have two tanks
I can already tell you man every fish hobbyist is right
You need to get your tank settled & it takes time !
Patience is your only friend & consistency
They definitely need to mature & then it’ll get easier

@lyled7396 1 month ago (edited)

I was close recently. What saved the hobby for me was a shrimp tank. I now only have a small shrimp tank. I had my "dream tank" a 125 gallon lake tanganyika tank. About a month ago, the tank developed a leak while i was at work. I came home to a tank that was 3/4s empty. I almost lost the fish i absolutely LOVED! Things only got worse from there, life has really piled on me. My shrimp have saved the hobby for me. Awesome advice! Thank you for your content. Stuff likes this has helped me thru some tough times

@PhillyDee215 1 month ago

Definitely a hobby that requires dedication!

@TheTeamfreeup 1 month ago

25 years fresh 8 years salt … still loving every second of it .. patience and keeping it simple is key to success

@gstarphotos7184 1 month ago (edited)

6 years in and I done gave up so much times lol... and this is all facts!!! but I'm now happy with my newly upgraded rare 80 gallon reef :)

@LimitlessCinemaStudios 1 month ago

I’m 6 years into the hobby and loving it. So many ups and downs. But the downs is what made me as good as I am now. Great vid as always my man.

@Chimspcynd 1 month ago

I've had fish since my family was keeping the carnival goldfish in a fishbowl. I've set up multiple proper tanks and have redone them. Originally the waiting for the cycling process was the hardest part but now it's one of my favorite parts because the tank has so much potential and it's journey is just starting. It's also the only time where the snails are the stars of the tank.

@LadyBugPicnic12 1 month ago

I went from a maybe 30/40 gallon tank to a 75 recently, and I have spent maybe a month and a half to eight weeks truly getting it ready. I waited for my older fish to pass, and all that moved along was a peacock eel fish named Miss Jackson. I have all my plants going, lighting, and everything dialed in. Starting to get fish on Monday next week. There is a lot to do before you really even get fish. Letting the driftwood go through the biofilm as I have no film eaters, letting some of the plant roots really get established. All of it.

@fishjungle9 1 month ago

I've been out of the hobby for 10 years since I left home for college. I am barely about to restart my journey once again. I'm glad I saw this video to give me a reminder not to get discouraged.

@OGBarry16 1 month ago

Had a bad outbreak and roughly a month after that lost my job… I put my aquarium (and terrarium) on the back burner… excited to now get a new tank going for all of them… My first 55 gallon !

@Jason2-legit 9 days ago (edited)

So true. My kids got me into this hobby when they were little and I had no clue what I was doing. Made a lot of mistakes getting started with a small 2.5 gallon Betta tank, 13 gallon community tank and a lot of ugly water and dead fish along the way. Almost quit multiple times, but stuck with it and thanks to help from you and a lot of other great YouTubers out there, have been successfully keeping a 75 gal peacock cichlid tank that I enjoy quite a bit!

@cammiluna 1 month ago (edited)

I stopped fishkeeping in November 22nd 2025 when my kissing gourami died at almost 14 years old, but this is only temporary. Kirby was getting sick every few months after getting a face injury in June 2024 that caused infections throughout his body. I've had kirby for a third of my entire life and I'm still grieving over him, but I'm also tired from the extra care he needed since that injury. It seemed like everytime he was about to die, he would punch the grim reaper in the face and be fine the next morning.

Kirby was also a territorial bad boy that created problems everytime i tried to introduce tank mates, so he was a solo fishie for at least ten years. I'm excited to get back into the hobby raising different fish species I never got to buy before!

the tank had more ugly days than nice days because the natural sunlight that filled my house caused so many algae blooms, and i've spent about $200 in new tank supplies and stocking up on filters, chemicals and his favorite food (northfin kelp flakes) and he passed away before i could make use of any of that. I'm still hoarding all of it because I don't know any local fish keepers i could give the consumables away to. Do i regret what I've spent? No. i mean, i could have used the money for something else, but it really did feel like everything he went through meant he was immortal and because he was in a near-death state multiple times, there was absolutely no way of telling if the next time he laid on his side or on a slant was the definitive sign that it was time for him to ghost me.

i miss my geriatric water cat. <3

@richardpartelo6088 3 weeks ago

I've been in the hobby for about 50 years. You are sooooo right. I wish I had access to the internet when I started. There is so much great info avaliable now (including you). Now I have a thriving tropheus colony with fish that are going on 14 years old, and still breeding. I went through quite a few failures along the way, but I sure learned alot from that!

@tinaorr2695 2 weeks ago

All of your tanks are stunning. The discus tank is my dream tank. Thanks for always giving such grounded and solid advice.

@LisaMeaux-1981 1 month ago

I was so excited to see that you put out a new video and this video was definitely awesome. I freaked out in the very beginning and made a lot of mistakes 🙄 but once I slowed it down the tank balanced itself out.