This woman’s husband has an interesting passion: saltwater fish. In fact, he has an impressive aquarium collection in their home, and it started out as just a hobby that she thought was adorable.
Her husband’s enthusiasm for his fish progressed to a point where the aquariums have overrun her home and depleted their finances.
They live in a tiny home, and the various aquariums take up a ton of space, as well as an inordinate amount of money.
“He spends a fortune on this hobby,” she explained. “How much [can] a fish or coral cost? A lot, apparently.”
“At the end of every month, there’s barely any money left for expenses or savings. I’ve had to take on additional financial responsibilities because his contributions aren’t enough.”
“It doesn’t seem to matter how often I bring up my concerns; he just doesn’t seem to understand the impact it’s having on our overall quality of life.”
Not that long ago, her husband told her that a friend of his has an aquarium he’s giving away, so he wants to take it.
She put her foot down and told her husband no, while insisting they don’t have the money or room for an addition aquarium.
Her husband failed to take her feelings into consideration and started arguing back that nobody else would be able to take care of the fish and coral correctly except for him.
Mirek Kijewski – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual fish
This started a blowout fight between them, and finally, her husband relented and promised not to bring the aquarium home with him. Sadly, she thinks he’s lying.
She’s worried that if her husband keeps going down this path, it’s going to wreck their marriage and they won’t be able to recover.
While she adores her husband and thinks it’s wonderful he provides his fish with incredible care, his hobby has taken over his life and hers, too.
It’s to the point where it’s now ruining her mental health, and she hates having to look at coral and fish in every single room of her home.
She’s willing to compromise and allow her husband to keep either one huge aquarium or two small ones, but everything else he needs to get rid of.
“I understand that it might be difficult for him to part with them, especially [since] he’s attached emotionally to his creations,” she said.
“He actually takes great care of these aquatic creatures without my involvement, especially his corals. Honest to God, they are stunning! But we simply can’t keep living like this. It’s unsustainable and unfair to me.”
“As much as I want to support my husband in his hobby, I also have to think about our future and our well-being as a couple. It breaks my heart that we might have to choose between each other and these aquariums. I hope we can agree on a final solution.”
What advice do you have for her?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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