My new fish tank made me have a breakdown.

[@lauralbranch]

For future reference just in case: fake plants can easily tear apart fish’s fins. If you have fake plants, they will easily remove a fish’s fins. That means stress and infections are far more likely

[@Mikagow]

Silk plants are safe. They're soft. It's those nasty plastic ones that are so ruff and jagged that hurt them. You can buy cheaper silk plants at Michael's. Make sure to disinfect and water test them by putting them in boiling water for 5 minutes, and regular water overnight. If you see any color come off in the water, it is not safe for your fish.

[@honeythemute2478]

Mika G.O.W. At the same time though, real plants are 10x better and look better.

[@umbersong]

What about rubbery ones? Like they legit feel like rubber (usually look like mushrooms)

[@thirdeye3750]

@@honeythemute2478 some fish just eat them and it's easier to buy fake ones, for my fish they have some fake ones and when I can afford it, I get them a couple of fresh plants that they devour

[@Heehoo1114]

I have the tough plastic ones but i run my fingers over all of them and make sure they arernt sharp before i buy them and my beta love them

[@elderlybrunch4169]

Almost 20 minutes into the video. Im a fish hobbyist and started working as a petsmart to be a dog groomer, and they had me working on the floor in pet care occasionally. And I used to get SCOLDED or IN TROUBLE for giving customers the information that I HAD LEARNED from fish keeping for years before taking the job, (I still work for Petsmart right now strictly dog grooming, I havent been out on the floor in over a year) instead of giving the information PSM TOLD me to give. They want us to give slightly correct information (but not all the way correct) so that your fish or bird or small animal will pass away and you can come up to the store and purchase a new one... and Reagan I'm so sorry you had to be the victim of that. When hired on at PSM to work pet care, you don't really get to learn about animals before you start handling them, you're just told to read pamphlets and then you're good to go. And the pamphlets don't have 100% accurate information, especially about fish. I've had a goldfish tank for almost 4 years and I've only ever asked for advice from a privately owned, mom and pop store in my town that knows more about fish than I do. Anyways. I'm sorry that happened to you, and I'm so glad to know you're working on your mental health and taking care of yourself first.

[@stumpy1012]

I knew the information is wrong, but not why.. that made me physically sick to read.

[@elderlybrunch4169]

@@stumpy1012 Petsmart will try to make as much money off of you as they can, employee or customer. Whether that's you coming back and purchasing an $11 angel fish because yours passed, or working me for exactly 39 hours a week so that they don't have to give me full time employee benefits. As an employee of Petsmart, please do not ever buy from them... nobody should feel silly or dumb because they didn't know this, PSM tries to put themselves on top as the best pet store and they are far from it behind closed doors. They do not allow us to treat sick fish in the tanks, the vets dont care for small animals when they get sick or injured, and sometimes they'll even sell the wrong pet and convince you it's something else. Petco and Pet Sense are the only corporate pet stores I trust and give my business to. ❤

[@_halo_694]

This.... omg. I read the first few lines, opened the READ MORE tab and was like NOPE! (Btw this is not a criticism and does not mean in anyway to hurt.)

[@SC-hk6bs]

My family and I had just adopted a kitten a few months ago from Petsmart, and he passed away just a week later due to sickness. It makes me sick to think companies like that value their riches more than lives.

[@cassdraws06]

that's so fucking messed up buy I'm not even surprised. God it's disgusting

[@madisonchapman2369]

"The fish literally melted together." Me: *Thinks of all of my fish that went missing* Oh.

[@Dami_personal]

*Oh no*

[@idkmanimuncreative]

Shiiiiiiiiiiit

[@arax-v-6250]

so this was 4 months ago- *did you find the fish-*

[@legallydragonic]

Oh no- s h i t . . .

[@norealleader8076]

7 months now, you good homie??

[@BlaizeEternal]

Unfortunatly petco and petsmart have really bad reputations for animal care. I'm sorry you went through this.

[@tempura8976]

Yeah... my family got some petsmart fish for my little brother because he liked fish, and then they all died within a few weeks. We got rid of the tank eventually because my mom was really sad about the whole “fish graveyard” as we called it, and we’ve never gotten another fish since. In hindsight, we probably should have seen it coming, since one of the fish tanks at petsmart had a dead one in the back that they never removed..

[@BlaizeEternal]

@@tempura8976 I'm very fortunate to have a locally owned pet store near me. I get all my fish from them. The only things i buy from the big pet stores are supplies if the local one is out. Im getting a snake from the local shop soon and in very excited

[@aduckinlingerie]

i went to petco and saw a dead fish in the tank

[@sagethez0mbie151]

I have two cats, any recommendations? Because I really have a hard time trusting those stores

[@PlutoPigeon]

I did research to get fish and I had learned that petsmart and petco’s tanks are bad.

[@Lulu-qp6oh]

Having gaps in memory during traumatic events is actually called Dissociative amnesia! It occurs when the event in question is extremely stressful for the person involved to the point of your brain basically purposely preventing you from remembering in order to avoid extreme emotions kinda -? Basically your brain learns certain scenario = heavily upsetting and unpleasant emotions and decides it does not want.

[@lizillusion2318]

Ohhhhh so that's why I don't remember most days from the one year I went to a Catholic school...

[@87crowhat54]

So that’s why I don’t remember much of my elementary school experience

[@Divine__.]

Lucky, I remember all my traumatic events. :/

[@zoeywilliams5240]

@@Divine__. your brain only does this if it feels it can't survive it. That's probably why.

[@Divine__.]

@@zoeywilliams5240 oh. Well damn.

[@AuroSya]

Oh, Petsmart is terrible. I've worked there the past three years, and you do not need to know ANYTHING about animals to work there. You get 20 minutes of video training and that's it. I would not want anyone to get a pet from there. I'm so sorry.

[@makuanielsen]

im confused whether it's pet smart or pets mart whichever it is it's neither

[@quarantinedducky]

@@makuanielsen geez I went to the fish store got a seven gallon tank they said I could get up to fifteen guppies in that tank so a friend brought some of his and I got 13 now the filter is sucking them in one just randomly died and now I found out it’s overstocked nine guppies remain three died and now one is missing and now I count my fish and they keep moving lol

[@hjnkhjnk1871]

I'm a pet groomer for PetSmart, its not so bad. I enjoy it.

[@novateroon1402]

@@hjnkhjnk1871 it is that bad the animal abuse in pet shops (not just pets mart) is crazy the miss information they spread to get money is disgusting and overall pet shops just don’t give a damn about the animals physical or mental health or your mental health as long as they’re getting money. it’s better to adopt because there are so many animals in need of help because of breeders and pet shops because they convince people they can handle these animals when they can’t and so the animals end up homeless or dead due to improper care because their source of information wasn’t reliable because it was from pet shops who know only as much as the people asking the questions in the first place (don’t mean to sound aggressive pet shops just piss me off)

[@hjnkhjnk1871]

@@novateroon1402 its cool, I get it. My store is just one of the good ones that care and educate. My salon is very strict on safety, and our pet care people (reptile and small animals as Petsmart does not sell cats or dogs because of need for adoption) work closely with adoption agencies in the event of a care questioning or rehoming for the greater good of the pet. *shrugs* again, I enjoy it.

[@Northflowo]

I really like listening to these videos while I draw. It sounds like Rea is very worried about quality, but honestly I at least will listen to right about anything she has to say at this point :P love u rea

[@justaperson8381]

I also enjoy listening to long videos in the background, but this one just made me sad.

[@milkmanmcgee6683]

Oh crap,hi there

[@ysaysaysaysa]

Same

[@inastaria5075]

Same! We're here for her all the way :)

[@4mpl1f1er]

Oh...hi north!

[@sodaworks_2001]

Interesting fact: watching horror movies to feel better is not that weird! Studies have shown watching horror can help with grief, anxiety and depression. Basically we feel better by watching someone go through worse & come out surviving. There's a very interesting article about this by S.F Whitaker called "How Horror Helps With Processing Grief and Trauma"

[@dayxoo]

you just made me feel just a *little* less weird, thank you.

[@mc.gemstone]

That explain why I was enjoying watching the youtube dead meat while I was in the hospital for a few weeks. After getting my toe getting run over by a car. (Its a long story.) Also don't worry I'm fine now, been home for a while now.

[@aliel6137]

@@mc.gemstone im glad youre okay now that sounds rlly painful :"D

[@sapphicatsushi]

...dang I should start liking chucky

[@Hauntedomens]

Not to break the vibe, but what if I'm watching them because I'm emotionally attached to the fictional killers?

[@aaronismanly3733]

Don't ever apologize for being gone, especially for something as traumatic as that, the internet will still be here no matter how long you're gone

[@hyphurr.rarelypostsifever1220]

Omg this!! Their fans will always be here, and will always care about them.

[@robyn363]

our girl gave us a 58 minute video despite her struggles. rae, sweetie, i admire you

[@beetle_bee_4241]

not to mention she redrew all her old videos thumbnails, honestly raes such a queen

[@R0byn.]

Listen, i know I'm 2 years late but she was a girl boss, and she still is a girl boss

[@nin10dog]

@@R0byn.they’re non-binary now :)

[@boogiebong420]

*our homie :]

[@milli5968]

reminder to everyone: please please please NEVER buy actual pets or get advice from Petsmart or Petco or any other animal chain store. They mistreat the animals,get from bad breeders, don't give proper advice(if you need advice, please go to a vet instead). It is ironic that you shouldn't buy pets from a pet store(at least big ones) but please support actual good breeders and local stores if you have the option.(or adopt cats and dogs if you aren't looking for a particular breed) edit:if you need advice with an animal, you should also probably ask people who have experience with that animal if you don't want to go to the vet.

[@Indiegamefan-1987]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your very advanced knowledge, very good Wisdom!

[@risingintheash]

Agreed. I think the only logical pet to get from Petsmart and Petco is a cat, since they often come from shelters and rescues. Fish are definitely the most mistreated pets in the pet store industry.

[@lincolnlogsforleeches1422]

Thousands of fish, one empty 10 gallon tank, 12 floating upside down, half with strings coming out of them, I've seen this exact scene multiple times in both a Petco and Petsmart. NEVER listen to the company or employees, they are there to sell to you, not to help the animals, not to help you.

[@lilgraves3280]

I mean... I’ve been working at a Petsmart for a while, I love the fish and animals in my store and do everything to educate people. I find it’s the people coming in to buy fish don’t put the effort to even care for the fish they plan to get. Trust me when I say my soul dies every time I ask how old the tank is and they reply with,” I got it at a yard sale so it could be rather old” and if I asked if the tank is cycled and if they used conditioner and they reply,” for hair?” Had a woman scream at me that she’s kept a goldfish in a 3 gal before and it “did fine” she only started screaming at me when I told her we don’t sell goldfish for 3 gallon aquariums. ( fun fact: did you know we can refuse the sale of any animal) Don’t know how vet could give advice, for me the crazy people who call for dropping their hamster and want us to fix it to stop it from “spinning” never go to the vet. Don’t know what a vet will do for a fish... For me do research on any thing and everything, I stress that to everyone. It’s not the company it’s the people working there that make a store.

[@iexistyes_]

Adopting from shelters are also a really great option since you’re saving an animal’s life, and if my information is right, they are a bit cheaper there.

[@natduckie]

Hey Rae, to stop fish from dying from stress, make sure to acclimate your fish! I have a community tank and I didn't acclimate 1 fish. It died immediately. To acclimate, you have to put the bags of fish in the water and take out a few tablespoons of the bag water and replace it with the tank water. This helps the fish get used to the water gradually and reduce stress :)

[@monniemai1592]

So it's like slowly sinking your body into the sea when it's cold to get used to it to a comfortable level, instead of just throwing yourself into the water!

[@natduckie]

@@monniemai1592 Yep! Also to get used to the conditions in the water like hardness, minerals, etc :D

[@HamtaroWarriors]

Honestly, Petsmart and Petco really don’t have the qualified people working with the exotic animals they have. They usually get their exotics from bad breeders who breed for quantity over quality and no matter what they more often then not have medical complications or sicknesses that are fatal. The only things you can count on are their cat adoptions as those are shelter cats looking for their forever homes.

[@bluequartzdragon]

It sounds like the case with white tigers, but much MUCH bigger.

[@nightmareidk]

yep they take terrible care of fish

[@indigoinkk8931]

I do really agree, and there was only 1 time they knew something. We wanted to buy fish once and we were going to get it then get out. We asked someone about them and they started asking questions, so we answered. They told us what to do and none of my fish have died yet. So yeah. That guy was the only good employee.

[@nightmareidk]

​@@indigoinkk8931 oh i had to look it up before hand

[@crystalgryphon]

Yeah, and employees are NOT trained on how to care for the animals and are not who you should ever go to for advice or to learn how to care for pets you want to get. All the store cares about is making a sale, they don’t care about the wellbeing of the animals. Always do research before buying an animal and don’t buy from chain stores,

[@ccclover6411]

Honestly, number one rule when you’re trying to do research on an animal you want and you don’t know if the information is correct or not, go to a store that specializes on that type of animal, that’s not Petsmart or Petco. The employees know nothing about the animals, rarely they do, but that’s rare. Or you can ask a vet that specializes in that animal. Trust me, I’ve been through this situation, NEVER TRUST PETSMART or PETCO, only buy pet supplies not the animals there.

[@blutongu8888]

^^ yessss

[@EpitomeofExhaustion]

YES! It's like buying a dog or a cat from a pet store instead of adopting them from a shelter. Employees only work at a pet store to get paid minimum wage (or might ONLY have knowledge on some animals more than others), while volunteers at a shelter (or, as you mentioned, a vet) usually focus more on the well being of animals (and have more experience/knowledge about them). I had a friend who hates hamsters because the pet store employee *didn't* tell him that hamsters are SUPER territorial, and that he should NEVER put two random hamsters together in the same cage. So unfortunately my friend had to learn the truth the hard way.

[@solseclipse]

YES! I've been through this situation. Before getting an animal, make sure to do research on it from trustworthy sources. Even Googling the animal or looking it up on KZbin can lead to tons of actual helpful information. There are also tons of websites and forums online. I have a bearded dragon, and those websites have been lifesavers sometimes. Most employees give inaccurate or minimal information on the animal instead of actually educating people, so I'd recommend doing online research before deciding on what animal to get/whether you want the animal.

[@thxu4_the_venom657]

dude i relate to this so much, i've been looking at getting a gecko for the past week and a majority of the info we've gotten from petsmart conflicts with everything that i've gotten from like real gecko experts, at this point we've just decided to buy the materials (cage, lamps, maybe a hide etc.) from someone who already owned a gecko and just get the gecko itself from petsmart (i know it's not the best option but we can't afford the ones from breeders since we already have to get the cage and what not) edit; i was a little disgusted by the skinniness of the geckos i saw there, first of all, they had 2 geckos in what had to be less than 5 gallon tank wich like- NO it kinda convinced me to get one from petsmart even more because i just have to get this poor thing out of these awful conditions, luckily it didn't look too skinny so i have a feeling after a month or so of being in proper gecko conditions it will be back at full health, now i just have to make 300 bucks somehow

[@Trinchifurr]

We always go really far away from home to a one man business will a guy with only one hand. I’m 13 now and I have been going to get fish my whole life and he knows everything and now after 13 years he is super popular and he still knows us super well and remembers what fish we have and what new fish he thinks we would like. Definitely don’t go to big pet stores ❤️❤️❤️

[@siberiansushi]

I have Ichthyophobia. Fear of fish, particularly dead fish, if I went through what you did I would have burned the house to the ground

[@jiannavega5642]

I’ve never heard of that fear before. When you go grocery shopping do you avoid the meat section?

[@juliannaapril104]

@@jiannavega5642 I mean dead fish aren’t always right in your face when you go to the meat section

[@dedcatonxnx]

Siberian "Sushi"

[@siberiansushi]

@@jiannavega5642eh kinda. I avoid looking at the fish

[@TenshiRosee]

I almost fainted when I flushed my dead fish down the toilet

[@nekomataumbreon]

"A-and I scooped him out and said, 'Mood.' I would also die of stress" I chuckled and said "Mood" at this and I just-

[@Op_Eagle_002]

Who else is just glad to hear that Rae's still alive

[@MohamedAhmed-cw9ph]

i have that feeling every time i see something from a youtuber who hasn't posted in a while

[@_halo_694]

Amen.

[@blingblao16]

Me. At the same time, me

[@thehaunted4816]

I think that is all of us including Rae

[@blingblao16]

@@thehaunted4816 I could give or take. I prefer to take what I don't give, some

[@cassi6528]

So as an ex-Petco employee, I can confirm that they don't really do proper education for the employees on reptile or fish care tbh. I had to do personal research in order to give out proper info and I usually just tried to get the manager who had a giant aquarium at home to help people getting fish because they didn't teach us which fish go together at all and it was really hard for me to remember which went with which tbh. I wouldn't take most Petco or Petsmart employee's word for how to take care of animals, unfortunately.

[@beepusboop8678]

I know my purpose now. I will become the pet expert. Thank you.

[@kay2036]

*gives all the tight hugs* I'm so sorry you had to go through all that trauma while you we're already struggling enough. Even though you've had those fish for a short time; you've given them so much love and care to try make sure they had a good home. You have such a kind and caring heart; you've tried so hard and we all can hear how much this has affected you. We care about you a lot, never be afraid to take some time for yourself. You more than anyone else really deserve it

[@iiomqfaderz]

^^^

[@poltergeistjunkie]

Yeah I probably couldn't have said it better myself-

[@sally3190]

Yeah come back when you feel better

[@wispofthevalley]

I agree, I had something similar happened to me when I was 7. Thankfully I don't remember much about it but I loved those fish.

[@rosemary3029]

You're alive I've known your channel since i was in primary school

[@satelliterover]

This story literally had me SHOOK just LISTENING to it, I cannot imagine seeing it with my own eyes, I had a small eel who SOMEHOW got himself into my filter! I couldn’t sleep cause I thought I would find his body in my room just like you thought, and the freaking guy was still ALIVE when I finally searched the filter, we made sure to take him out and make sure it didn’t happen again, and he was just fine afterwards, it was whack. Edit: this is probably the most funny edit I have ever made, because I was talking to my mom about this story and i just got the most DEVASTATING news..... she told me she lied to me for years, telling me she had gotten me an eel, when it was just a ropefish (btw ropefish are still awesome little dudes), and she deliberately did this cause she knew eels were my favorite animal and I was very young when I first got him so I never questioned it, and I’m DYING LAUGHING, I’m not gonna edit the original post cause this is HILARIOUS LOL.

[@ZombieMinion1992]

I'm glad the eel was ok. I could imagine having nightmares of a human sized fish tank filter. Those things are freaking spooky.

[@pusheen9904]

It's very good that he didn't get thingafied to

[@satelliterover]

@@pusheen9904 yea thank goodness! I would’ve been ABSOLUTELY TRAUMATIZED if I EVER saw that happen to my precious child. I was very lucky my timing was good.

[@temutemacular]

This was like when my friend got what he thought was a Doberman puppy from his uncle and his uncle revealed to him it was a hotdog when he asked why it wasn't growing

[@Salbei17]

Okay, your edit is absolutely hilarious and I think I need to add something to this: So my native language isn't English, it's German. Which means that sometimes, I don't know certain words, for example, "ropefish". I therefore googled it, and Google gave me this amazing piece of information: Even though ropefish aren't eels, their German name is actually "Flösselaal", which in word-to-word translation would be "bichirs-eel". So, really, your mom got you the closest thing to an eel possible, if only in (German) name.

[@everyonegetselfears1444]

In Fifth Grade one of the boys found 20 dollars outside. Nobody claimed it (it was a small school) so we got to use it on our class. We decided to get a class pet. We were going to get a turtle, but found out the money could only get a fish. Our teacher chipped in some money because we were so excited and got a beta. The first day we appointed a fish feeder, named it Fishy McBoingBoing, and drew a ton of signs to go near its tiny aquarium. It died the next day.

[@scrimblo3028]

That... oh..... escalated quickly

[@everyonegetselfears1444]

@@scrimblo3028 It also died quickly. No I’m not still salty.

[@robloxmanface1]

How did it even die that fast? Usually fish in a bad enclosure last about 2 weeks

[@sophiaredwood5825]

@@everyonegetselfears1444 YOUR SECOND COMMENT I- 💀😭😂

[@ipreferalfredo9874]

I am so sorry for you and your fifth grade class, but that is absolutely hilarious.

[@anneira9706]

You sounded really sad and tired while you were telling the story and toward the end. I hope you feel better if you are. Take your time. You are in no rush to get videos posted. Post them on your own time, get lots of sleep, take care if yourself, and relax. I know you probably told yourself this or hear someone tell you this a million times but I'm going to make it a million and one.

[@MohamedAhmed-cw9ph]

now it's a million n 2

[@ccherry.berryy]

A million and three

[@myoissima]

A million and 5

[@Kevin-kb]

A million and 6

[@feralratking1638]

A million and 6

[@aurawry]

Honestly, as soon as she said "missing fish," my mind went right to the filter of the tank. Having several pet fish related shenanigans/nightmares, that was one thing that always came up. I don't know ANYTHING about pet fish to this day, but I'm really peeved out by the idea of what rae described

[@foxcrow4815]

Yeah, I had a few guppies a year or so ago and some problems had happened with the filter...

[@justaperson4656]

@@foxcrow4815 I've never had tropical, and my brother recently moved to a freshwater tank after a turtle incident, but I've always gone with multiple low-pressure filters over one high pressure because my stepdad had this exact issue. Honestly, botanical tanks are so much easier

[@catloveranimations2113]

Yeah I've previously owned fish, and it was a disaster on it's own. Since I had trouble with the filter, and she said they went missing, I immediately knew what happened. I just wish someone was there to help guide her during this and give advice :/

[@wispofthevalley]

I had 5 fish, they all lost their finns except for one. They all died.

[@justaperson4656]

@@wispofthevalley the hell happened?

[@nhendrickson04]

I actually had an experience with PetSmart almost exactly like this. They know nothing about these animals. I went to PetSmart that is 2 hours away from my house with the intention of buying 2 gerbils, since I had read that they were very social animals. When I asked the sales associate which ones I wanted, he said very sternly that gerbils were not supposed to be kept in groups, that they would fight if I got two. I was wondering if he was thinking about hamsters, and so i asked him if that's what he meant. He got angry and said no, that the gerbils WOULD kill each other. I felt pressured, and bought the one and brought everything to the car for her. As I was about to leave, I looked online again, just to be sure. Every site I looked at said gerbils had to be together, and could even die from being alone. So, I went back in there, even with the associate's protests, and I bought the second gerbil. And guess what? This two have never even glared at each other. They cuddle together, and they bring each other food. I'm sure the guy was thinking of hamsters, but please, to all the people who work at PetSmart, DO YOUR RESEARCH FOR THE ANIMALS YOU ARE SELLING. It is your job to sell these animals with proper information to avoid irresponsible customers to buy an animal that they haven't done research. But it's also up to the customer too to do their research. If I hadn't I don't know what would've happened to my poor gerbil. She would've been so alone.

[@LezzyBugO3O]

Good on you for double-checking your research and saving yourself and your gerbils the heartache. I hope your little furry friends are still going strong!

[@azure-mist]

Yo, as someone who’s studied a TON about psychology: it is completely normal, and even expected, for your memory on these events to be a little bit messed up. When the mind goes through a very stressful or even traumatizing experience, it may try to purposefully forget the event that made it upset to cope. If you have ever heard of ‘repressed memories’, or of victims of serious crimes forgetting the details what they went through even to the point of forgetting their attacker’s appearance? That’s what this is. This story alone could cause such a reaction, but the fact that it happened when you were ALREADY as stressed as you described? I’d honestly be surprised if you COULD remember everything clearly, even though, as you said, all of this happened recently.

[@sapphirelesbian2414]

I have that almost every day though. What does that say about my mental health? I mean I can't possibly be stressed out every day that much right? And also over years and years? Not just a month but I kept forgetting things since I was two or three years old. Sorry i know this is quite random, but I thought maybe you could help me analyse this behaviour ^^' Edit: I wish I could talk to a therapist but I just can't ever bring myself to get myself help on my own. I sound stupid, but no matter how much I try I just keep zoning out once I try. My head gets empty and I can't get out of bed. At all. And its getting worse every day

[@firegodessreiko]

@@sapphirelesbian2414 it says that you are struggling with depression and/or disassociation. Memory and cognitive issues are quite common with depression, actually. I'm shocked that you have a history, but nobody has ever told you that....

[@sapphirelesbian2414]

@@firegodessreiko thank you SO much for answering me. You didn't have to do that but you did anyway and I'm very grateful for that :) My mum said she believes I might have ADHD and wanted me to get checked several times. But I have a hard time asking for help, let alone go to or call someone to help me with my personal issues. It seems so egocentric to me idk. Thank you again for replying to me :3 And atleast I have some good news if you're interested: I finally was able to shower and even went outside and talked to someone at a coffee shop :) that is a big deal to me so I'm glad even with my migraine and all these influences crashing down on me, making me dizzy- I atleast went outside finally and did something against my stupid bad habits of lying in bed and hating myself

[@carrie00]

@@sapphirelesbian2414 Hey, you are never egocentric for asking for help! I believe that you can do it. Talk to someone you trust about it first, like your mother or a friend. Then they can help you go from there. You are ALWAYS valid, and you ALWAYS deserve help if you need it. Much love! 💗💗

[@sapphirelesbian2414]

@@carrie00 ..thank you.. wow i didn't expect so kind words from a stranger. You are valid as well!

[@Tigerpelt526]

As a Petco employee this story horrified me, I am so sorry you had to go through this! I can confirm that a chain pet store employee doesn’t have to know anything about the animals they sell. At the store I work at, all of the worthwhile information about the pets we have comes from other knowledgeable employees or personal research. It’s the awful truth about chain pet stores, but there are a select few of us that are actually trying to give the correct information. Hope your goldfish lead long and happy lives! Stay safe and remember to take breaks 💕

[@rebeccalowthian7174]

I work in a pet store in England and I personally own fish and thats my specialty in the store. Ive done so much personal research and we are trained up in the store about all these different animals that it annoys me so much when people come from a different store saying they've been told to get a tiny ass fish tank when they want or have a goldfish. If people are gunna work with and/or sell animals they need to be trained properly and actually do research. It sucks to hear stories like this.

[@nightmareidk]

@@rebeccalowthian7174 yep they put all lot of fish in one small tank

[@KaguraLioness]

can second as another petco employee.

[@twobrokewolves5884]

Never listen to petsmart workers, especially about reptiles or fish. Theu typically know very little or the wrong information

[@hotea9755]

I’m honestly shocked how crazy this story got with f*cking FISH

[@laughoutloudpaperanimation4846]

A friend I had owned fish and from what she told me it sounded quite stressful after this story I don’t think I ever want to own these pretty angelic pricks ever if I want to preserve what’s left of my sanity

[@GrainsOfArt]

Yeah wait until I SAY MY STORY IT WAS A NIGHTMARE WITH PET SMART TOO

[@Novadolls]

My heart absolutely goes out to you, petsmart gave bad information to me with my hamster, Jasper. They encouraged me to buy a small wire cage which only stressed him out to the point he would incessantly chew on the bars if he was in there for more than a few hours (I ended up using it as my temporary holding spot while I cleaned his new enclosure, a twenty gallon long tank.) I'm so sorry that you had to learn "don't trust petsmart employees" the hard way :( none of them know what they're talking about :(

[@goosemcgoose5196]

I wouldn't inherently say that- I have a friend who works at a Petsmart who will refuse to sell pets unless people are going to buy the genuinely *good* equipment. The problem is that the company/management hate workers like that because they just want to make money, so even if the employees genuinely care, they're not allowed to withhold sales because someone's not going to take care of animals. However, yeah, there are a lot instances of people giving awful, terrible advice, but it's more likely because it's the advice they're told to give, sadly. And honestly, people should do research before buying a pet (I didn't before buying a hamster, but I did the day after because he was panicking in his enclosure due to the size). A PetSmart employee is really only there to sell, they're not hired to know that kind of info. But shout out to the employees who actually give a shit about the animals they're selling. Edit: To clarify, I know where you're coming from, I'm just saying that we really should focus the problem with the companies who aren't striving to be better with *living animals* that they're selling, rather than a random teenager who was just told to sell stuff.

[@Novadolls]

@@goosemcgoose5196 oh yeah, the company is absolutely at fault here, I don't blame the petsmart employees for doing their job and trying to make a living. It's just a bad situation with no clear solution, but given that your average customer will only interact with an employee and not upper management, it can feel like it's the employee's fault. Tldr, my post was poorly phrases and yeah you right

[@goosemcgoose5196]

@@Novadolls Ye, and I don't blame someone for seeing it like that. It's hard to remember that it's not the person physically in front of you that's fucking up, it's the people who aren't training that person to be better at their job. At the end of the day, it's still a shitty situation and there needs to be more clear cut rules and regulations for the health and safety of fish and fish owners (and all other pets).

[@rainbowhamham27]

Sorry to hear PetSmart told you that, pet shops really know nothing about hamsters... I got my first hamster from a small family-owned pet shop, not the big chain in my country, and he also got a tall bar cage (useless as hamsters need horizontal and not vertical space), a tiny wheel, no bedding for burrowing, a terrible food mix with only pellets and seeds, no sandbath etc.... Thankfully I learned with all subsequent hamsters and I get them from a great rescue from my country. I know that Jasper has probably passed away by now, but just to let you know in case you have or might every get another hamster, they need a lot more than a 20 gallon too, the barest bare minimum set by my country's rescue is at 5000 cm²/775 in² based off a study that concluded that hamsters should have at least that, but it's better if they have at least 10000 cm²/1m²/1550 in², plus at least 30 cm/12 inches of stable bedding to burrow in. They also need at least a 10 inch (for a dwarf) or 12 inch (for a syrian) wheel, a large sand bath for proper fur care plus other substrates for enrichment. There's sadly no space for any of that in a 20 gallon. I hope this can help you if you still keep hamsters! They really are wonderful little beings ❤ It's sad what pet shops give them as homes, no creature deserves that :( I'm happy to help anyone who needs it too, no judgement for what they've been told before of course :D

[@Novadolls]

@@rainbowhamham27 I know :( I had Jasper when I was a preteen so I didn't know everything I should've about hamster husbandry. I'm not able to get another pet right now, but once I do, I'll absolutely make sure to give that hamster everything they need to thrive.

[@Remi_Edits]

This reminds me of when we had a tank when i was younger, we got a Siamese fighting fish (female) which we were told would be fine with any of the other fish they stocked, so we had it with guppies, dalmatian, rainbow, 2 angel fish and a few others... was going well for so long, till suddenly the other fish started dying off, it was strange, so i watched the tank, and i kid u not, the female fighting fish went up to one of the dalmatian ones, did what looked like a kiss, and the fucking dalmatian fish just died, floated to the top... so i then decided that fighting fish had "The Kiss Of Death"

[@playfulwriter9796]

I think it bit the fish...

[@ZoeyRoseArt1]

Yeah once fish establish their territory, especially bettas/gouramis, that’s when they can get aggressive, if they don’t become aggressive immediately.

[@justasharkwithawig5848]

I guess it really was a fighting fish

[@NekoAngelz]

7:34 Watching horror is known to help with catharsis. Especially with women. There are plenty of articles and studies on it. It's basically due to being able to relate the horror experience (the main character's) to your own life. Women have hard lives. Here's a quote to describe that, ""Men are scared women will laugh in their face ; Whereas women are scared it's their lives men will take." Horror is a good medium to experience release. What you were doing was healthy coping! Horror does bring hell to your mind but it also releases it, emptying the bad. Please do continue watching it.

[@Bucket0fLynx]

Dude that’s wacky. If I’m feeling stressed and anxious the last thing I wana do is watch horror. It makes everything worse and I end up just hallucinating and shaking afterwards

[@Purple.N]

if I'm stressed I just play a game I enjoy or draw. or anything that will get me distracted really,

[@CyanHope]

@@Bucket0fLynx actually getting scared relaxes you because the "shock" kinda turns off your brain for like a second relazing you completely and helping your body

[@superlimeapple]

@@Bucket0fLynx to each their own

[@Sinc3r3ly]

Men and women both have hard lives though

[@jazzcat1611]

I think this is the plot to Finding Nemo 3: The Fishining. This is literally a horror movie plot.

[@jill...]

brain go rot :(

[@beechan2958]

There is, it's called padak.

[@Dami_personal]

@@beechan2958 Oh I've heard of that

[@Wairu010]

Condolences from a fellow fishkeeper. Aggression, ich, priority feeding, and missing fish are common learning experiences but heartbreaking nonetheless. Compatibility between fishes just depends on their personality (which is why your online searches were so polarizing), but Petsmart should've told you about schooling fishes since they mostly have schooling species... And as for "The Thing", they didn't die being sucked into the filter. My guess is that the quarantine tank wasn't fully cycled (chemically balanced). It's unfortunate but a test kit can cost like $40 orz I really hope you overcome this experience and continue this hobby. Schooling fishes can mate/socialize, and there's other things like growing plants or breeding colorful shrimps that can be so beautiful!

[@Randomd0g]

At the very least the test kits last a long time, so its definitely a good long term investment.

[@lunarlove1444]

This story is proof that real life is MUCH scarier than fiction. At first, I thought it wasn't that bad when I heard about the one fish losing an eye since I had a small goldfish who lost both of her's in two weeks, but lived a long-ish life. I was a third grader at the time and had one goldfish from the previous year. When I was hearing about the fish disappearing and the sick angel fish, I was starting to think your tanks were haunted.

[@tonythetiger5029]

I was like, this sounds like a horrible nightmare and i can't believe any of this happened, and then i realized i was only half way through the video..

[@Crayfisherr]

Oof I’m still at the start ;w;

[@umbersong]

Ikr?! My god.

[@lucasistrying6042]

as soon as you said “have you guys seen 1982’s The Thing?” my heart dropped, i cant even imagine. hope things are better for you now rea

[@jerboteez]

Hey Rea, I know we don’t know each other, but I really feel you on all of the stuff you talked about at the beginning of the video, even down to switching meds and relapsing into old habits. I’m so sorry you’re going through that. I wouldn’t feel right just commenting on the art without addressing the things you said. You are cared about and loved and it’s okay to take a step back from productivity if it’s hurting more than helping. I really hope you feel better soon man 💗

[@haleyseeley4205]

This sounds like an alternate, horrific ending to Finding Nemo.

[@jocelynecupcake]

I actually never seen Finding Nemo LOL but I like this ending

[@emmareiman64]

Finding Nemo but Nemo is a sereal killer fish in the tank you own

[@haleyseeley4205]

@@emmareiman64 its more like the black and white fish that kept trying to get the other fish to go up the tube is the serial killer

[@rosedblossom]

The amount of anger I felt and how pissed I became when you mentioned “little white spots” went off the CHARTS, I had to pause the video and slowly blink aggressively at the wall opposite of myself. I got some small species of catfish from Pet Smart when I was a kid around the age of 7. They all died within a few days of buying them. I was understandably heartbroken by this as a small child, and I remember how absolutely *pissed* I was when my mother found out that the store gave us sick fish and that sickness spread to my glowfish.

[@puppyhowler]

oh yeah, from what i recall petsmart is notorious for selling sick animals.

[@rosedblossom]

@@puppyhowler hate them so much man

[@anonymouse_EN]

I was just watching the card capture Sakura episode where she goes to the aquarium for a field trip lol

[@spudboio]

That is really weird, cuz I was too!!!!!

[@lostmilk27]

Ray you trader you worked with mom i know it wasn't dom it was you

[@merymery7361]

ME TOO WHA-

[@ProfessorUniverse95]

I remember that episode

[@leahbeah1585]

@@lostmilk27 LOL I thought the same thing I literally watched that episode like an hour ago

[@brookeostrander9283]

I’m scarred from just listening to this I can’t imagine actually living through this.

[@melopsia]

Same I'm scared out of getting a fish now

[@brookeostrander9283]

@@melopsia same. After I watched this video I immediately messaged my best friend that I plan on moving in with at some point and legitimately told her no fish tanks.

[@gigabyt3996]

@@brookeostrander9283 just get guppies in a 5-10 gallon. It's really easy and they are pretty fish. They dont get longer than 1.5 inches so they are perfect beginner fish. Dont be scared or discouraged of fishkeeping :))

[@AzyssDraws]

When you said all the fish melted together my jaw fucking dropped. This story is absolutely insane. Also Rea, i really hope things get better for you mentally! You clearly work your ass off, and you deserve the world ❤️

[@bunne9180]

Christ... that was terrifying, especially the melted fish part never watch horror movies and get fish, got it

[@snowy2747]

“Are you tired of the pandemic?” Me, who just woke up and is really spaced out: There’s a pandemic 🧍?

[@Lulu.0013Supplies]

LMAOOO TRYE

[@rainbow-ee7rt]

Lmao

[@Healermain15]

Welcome to 2020, you may want to sit back down.

[@jk-2053]

No, staying home rocks. My comp sci classes on the other hand...

[@darlingkorexo]

Samee

[@StupidCatLady]

I had a feeling that the filter was going to the source of the disappearances because I've had that had that happen to me. My fish were horribly minced and I was like 6 when that happened. It's awful and truly traumatic. I understand your struggle and the pain. Its alright Rae

[@sleepy_koko]

I had a time where I was going on a cruise and two days before we were set to go all my fish got ich (most likely the white spot disease Rea was talking about) and we knew the fish were going to die, when we got back most where missing and since it's been such a long time we knew that the lucky ones where the dead ones in the filters, the rest where eaten and we found their skeletons

[@buggyhuman]

The part with the fish in the filter seems genuinely horrifying. I'm so sorry you had to experience that in person June.

[@ruuruu1987]

Girl, I can completely relate. There is just so much stress out there that it can cause a slew of anxiety, then it spirals into a roller coaster of emotions. BUT, it's okay to backslide sometimes because we're all human. Keep being you, keep working on the things you need and want to work on and just know that your friends, family and fans will still be here waiting for your glorious arrival when you decide to make an appearance. :)

[@huli-and-kato]

Rea: "You need like a 150 gallons, do you have any idea how big that is?!" Me: *Casually looks at the 150 gallon tank in my room that I use for a small snake*

[@aptalsandvic5355]

That sounds like a lucky snake to be honest.

[@caritahearts2405]

Ok but now imagine it filled with water, can you imagine how heavy that would be?

[@vaporean_boylove.0w083]

@@caritahearts2405 That would feel like a ton to carry. My gawd

[@rexanimates6344]

Oh what's the snake's name! I love snakes

[@huli-and-kato]

@@rexanimates6344 Her name is Salamae! She’s a precious little sweetheart~

[@Endlessly_Creative13]

You said “murder mystery” and I immediately thought back to our older killer fish, Dexter. I don’t know if the type of fish we got were just aggressive or what (I don’t remember what type they were either), but this little dude ended up killed the, like, four or five other fish in the tank with him AND the two algae eaters we had to help keep the tank clean. And it wasn’t just “oh they died”, no, this dude was biting pieces of the other fishes’ fins off and they ended up dying from it. He, however, remained alive for at least another year after that. All by himself. Some days we even forgot to feed him, but he was fine. He didn’t even float to the top like most fish do when he died. Resilient little murderer fish, I’ll give him that

[@hamsandwich2858]

This reminds me of when I was asking my uncle why he had just one fish and he said that he used to have around 15 but the goldfish ate and killed all of them

[@mangledsav]

i appreciate the name so much XD

[@deltastar4147]

I used to own like a bunch if fish as child but then one of them just murdered the rest of them and it was very traumatizing to a 5 year old

[@brotquel1592]

Don't you find it funny how people say things like: "If you wanted an easy-maintenance pet, you should have gotten yourself a goldfish!"? Seriously though, don't rush it Rae, take your time to try to get better, we're all cheering for you and we'll wait for however long will it take for you to get back out of the pit. Just know you are an amazing person and we all admire you.

[@notstarved4634]

Hey Rae. I've been following you for years and i love this video. I work at petvalu as a fish specialist and let me tell you- all the training i've done was self taught, with no training beforehand. i had proved my worth to my manager who had no idea what care the fish she was selling required, and i took it upon myself. Our training recently got updated, and let me tell you- i'm furious. No other coworker is required to know anything about fish, and what they are taught in the training videos is a 000.01 percent of what we should be taught. nothing on cycling, nothing about tank sizes, nothing about aggressive fish, only to sell the fish if a customer is interested and to give in to any impulse buy, and get them to buy as much as they can when setting up their tank. this means they want Bettas in any size "tank", as long as they buy other things. I've started talking to my manager on how I can help the sales while also getting bettas the care they need, buy getting more 2.5 gallons in as a kit, so all they need to do is buy the kit and go. It costs around 50 dollars canadian, but so far its been a huge success, but i want the 0.5 gallons off the shelves. TLDR: Employees aren't ever required to know about ANY animal they sell. And even though its wrong, its a minimum wage job and they shouldn't be pressured into caring for so many lives. this is why managers need to step up and do their job, and why there needs to be a fish specialist, a hamster specialist, a snake specialist. Thanks for reading if you did.

[@Carcass_Consumer]

You know it’s all gone to shit when Rea doesn’t do the advertiser jingle

[@MewMewDerez]

there was also a lot of construction tape, maybe she finally saved up enough money and doesn't need the jingle anymore?

[@Carcass_Consumer]

@@MewMewDerez hopefully!

[@chickenmax9953]

Holy shit that ending is so graphic this sounds like a short horror film dear lord I hate that image. I'm so sorry that happened regan thank goodness you know what happened to them though :/

[@kroebb]

Alright Boys, so i’m on 47:50 i keep thinking to myself like “oh fuck reas gonna find dead fishes in the filter” I had that feeling when the first fish went missing. See ya on the other side

[@kroebb]

SO GUESS WHAT GUYS

[@sophiaredwood5825]

@@kroebb KAVDKDB I LOVE YOUR REPLY 😭

[@ArtWithAly]

This is the big problem with chain animal stores like petsmart and pet of bc their employees don’t know much about the animals that they sell, a lot of them are kept in terrible condition and not at all how they should be kept, and a lot of them are sick and dying. Overall, for anyone go to a store that is specialized in taking care of and selling the type of animal that you want especially if it’s more exotic or overall not taken care of well by many people like fish and reptiles (especially geckos never get a gecko from petsmart or any other chain bc when I was doing research almost all of them are sick and so abused it’s so sad.)

[@devent10n]

"do you know how big 150 gallons is?" Me, working in a plating shop with a few 150 gallon tanks: Jesus Christ

[@owlwhoknowswhereyoulive1820]

r/strangelyspecific?

[@Morning_Glories]

Holy SHIT- I literally started tearing up when you described the fish in the filter thing- I hope you're doing alright! This does sound like an extremely traumatic experience Best of wishes to you! I hope you feel better soon and get some good rest!

[@Carbonated_Clara]

Hey, don't feel like you have to make everything funny or happy, especially with things that hold serious trauma for you. Sure, I adore your happy and fun videos, I'm sure we all do. However that doesn't mean you should push yourself and burn yourself out just to keep a smile on. This was a scary experience, and I commend you for being able to talk about it. It's okay to be honest with how you feel, you don't have to hide your emotions for the sake of being entertaining. Don't worry about making videos that your audience might not find interesting, there is an audience for everything. Even if we don't know you personally, we all care about you and wouldn't want to sacrifice your happiness for your content. Once again I'm sorry this happened, and I'm so glad your new tank is so much better. Have a nice day today if you can!

[@A_NobodyL1keU]

The entire time watching it's I was thinking, "you're not done yet!?" Because it's just so morbid and insane, and the ending was just, like, horrifying! I freaked out visualizing it. I think I would have moved in your situation. Hope the new tank go's well.

[@vivian_westwood_butworse]

Apparently when I got fish, I was told 20 percent will just die of shock, and that was somewhat true. It made me sad

[@ricegorm]

If you want to help reduce the chance of them dying of shock, slowly introduce them to the new water. What I mean by this is put the bag/container you got the fish in in the water you're going to use for the tank. This allows the temperature to slowly level out, reducing the chances of them dying of shock. After the temperature has had enough time to level out, open the fish container and slowly submerge it in the tank. Let the fish swim out on it's own and then remove the container.

[@PhantasiaPhe]

Bad things happen to children when you look away This is an example of that

[@Purple.N]

true

[@SatinFoxx]

As someone who loves fish, I can never bring myself to own them after watching Jenna Marble's video on her experience with them. I realized how insanely lucky we were with the fish my family had when I was a kid, and have no idea how we didn't kill 1 a day.

[@b.a.t.8076]

This could straight up be a horror movie

[@ariake18]

I'm devastated whenever I lose a fish. I physically CAN'T look at it dead or remove it, I have to call in someone else to dispose of it and it breaks my heart. And YES Petco and Petsmart just sell whatever someone will buy, with little info. I'm sorry you went through that. EDIT: I've NEVER had anyone else experience that audio/visual self-depravation and the paranoia associated with the death of fish before! I'm so sorry you went through, but man, I feel understood.

[@Yumichan62]

I totally get how you feel. I am not a big fan of fishes but I dont hate them. But my dad got 4 goldfish this summer that live in a small pond (I dont know the english word for it) in our garden. Normally I dont really have to do anything with them, except feeding them when my parents arent home. But one day in summer one of the fish died (I think the water wasnt high enough anymore because of the extreme heat and he got stuck behind a plant and was out of water for too long). I was so scared to get him out. I hate to poke him with a net (again dont know the word) because he was stuck behind the plant and I couldnt get him out. Just poking that dead fish and then having to carry his dead body made me nearly vomit. Like, even though I am not a big fan of them, I still liked watching them sometimes and something about seeing that dead fish just made me feel so uneasy.

[@Yun5890]

same but a bit different I can't look at dead animals I cry instantly that's a phobia of mine

[@Finchie0]

pet smart really shouldn't have half the animals they sell, it's really sad :(

[@CyanHope]

We had fishes once. We didn't know that species cause they were like the "price" fishes to carnival and my brother wanted them. They all were gold figh except one,the one we actually didn't know what was it. He was getting very big,like he was three times the zise of the gold fish. He was black,orange and white. He wasn't really agressive but he didn't like the gold fishes. Well it started all with one dying from stress,I assume cause it wasn't sick. Two died after like three years,I don't know if it's normal or not. And only the strange bigger one and an other gold fish remained. After like six years,the gold fish died by jumping out of the tank when we were out,we don't know how. Probably my brother who was little,gave him food and didn't close the tank. The big fish,the one who clearly didn't was a goldfish,started being angry,he would hit the tank. We tried to have other fishes but he killed them and then he commited suicide by like frying himself with the filter. That's was my family experience with fishes and my mother was so traumatized she said that we will no longer have fishes as pets.

[@themute9354]

Goldfish can live 20-40 years if cared for correctly. If you ever do keep fish again in the future, definitely buy from a breeder and do a good chuck of research.

[@CyanHope]

@@themute9354 yeah I know,we didn't want them to die but here during carnival they used to give it as a gift and my brother wanted them. They weren't even treated badly but defenetelly didn't came from the right place

[@fashioni.star.]

me: ready to fight the universe for conspiring against Rea

[@feralratking1638]

*grabs Xacto knife* aw hell yeah, let’s go

[@Nic-pv6in]

*grabs my dollar store lightsaber* I’m ready

[@hidden_heroine]

All I want to do is give Rea a hug and tell her it'll be okay. You are amazing. You're gonna pull through this. Take your time. Take the breaks you need. We'll be ready to support you either way. Also gosh, you're talented, I love your style, and your shading is so TASTY. And your lineart is SO CLEAN. Gosh. The absolute Talent on this woman.

[@Jup1trrx]

But like are just going to ignore HOW GOOD THAT PICTURE IS?!

[@hyperfox0934]

Chronic loneliness is very horrible, and fits the described behaviors/symptoms. Plus, it's quarantine. This is a fairly safe bet. ...you should look into seeing people, in person. I know it's risky, but you can do it responsibly. Here's how: *1. Get in contact with a friend or few and agree to meet/room together for a bit.* or whatever you want to do, for that matter. The first step in forming a proper plan is to agree to meet up, because you will need a plan during this time, especially, when so much of America is at an all time high of cases. *2. Discuss how you want/can make sure you all are Negative.* There’s several ways to do this. For one, you can simply get a test. (although during the holiday season that might be hard.) Make sure you don't get the quick test. You have time, and the quick tests are incredibly unreliable. You can also go the timed isolation route. For this, all you and your freinds need to do is to ensure that for two weeks, you completely quarantine yourself in your homes. You may not leave during this time, so make sure you have all the food you'll need. (Many won't be able to do this because of work, and that's ok. The test is still an option) *3. Schedule the meeting.* This is fairly self explanatory, but you also need to keep in mind what methods of Negative conformation they're using. Try not to have two weeks in between when someone gets their test results and the actual meet up- a lot can happen in that time. Also, just in case: no. You cannot stop isolating until the meet up is over. The cases are way to high right now. (It's barely worth it to meet up right now anyway, but if your mental health needs it, you need it.) *4. Meet at someone's house, or at the woods, or somewhere else that's either private property or an outside area that's not typically populated.* You don't want to be touching anything anyone else who isn't in your conformed negative group has touched. Even if it's outside, try not to touch anything anyone else has touched in the last few hours. Your group, though, is perfectly fine to hug, touch the same thing, and everything else. I'd still wear masks, and do make sure to wash your hands, but you and your group are safe to interact closely without breaking social distancing. *5. If you and your chosen person are gonna stick it out together, then congrats, you're perfectly good to go!* As mentioned, you're now both confirmed to be negative, so you're safe to take off your masks and resume your normal routines, just with a buddy now!

[@easybleasy2166]

Somebody please make this one of the top comments. It's very helpful.

[@tnnkinketsu548]

I thought you said see people in prison

[@hyperfox0934]

@@tnnkinketsu548 XD

[@StaardustQu33n]

"Well dear viewer, who I'm totally not projecting on." ME: "... I mean, everything you said isnt wrong. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to writing a song about how I'm not feeling ok."

[@fenhyste662]

This entire story is so relatable. I'm someone who's pretty mentally sound and resilient, but keeping fish was an experience that about broke me to the level you experienced. The constant *guilt* that sits on you, and the anxiety attacks. The fear of it being one more bad thing after another. Especially when you said you started to avoid your room-- it got to a point where I would literally unfocus my eyes when glancing in the general area of where the tank was, because there were times where I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle it if I saw something else going wrong at the moment. It's definitely a heartbreaking experience, I'm sorry you went through it ;_;

[@LilacLycanvic]

Oh my g-... ugh. When you said they melted together my heart went “holy frick what the hell oh my god they whAT?!?” And my heart dropped so fast. That’s horror movie-esque. I’m glad I never had any fish after being like a toddler or young child cuz I was horrible to them. I had some kind of sadistic interest in taking my fish out of the tank and harassing them by sticking my hand in the tank. I feel super horrible about it now and I don’t ever want another fish again.

[@smolsunikki8043]

Rea, I appreciate your openness on how you've been doing emotionally lately rather than forcing it down to bring us all a more familiar experience. I think it's very important for people on KZbin to be open about their mental health so that it can be discussed more and not brushed under the rug. That said, hearing what you had to endure this year with your fish tank was an absolutely harrowing experience! As someone who's never owned a fish in my life, I had no idea how much could go wrong, how mistreated they are in stores, how savage a fish can even be, or how fragile their lives are. No spoilers to anybody else, but how you found out what happened seriously sounded like the stuff of nightmares. As traumatizing as it was to endure, I hope that in speaking about it, the horror of it all will begin to lose its hold. It makes me immensely glad that you have a heathy and happier tank of fish now that you can find joy in. I hope things keep going uphill for you, and whether you are religious or not I pray you have the strength to bear whatever else happens this year until you've finally reached a break in the woods.

[@MC-from-Hell]

this is why i pay close attention to what the people at my local pet store tell me, but i have luckily found a small grouping of trustable people who work there, because anytime that i tell them "i'm looking for worms" or "i'm looking for filters" for an axolotl i'm taking care of, then they get together and ask their well known axolotl fanatic coworkers and ask them what is recommended. that is also why i stan those types of people who take this kind of job very seriously.

[@brunetteartist24]

It sucks that everything went so bad, im happy to know the latest fishes are just giving you the happy feels you wanted

[@coraljones8893]

?? HI BRUNE LMAO

[@brunetteartist24]

@@coraljones8893 BEST KZbin NOTIFICATION I HAVE GOTTEN SO FAR

[@jessicanissley9280]

SUP BRUNE ITS BUN

[@jessicanissley9280]

@@coraljones8893 YO SUP MOM

[@coraljones8893]

@@jessicanissley9280 HEY WHATS UP

[@Dionysus_draws]

Me: watching Rea: Time to rewatch more videos while drawing Her: posts a new video Me: YAY

[@kainimates]

I do that too

[@cheffyrah-rah985]

Yeah same-

[@sugar5198]

Saame

[@glowsquidenthusiast]

Haha- I do that

[@itsjustalf7747]

So I’m not the only one lol

[@aniahiginio8826]

I was also traumatized by fish when I was 16 and depressed and I haven't LOOKED at a single fish since then

[@zixea3318]

Oh my god, that ending was HORRIFYING. The hallucinations and eventually finding the fishes combined corpses in the filter. My god just listening to it gave me anxiety. I’m so sorry this happened to you. Dear god...

[@honeydragon5238]

😭 noo nooo nope not doing it

[@cocothesquid]

When you're already going through a really rough time emotionally, things that would normally be a normal amount of upsetting can become genuinely traumatizing. The fish dying likely wasn't what was traumatic, it was the loss of what the fish represented: your sole happiness in a very bad period of your life. It's perfectly understandable that it affected you so greatly. You shouldn't have to feel like it was silly or you're not allowed to be upset about it. I hope that your new tank set up goes well, and that you continue to feel better and find healing and happiness.

[@purpleisdebeste]

"It's been a while" Its been FOUR MONTHS! That is not a long time!

[@gin8663]

Kinda is

[@purpleisdebeste]

@@gin8663 You naive child. Have you not subscribed to someone who uploads every 2 years? You’ll see. One day *overthetopinsanevillainlaugh* !

[@gin8663]

@@purpleisdebeste I mean a few months is a relatively big gap. I get why she needed to take a break. No I haven't ever subscribed to anyone that has took a 2 year break even though I still can understand if they need a break or if they want to try something new

[@sleepy_koko]

@@purpleisdebeste there is nothing better then a KZbinr who when they upload the comments are just "oh the God has fosaken us, our crops shall be watered, the year is a good one" (ok not that but very much celebration) this is usually for independent animation channels so it's almost always very high quality

[@Toca_Moca]

How do fishes melt together? That part had me sick just thinking about it

[@honeydragon5238]

Yea wtf happend there

[@Riverthunder]

Based on what information Rea gave us, I think it probably had to do with being sucked into the small but powerful filter and then just staying in the same place while more fish were also sucked into it. Morbid as it is to think about, I wouldn’t be surprised if they somehow started decomposing in the filter and as a result sort of melted together during the process, especially since they couldn’t go anywhere else (like the area of the filter that seemed big enough for a fish to end up).

[@laughoutloudpaperanimation4846]

Hey how exactly do fish get sucked into fish tanks in the first place anyway I would think there would be measures to prevent this if it’s a fairly common problem

[@Riverthunder]

@@laughoutloudpaperanimation4846 I don’t know how common of a problem it is (but it was at least common enough that I’d heard about it and thought that might have happened when Rea explained why she didn’t think her new cat could have just fished her bala shark out of the quarantine tank). My guess is it probably had something to do with the size of the tank and the power of the filter. Quarantine tanks are usually smaller, which means fish are more likely to end up by the filter. If it’s too powerful, and they get too close, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were sucked into it, simply because they’re unfortunately not strong enough to swim away from it when it starts pulling them in. I haven’t looked into fish supplies in a while since I’m not keeping any right now, so I’m not sure how many filters would have this problem. The unfortunate part is that if you’re in a hurry to get a quarantine tank like Rea obviously was in this video, you’re probably not reading as many reviews as you normally would and looking for problems like this. I definitely do recommend reading lots of reviews about pet products, though. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about whole brands who make dangerous products for a pet type (like birds or rodents) or pets in general. I’d also recommend reading reviews on other sites and not just the company’s, as I vividly remember getting a pair of headphones from my mom with all five star reviews that broke the day I opened them. Turns out the company only posted the 5 and occasionally 4 star ratings that praised the headphones, but if anything lower was submitted and people complained, the reviews would conveniently never appear on the site, but on other sites all anyone could talk about was how terrible they were. For that reason I’d find the product elsewhere and check reviews there first, even if you end up buying the product from the manufacturer’s site.

[@laughoutloudpaperanimation4846]

Rivvy Mouse oh that makes sense thanks

[@mikaelahobart8237]

Oh. My gosh. Every single development was just so much worse than the last that by the time you got the answer to the missing fish mystery I was both cracking up and in tears. 🤣😭 This is like someone intentionally tried to write a fish horror story, I'm so sorry this happened to you.

[@ancientlemonedcandy]

dude i want to give you so many hugs?? this was like listening to a horror podcast so i cannot imagine how stressful and traumatizing it was in real time, happening to you. i hope youve gotten some more serotonin lately and know that we all love you and wish you the best

[@d0gmat1c]

This story was incredibly hard to listen to and I'm beyond sorry you had to go through this. It's not silly or ridiculous, as a fish lover myself I can more than empathize with how incredibly hard it is losing them and how traumatizing it had to be for you. An important thing I'd like to say for the future, although I hope you've already realized it yourself; pet shops are not a good or ethical source for pets, unfortunately, especially fish. They work with non-reputable breeders, treat the pets really badly and of course, the employees aren't required to posess any knowledge in regards to the pets they sell. It's way better to spend more time & money on seeking out a reputable fish breeder rather than continuously supporting an abusive business and getting fish that are often sick and/or have their lifespans shortened due to the lack of care at the store. That is not to accuse you of anything, or shift the blame on you at all, of course - you were failed by people, here employees of petsmart, that you trusted. And it's still not an extremely well known fact that stores like that are not the best source for animals. All said, I'm glad the situation is now behind you and I wish you and your fish as well as other pets calm & safe rest of the year. Much love

[@aduckinlingerie]

*it is very extremely normal to be freaking out about this. i’m freaking the fuck out and it didn’t even happen to me. Rae just has basic human empathy*

[@seren5468]

Local pet shops can be great, though! Chain pet shops, typically no.

[@rosemarie1472]

Your hazy memories are definitely a product of stress. I experience memory loss because of school stress. I hope you find a way to relax and feel at peace again.

[@storminajar]

I'm really behind on watching this video. And as gruesome as it may be, I do have to tell you that I appreciate you opening up and telling us about a story like this that invited so much trauma and mental anguish and paranoia into your life. I myself have had a similar bout of psychological torture after we had an infestation of wasps inside our home. No details are really necessary, but I definitely had those same sorts of overly stressed nights where you can't sleep and the moments of horrible nauseatingly grim paranoia. Sharing helps us move past them and I sincerely hope you never experience anything like this again!

[@indesomniac]

you’re story about the black beard algae hit home- i’ve had issues with it before and it’s SUCH a pain 😔😔 ALSO- as a general rule, don’t put too much faith in big chain pet stores and the quality of their pets and information; unfortunately a lot of employees don’t know what they’re doing and a lot of the pets come from mills and are poor health

[@nicolerockers]

No one should trust Petsmart salespeople because I've had my own experience with them. I was getting a bearded dragon (beardie for short) and I was getting the tank, shelters, and branches and all the terrarium things and they either couldn't answer the questions or gave incorrect answers. They told us to get a water dish (Note: Beardies do not need water dishes. If anything it's determental because it causes humidity which they live in the desert, so, not good. (It can give them scale and skin problems and infections, they get all the water they need in their food, and if they need water spray some water onto their mouth, that's it) They told us to not get sand because the babies "didn't know any better" and ate it which causes inmpaction, which causes death. I looked at the back of the sand bag they were selling and low and behold, it contained calcium. For those of you who don't know, beardies need calcium, and they seek it out so they can have strong bones. They had no idea that they were basically selling something that will kill them. (Note: We got children's play sand, and she loves to dig in it and we hand feed her so no impation here) They sold babies that were WAY too small and were probably around a week old, which is far too young and is dangerous to move tanks at a young age. Let alone locations. It's just; All they know is their own experiences with their own pets, they have no professional insight and should not be taken as such.

[@stellar3x]

Me, just realizing her name is “GinjaNinjaOwO” and not “GreninjaOwO”

[@creatorkitty995]

I’m no fish expert, but fish disappearing without a trace sounds like something out of the twilight zone. 0.0

[@skypaw3940]

Rea: Oh my god SHES SO CUTE Also rea 0.2 seconds later: LOOK AT HER SHES EVEN CUTEEEERRRRR

[@namelessnavnls8060]

Fish: **Loses an eye** Rea: There is an imposter Among Us... and Idk who it is...

[@pockythememe255]

Orange is sus

[@-RHYT-]

This is 58 minutes long * grabs popcorn* LETS GO

[@sunshinesolace3540]

I've only just realised it's that long-

[@kaycloud6239]

58 MIN- !?!?

[@Jellybei]

Holy shit i just realized

[@strangerinthecorner5631]

Want some butter on that popcorn???

[@3daniku]

im gonna get cola lol

[@binugget]

Throughout this story, I just kept saying “ oh no”

[@kalikaku5954]

caught a goldeen in pokemon go while watching this, that guy was staring into my soul while you were talking about aggressive fish

[@giha.3347]

I honestly respect you so incredibly much for opening up to us, the audience, about this just down right gruesome experience. Hearing you tell this story just reminded of how everyone is struggling so much right now, and i take no pleasure in knowing in that, but it is uplifting to see that even through out all of it people can still be wonderful, fun and charismatic like you Rea. My best wishes for everyone, i know we'll get through this together

[@fixitfelix7356]

34:00 IM SCREAMING WHEN YOUN PULLED THE "they're schooling fish too" I SCREAMED NOPPAOOSOOOO I . WTF LIL SHARK MAN !!!!!!!

[@kayleighhunter5025]

I both Knit and Crochet and honestly, this has been my form of therapy. I feel a lot more relaxed as I always have something to do with my hands and make tons of cute little yarn animals in the process. I think you might like amigurumi if you want to pick up crocheting as well.

[@kirtemoon529]

Oh good gods I was NOT expecting that ending. I’ve been keeping fish for three years from June. I treat my fish better than the kids I work with, as fish of all breeds are unique, beautiful, and incredibly smart. You are an amazing person for even thinking about being worried for the fish who went MIA in your quarantine tank, as most would probably just shrug and buy more. You did the best you could based on the incorrect information the store had given you, and it’s not your fault for your beautiful little buddies’ passing. I hope you’re doing okay after all of this, as my autism would never let me move on from that sight to the point I’d probably never purchase another fish again. Hope you’re doing okay now ❤️