Rookie Mistakes

[Back in the fold]

@GaryE posed the topic of superstitions. I now ask, what are the really dumb things you used to do and cringe at now ?
Mine is when I was starting out I would clean my 5 gallon aquarium every week. Not just a water change but really clean it. I put the fish in a gallon jar and took my little aquarium to the bath tub and rinsed it out good until the gravel was running clean. Rinsed out my box filter and put brand new filter floss and charcoal in it and then took it back and refilled it with clean non-de chlorinated water straight from the tap. You don't buy Jungle Start Right on a 25 cent a week allowance. Fish went back in and I was happy until the next week. How did I not kill more fish ?

 

[Rocky998]

I would change out the filter media completely every week and I also used the wrong type of conditioner

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

I may or may not have had a betta sorority in a 5gallon tank

 

[OliveFish05]

I may or may not have had a betta sorority in a 5gallon tank

Someone on my local Craigslist listed 4 female betta and 1 male betta with their 5 gallon tank.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Not just a water change but really clean it. I put the fish in a gallon jar and took my little aquarium to the bath tub and rinsed it out good until the gravel was running clean. Rinsed out my box filter and put brand new filter floss and charcoal in it and then took it back

Oh yeah i did this with my 10, 20, and 55 for a good 2-3 years when i started, but not weekly, about once every month or so. I cringe when i think about it

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Used to keep a Betta in a 0.5g tank with 2 fake plastic plants when I first started out. I cringe so hard when I think back to those days.

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

Someone on my local Craigslist listed 4 female betta and 1 male betta with their 5 gallon tank.

wow! surprised they are alive at that point!

 

[itiwhetu]

I used things like Methylene Blue and other chemicals in my tanks. Now I use none of those things, learning how to be chemical free has been the most rewarding part of my journey with my fish.

 

[GaryE]

I avoided using methelyne blue and other effective medications in a misguided attempt to be natural. That was a few years ago. I lost an entire tank to Ich, and never made that mistake again. I now research how the meds work, and use them very carefully and in a very targeted way. I've had Ich arrive on newly arrived fish, but I cure it fast now (I prefer to use malachite green). I don't recall the last time a fish actually died from that parasite here. With gutworms I go to praziquantel, and nematodes to Levamisole or flubendazole. They're hard to get, but luckily I don't have many farmed fish as that's where you get Camallanus coming in.

I always keep basic meds on hand, and if they expire unused, good. Not acting quickly is costly, in fish lives. The main chemical I avoid in my tanks is salt, and I won't use copper. Ideally, unless something arrives on new fish, the point is academic since I can go years without seeing any problems. But it's a rookie mistake to be unprepared.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Changed out filter cartridges weekly, killing the cycle in a brand new tank.

Hey, it's what the LFS employees said to do (as well as the filter manufacturer)