What did you do when you started fishkeeping?

[t1tanrush]

I took a stick of sugar candy and used it to chase my fish thinking nothing of it. The sugar dissolved and the fish spazzed out and killed themselves smashing into decor/tank walls. Learned that lesson...

 

[bagu]

hmmmm

wasn't really my fault, was my dads he said "what is this cycling your tank? i just splashed the water around a bit and added fish!"

so i got a tank

and put 5 neons in there

3 died, 2 lived.

 

[beginner to fish]

when i got my first tropical tank i had about 25 fish in a 60l tank i was amazed none had died and then when it came to a water change i was stupid enough to use the mop bucket and it had been used with bleach for the floors and i filled the tank up with that i lost 15 fish in a week.

 

[cheesy feet]

2ft 20 gallon with 2 Severums, 2 plecos, texas cichlids, many different dwarf cichlid's that got killed by my texas cichlid, and an upside-down catfish filtered by a fluval 2.
Lol

 

[Sean W.]

i had a GSP in a one gallon eclipse tank..

it died in a week...

 

[shelaghfishface]

watched a silver shark jump out of the tank ( as i was moving stuff about) and picked him up with a knife and fork ( pushed him onto the fork not stabbed him with it) another one was when a huge gourami jumped out and landed in my sons trainer and i had to scream for help as i was terrified of him

both lived to tell the tale tho

 

[minxfishy]

The usual, got 2 black moors for the kids (must be 10yrs back now) in a small fluval tank, cant have been more than 10g, no cycling, had filter but no dechlor, once a fortnight or so, used to put the fish into cups, whilst I washed the entire tank, gravel etc out with hot soapy water! Cleaned the filter in tap water too. Needless to say, they didnt last long. Oh the shame

 

[Tory]

I am shamefaced to say when I first started keeping fish a long time ago, even though I had read about cycling, I thought that 4 days was long enough, and went to buy my fish. Being an over excited first time fish buyer I went totally over the top and bought way too many for even an attempted fish in cycle and lost about 9 fish from "new tank syndrome"

Through some divine intervention, to this day, the 4 plattys, plec and glass catfish all are still alive and kicking and enjoying their lives in my community tank, and soon will be enjoying it even more in my new 4 footer which goes without saying will be cycled properly!!!

 

[m00se]

( pushed him onto the fork not stabbed him with it)

Great mental image of a fish swimming about with a neat row of four scars down one side of him

 

[marcybeth0281]

You know, it's really irritating reading all these stories where the fish are kept in chlorinated water, no water changes, tank washings with soap, etc - and they SURVIVE! I lose fish randomly and I am attempting to do everything RIGHT with cycling and water testing and hospital tanks and the whole shabang.

Grrrrr.........

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I got two goldfish for a 1/2 gallon bowl when I was young, they started fighting and then one got cut and got a fungus infection. Neither of them lasted very long

I also had a 10 gallon tank with two gourami, six neon tetras, a silver dollar,two mollies +fry and two barbs. I only cleaned the tank once a month as suggest by the guy that sold us all the fish Could have been worse I guess, at least we had the tank cycled. the fish still seemed to die off slowly and be replaced. After a while we gave up on the tank.

 

[Inchyally]

I think mine was the worst, 20gal. I still am using that tank BUT I'm 100% sure I'm getting a 75gal in a week or two.

As told by the LFS, put the fish in 1 day after setting up the tank, just pour the water from the bag the fish is in into the tank.

Lets see.... I started out with....

1 Bala Shark (died 1 night)
1 Pictus Catfish (died 1 night)
2 Angelfish (one died in a week, the other surprisingly lived for months then died)
3 Serpae Tetras (Still alive!)
1 Rainbow Shark (killed by next fish)
1 Black Redtailed Shark (died a few weeks)
1 Colombian Shark (BRACKISH fish! Died 1 day)
4 Glass Catfish (died 1 night)

And I kept adding fish and they kept dieing. I didn't know about cycling. The cycle took 9 weeks.

 

[fry_forever!]

I put 2 common goldfish in one of those tall yogurt containers, (you know what I'm talking about....) and my dad dumped the fish in a strainer to change the water! Poor fish!
I was only 6 years old though!
Then I got a 2.5 gallon tank and put like, 10 feeder goldfish inside, and I didn't even cycle the tank!
That was when I was 7 or 8..... THEN I found out that the tank was 2.5 gallons, (I thought it was 10gals, (NO, 10 liters!) so I thought that I could put 10 goldies inside! )
and decided that the goldfish were just suffering..... (YES! ) And my parents took me out to get a 20 gallon tank, which I just recently found out was a 16 gallon....
And no, I didn't get anymore goldfish!
Instead, I cycled the tank for 4 days, then got 2 neon tetras and 2 male guppies.
I got a whole bunch of other fish, including dwarf gouramis and angelfish......
They actually lasted for a year or so, then I got severe water damage in my room, had to give all of my fish away and restart my tank....
Then it sailed more smoothly.....
I'm just surprised that I'm still fishkeeping now!
Now that I look back, that was pretty bad! (But also pretty good for being between the ages of 6 and 10! )
Well, I came a long way in 3 years. I actually realize everything I did wrong, and I NEVER run into those problems now! (Obviously. )
Interesting topic, even though it's from 2004!
I actually still use that 6 year old 2.5 gallon tank for raising fry. (Actually, my friend is using it at the moment for her fry....)
Oh YEAH! And I also kept bettas in those half gal tanks, and when it came time to cleaning, (once a month ) I would put the betta in a cup, dump the entire tank, and wash the gravel with soapy water!
Also, when I had the gourami in the 16 gallon, (that I thought was a 20 gallon.) it got a bacterial infection that I thought was caused by aggression, and I am ashamed to admit it, but I put a Q-tip in a bottle of Aqua Plus water conditioner, and rubbed it directly onto the poor gourami's body! I thought I was incredibly smart, because I thought that was how you administered meds to fish!!! Soooo.....