Your Biggest Begginer Mistakes When You Started...

[Inchyally]

With your first fish tank, or bowl, whatever it was, what mistakes did you make? It was probably a painful sight when it happens but you can probably look back and laugh.

Taking advice from the LFS that to stabilize a tank, just pour the water the fish comes with in the bag into the new tank. So, a day after my 20G was set up, I bought...

2 Angelfish
1 Bala Shark
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Redtailed Black Shark (the LFS said that a RTBS and a Rainbow Shark make great tankmates.... )
3 Serpae Tetras (Still alive!)
1 Columbian Shark
1 Pictus Catfish
3 Glass Catfish
EDIT: Wow, I forgot 3
1 Gold Gourami
1 Blue Dwarf Gourami
1 Clown Loach

Knowing nothing about the nitrogen cycle, nearly all the fish died that night, some lasted a few more weeks. I finally got API test STRIPS (which I don't use anymore) and the ammonia appeared green. I really didn't know ammonia was harmful to fish. One of the 2 Angelfish died, so I went to replace it but told another LFS that my ammonia reading was green. He said that is fine, and sold me the fish. It took 9 weeks, but the tank did cycle. I have started my new tank 2 weeks ago, cycled it with old media and lets just say it worked out a LOT better.

You?

 

[Geoff1991]

First tank, unfiltered 1g tank when i was like 8 with two shubumpkins. My parents actually said its because i wasnt changing the water enough, when they died after a few months. As i was doing it when the water got cloudy... In actual fact, there was some truth to what my parents said, i probably shoudlve done it what? 4 times a day maybe?

 

[kizno1]

mine was a unfilltered 5g tank with 3 goldfish.

 

[Sean W.]

i kept a green spotted puffer in a 2 gallon tank

 

[cheesy feet]

First tank was a 20 gal and I think it was first set up when I was about 6 or 7, fluval 2, 2 pearl and golden gouramis, glass catfish, a raphael catfish (which I still have now) and some pictus catfish which kept dying, and a ram which also died...Can't remember much else.
I messed up on my first cichlid tank (trusted the shop), when I was around 10 (I think) I used the same 2ft tank for a severum, butterfly fish, quite a few different dwarf cichlids, and a texas cichlid which killed almost everything.
During this time I also got 2 tanks given to me from a cousin, plecos, a large species of synodontis of some kind, an iredescent shark catfish which was stunted at 13 1/2", 2 blue 3 spot gouramis, 2 Sd's (stunted, still have one though) in a 4ft, and many others were in a 3ft.

 

[three-fingers]

Not soooo bad, started with a 15L using the instructions on the packet of Stress Zyme, then added 3 fancy goldfish. Weekly 50% water changes. After 2 weeks, he red capped oranda died, then a few weeks later the moor got dropsy, so I gave it a salt bath but it died. Really upsetting, I cried for a good couple of days (I was 7 or 8).

Next death was a month or two later, added a shubumkin and a single hillstream loach, the hillstream loach only lasted a couple of days (warm water due to light, trickle filter didn't provide much current, goldfish pestered it and I never fed it, was told the algae would be enough).

Added a common goldfish again a few months later.

Everything went smoothly so I asked for a bigger tank for the next Christmas, and then made no huge mistakes since reading books and discovering the early internet .

 

[paulbr1]

Listening to my LFS

Now I listen to my test kit!

Enough said!

Paul

 

[natalie265]

Out of all the many, many horrible mistakes i made w/my first tank as a kid (children should not be allowed to have fish. Period.), the BIGGEST mistake was putting my ten gallon tank on a shelf that clearly could not support it. When the shelf finally gave way, my tank crashed to the floor and shattered, pouring water and grossly overstocked fish all over my bedroom floor. Some of the fish survived, but there is still a huge water stain on my parent's ceiling.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I think I'm experiencing my Beginner mistake now. LFS's could be more knowledgeable IMO I'm never told the whole story until I get back home with my new fish and discover it later. I think today might be a mistake. I was sold 2 Royal Rams yet I believe they need high temp? i'm really worried about the temperature my fish need now hence the reason I'm giving my peppered corys away

 

[ellena]

This time round I found this site in time to do a fishless cycle. I did make a bit of a mistake with the tank I bought though. I love the look of it, but it's not the most practical and limits stocking options a lot!
Years ago I had 2 goldfish in a 3 gall bowl with no filter and I don't remember changing the water at all I just had one of those naff little bridges and some pebbles on the bottom. They lasted 2 years but it must have been a horrible life for them
You live and learn though, and that won't happen again. That bowl now has a filter and heater and is housing a betta-much more suitable

 

[Keithoms]

Having a goldfish in an 11l and then spilling him and the water onto my wiring..

 

[coldcazzie]

I didn't make too many as my mum kept fish before me and I had learned a lot from her and then inherited her tank a couple of years after she gave it up. I think overstocking was probably the biggest mistake - 4 angelfish in a 2 footer, along with an already substantial community of corys, tetras, pleco, etc etc.

Best thing I ever did was upgrade to my rio, and NOT put any more fish in lol.

Oh and find this website!

 

[lilacamy931]

Not too many as read on internet and had a lot of guidance before getting fish. Probably first tank was a fish in-cycle, learnt since! Oh also believing LFS to put one oto in a partially cycled tank.

 

[naughtbutbones]

not know anything abou the nitrogen cycle and ammonia until i read the posts on this forum

oh and believing that the guy at my local lfs (p@h now dobbies) knew what he was talking about