Your Biggest Mistakes...

[smb]

I remember when I first got into the hobby 20 some years ago and got my first tank, it was a 29g.

I went to the lfs and bought the tank and all the fish that would fit into it at the same time. I had a redtail shark, about 8 tiger barbs, a cherry barb, and 3 bala sharks. The lfs didn't tell me that I had to cycle the tank or that the bala sharks would get 15" etc. They just sent me on my way.

I was happy and fed my fish flake food 3 times a day. I could see that a lot of food was falling to the bottom while I was feeding them, so that means I must add more food. Right?

Well, after a week or so, all my fish were dead. I couldn't figure it out. I went back to the fish store and asked what could be wrong. They asked if my water paramaters were ok. I thought to myself, well I drink the water and am ok, so I said of course the waters ok! (I'm thinking do these guys have a clue at all?)

They asked if I changed the water? I of course did. I got the cup sitting right next to the aquarium I used to take some of the water out and replace it with. (Really wondering about the intelligence of these people now. Why are they asking such dumb questions, I thought)

They then asked me if I cleaned the gravel and did a change? (ok, now I KNOW these guys aren't very intelligent! I cleaned the gravel to get the dust off BEFORE I added it to the tank. I KNOW what I'm doing here and I'm not about to keep getting new gravel (what I thought he meant by "changing" at the time) so I made an excuse and left the store. Maybe I could work there some and help these learn something? I was wondering that at the time.

Well, I went home and looked at my flake food to see if there was anything wrong with it. (I have no idea what I thought I was looking for, btw) and the can was about 3/4's empty after the first week, but I couldn't see anything wrong.

You all know what's coming next, but I moved my gravel around and all the food I dumped in there came floating up. It looked pitch black in there it was so bad.


That's my first foray into the hobby. I almost just gave up but love fish so much I had to learn. I wish I had the internet and sites like this to learn from, but this wasn't available at the time, so I just read every book I could get my hands on. Not sure if I'm any smarter yet, but I still learn everyday.

I hope noone takes offense to this post. It was only done in fun and meant to poke fun at me. Not any of you that might make mistakes.

So what are some of your guys failed attempts in your foray into this hobby?

 

[gadazobe]

I think we've all been there, done that and wore the T-shirt Many years ago, soon after I moved into my flat, I thought to myself, now what can I do to brighten up a dark entrance that has no natural light and - eureka - the answer came to me in a flash (though not in the bath ) - an aquarium. Now my knowledge about the subject was this, get tank, add gravel and ornaments, add water and then fish -and no more dark entrance. I went off looking for a tank, which I found without much difficulty. The owner of that specific lfs wanted me to buy every and any fish he had in his shop (he has since closed down) but at the time I didn't have enough money on me (luckily). I got the tank home, set it up and went to a different lfs to get my fish. Now my lfs is one in a million - he wouldn't sell me one itzy bitzy little fish until I brought him samples of water and even then only one or two at a time. With his help and the knowledge I gained over the years, and of course, what I have learnt from this forum, I now have 2 large tanks - unfortunately I've no room for any more - and try my hardest to help newbies here not make the same mistakes as I and many others have already made.

 

[revengeishere]

My first main mistake was kinda the same as yours. it happened about 4 months ago(yeah, im new). My dad bought a 100 gallon with everything for 75$(it was used). It wasnt really my fault as i was trying really hard to learn about everything.But my dad, he saw this "sale". He bought most the fishes listed below.And also thogt because we live in Souther california, that we didnt need a heater. So i didnt buy one. Also, we got a smanll filter(way underpowered for a 100 g tank). But the worst mistake is, the fishes. We bought 10 feeder minnows to cycle the tank(thats what the guy said). Then, bought zebra danios(now were talking). We also bought 2 black moor goldfish(oh oh), 3 tiger barbs, 2 gold gouramis, 2 8-figure puffers, 1 betta, 1 angelfish, 10 african frogs, 10 ghost shrimps,2 mollies, and 2 plecos. What a mistake, esp on the heating part! Also, about the feeding part, i always feed the fish every morning. But then, my dad also feeds the fish every morning. The same is true at evenbings...

After a week, all but the hardiest fish died. Now, only the goldfish, some zebra danios, and 3 feeder minnows survived. I took the danios out and put them in my current 75 g tropical tank. I still dunno what to do with the goldfishes, tho. They are still in the 100 gallon, all by themselves.

But i know better from the last 4 months. I now have a wonderful tropical set up with 2 bala sharks, 10 tiget barbs, 20 danios(+3), one synodontis eupterus,a red tailed sharks, and a flying fox. all happy in my 75 gallon tank. Been running for a month and a half and still no casualties(just a lil algae problems at the moment.)

The ammonia and the nitrites are at 0 so i know the tank has finished cycling.

Great story, smb.

 

[CFC]

We (the mrs and myself) made practically the same mistake,we too went out and bought a 29 gallon tank but we didnt put the fish in right away,but we might as well of.We ran the filter in the new tank for a week but didnt add anything to start the cycle off,no one told us that bit.
Then after a week was up off we went and started buying fish,2 pim pictus 1 spotted raphael 2 blue gouramies 2 hoplo cats 3 clown loaches 3 angel fish and 3 bala sharks in a week,not mention the sucking loach 2 peppered corys and 5 danions that we added from the 10 gallon cold water tank that we had had set up for a couple of years.Needless to say there was casualties,but some how we saved the balas clown loaches hoplos and angelfish,plus all the fish from the coldwater tank that we just transferred back to the 10g once we realised we had problems.
Not once were we warned that the balas would grow to 13"+ (i still have the 3 originals and the biggest is about 11" now) or that the clowns would reach the same sort of size (we still have them too but they are no where near as big as the balas,4" tops),nor did they tell us that the angels would pair up and half kill the odd one and then take over half the tank to try and breed.There were times when we seriously considered chucking the towel in.
The answer is to read,buy or borrow as many fish books you can and when youve finished reading them read them again,some of my books are so tatty now youd think theyd been around a century or more.

 

[val]

I had a 10 gallon aquarium left over from when I had two toads. (just so you know where the tank came from) I saw this gorgeous betta at petsmart and really wanted it. So, I got all of the stuff I needed for a tank and the betta. My second mistake, even though I didn't know about it, was that my Mom wanted to go out to eat. So I took the betta in with us and ate some pizza. Then I went home, filled the tank with water and plopped the betta in. Suprisingly, Mr. Betta lived a long life, only to be killed by a very unsafe tree trunk decoration he got stuck inside.

Valerie

 

[amez]

My worst mistake was when I had just started raising fish, i was just bout 4-5. My dad, seeing how much i wanted a pet, went out and brought me this 5 gallon tank and a pair of guppies. Boy was I a happy little gurl (im only 13 now). I fed them, everyday like every time i saw them (which was a lot, they were in my room!) They soon started to breed and i ended up with lots of fry. So i decided to clean the tank. I took them all out and put it in a cup (oops ) and all the fry were gone by the time the tank was back. So i put the 2 guppies in there and the tank water was all cloudy. Before u new it, I had myself 2 floating guppies, thinking to myself "WOW MY FISH CAN PLAY DEAD!" I was do sad when I had found out they were dead. Sad little me....

 

[baseballfan111]

well yes ive made my mistakes but NEVER have i lost a fish, i didnt have a book for awhile (2weeks) what i think really stoped me was that i didnt want every single big fish in the store, i just like guppies and i thought about a guppy tank so i did a guppy tank(im now breeding waiting for some fry) but my one major mistake was i got neon tetras while i was cycling but they survived


i guess im lucky

 

[Moe]

It's good to hear that you guys can joke about this stuff now. I'm in the middle of fish nightmare. I bought a 20 gal tank. The guy set me up with the filter, heater and decorations. He told my I could put 20 fish in it and sent me home. Within a week I had purchased 15 fish. My first fish to die was an angelfish, that's how I learned about ph. Then my red tail shark ate all the fins off the other angel fish, two down. 3 4 & 5 all died of ammonia poisoning before I ever heard the work cycling. They were a frog, two guppies. I went back to the store and told the guy that masquerades as a fish guru that when judgment day comes he will be held responsible for the deaths of those 5 poor fish. He just looked at me like I was insane and said yea whatever. I felt relieved having shifted the guilt to where it belongs. Now from frequent water and temp changes my tiger barbs have ich. There is my whole sad, sorted tale. I am a newbie and I have made every mistake in the book. On a brighter note I found your website and hopefully will not be making any more lethal mistakes.

 

[smb]

I am a newbie and I have made every mistake in the book.

That was kind of my whole point here in making this thread. That no matter what, we all make the same mistakes and not to be afraid to ask questions because we've all been there and couldn't be happier than to help anyone else and prevent them from making the same mistake.

Now from frequent water and temp changes my tiger barbs have ich.

Have you got the answers you need for this and got it under control?

 

[WorldNation]

haha.

well, when i came over here from ukraine. and we didnt bring over our 10gallon. i decided to get another tank over here. (i was about 7 or 8 then). so we got a lil 15gallon, heater, crapy lil corner filter, just as everyone else pretty much didnt ever hear anything about cycling a tank ploped in a buncha mollys and platys and guppys, like i had earlier. and everything was surprisingly alright......... for a week! and then bam! lotsa dead fishies. anyways. back then, i was also like doing 100% water changes once a month now that's a clean tank!! eh? eh? eh? lol

 

[fuman_chica]

Well, let me see...I have had...*counts in head*...10 mollies since April 11th, 2003.

When I got my first ones (I got 3...they were the first fish I ever had), I had bought one of those glass jar things, the ones betta are usually put in with the plant on top, to put them in.

I bought the fish, and gravel, and a cave thing, then brought them home. First off...the cave didn't fit in the jar...so that got thrown out (I didn't know I would be getting a 10 aquarium anytime soon ). I put in the gravel...then water...and then the fish. (notice I didn't say anything about the stuff that gets rid of the cholorine or anything...and no cycling either... )

I don't remember why, but for some reason, I took out all three fish and put them in a bucket thing. I left about 3 inches of space from the water level to the top, so that they wouldn't jump out. That was a mistake. All 3 of them jumped out of the bucket. I don't know how long they had been out before my boyfriend and I found them...but I think it had been a while. Two were laying right next to my bed. We picked them up and my boyfriend took them into the bathroom and rinsed off the dust and carpet fibers. I kept looking for the other one....I finally found it behind my dresser. My boyfriend had to tip over my dresser (full of stuff) and held it there so that I could get the fish.

I got him out and we rinsed him off...there was alot more dust on him (since he was behind the dresser) and put him seperate from the others. We put covers on the jar and bucket...then went to the movies (we had planned on doing that before it happend). When we got back, the one that had been behind the dresser was in the same spot it was in when we left. I kinda touched the side and he rolled over and died. That was fish number one....


Three days later, I went back and got 3 more mollies...and a small 1.66 gallon tank with undergravel filtration, and a plant. It also came with dechlorinater. But you gotta remember, I bought the fish the same day...so still no cycling. (I hadn't even heard of it yet...stupid fish place said nothing...either time... ) So now, I had 5 mollies in a 1.66 gallon tank that hadn't been cycled.

I don't remember when all of them died...the two that I had at first were named Tigger and Hamlet....then the three new ones were Stoney, Sugar, and Piggy. They died in this order: Stoney, Sugar, Hamlet, and then Piggy. But before Hamlet died, I had seperated Piggy, because he was trying to mate with Hamlet (who knew Hamlet was a girl ) ). So when Hamlet died, the cycling was pretty much done in the 1.66 gal (which Tigger was in). Then Piggy died.

I didn't get any more fish for a while...then the bug came back...I NEEDED more fish...Tigger was lonely.

So I went to the store, but instead of getting a fish, I got an African Dwarf frog. Came home and put in him in the 1.66 gal tank. With in a few days, I went back, and got two more frogs, and a molly.

Within 3 days, the molly died, and I went back and got my refund fish. Then like 4 days after that fish died, one of my frogs died, then the next day, my refund fish died. I don't know why those died...because I had my stuff cycled by then. Probably because I got them from Wal-Mart.


Well, 3 days ago, I went back and got 2 more mollies, which are currently being quarantined (in a WELL cleaned 1.66 gallon tank with gravel from the 10 gallon). They didn't seem to be doing very well the first night. They weren't swimming much or anything. I had the dechlorinater in there and I added some "Ich Away" just to make sure...because Tigger had gotten ich before...and it wasn't fun... But they are doing really well now. They are swimming around, playing, mating (or at least trying ) They come out on August second, as it says in my signature.

My 10 gallon is cycled...they will do good in there. And hopefully, make babies. I am going to keep the 1.66 gallon going, incase Tigger and Sunshine (the female of the 2 new ones) get pregnet...they will have the babies in there while Punk stays in the 10 gallon. Then after they have the babies, they will go back in the 10 gallon. If they do have babies, I will go out and get another tank, probably another 10 gallon one, to have the fry in. And I will cycle it before they are born.




Well, that is my fish experiences...hope you had fun reading...sorry it is so long!!

Tansy

 

[adaptable]

Sometimes its nice to hear mistakes people make so you know everyone is human, I still get so angry when I walk into a place who sell fish and give bad advice and if you are in that situation please speak up and tell that person the truth.

The worst was I went into a very well known retailer in surrey UK no name mentioned of course and I was admiring the tank full of oscars they were lovely at least 30 maybe 40 or even 50 any way it was a big tank and they were very young at least 4cm big I couldn't take my eyes of them (the reason is I have kept oscars for ten years and I just can never get over how small they start and how large they get so intelligent, graceful sorry went into one there) all I could think about was another tank more oscars more oscars more oscars but my wife was next to me and said "there is no room so forget about it". I could understand her at that time I had 3 very large tanks taking up the hole of the front room, any way while I was admiring a couple came along with a so called fish keeper who knows everything about everything NOT. They were intersted in buying 5 oscars he had his net ready for action but he did not ask what they new about oscars so I jumped in and explained what oscars are and there requirement and the so called fish keeper said "I was wrong and everything would be okay you can keep oscars in a small tank" anyway thank god they did noy buy them.

But I still hear horry stories like this all the time.

Please if you hear bad advice please help the person out.

thanks for reading

 

[-=DG=-]

My biggest mistake was letting someone else feed my fish when i went on holiday!

She must have emptied a quater of the tub in a week!!

When i got back, there were lungs of hairy fungus grwing every where. All my fish were extremely ill gasping for air etc. My blue fighter's fins were all curled up and he died a day or two later

Since that day only i feed the fish and if i'm going out for a weeek or so, i leave portions of food to be fed to the fish.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

My first tank was a 3ft one bought 2nd hand from a friend of a friend, I took it home and set it up washing the gravel and filter sponge in tapwater. 3 days later went to my lfs and bought 6 neon tetras, 6 harlequin rasboras & 4 florida flagfish.
All went well for the first couple of days feeding time was eagerly anticipated by all concerned, the first sign that something was wrong was when I switched on the light one morning to find 4 neons and 3 harlequins had died overnight. As you do when faced with a crisis, I over reacted and changed 50% of the water and rinsed out the filter sponge in tapwater. The next 2 days saw the other neons and harlequins die one by one and 2 of the florida flags followed soon after.
I went to my lfs at the time, told them what had happened and put right my mistakes. The 2 remaining florida flags survived thanks to my new found cycling knowledge. After 2 weeks had passed I went back to buy some more fish, leaving my lfs with 4 albino corys and 2 khuli loaches. All went well so I added 2 clown loaches and 2 angelfish 2 weeks later and when the cycle had completed again added a sucking loach and RTB shark to the tank. Again all went well for 2 or 3 weeks until the RTB shark and the sucking loach started tearing lumps out of each other, it got so bad I had to return the RTB shark to the shop and exchanged it for something even worse......2 blue acaras were proudly displaying their shimmering colours to me and I didn't hesitate to buy them. The acaras went into the tank and promptly hid for 2 days although it didn't take long for them to show their true personality by beating up and killing most of the other fish (just when my angelfish had laid their 1st batch of eggs), so back I went to the shop and bought a new tank etc. for the acaras to go into and return the peace to the main tank.

Altough I have learned a lot from my mistakes I would have liked to have done it right from the start and so would encourage anyone to read up on the fish they want before buying them. Although I have kept fish for about 8 years now, I am still learning more every day and I'm always ready to listen to advice.
)

 

[smarties]

Well I am just starting out but have a cycled tank with fish in some two months old (the whole setup I mean) but I had the advantage of having had a pond (still have) which is stocked so knew bits and pieces. Seems much of the talk is leaning towards fault with the peeps who sold the equipment/stock so I thought as I have no real errors to report I would add a story along the lines of *good* sales people.

The place I bought my Fluval 800 tank (21uk gallons) from took ages to go through the process of cycling with me and would not even discuss fish they said until after 2-4 weeks and only after I could report nil ammonia/nitrites. I thought it was a bit much that as I really wanted to try a few small fish to help the cycle but the boss man there who I was dealing with insisted a fishless cycle putting a bit off food in and various bacteria boosting products was the safest way to introduce *his fish* / into the new tank

I thought otherwise after 3 weeks of looking at an empty tank and goes down the shop (a very large retailer btw) and sees another bloke there who asks some questions before selling me some fish all about the water etc and I tell a little porky and says I have had the tank cycling for 6 weeks and everything is fine. Just as he was lifting the lid on the tank to fish me out some neons the dam boss pops his head round and recognises me and shouts "oy dont tell me your tanks cycled already" to which his mate says "well he's had it 6 weeks".

This bloke comes storming over and I feel like tiny ( I'm 40 years old FGS) as he chews me out over how I have had the tank no longer than 3 weeks and he was not going to sell me fish unless I could look him in the eye and tell him I could *guarantee* the safety of any fish he sold me with my water being totally free from Ammonia and Nitites. He had me bang to rights and I crumpled. We both laughed though and I left with a playful boot up my arse and he says "now get out and come back when the nitrites zero and not before

Well I waited and when it was zero I stocked up (gradual) and aint lost a fish yet. Only place I will ever go now that shop

Steve