Common Newbie Pitfalls

[hulkamaniac]

I think another mistake beginners commonly make is they over reach and try to do more than they're capable of at first. Discus, for example, are amazing fish, but if you put them in an uncycled tank you're asking for trouble. Angels can be the same way. The other mistake I see people make is messing too much with their water chemistry and trying to add too much. Most fish can live in all sorts of water and don't "require" water that is really soft or really hard. I wouldn't recommend that new fishkeepers add anything more to their water than dechlorinator, but that's my opinion.

Water changes never hurt. Don't trust everything the LFS tells you. Don't trust everything strangers online tell you. Don't trust anyone, everyone's out to get you. Wait, I think I took that too far.

[dskidmore]

Not considering a fishless cycle. The trauma and possible death that fish go through in a new tank is often a source of grief to the owner, but many of them don't know how to break in the tank without fish.

[scalesojustice]

i will admit that i haphazardly jumped into my 10g tank. i didn't cycle correctly or keep up with the correct routine maintenance practices. i'm surprised that i didn't lose any of my fish. they are all alive and well (3 months now). After reading over this forum a while back, i have improved my fish-keeping abilities and enjoy my tank even more now. i even enjoy cleaning it with pwc and what not (although, there is the occasionally stream of obscenities when water gets all over the place, but that problem has mostly subsided).

Thanks for all the advice everyone has offered all over this site. i look forward to learning more and becoming more active in fish-keeping.

[Alshain]

Originally Posted by scalesojustice

(although, there is the occasionally stream of obscenities when water gets all over the place, but that problem has mostly subsided).

Get a Python. :P

[scalesojustice]

ahead of you one that one,

yet i still get water all over the place. but i think that is my clumsy curse. still as i get more into the swing of things, there is less mess.

[dskidmore]

Originally Posted by scalesojustice

ahead of you one that one,

yet i still get water all over the place. but i think that is my clumsy curse. still as i get more into the swing of things, there is less mess.

Having a second person man the tap end helps tremendously. I try to avoid using the switch on the vaccum end unless it looks like I'm about to suck up something I'd rather keep.

[Swimmer32]

Originally Posted by talloulou

...Don't even look at pH up and pH down products...

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with using these?

Another post mentions not to play around with your ph level. If it's stable don't mess with it.

Isn't it important to keep it in a certain neutral range, like in the low 7's??

[rich311k]

Stable is far more important. Fish will adjust to water quality, but they will not handle having a PH/Kh that bounces around.

[Swimmer32]

What do you do if you have a ph crash or something similar?

Water changes?

[dskidmore]

Originally Posted by Swimmer32

What do you do if you have a ph crash or something similar?

Water changes?

Regular water changes should prevent a pH crash. If you have a problem with keeping the pH stable, you might consider raising your alk rather than directly changing your pH. Alkalinity affects how easily the water changes pH.

Water changes can correct pH swings if the tap water has sufficient Alk.