Bad Fish Advice

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I'm putting together a list of bad fish advice or rumors or whatever you want to call them for the Facebook thing I'm doing. I was wondering if people want to help me out with the list. Anything from the general ones or the crazy things employees have told you or awful online advice. Just tell me whatever!

Thanks. <3<3<3

 

[Bubbles0oO]

That schooling fish like tetras do good in groups of three and two

That was my newbie mistake

 

[Gilbertgal]

You could fill a very large book with that topic. Recently, I was admiring a tank of neon blue jack dempsey juvies @ my lfs, asked if I liked cichlids (by the kid attending to customers), I replied "yeah, I have some Bolivian rams". His response: "those would do great together!"

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Well there's the two obvious ones. Goldfish can live in bowls and bettas in vases. :/

 

[Maxkolbe]

Catfish eat poop. Really just think about it, does that even make sense? My friends dad told me he went a year without cleaning his tank since his massive Pleco "just eats the poop" the n we got into an argument over whether or not a fish "just grows to the size of it's tank" that's another I don't like. Really, who comes up with these?

 

[Starka]

Well there's the two obvious ones. Goldfish can live in bowls and bettas in vases. :/

On the betta subject, that all they eat are the roots of plants and don't have to feed them :/

 

[Mumma.of.two]

On the betta subject, that all they eat are the roots of plants and don't have to feed them :/

I hate that one! Whomever came up with that is an idiot. Someone probably did it once and got lucky because the betta ate infusoria from the dirty water that never got changed.

 

[Alral1988]

Fish size of 1 inch per gallon

 

[alia258]

That a goldfish can live in a 1g. Do these people know that they're supposed to be bigger than coy fish? NO!

 

[Bearchumjs]

Set up your tank and let it run for a week. Then it will be ready for all the fish you want.

Cycling doesn't work that way!

 

[savage]

Gotta change that filter cartridge every month or so!

 

[ErinMcG]

Fish size of 1 inch per gallon

Really? I thought that was a good one.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Really? I thought that was a good one.

Would you put a 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon tank?

 

[ErinMcG]

Would you put a 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon tank?

Actually, now that you mention it... No! I guess I was thinking the more usual small fish kind of measurements. Like, I might consider something like 7 ember tetras for a 10 gallon, because I think they grow to 1.2 inches (ish). But I would look it up and check the math before I bought. So, yes, I see what you mean now.

It's more than just inches per gallon. There are other needs, like how much swimming space there is. It just didn't cross my mind that someone might use one measurement only!

Then again, I was in petcetera the other day and the bad advice I heard given out boiled down to 'Sure, you can buy the tank and the fish today! Just start with a few fish, maybe 4.' This was gold fish and one of those goldfish kits that is probably only around 5 gallons! I asked the dad if he had heard about cycling when the clerk wandered off to find baggies. He said no and I suggested he google it. I warned him that his fish might die if he didn't know how to deal with the ammonia. His reaction was to ask his wee girl if she'd be ok with some of the fish dying by mistake. She said yes. Meh. What do you say to that??? I just hope he googled it when he got home.

 

[sliderfish]

Just last week a girl at Petsmart wouldn't sell me black neon tetras because I told her they were to share a tank with my GBR. "Cichlids eat anything smaller than themselves", she said...After 20 minutes of convincing her they were safe she proceded to beat the neons with the net so bad I told her not to worry about it. She had the hand eye coordination of a drunken toddler...

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Sorry I haven't been on! College has been killing me! But, thanks so much for everything so far and lets keep it coming!

Sliderfish, you bring up a really good one. I have experienced many times of employees being too rough with fish, not realizing how easily they actually can be hurt.

The list so far:
Bettas in vases
Betas eating plant roots
One inch per gallon
Fish growing to fit the tank
Catfish eating poo
What is a cichlid
Replacing filter cartridges
Handling of fish
Schooling fish
Goldfish in a bowl
Set up tank and add fish

 

[alia258]

They told me it was safe to have a common pleco in my 10g

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I'm sorry. This is one of the reason why I'm doing this.

 

[alia258]

They also said that 3 black skirt tetras would fit in my 10g with 1 pleco, 3 guppies and 3 glo fish. Black skirts get about 3" big, and up to 5" sometimes. They lasted maybe a week in my overstocked tank.

 

[alia258]

They also told me that when I bought plants not to to gravel vacs, because the roots will eat ALL of the fish waste. That was a lie and screwed up my tank, I had to dump the water, clean out the gravel, and the fish were stressed for days from that (they had to sit in the dirty tank water for 45 min. in a gallon pitcher because I didn't have anything else to put them in) and my filter broke, so I had to re-cycle my tank as well. That was one nasty experience, I'm so glad I had the plants though because there was no surface agitation to keep oxygen in the water from the plants.