Share Your Mistakes Here

[Delapool]

Used to ride home from lfs with fish in a bag on handlebars. Used to take almost an hour. Luckily the weather was mild and most survived.

 

[Piggypie]

One if my tetras got sucked into the suction tube used to clean the tank and got it's origins torn out and died D': I feel horrible....

 

[Stacey W.]

I hate when my origins get torn out.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[brennae]

When I was young I used to know nothing about keeping fish. I would wait a long time between water changes then do massive changes and a lot of fish would die. I would also come home from school and find that my mother had purchased fish/ clawed frogs and added them to my tank.

 

[Summer4infinity]

A couple that I'm somewhat acquainted with wanted to come see my planted freshwater tanks. While they were over, they fell in love with my saltwater tank. One month later they've set up a tank and were adding massive amounts of fish and corals to a tank that hadn't even completed its cycle. I warned them to slow down and tried to explain that nothing good happens fast in saltwater. I see them a month later and a bunch of stuff in their tank has been dying (surprise, surprise) and they're like "what's happening, I don't understand?" They claim their parameters are perfect... well most of your fish would not be dying if that was the case! Their tank is not even two months old and they've already added multiple anemones. It was a huge mistake to let these people come see my tanks. They already "know everything" so they aren't interested in learning how to do things the right way. They are already thinking of giving it up because of a cyano outbreak. For the animals sake, I sure hope they do.

 

[seove]

Once I was in the LFS and a customer was bent on buying fish at the same time as the aquarium and wouldn't be talked out of it. I always mind my own business but butted in to tell them the consequences. They wouldn't listen. I told them that if they insist on getting fish that day that they should get goldfish and then return them after the tank has cycled. Impatience is probably the main reason why noobies give up on fishkeeping.

A couple that I'm somewhat acquainted with wanted to come see my planted freshwater tanks. While they were over, they fell in love with my saltwater tank. One month later they've set up a tank and were adding massive amounts of fish and corals to a tank that hadn't even completed its cycle. I warned them to slow down and tried to explain that nothing good happens fast in saltwater. I see them a month later and a bunch of stuff in their tank has been dying (surprise, surprise) and they're like "what's happening, I don't understand?" They claim their parameters are perfect... well most of your fish would not be dying if that was the case! Their tank is not even two months old and they've already added multiple anemones. It was a huge mistake to let these people come see my tanks. They already "know everything" so they aren't interested in learning how to do things the right way. They are already thinking of giving it up because of a cyano outbreak. For the animals sake, I sure hope they do.

 

[Jaeroo]

When I was about 5 or 6 our family had a fish tank with your generic goldfish in it. One day I saw my mom cleaning the tank when it got dirty and thought, "all the little fishies need to be nice and clean too." I took them out, on by one in hand, scrubbed the living daylights out of each of them with a sponge and soap, and plopped them back in. Needless to say they died within minutes. Now that I look back at it I feel terrible. My parent's teased me, calling me "fish killer" from finding nemo. .-. aha I was a stupid little thing....