jwong2357
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I need help a$ap
Share Your Mistakes Here
- Thread starter fish4phil
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
Care to elaborate?
Candi1990
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2012
- Messages
- 360
Apparently changing my filters! I am just learning this is a no-no.
Fibsog
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Yep, just swish in tank water.
Brookster, what s up?
The filter in my 10 gallon i change pads, because it has 2 pads, so one catches the waste and the other keeps the bac. It has been running this way for 10 years!
xwing
Aquarium Advice Freak
Biggest mistake I ever made
It's starts with a trip to Walmart yes walmart why do they sell fish I don't know it should be a crime.
My gf at the time wanted some cute little baby oscars so we vary intelligently listen to the employees advice to buy a 10g for out now 2 oscars he said they would be fine. I put them in after 1 hour of starting my cycle because I didn't know anything about cycles I was smart enough to buy prime but that's it.
Somehow my poor little oscars survived my idiot self and they where growing so I visited my petsmart were a slightly brighter employee than the Walmart one advised me I needed at least a 55g for my two oscars and suggested I get a common placo because I needed a "cleaner"
The only good advice she did give me was give me directions to a LFS
Here I got better advice no id say it was good. I still remember the owners name his name was john Hollywood lol
Anyway he advised me I needed at least a 125g because all my fish where going to get bigger mind you they where about 8inches by now.
I found a 180g on Craig's list for 250 with stand a swamp filter john said to save at least half the water and start up he tank right away.
Mistake # 1 I went only with my gf to pick up the tank it was easily 250 + pounds empty weight.
Mistake # 2 i didn't but enough water containers I bought 2 rubber maid 17g plastic storage boxes
Mistake #3 I didn't bother or make any plans for the inhabitants of the 180g tank it was a mbuna tank with about 50 Africans with fry and all
Mistake #4 I went to pick up the tank late it was maybe around 8pm
Mistake #5 because I didn't take any help to move this giant tank I was exhausted when I got home at 10pm it's was hard to drain it all than move it pretty much by myself
Mistake # 6 I knew nothing about how a swamp filter works and I didn't do any research into how they work. So I was unable to get it started I tried until just past 1 am but it was a no go
Mistake # 7 I left all the Africans on the rubber made storage boxes up until 12am before I realized I couldn't leave them in their much longer
Mistake # 8 I dumped half into the 55g with my oscars because I was worried the 180g wasn't cycled and I was now bearly thinking about this the other half I dumped into the un cycled 180g tank
Mistake # 9 I didn't take into account water perimeters of my tank and the 180g tank nor about my tap water. So this was before I understood ph and nitrites ammonia and so on.
This was a Friday night I over slept but by morning most of the mbuna I dumped into true uncycled 180g were already dead
In the 55g with the oscars all the fry had disappeared basically eaten by the oscars he adults where fighting for their lives but three had been killed in the over night fighting
My gf at the time still wanted to keep them as she liked the mbuna so I vary stupidly listened a week later I kept finding dead mbuna so I finally gave the last survivors to john just 8 survived my ignorance I cycled the tank and learned the hard way how NOT to move a tank
It's starts with a trip to Walmart yes walmart why do they sell fish I don't know it should be a crime.
My gf at the time wanted some cute little baby oscars so we vary intelligently listen to the employees advice to buy a 10g for out now 2 oscars he said they would be fine. I put them in after 1 hour of starting my cycle because I didn't know anything about cycles I was smart enough to buy prime but that's it.
Somehow my poor little oscars survived my idiot self and they where growing so I visited my petsmart were a slightly brighter employee than the Walmart one advised me I needed at least a 55g for my two oscars and suggested I get a common placo because I needed a "cleaner"
The only good advice she did give me was give me directions to a LFS
Here I got better advice no id say it was good. I still remember the owners name his name was john Hollywood lol
Anyway he advised me I needed at least a 125g because all my fish where going to get bigger mind you they where about 8inches by now.
I found a 180g on Craig's list for 250 with stand a swamp filter john said to save at least half the water and start up he tank right away.
Mistake # 1 I went only with my gf to pick up the tank it was easily 250 + pounds empty weight.
Mistake # 2 i didn't but enough water containers I bought 2 rubber maid 17g plastic storage boxes
Mistake #3 I didn't bother or make any plans for the inhabitants of the 180g tank it was a mbuna tank with about 50 Africans with fry and all
Mistake #4 I went to pick up the tank late it was maybe around 8pm
Mistake #5 because I didn't take any help to move this giant tank I was exhausted when I got home at 10pm it's was hard to drain it all than move it pretty much by myself
Mistake # 6 I knew nothing about how a swamp filter works and I didn't do any research into how they work. So I was unable to get it started I tried until just past 1 am but it was a no go
Mistake # 7 I left all the Africans on the rubber made storage boxes up until 12am before I realized I couldn't leave them in their much longer
Mistake # 8 I dumped half into the 55g with my oscars
because I was worried the 180g wasn't cycled and I was now bearly thinking about this the other half I dumped into the un cycled 180g tank Mistake # 9 I didn't take into account water perimeters of my tank and the 180g tank nor about my tap water. So this was before I understood ph and nitrites ammonia and so on.
This was a Friday night I over slept but by morning most of the mbuna I dumped into true uncycled 180g were already dead
In the 55g with the oscars all the fry had disappeared basically eaten by the oscars he adults where fighting for their lives but three had been killed in the over night fighting
My gf at the time still wanted to keep them as she liked the mbuna so I vary stupidly listened a week later I kept finding dead mbuna so I finally gave the last survivors to john just 8 survived my ignorance I cycled the tank and learned the hard way how NOT to move a tank
Candi1990
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2012
- Messages
- 360
My 125 was a killer it took my husband and my grown son to move it I can't imagine a 180!!! Funny story tho how are the oscars now??? And I agree walmart shouldn't be allowed to even have fish. The one here calls someone from sporting goods to get the fish out. Either there or hardware.
xwing
Aquarium Advice Freak
The oscars where fine for about another 2 years I even added 2 jacks and a gar... but that same ex gf took the tank in the split just to spit me I think she ended giving it away but I don't know either way I don't count that as my mistake as I had no control after I lost the tank.
Candi1990
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2012
- Messages
- 360
Awe.... At least she cared enough to take em i am sure she took care of them or found someone who would.
xwing
Aquarium Advice Freak
guppygourami
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Adding serpae tetras to my 25 gal tank. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER. The next day, all my fishes' fins were practically gone and many were murdered. Should've done research first:/
jwong2357
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I got a question for you gals and boys, is it necessary to clean your gravel?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
xwing
Aquarium Advice Freak
No you don't unless your fighting something. Eg a parasite or a bad fungal attack or a algae bloom like a blue green one
Otherwise you want to stay away from cleaning it other than with a vacuum during wc
Tieberion
Aquarium Advice Freak
Does this look Familiar? Loose O-Ring and a 5 gallon spray of water......
trickshot3102
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2013
- Messages
- 468
My biggest mistake.....putting a bala shark in a 10 gal. Yup, and before the 10 I had two balas in a 3 gallon! This is not a joke! And it was before I discovered AA!
Fibsog
Aquarium Advice FINatic
My biggest would be rainbow shark in a 10g. At different times i also had rans, angelfish, tiger barbs, and kissing gourami. I didnt put them in so it wasnt me.
Fibsog
Aquarium Advice FINatic
So i should say my brothers biggest mistake.
trickshot3102
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2013
- Messages
- 468
People at the LFS need to stress that these fish need bigger tanks! It's unfortunate because i lost both balas.
xwing
Aquarium Advice Freak
People at the LFS need to stress that these fish need bigger tanks! It's unfortunate because i lost both balas.
Their job is to sell fish not so much educate but I agree with you
trickshot3102
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2013
- Messages
- 468
That's true, but they really should educate people also. Just think of the countless fish lost to not educating people (beginners)
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