Share your fishie mistakes!!!

[Guest]

I will share my stupid mistakes that I made!!!!!!

I first got a 6 gallon tank. I put 1 goldfish, 1 dwarf gourami, 1 ADF, and one yellow gourami. to make is short. All fish died except my yellow gourami. I then read up more on fish and decided I wanted to try to do this RIGHT. Well, I got my 29 gallon tank, and stocked it with my yello gourami, blue gourami, 4 mollies, and 4 platies. They all died again. A few months ago I found out that my heater(I got it that came with it) was only for a 10-15 gal. tank(and I had that in a 29 gallon tank??? 8O ). The reason I didn't notice this before was I had the heater and therm. right next to eachother. I put them on seperate sides of the tank before.

I then had my live plants. They ALLLLLLLLL died too. I got the bulb for it and everything. Well when I replaced the bulb a few weeks ago I noticed that it was the WRONG bulb. It wasn't for plants like the box had said!!!

Now I know why everything went wrong and I have everything fixed now(I hope!!!)

I just thought I'd share my story!!!!! Share your stories to help newbies!!![/quote]

 

[willowthepoet]

i've had fish tanks for several years now, and i still for the life of me cannot keep a plant alive. i have the "plant bulbs", i put in liquid fertilizers... i don't know what it is, but i just keep killing them.

of course, i killed a cactus once so this isn't really a shocker that i can't keep underwater plants alive as well.


i also made the mistake of buying a 3 gallon tank. at first i had guppies in there, which bred (of course) and somehow survived for two months with about 30 guppy fry in this tiny tank. i was doing PWCs almost daily until i got a 10 gallon (still overstocked) for most of them, and gave some to my boyfriend for his oscar. now i have the 10gal with about 20 guppies (about 3/4 grown), 2 honey gouramis and my crayfish. it all, somehow, seems to be working out fine, since nobody is really territorial (besides the crayfish who has his own cave so that's fine) and i religiously do a PWC every 3-4 days.

i'm slowly getting rid of the guppies, the females first to prevent any more breeding. i plan to just keep 2-4 of the prettiest males in the 10 gal with the 2 honey gouramis and the crayfish.

the 3 gallon is now home to a single dwarf puffer, who seems quite content there. he gets to munch on all the snails that hitchhike in on my ever-changing supply of plants, and i'm very happy with that tank now that i finally have it as a proper setup for somebody.

 

[tropicfishman]

one time years ago, I was easily distracted as a teenager first off, I was deep cleaning a tank that was full of algea, I had all my fish in a bucket including a pleco, 3 goldfish, 2 angles, some kinda spotted catfish, 2 green tiger barbs and some other weird fish, well a buddy came over and saids he had some *beep* so I quickly refilled the tank and started to clean upall my tools, I left forgetting to put the fish back in the tank, I Was out all night and part of the next day lol came home and was shocked to see they were all still alive lol

 

[Seepu]

My biggest mistake to date, and is ongoing.. it putting a 75g tank upstairs. The only water source is from the bathroom, ie, sink taps, tub and shower tap.... Now...I have a python, with an extension for the 125g downstairs, that fits nicely onto my kitchen sink tap, or in warm weather, my garden hose.

Upstairs however, no hose, garden or otherwise will fit onto any water sources up there. My PWC's are done the old fashioned way, bucket by bucket! Try that with toddlers! I tried once, I repeat ONCE to scour the garden tub with vinegar, fill the tub with tank temp water, condition it, let it set a day, and use a PH and pvc hose to get it to the tank.... never again. I misjudged how much water would be needed to refil the tank, and had to finish filling it with buckets anyway. All that work for nothing. My Texas Cichlids didnt even appreciate the extra effort on my part, and THEY were the ones begging for a treat!


Oh well... back to the buckets!

 

[willowthepoet]

you can't find an adapter to fit the python on your tub tap? i thought they had one that was kinda just rubber that squished onto any flat tap, but i might be crazy and making that up.

i could not imagine doing all of that with buckets. wow.

 

[SCFatz]

I'll add my latest gaff....Before you buy an CAE...be sure to have plenty of obvious algea...

 

[ace]

Two fancy Guppies added to a tank full of African Cichlids. Needless to say they did not make it through the night. Ahhhhh, to be 10 again...

 

[JodiMartin2003]

I kept a betta in a gallon fishbowl(before I knew not to do this). I had him on my headboard of my bed. I guess my kitty got hungry cause I came home one day to the fishbowl knocked over onto my bed and the betta was nowhere to be found. Now I know to ALWAYS have a lid.

 

[crazyred]

I started with a tiny, 2 gallon "Spongebob" tank (with only a UGF run by a weak airpump) for my son. I let him pick some fish based on my limited knowledge of fish at the time. Assuming, since I always saw goldfish living in bowls, that I could put some in this tank because it has "circulation" and was bigger than a bowl. LOL He picked a goldfish, a black moore, and a teeny pleco. We went through about 5 goldfish and about 5 black moors before I went onto the internet to find out why my fish kept dying!! The only survivor was that dumb pleco, which of course turned out to be a common, and I put him in the 29 I eneded setting up once I was hooked. I eventually gave him to a LFS that wanted him for a big tank because, even though I'm setting up a 55, I knew he would outgrow that tank too. I miss him!!!

I have since bought a male betta for my son for the Spongebob tank and that fish is happy as a lark. I added a mini heater to it to keep him warm and he always greets us when we come to the tank....especially if we bring a food container.

 

[Guest]

I forgot to tell my betta experience!!!

I got my first betta from Walmart and that day they all looked they were getting ready to die at any moment. I wanted one so I bought one. He was pretty small. I put him in a bowl about this big:


( )


seriously. So then I graduated him up to a bowl double that. Then he graduated to a 2 gallon tank. Then he graduated to a NICE one gallon tank. He lived the remainder of his life there. He actually lived with me for one and a half years!!! he died I think of infection to his fins which he had for a year!!! He tore them on the plastic plants I had(now I use silk).


I had a 10 gallon tank when I was a kid. My parents at the time didn't know ANYTHIN and I mean ANYTHING about fish at that time. We got guppies, angels, goldfish, you name it. The pleco ate all the fish. WE did have 2 goldfish babies out of it though. That was weird. But they all died. That was a WEIRD experience.

But I am getting better as time goes by and someday hope to graduate to a 55+ and a saltwater!!!!!!

 

[JodiMartin2003]

The pleco ate all the fish.

I'm pretty sure that the only fish pleco's eat are dead ones. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Guest]

The pleco ate all the fish.

I'm pretty sure that the only fish pleco's eat are dead ones. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

i have never seen a pleco eat a fish.

 

[Guest]

Maybe they did die. Although I don't recall ever seeing a dead fish. I was only 5 though at the time. My parents said he ate them. Maybe not!!! The angel was pretty mean as I recall too

 

[tbonem91]

The pleco ate all the fish.

I'm pretty sure that the only fish pleco's eat are dead ones. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

ive seen an 18" pleco eat a small feeder fish

 

[JodiMartin2003]

The pleco ate all the fish.

I'm pretty sure that the only fish pleco's eat are dead ones. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

ive seen an 18" pleco eat a small feeder fish

I stand corrected. I had always thought that pleco's were very docile fish that only made HUGE messes! I thought the only way they killed other fish was with their poopy LOL

 

[freefour]

Go to Walmart and look in thier tanks , you will find them in almost every tank and they do try to attack the other fish . I work at one (in the hardware dept. though) They way overstock the tanks with everything , that may be the reason why they attack though.

 

[aquanewbie72]

oooo! I've got a good one.... I'm almost too embarrassed to type but I figure maybe some other newbie will read it and learn....

I just found out a week ago (after 3 months of having the tank) that I'm supposed to push the gravel vaccuum down INTO the gravel. yes thats right.... for the past 3 months I was just sort of lightly tapping the vaccuum on the surface and thought thats the way it was done.
So I had 3 months worth of debris piled up down in my 3" of gravel. hmmmmm maybe THAT is why my nitrates are always spiked to the max and I can't conquer my brown algae.....

 

[Guest]

oooo! I've got a good one.... I'm almost too embarrassed to type but I figure maybe some other newbie will read it and learn....

I just found out a week ago (after 3 months of having the tank) that I'm supposed to push the gravel vaccuum down INTO the gravel. yes thats right.... for the past 3 months I was just sort of lightly tapping the vaccuum on the surface and thought thats the way it was done.
So I had 3 months worth of debris piled up down in my 3" of gravel. hmmmmm maybe THAT is why my nitrates are always spiked to the max and I can't conquer my brown algae.....

don't be ashamed. We alllll make mistakes from time to time...like me turning off my filter, heater, everything EVERY time I cleaned..oops

 

[JodiMartin2003]

Don't be ashamed. We alllll make mistakes from time to time...like me turning off my filter, heater, everything EVERY time I cleaned..oops

I turn off everything when I do water changes. It will mess up your heater and your filter to run them without water, right? That's what I have always thought.

 

[Guest]

Don't be ashamed. We alllll make mistakes from time to time...like me turning off my filter, heater, everything EVERY time I cleaned..oops

I turn off everything when I do water changes. It will mess up your heater and your filter to run them without water, right? That's what I have always thought.

well I read that turning off the filter and heater at ANY time will cause stress to the fish? I turned them off but now I dont. I NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR etc... let the water get below the heaters waterline!!!!!!