Common Newbie Pitfalls

[Jchillin]

Does jchillin give out Kudos to newbies who get Plecos?

Get the fish, post a pic, get kudos. It's that simple.

 

[rich311k]

Does jchillin give out Kudos to newbies who get Plecos?

Get the fish, post a pic, get kudos. It's that simple.

I believe he will even give them out to old timers. He is trying to assimilate us all.

 

[fishygurl]

i am a newbie, but I would say that you cant always trust petstore people. Some of them are fine but others, well ill just say that most people probably have a story about how faulty advice from LFS people led to a problem, sometimes a diaster. Get a second opinion, either here or from a friend or if you must from another pet store. (sorry, i am biased i will never trusted pet store again )

 

[aquanewbie72]

Here's my list of Newbie advice (coming from a newbie):

1. Don't be stingy- spring the extra $$$ for the AP Freshwater Master Test Kit. Strips suck.
2. "The Cycle" - ask about it, read about it, study it, understand it!
3. A PWC NEVER hurts.
4. Do not mess with the pH - if its stable, leave it alone.
5. Be intimately familiar with your tank set up, bioload/livestock inventory, and water parameters at all times - you will be asked to recite them if you post a question on this site.
6. Never be afraid to ask a dumb question. When it comes to your fishies, there isn't one.

 

[7Enigma]

I got one,

Practice with your gravel filter or python before using it on your tank. Fill up your sink in the bathroom and practice syphoning the water into your bathtub or toilet.

This will prevent you from spilling 2 gallons of tank water on your hardwood floor when the bulb of the gravel filter decides to come undone right as the syphon starts....This never happened to me, but I've heard its possible.

 

[Zagz]

Does jchillin give out Kudos to newbies who get Plecos?

Get the fish, post a pic, get kudos. It's that simple.

I believe he will even give them out to old timers. He is trying to assimilate us all.

I have been assimilated . Don't bother trying to resist, it's futile, I've learned.

 

[OceanMaiden]

jchillin would getting a plecos help keep my tank clean and adversely help the ammonia stay down? Because if it does I may just have to aquire a bunch lol. THAT and a PYTHON. But there is no way I'm going to practice using it with my sink and the toilet. I'll use the sink and a giant rubbermaid container...in the kitchen. The most disgusting and high bacteria rate can be found in your bathroom. No matter how clean it is...they are still everywhere. So I will do my practicing in the kitchen, there is bacteria in there too, as it is everywhere, but not so many and not as digusting of types of bacteria. Blech....Its gross when you know so much about bacteria....Helpful...but gross. Until I get a python I have just a regular Walmart brand gravel vac. It works ok I guess. Kind of akward though. I'll just have to get use to it. My two lil fish are more important to me than any difficulties I may face in providing them the very best care.

 

[Yuri]

1) Don't ever EVER use Ammo Lock, espcially during a cycle! It will stall it weeks upon months!
2) Buckets aren't fun. Period. Buy a python.
3) Don't give up or let problems drag on forever. Clean it now, fix it now. When problems multiply things can get ugly real quick.

 

[mom2cct]

Confused is right... not quite frustrated yet but I hope I'll be getting some good help in here!

Man, there's some good stuff in here already. Here's what I really think occurs:

The newbie picks up snippets of information. Even if the information is correct, he/she views the information as something which stands alone. For example, pH 6.5. Then they look for ways to reach pH 6.5. There is no way for the newbie to apply this information to their needs because they don't have the total picture. They ultimately become confused and frustrated as they begin to realize there is a cause and effect in everything they add to the tank.

If we could somehow get the newbie to understand that they are creating a completely enclosed ecosystem, which is perpetually changing, they would grasp the total picture much sooner.

 

[Laser]

I would say over crowding is something people new to the hobby do without meaning to. Always get the biggest tank you can afford and fit in the location you want to put it.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

I would say over crowding is something people new to the hobby do without meaning to. Always get the biggest tank you can afford and fit in the location you want to put it.

I can't help but think that you are talking about me....and you're right.

A big mistake I made, which helped my over crowding problem, was not researching a species before I bought it. And believing the little info card posted at Wal-Mart.

Always be sure to check as many sources as possible about the fish you want to make sure it is what you want.

In my case had I done the proper research I wouldn't have put a crayfish in a community tank.

Mistake made, lesson learned.

 

[DeFeKt]

heard a good one last night...
newbie put a large fish (2ft) into a large cycled tank (8'L)
fish shop didn't let him take it untill tank was cycled.
anyway, he threw a heap of goldies in for food and fish started doing death rolls the next day, bioload couldn't keep up.
heaps of pwc's later, newbie comes in and fish was happy and apparently "playing" (skipping and flicking off the gravel substrate)
Note: This fish now has ammonia poisoning/ chemical burns and most likely will die if not corrected immediatly.

 

[Daryth Darkmoon]

heard a good one last night...
newbie put a large fish (2ft) into a large cycled tank (8'L)
fish shop didn't let him take it untill tank was cycled.
anyway, he threw a heap of goldies in for food and fish started doing death rolls the next day, bioload couldn't keep up.
heaps of pwc's later, newbie comes in and fish was happy and apparently "playing" (skipping and flicking off the gravel substrate)
Note: This fish now has ammonia poisoning/ chemical burns and most likely will die if not corrected immediatly.

Sounds similar to what my dad wanted to do when I had Oscars years back. I'm amazed they lived since I didn't know anything about cycling a tank, PWC, water testing......it was pretty much set up the tank, add gravel and decos...fill with water...add fish.

How I never killed them is beyond me....(had them in a 50) I'm just glad I stopped my dad from adding like 40 feeder golds to the tank. At least I knew enough to know that was a bad idea.

 

[Laser]

I can't help but think that you are talking about me....and you're right.

A big mistake I made, which helped my over crowding problem, was not researching a species before I bought it. And believing the little info card posted at Wal-Mart.

Always be sure to check as many sources as possible about the fish you want to make sure it is what you want.

In my case had I done the proper research I wouldn't have put a crayfish in a community tank.

Mistake made, lesson learned.

No, I wasn't thinking of you. I didn't think you overcrowded that tank, maybe you put in too many fish at once... I'm not sure. I still wouldn't get any more fish from that store.

 

[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]

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

Get a Python.

 

[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]

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.