Share Your Mistakes Here

[molliwopp]

Typical kid who didn't know anything. Set up a 10g as a 10 year old, stocked it with 15-20 fish same day. Lost a bunch, just replaced those. Only added water to replace what had evaporated. When it couldn't stand not being able to see my fish through the algae, I would take it apart, boil & bleach the gravel and decor clean and put a new filter cartridge in. The fish that somehow survived the last tank quickly died, were replaced, and the story started over again. Took a few years off, then got back into it. Same thing all over. Took another few years off, then was going to rebuild my 10g in our new place and my brother offered me his 55g. Started off exactly the same way....

After about 2 weeks, a couple neon deaths, and algae starting to show up, I decided to look into what I needed to do since I wasn't going clean the 55 like I did the 10 every few months.

Thank God I found this site!!!!!!!

That sounds like an absolute nightmare that probably still haunts you to this day at times, i feel for you.

I think ive been fortunate as i only became interested in fish keeping when i was around 20 and was mature enough to look into it before and care alittle more about the fish i wanted to keep.

 

[Delapool]

My most repetitive mistake is going to the fish store when I need absolutely nothing at all, it's like there is some cosmic force that will not let me leave with out buying something, I have a box under my tank table with filters, air pumps, heaters.. I have a problem...

+1. I could probably run a second tank, just need gravel....

 

[Brookster123]

+1. I could probably run a second tank, just need gravel....

I have a 46 bowfront in storage! Just need a place for it, I have a feeling that my biggest mistake will ultimately be scaring my girlfriend off by overcrowding our apartment w fish tanks..

 

[GodFan]

I have a 46 bowfront in storage! Just need a place for it, I have a feeling that my biggest mistake will ultimately be scaring my girlfriend off by overcrowding our apartment w fish tanks..

My ex girlfriend said I could have one room for fish tanks and such but nothing out of the room. That is not the reason she is an ex but it is one reason Im glad she is lol

 

[Brookster123]

My ex girlfriend said I could have one room for fish tanks and such but nothing out of the room. That is not the reason she is an ex but it is one reason Im glad she is lol

Haha I've takin the kitchen and the dining room, I wouldn't dare push it further, she did suggest setting up our third tank because she couldn't bare the thought of returning any of our beloved fish. I guess fishcrazy is contagious.

 

[Dooboedoo12]

When I first got my 30 gallon I bought a channel catfish , 2 koi fish, and 2 angel fish. I'm sure you can imagine who lived in the end

I had that catfish in a 30 gallon with other fish for 4.5 years... Ammonia up the ***. Had no clue about checking levels til about 8 months ago nor about the bio filter or cycling a tank.

Basically I was a noob for 5 years. How I had that catfish for so long I have noooooooo clue

 

[Anemone afterlife]

Worst mistake i made was using a dish sponge to clean out my favorite betas bowl when I was little. lost the little trooper in only about a hour

 

[Fishguy1111]

My worst mistake is slightly overdosing algae fix. All fish dead by morning. Never using that again.

 

[AJLockley]

Ooh the number of mistakes I've made! And some messes I've cleane up from others mistakes when I barely knew more than they did.

- Cycle? What's a cycle?!?
- testing water? (I must have known at some point because I found my testers under my tank.. After I already bought more test strips once I realized I want to do it right.
- each routine cleaning (every 2-3 months) meant taking out all the decor, full scrub down, change out both filter bags, and in my smaller tanks, remove all rocks and rinse in the spaghetti strainer under very very hot water. Surprisingly no casualties
- I had a betta in a bowl in my dorm in college which was NOT permitted anyways, and I would do complete changes then while just placing him in a red solo cup. He jumped out QUITE a few times while I was doing a Full scrub down of his gravel. He survived dozens on moves in and out of the dorms for end of terms.. I had him for about 6 years.
- these fish are ugly and I didn't pick them out.. If they die then so be it but I don't want to intentionally kill them.. I just won't ever clean the tank.. That filter is noisy so it won't matter if I turn it off (for weeks).. They lived!

Please don't judge. I don't know HOW any of my fish survived my "TLC" (insert sarcasm in TLC). I sometimes wonder how I managed to keep so many fish alive with my poor ignorant techniques and yet when I actually try desperately to keep a plant alive, it dies!!

So glad I found this site!

 

[twiddlemuffin]

Ooh the number of mistakes I've made! And some messes I've cleane up from others mistakes when I barely knew more than they did.

- Cycle? What's a cycle?!?
- testing water? (I must have known at some point because I found my testers under my tank.. After I already bought more test strips once I realized I want to do it right.
- each routine cleaning (every 2-3 months) meant taking out all the decor, full scrub down, change out both filter bags, and in my smaller tanks, remove all rocks and rinse in the spaghetti strainer under very very hot water. Surprisingly no casualties
- I had a betta in a bowl in my dorm in college which was NOT permitted anyways, and I would do complete changes then while just placing him in a red solo cup. He jumped out QUITE a few times while I was doing a Full scrub down of his gravel. He survived dozens on moves in and out of the dorms for end of terms.. I had him for about 6 years.
- these fish are ugly and I didn't pick them out.. If they die then so be it but I don't want to intentionally kill them.. I just won't ever clean the tank.. That filter is noisy so it won't matter if I turn it off (for weeks).. They lived!

Please don't judge. I don't know HOW any of my fish survived my "TLC" (insert sarcasm in TLC). I sometimes wonder how I managed to keep so many fish alive with my poor ignorant techniques and yet when I actually try desperately to keep a plant alive, it dies!!

So glad I found this site!

We all make mistakes haha

 

[twiddlemuffin]

I'm just gonna go with my first, and by far worst mistake. My first tank was a 1g maybe a 2.5g hexagon. I kept a 4 inch comet, a full grown weather loach, and probably an 8 inch pleco in it. The loach lived about 7 or 8 years, the goldfish about 3, and the pleco about 6. I did water changes only when the tank started getting dirty, which was like once every 5 months or so, and I'd do a 100% water change. Needless to say, I was very young and knew nothing but that they needed dechlorinator.

 

[Nimo]

When I set up my first tank. I listened to the LFS. Should be enough said lol.
I knew the tank needed to cycle was told to set it up run it for a week with no fish then bring my water in for a test. Thats what I did. The test showed that my Ph was high 8.2. LFS
recommended this white powder stuff perfect ph wow a fix in a bottle. I bought this $14 bottle of fix it went home and measured out the amount needed for my tank dumped it in. The tank looked like it had milk in it. I watched it for a couple days the milk never thinned out never setteled and the Ph never dropped.
While I was waiting for this cloud to settle I started researching what fish I wanted. I found this forum in many many searches while researching. I found alot of mistakes I made and number one was the milk cloud that was likely to never clear.
I tore down the tank completly cleaned everything. Set it back up and started a fish in cycle.
I was complely thru my cycle before I joined this forum but was here multiple times a day for a long time reading about different things I needed to do following advice here and now I have learned soo soo much and still learn new things almost daily when I now give advice from the knowledge I gained here.

 

[Coyne]

Just this week...
There was a lot of BBA growing on the HOB's intake. I took the intake off, but was able to leave the "U" shaped section in the water so the filter could keep running. I placed the algae covered part in a bucket of bleach to soak over night.
The next day I noticed two of my Harlequin Rasboras were missing. After looking all around the tank for them (inside and out) I finally looked inside the HOB. Sure enough, two dead Rasboras.

I am certain they were strong enough to avoid getting sucked in, but I didnt account for their curiosity and think they may have swam up there of theyre own volition. So Ive learned to make sure filter intakes dont have enough space in them for fish to swim into.

 

[pip walters]

When I set up my first tank. I listened to the LFS. Should be enough said lol.
I knew the tank needed to cycle was told to set it up run it for a week with no fish then bring my water in for a test. Thats what I did. The test showed that my Ph was high 8.2. LFS
recommended this white powder stuff perfect ph wow a fix in a bottle. I bought this $14 bottle of fix it went home and measured out the amount needed for my tank dumped it in. The tank looked like it had milk in it. I watched it for a couple days the milk never thinned out never setteled and the Ph never dropped.
While I was waiting for this cloud to settle I started researching what fish I wanted. I found this forum in many many searches while researching. I found alot of mistakes I made and number one was the milk cloud that was likely to never clear.
I tore down the tank completly cleaned everything. Set it back up and started a fish in cycle.
I was complely thru my cycle before I joined this forum but was here multiple times a day for a long time reading about different things I needed to do following advice here and now I have learned soo soo much and still learn new things almost daily when I now give advice from the knowledge I gained here.

And that my friend is learning.... top marks to you!

 

[ArtistGardener]

In addition to the lack of understanding about cycling a tank that most everyone does . . . . I needed to trim some plants in one of my tanks and grabbed the scissors on the counter. Within minutes of trimming plants, my red cherry shrimp started going crazy and I knew something was terribly wrong (no sign of anything wrong with the fish). I scooped them all out and put them in fresh water. Within a few hours, all of them were dead. I immediately did a 90% water change to save my fish, but was puzzled that none of them showed any sign of distress. I realized a day later that the scissors had been used previously to cut the tip off the package of flea and tick killer for my dogs--which is designed to kill arthropods. I was just sick about it! Now, my plant scissors is hidden away with all of my other aquarium tools.

 

[Brookster123]

Just this week... There was a lot of BBA growing on the HOB's intake. I took the intake off, but was able to leave the "U" shaped section in the water so the filter could keep running. I placed the algae covered part in a bucket of bleach to soak over night. The next day I noticed two of my Harlequin Rasboras were missing. After looking all around the tank for them (inside and out) I finally looked inside the HOB. Sure enough, two dead Rasboras. I am certain they were strong enough to avoid getting sucked in, but I didnt account for their curiosity and think they may have swam up there of theyre own volition. So Ive learned to make sure filter intakes dont have enough space in them for fish to swim into.

Ohh man, that's a tough one! Sleepy fishies just kind of go auto pilot.. Sorry to hear

 

[SandyCheeks]

One of my many water changing mishaps: while doing a water change I left the gravel vacuum unattended for one minute while I went to grab a paper towel. I thought that my big guys were too big to worry about getting sucked up. I should have known better, because the big male is always aggravated at the vacuum. When I came back he was stuck all the way in, nose first. I turned off the suction and shook it and shook it and he finally fell out. I felt bad, the poor guy just trying to defend his territory, or maybe chasing some food. He really did look shook up and his nose was bruised purple for a week. His name has been changed to Bruiser. (now I cover the end with netting)

 

[Masha]

This is a mistake I've just made recently: set up my 90 litre too close to our fireplace. It's summer now so the fireplace is not in use, but come winter I'm going to have to move that tank. Hope I can get it far enough away from the fireplace to make a difference - not many places that tank can go.

 

[Brookster123]

Figures, someone starts a mistake thread and there I go forgetting to plug in filters and heater after a wc, tank dropped 10 degrees in 10 hours!

 

[Duffman22]

I thought I followed directions perfectly but clearly I was wrong and must have used too much bleach when recharging purigen. I soaked it in prime and water for over a day and rinsed it out for what seemed like a very long time because I wanted to be extra safe. Then I used more prime but even with that, in a short while several Endlers died so I quickly took the purigen out and did massive water change after massive water change. The surviving Endlers had red gills for days! I felt horrible! I haven't used Purigen since but it worked great before the bleach incident.