Common beginner mistakes

AWESOME !

NJ Devils Fan,

You just blew me away with this thread ! This was a GREAT idea ! Of COURSE I'll make it a sticky ! :)

Let's see. My biggest mistake came down to just not being educated. I would say READ READ READ. Read about the nitrogen cycle. Read about the fish you are thinking of buying. Read about different filters and peices of equipment. Come here and post questions. Read everyone else's questions and answers !

Being an educated fish-keeper can make ALL the difference in being successful or not. :)
 
Water Changes

I may have missed it but I didn't see anything in the above regarding water changes so, IMHO water quality is *everything* and the best way to maintain water quality is through water changes, at least weekly.
And I will reiterate.....you will learn more on this forum than you ever dreamed regarding fishkeeping, so read, read, read, and don't be afraid to ask questions.
Len
 
TOP 10 beginner mistakes for me,
and some helpful links I wish I knew back then ...

1. Not knowing the basics of fish keeping.
helpful link: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html

2. Not learning about the nitrogen CYCLE.
general cycling info: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html
fishless cycling: http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/cycling.shtml
http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/cycle2.shtml

3. Keeping incompatible fishes.
Not reading about fishes' profiles before buying.
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery.html
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/fresh.shtml

4. Overstocking, overcrowding.
fish stocking guide:
http://www.icesoftware.com/kdodds/fish/beginners.htm

5. Not knowing about fish diseases and treatments:
http://animalatlas.com/encyclo/information/freshwater_fish/Diseases.htm

6. Overfeeding.

7. Not doing enough water changes.

8. Buying fish that are not the healthiest, and not acclimating them well.

9. Not reading enough additional fishkeeping information.
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquasource/catlist.shtml
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/

10. Not knowing about this forum soon enough. :D
 
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My very first mistake, buying a two gallon hex and two fantails the same day. It was a present one year ago to my niece and all is well thanks to this board. The store clerk said, "yeap, fill it up and throw them in.

After setting up that hex and reading this board for a year I don't think I made a mistake worth mentioning. Thanks to all of you!
 
What about jumping on the medication bus when you thought a fish was sick.I am I the only one who made this mistake?In the beginning I would miss diagnose a illness and overload the meds,Back then I did not know better.I use to get a sick fish panic and run out an buy some meds and end up messing up (or killing)the rest of the fish in the tank cause I thought more meds would work faster.I did a lot more harm the good.I use to go into a pet store and tell them my fish had this that or the other thing and they would say you need this and that and I would buy it.Now I am a lot wiser and I know what when to act quickly or not . For the beginner buy yourself a few books and do some searching on the web.Before you dump in the meds cause they can kill fish faster then the illness.I am sure I am not the only one who has done this.You live and learn.It takes time, work and sometimes heartache To take care of your fish but it is definitely worth it .Great post n.j. devil man
 
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This is one great thread:D

Mine were:

1.) Not going with the fishless cycle route. Now that I know how to do this, I'll never go back to cycling with Fish. My time is so much shorter and I can rest at night and not worry about what I am doing to my poor fish.

2.) It's already been stated, but it should be a Golden Rule, have patience with everything you do. For me I learn this lesson with Meds, Adding fish, Freaking-Out on any changes in the appearance of my fish or the tank.

3.) Have a quarantine tank and use it!. This was the hardest lesson for me. Always having to treat the whole tank(s) just because I didn't seprate the new arrival, or didin't take out the infected one.

4.) The best lesson I learned was to have fun with this hobby, it should not be so tedious, I learn this lesson by just stepping back from time to time and looking and the wondrous cycle of life in front of me in my tanks, and I just have to ;)

Ok.. that's my 2 cents...
:cool:
 
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Whilst I think Patience it the most important beginner trait, something happened to me last night I thought I should share.

I have a 150G african tank that I swear wasn't keeping warm. My thermometer read 80 degrees, which should have been fine. Next thing I know, I notice 1 fish rubbing a lot, so suspecting some parasite, I wanted to raise the temp up a bit and add some salt. I cranked up the heater a couple of degrees, the next morning themometer read 81. I give the heater a little more juice and I get home from work last night, maybe 82 degrees if I let my eyes go fuzzy. Lucky for me, my massive Big Al's shipment arrives which had 2 new thermometers in it and I stuck both of them in. Want to guess what they read? 76 degrees. I borrowed the themometer from my 29G tank just to double check...yep 76 degrees. Wonder what the temp was before I cranked the heater.

Needless to day, don't always trust your tests/equipment. If you think something might be wrong, verify it with a different testing method (new themometer, tank water sample to LFS, etc.). Even beginners notice warning sign, but sometimes just discount them because this test or that test says it something else.

Oh yeah...and if you're buying fish from questionable quality sources, Q-tank them. Then you don't have to worry about importing diseases...I'm learning the hard way.
 
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super idea

I hope the newbies take time to read this, i know that one problem with being a beginner fish keeper was patience, ohh you need so much in the begining, i ain't no newbie i just created a new user with AC cause something happened to my old one,

a mistake i made was first of all not cycling my tank, and overstocking it....my first tank was a 8gallon (round about that) and i stuffed it full of nice expensive fish (expensive to a little boy) you know how it is you save up little amounts of money, anyway i packed it with about four $4 fish that was my whole savings (i was about 10-12yrs old) and then put fish i had caught from a stream mosquitoe eaters and platy swordtails, so i had about 8-10 fish in a little tank and all sorts of mayhem started

first mistake: didn't cycle it

second mistake: over crowed

third mistake: didn't know the habbits of the fish and found it hard to feed them

result of being stoopid: all fish died (was very distressed) but these fish were my cycling fish, i then started visisting web sites and i found this one! Reading heaps on fish before buying them, getting opinions from forums and forever expanding my knowledge on fish!

Please people new to the fish game, READ UP ON YOUR FISH BEFORE YOU BUY THEM AND KNOW HOW TO SET UP A SUCESSFUL TANK BEFORE DIVING IN THE DEEP END............just ask these guyz here, the more experienced fish keepers, i'm still learning also....

Enjoy the vast world of fish keeping!:)
 
Re: KISS -- Keep It Simple

Originally posted by val
. Other good beginner fishes are mollies and swordtails, which come in a pretty range of colors and can be easily found.

HTH,

Val
Click to expand...
I have made all the same mistakes but I don't agree that mollies are good beginner fish. I started with them in a cycled tank and they never lived very long. Mollies like the water more on the salty side.With out the right salt the get sick and die. Thats why I don't recomend them for the beginner.
 
One thing that I learned from having a SW tank that applies to the FW side--spend time watching your fish. Learn what they normally do, at different times of the day. This goes hand in hand with researching your fish before buying them--read what their activity level is like, and some common displays, ect.

It's surprising the number of posts I see from people who are worried their fish are freaking out, when it's really a common activity, just not one they've seen before. Sometimes it's a breeding display, or sparring for dominance, but it seems like sometimes it's just normal things that fish do, but aren't seen when you feed or do a water change.
 
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