Wow! This thread makes me feel a lot better!
-My 5 gallon hex is, and always has been, overstocked. I haven't had any problems with ammonia or anything else since the tank finished cycling. Until the day before yesterday, that is, when I had a fish die (was the first death since the tank finished cycling).
-I tend to overstock my tanks.
-I test my water before I do a water change, or if something happens. I almost always only test ammonia.
-I try to do a 25-30% water change every week in all my tanks. I don't always succeed.
-All of my tanks (with the exception of my 5 hex) have more filtration than they need.
-I keep fish with my turtles. I have about 50 guppies, ranging in age from newborn fry to four months old and one adult, in with my 2" yellow bellied slider. I have a 5" comet goldfish that refused to be eaten in with my two adult African sideneck turtles.
-I have live plants in all of my tanks.
-There have been times when I didn't wash my gravel very much, if at all.
-I recently fell in love with using sand.
-I have never quarantined a fish, though I plan to if I ever get around to using my 29 gallon for fish.
-There are seven tanks in my bedroom (my 5 hex, a ten gallon, a 55 gallon turtle tank, a 20 gallon turtle tank, an empty, soon-to-be-betta-tank, an empty 1.5 gallon tank that was once used for raising fry, and an empty, leaky 29 gallon tank).
-I've had more success with my guppy fry since I stopped trying to move them to their own tank.
-When I do a water change, I rinse my filter in the used water. If it's really dirty, I rinse it under hot tap water.
-I fast my fish once a week, with the exception of my guppies (that's just because of the fry).
-There is a Python in the garage that my mom said I could have. I still don't use it, preferring instead to use buckets (which sometimes involves taking buckets of water upstairs).
-And apparently, I have lots of confessions to make, and I'm long-winded.