I bought a fish tank, it's all downhill from there
SILLIEST thing you have ever done as a beginner!
- Thread starter MikebNJ
- Start date
yea... my first was a 40 breeder... anything smaller seems impossible to stock, unless with shrimp. lmao. i guess ill have to fill everything under 70gal with shrimp now.
Stocking a 6 gallon with about a million different species, that quite obviously died inside of a month.
Buying a BGK for my 15 gallon tank. Going on to buy 3 convict cichlids to put in with him.
Along with much more, I was pretty stupid for a couple of years at the start :/
Buying a BGK for my 15 gallon tank. Going on to buy 3 convict cichlids to put in with him.
Along with much more, I was pretty stupid for a couple of years at the start :/
RTC in a 29, there's more but that's the best one. Or the worst one, depends on how you look at it.
put a oscar in a 10g tank with a small pleco and a sun cat, then coming home and researching, whooops!!!! and so the tank upgrades began, 800g of tank upgrades later. here we are.
Took advice from a LFS on first saltwater tank.
8g, two bits of live rock, domino damselfish (max size 5", very aggressive), flame angelfish (max size 4" or so, delicate, needs 30g+, aggressive). Damsel didn't last long, angel died of ich a week later.
Also, took advice from Petland on first non-betta fish. Wanted guppies. Got a goldfish bowl because I was told it would be easier.
Ended up moving him to a 20g after a bit of research and some slightly better advice.
Also: 10g, not cycled, zebra danios, one cory, betta.
In other words, I assumed that the LFS people knew what they were doing and/or actually wanted me to succeed in keeping things alive. That Petland is shut down now, and I don't go back to the other LFS for anything. There are better places to go around here, with people who know their stuff and don't freakin' lie.
8g, two bits of live rock, domino damselfish (max size 5", very aggressive), flame angelfish (max size 4" or so, delicate, needs 30g+, aggressive). Damsel didn't last long, angel died of ich a week later.
Also, took advice from Petland on first non-betta fish. Wanted guppies. Got a goldfish bowl because I was told it would be easier.
Ended up moving him to a 20g after a bit of research and some slightly better advice.
Also: 10g, not cycled, zebra danios, one cory, betta.
In other words, I assumed that the LFS people knew what they were doing and/or actually wanted me to succeed in keeping things alive. That Petland is shut down now, and I don't go back to the other LFS for anything. There are better places to go around here, with people who know their stuff and don't freakin' lie.
First tank: I'd have to start with buying tank and stocking it same day. And when I say stocking it, I mean having about 4x as many fish as I should have had in a 5.5 gal tank. And I thought a water change once every three months was sufficient...Poor little guys didn't stand a chance. Does anyone remember the days when the big box pet stores sold them tanks and fish all at once without telling folks about cycling? (Well, some of them still do that I guess). I didn't even learn about the nitrogen cycle and testing water until much later. Oh well, that was 13 years ago....we were all newbies at some point...if only we knew then what we know now...
I still see this all the time when I'm perusing the chain stores. As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago, my brother-in-law decided to get a 20gal tropical for his kids. Even though he knows I'm a "fish guy" with 5 tanks throughout the house, he didn't bother asking me for even one single advice. So, comes Christmas morning, he announces to the kids that this was one of their gifts....and that it would need 24hrs after set up before they can stock it with fish
I made some sort of gesture after hearing this, and he paused, looked my way with a snippy "What?!" I just quickly told him that it requires at least a month before they can fully stock it with fish. Annoyed by my interruption, he announced: "I'll just ask one of the Petco fish people", and went back to the announcement towards his kids. FYI, my brother-in-law and I don't really care for one another. So, with no surprises, throughout the year, I hear stories after stories of dead fish from his kids. Tank also has been shut down. Shocker
I still see this all the time when I'm perusing the chain stores. As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago, my brother-in-law decided to get a 20gal tropical for his kids. Even though he knows I'm a "fish guy" with 5 tanks throughout the house, he didn't bother asking me for even one single advice. So, comes Christmas morning, he announces to the kids that this was one of their gifts....and that it would need 24hrs after set up before they can stock it with fish
Sounds like a pride sensitivity issue, shame.
