What is your biggest mistake

[Pat Kelly]

What has been the biggest mistake you have made in the hobby.
I have made a bunch. Heck I used to have a series of articles called
"I've made mistakes, why should you?'
For every 10 of you that post, I will post another one of mine.

There are so many, lets start with one from about a year ago.

I was doing water changes. I put a submersible pump in the bottom tanks to drain. I forgot that I had put a heater in the 40 breeder.
It was full of 3 inch peacocks. I drained the tank 50% and then went to the next tank. A few minutes later I smelled something burning and started looking. Glass heater+only partially covered with water + splashing water from a filter = broken heater and electrocuted fish.


Tell me yours.

 

[lonlangione]

Several years ago I received some long finned white clouds. I didn't have a tank ready for them so I put them in a 20 long with a trio of gardneri killifish. The white clouds were good size. The next day I came down to a trio of gardneri and 12 dead long finned white clouds.

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Not too many with cichlids. Recently? Feeding a shrimp based gelatin foord newly purchased Maylandai "sp. Long Pelvic." That was my first (and only) experience with bloat. It wasn't pretty.

Keeping baby Mayan cichlids with Ruby Red Aulonocara. I learned just how vicious Mayan cichlids can be, and am now down two Aulonocara.

Lot's of mistakes with natives. Putting fish outside for cold treatment, and having the tubs/coolers freeze solid. Cold treating darters without aeration/circulation. (Even though it's cold, they still die.)

Not realizing just how wide green sunfish can open their mouths and wondering for two or three days where all the various colorful minnow species that I had collected from trips around the SE had disappeared to.

 

[chris_todd]

Buying that first tank, LOL. It's all been downhill from there (I don't have hobbies, I have obsessions).

 

[Pat Kelly]

LOL
thats 3.
7more till I tell you my next one. lol

 

[longstocking]

Killing a pair of fish that no one in the states can get any more. Hurt the hobby.

 

[maddog10]

Going to my first CCA meeting and asking Pat if there is anything I can do to help!

I have a habit of overfilling tanks. Left water running into my 800 gallon coral propagation tank that I had at my old house. Left it running for about 8 hours. Went to bed that night and went "OH ****!"

Over filled a 500 gallon holding tank at the warehouse. Was talking to a customer and all of sudden water was just running over the floor!

 

[marge618]

I bought a pair of "CA" cichlids that I had never seen before. The auction price was $10. The name of the fish washed off the bag before I got home. These fish had brilliant spangles of red and were very pretty but they hid in the bottom of the tank and weren't very 'interesting'. I thought they were just not used to the new surroundings. By the time I realized they were being terrorized by convicts it was too late.

 

[Charlutz]

1. Putting a 55g tank on a set of shelves that had some flex to it and waking up to a cracked, half full 55 and a wet floor. Started my stand building quest.

2. Setting up a siphon to do a water change on a 210g tank and having it become dislodged and drain 50g of water onto a carpeted floor.

3. Using some fish bags to move two fully grown multipunctatus cats and forgetting that I had previously used the bags to recharge a micro filter ... with chlorine bleach.

 

[F8LBITE]

Not getting a python YEARS ago!!!!! Ive been lugging buckets back and forth since 1995!!!!!!

 

[Fishfreak69]

Hmmmm.. Where should I start? Well I will tell you a few:
1. Killing off a pond of fish (4-5 times) by putting in the prime, but, forgetting to turn off the hose .... I would let the pond fill up and after working nights on the weekend I would do pond stuff and fall asleep and forget about the water being on...

2. Not covering up breeding vats/ponds from herons with bird net. I lost 2 colonies of Buccochromis Rhodesii, 1 colony of Champs Careleus, 1 colony Stigmatochromis Modestus, 2 colonies of AER's, 1 colony of Ngaras, and a mixture of stuff to grow out some of which were going to be used for show

3. Installing a wet dry and I forgot to hook up the hoses correctly and about 20-30 gallons of water ended up on the floor overnight and burnt up the pump.

 

[Andrew]

Do hiring decisions count?

Sorry Pat; I couldn't help myself.

 

[SubMariner]

Getting married...Oops! You're right that's not a hobby:wacko:

Let's see, I had arrived late from work one night and had forgotten to feed my baby Red Rubies that were in a 2.5 gallon. I was so tired that I immediately feed the fry and turned off their lights and proceeded to go upstairs to bed.

The next day, I came downstairs to find all 25 fry dead and not one alive. I guess since I turned off the lights the babies could not see all the food and the Nitrate levels shot through the roof and they died. I was so upset, I swore that I would never let that happen again and I would literally sit there and watch them eat. Now, I'll sit back and watch a whole episode of Seinfeld, which is about 30 minutes long and then turn off their lights.

You live and you Learn



Richard

 

[pnlkman]

Had my 55 gallon Malawi tank and went on vaction for 5 days with a cheap heater in it. The heater malfunctioned and overheated. When I came back the tank was in a white haze and 96 degrees. All but 2 of my fish were bloated and floating in the tank and the house smelled so bad. That was the last time I used that heater.

 

[Pat Kelly]

Okay, thats 12 so I owe another one

A few years back I took a bunch of Albino Eureka reds to the OCA. Sold them all at $10.00 each. Got yelled at because I was selling too cheap. (by other sellers)

Came home all excited because I paid for the trip to the convention.

The next weekend I move 100 1inch AER's to a 40 long tank to give them a little more room. I drained the tank, cleaned it some, filled it and put the fish in. Went about changing the water in some other tanks. Looked back about 30 minutes later and 100 dead AER's.
Forgot to treat the water.

Hmm, $10.00 times 100 fish ========= oh crap.


Okay thats my second, I owe another in another
8 posts.

 

[mscichlid]

Letting Mike Hill join this club. Hahahahaha. I thought it was funny anyway...'cos Mike is the A-OK!

My biggest kick-myself-in the-a$$ moment was when I put a juvenile dwarf pike in with my huge three year old cardinal tetras. Needless to say I have only three of those cardinals left.

Oh... one stupid stunt at a time or spill ones guts?

Where oh where are my smilies?

 

[Pat Kelly]

One at a time makes for more posts. lol


And Andrew. I agree.

 

[RIFT_LAKES_RULE]

I guess my worst mistake was not researching before I bought. When I started out, I assumed that the people at the pet stores know what they are doing and for the most part they're pretty decent but i ran into one that had no clue. I started out with an albino oscar and after a couple weeks I decided he needed a couple tankmates. I asked what would be a good match for my 2.5" oscar and was led to the "Mixed African Cichlids" tank and was told that he kept those with his oscar and they loved bloodworms... so I came home with a male greshakei and a male kennyi and a pack of blood worms. After they nipped the oscars fins, uprooted all of my fake plants, piled up all the gravel in the corners and the greshakei killed the kennyi I got online to find out that EVERYTHING I was doing was all wrong. If it hadn't been for that terrible advise tho, I wouldn't have gotten so deeply involved in the hobby, so in hindsight it was a blessing.

 

[Fishfreak69]

Another big mistake I made was telling my wife my last tank was it 25 tanks ago

 

[RIFT_LAKES_RULE]

Not sure that this will count, but my wife definitely made a mistake telling me I can have all the tanks I want as long as they're in the basement!!! She's gonna regret that one...