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worst mistakes

UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
we have all done it at one time or another. you are changing water and spill it, over fill the tank, kill your fish, etc, etc. ive made some that made me just smh :angry3: at myself. you always realize how dumb it was after you do it :pound:. my worst experience was when i first started out a few years back. i walk into petco and ask about tetras dechlorinator. trusting the salesperson i got the bottle she said i went home to do a water change. 2hours later all my fish started to die and i couldnt figure out why. then i read the bottle more closely and it didnt get rid of chlorine. i felt sooooooooooooooo bad that my stupidity killed these pretty fish. i learned real quick not to trust salesman but to read for myself. one other time i decided to do a late night water change due to time constraints. well while waiting for the 150 gallons to fill i musta dozed off. when i awoke i heard all this water hitting the floor that scared me :pound:i almost killed myself slipping that night. :D i was also making **** sure i cleaned up my mess b4 the lil wife knew what happened. thank god for tiled floors and towels. i was very lucky. ;)
 
SubMariner

SubMariner

Master Jedi & Past VP
It was when I walked into Scales when it officially opened and saw all the incredible Malawi Peacocks that Andrew,James and Bob Polato had in stock.

From that day forth, I fell in love with the Aulonocara species and practically bought the whole entire store. I was addicted...an official Fishaholic indeed. Now look at me, 32 tanks later and BOD to a very reputable Cichlid Club. And tons of friends just like me. Wow! No regrets.:D


RM
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
How about accidentally kicking out the airline to a tank...and finding a fish that won 1st place at the ACA dead the next AM? Good times!

Or accidentally pouring a tankful of baby (extinct in the wild) goodeids into the soil of a big potted plant (vs. a fish bag)?

Or having half of a pair of Pateroplus nourisatti (Lamena - super rare and expensive Madagascar cichlid) jump out of a crack in a tank?

I'm suprised that I never got bitten by my 2' African Lungfish!

The hits keep on comin' for me :)

All of my tanks are in a place where it doesn't matter if I spill a little water...as I frequently spill water (sadly, without dozing off).

I try to stick to the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle to keep myself out of trouble!
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
My Black Tang (SW fish) had ick and I was going to treat the fish/tank with Malachite Green. I had read in a few different articles and found out it was better to apply medication when the lights are off. So 11pm on a Sunday night the lights go off and I begin to apply the medication drops.
Something was wrong with the bottle, I was squeezing as hard as I could and hardly anything was coming out. I used a safety pin to make the whole a little bigger and tried again. I squeeze the bottle and drops started to come out very slowly. I moved my head closer so I could see the drops and then…POP!:eek:
The bottle top exploded open and the medication goes flying into my eyes and tank. I dropped the bottle in the tank and ran for the bathroom sink trying to wash the medicine out of my eyes wishing the burning sensation will stop. (FYI Malachite Green is dark blue so when you add it to your tank your tank turns blue for a while.) Well after 10-15 min after washing my eyes, I looked into the bathroom mirror and notice my eyes were AUQA BLUE:eek: and still burning. A small voice in my head said "HOLLY S*** I'm in trouble":wacko:. I was rushed to the hospital; 10 hours latter I was discharged and I had to go strait to an ophthalmologist.
I finally got home and all you could smell was an ocean/dead fish order. I look at my tank and everything and I mean everything was dead. I had this beautiful reef tank for 7 years with "NO" problems. I had to put at least 6-7 grand in that tank (over the years) and it was all gone with one tragic mistake. The Black Tang (the fish I tried to save from ick) coast me $375 alone.
To add salt to injury earlier that Sunday morning while shopping for the Malachite Green medication I had spent another $300 on some more coral, and I was given Malachite Green PLUS which is not safe for inverts (reef aquariums). Just goes to show you how important a quarantine tank is:blush:.

 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Dude - that's HORRIBLE. I hope you're OK!

Like Krystal Gayle sang "Don't turn your brown eyes blue..." (with malachite green).

I think the moral of the story is that keeping saltwater is bad and keeping cichlids is good! ;)
 
UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
Jumbie said:
My Black Tang (SW fish) had ick and I was going to treat the fish/tank with Malachite Green. I had read in a few different articles and found out it was better to apply medication when the lights are off. So 11pm on a Sunday night the lights go off and I begin to apply the medication drops.
Something was wrong with the bottle, I was squeezing as hard as I could and hardly anything was coming out. I used a safety pin to make the whole a little bigger and tried again. I squeeze the bottle and drops started to come out very slowly. I moved my head closer so I could see the drops and then…POP!:eek:
The bottle top exploded open and the medication goes flying into my eyes and tank. I dropped the bottle in the tank and ran for the bathroom sink trying to wash the medicine out of my eyes wishing the burning sensation will stop. (FYI Malachite Green is dark blue so when you add it to your tank your tank turns blue for a while.) Well after 10-15 min after washing my eyes, I looked into the bathroom mirror and notice my eyes were AUQA BLUE:eek: and still burning. A small voice in my head said "HOLLY S*** I'm in trouble":wacko:. I was rushed to the hospital; 10 hours latter I was discharged and I had to go strait to an ophthalmologist.
I finally got home and all you could smell was an ocean/dead fish order. I look at my tank and everything and I mean everything was dead. I had this beautiful reef tank for 7 years with "NO" problems. I had to put at least 6-7 grand in that tank (over the years) and it was all gone with one tragic mistake. The Black Tang (the fish I tried to save from ick) coast me $375 alone.
To add salt to injury earlier that Sunday morning while shopping for the Malachite Green medication I had spent another $300 on some more coral, and I was given Malachite Green PLUS which is not safe for inverts (reef aquariums). Just goes to show you how important a quarantine tank is:blush:.
Click to expand...
:eek:omg:eek:
 
J

jb1edlover

Members
My stupidest fish tragedy was probably my first water change... Unplugged filter to stop noise. Used python to take out about 1/2 the water and the muck off the bottom. Everything is going well, Added a 1/2 a cap full of Prime and then filled the tank up.... about 5 minutes into the filling stage I hear a very loud "POP".... Did you know it was a good idea to unplug the heater when doing a water change? IT IS!!!!! Since I forgot it turned into a total water change and gravel change because glass shattered everywhere...
I've also feed my colony of Wild Caught Frontosas and forgot to close the lid properly and woke up in the morning to find 2 dried crispy frontosas on the floor, those are very expensive mistakes...
JB
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
I cringed when I read about the dried fronts. Has happended to me as well (with both fronts...and other fish)

jb1edlover said:
My stupidest fish tragedy was probably my first water change... Unplugged filter to stop noise. Used python to take out about 1/2 the water and the muck off the bottom. Everything is going well, Added a 1/2 a cap full of Prime and then filled the tank up.... about 5 minutes into the filling stage I hear a very loud "POP".... Did you know it was a good idea to unplug the heater when doing a water change? IT IS!!!!! Since I forgot it turned into a total water change and gravel change because glass shattered everywhere...
I've also feed my colony of Wild Caught Frontosas and forgot to close the lid properly and woke up in the morning to find 2 dried crispy frontosas on the floor, those are very expensive mistakes...
JB
Click to expand...
 
Lively

Lively

Members
How about this for a stupid "newbie" mistake... I'm helping my 11 year old set up her first "real" tank (5gal acrylic bow) and I'm telling her that she needs to shift her dresser over so she can get to the plugs...she asks why and unthinkingly, I tell her to plug in the filter. Over the grinding noise I yell, unplug it! She's so flustered I end up doing it - toasted the new filter. So, I drop one of my larger whisper filters in - thinking - this is fine - we need to get the pretty fan tail guppies she got into the tank.

Well, she wakes up to 2 swimming fish - the third is stuck on the filter intake on the back. I'm thinking "Stupid walmart fish" and she says, "Your big filter killed my fish!" and I said, "No, they are walmart fish - the baby JD fry don't get sucked in - why would the guppy?" That night she comes downstairs yelling, "Your filter killed another fish!" So, I trudge upstairs... darned if she wasn't right - I didn't take into consideration the surface area of the tail - they were swimming behind the filter and the tails were pulled against the intake grate - all that surface area and they couldn't break free. Luckily she noticed in time to save the second one - I promptly changed to a different filter and stuck a sponge over it just to be on the safe side!

And anyone who is wondering... you didn't cycle first? I was intending to put one of my extra 20g filters in the tank anyway - basically does an instant cycle. I never get an ammonia spike and normally have stable water parms within 24 hours.
 
iamzrad

iamzrad

Members
Before I got "into" fish, I had the common fish here and there.
Then, I received a 29gal as a birthday present (I think I turned 15).
I went into the LFS and picked out some fish. I don't remember exactly what I got, but it was just common fish. There were some angelfish, and gourami's and this one black striped cichlid (at that time I had no idea what it was).
Turns out this striped cichlid was a male Convict.
He destroyed all the fish in my tank when he grew and I was getting annoyed by him.

So, I went to the LFS and sold him for store credit.
Oh yeah, this Convict measured at around 8.5" or so!

Now, I knew I used to own a monster fish and found out that over at MFK, the largest posted Convict was around that size.
Ugh! I have pictures of it somewhere in my house/attic and I have yet to find them, hopefully the pictures will come up soon.
 
Lively

Lively

Members
Doesn't have to be a second hand heater! I forgot that mistake... I'll never buy a cheapie heater again! Long story short. I used to have a 30g salt biocube - I woke up one morning to salt water all over my wood floor. Transfered all to buckets and did the fastest salt tank set up on an empty 55 g we had. But, the yellow tang wasn't doing so well. Saved the yellow tang with fishy cpr - basically forcing it to swim using a powerhead and rocks to keep him in the flow. Put him in the tank as soon as the water cleared and he was a happy fishy. But, the water was too cool - the heater just wasn't big enough for the 55g. So, I bought a cheap heater with "autosetting" to augment. Woke up next morning to boiled fish - temp was over 90.
 
UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
so true lively so true! I've heard bad things about some heaters. exploding, not maintaining temps, and its a shame cuz you pay good money for your fish and equipment for it not to work properly.
 
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