Mistakes I made as a Newbie

Oh yes......

 

Lmao I dont think there was a mistake I didnt make! Only a year into it, and I know I have much to learn still. Luckily im not into massive complicated tanks, species, or plants. I think I killed about 10 fish in the first two months, what a mess it was! The last 3 fish have survived a year so far I dont seem to have a cycling mess anymore, my loach is still retarded, my fault im sure. And I still cant seem to get the damn amonia down! I did however, decide on the bestest ich treatment ever! Dont listen to "them" dont use ich meds that dont do jack. I used so many different ich treatments and watched my fish die! When my black moore got ich,, I put him in my hospital/hospice tank n told him sorry dude, but youre gonna die. I noticed that everytime a added water, ( evaporates quickly in 1gal.) He would perk up n look much better. I was using start right at the repair doseage. I dont give a crap what the bottle or anybody else says, START RIGHT CURES ICH!!
It shows instant results! Ive done it many times now, its amazing.

 

I used a floating hydrometer,didnt know the printing inside was just a piece of paper slid into the tube,it killed almost everything in my tank before I took a water sample to the lfs and found out I was trying to keep fish in the great salt lake.

 

This is a great thread! I couldn't stop laughing reading the stuff you all wrote but unfortunately I made most of the same mistakes along the way so that's why I laugh.

I started 1st SW tank 20+ years ago before there was google or 3reef so I went by everything my favorite LFS would tell me. If they suggested I needed something or do something I was sold because I knew I needed it (maybe true?) and they wouldn't give me all the advice just to sell the stuff? Right? WRONG!!

I went with their advice buying certain fishes, corals, lights, pumps, etc... I was clueless to it all and killed everything or they killed each other. A couple of years go by I finally got a computer and that opened a whole new world and did research. I wished back then there was forums like 3reef to get advice but not everything on the internet you read is always true? After 10 years with the tank I broke it down and until this date its in the corner in the garage empty.

I used tap water for years and couldn't understand why so much algae.
I use to do water changes every 4-6 weeks
I would make my own batch of salt water with tap water and before salt settled it was in tank
I loaded a 60 gallon tank with tons of fish
I bought fish and couldn't understand why they would kill each other
I never checked hoses or connections just to find a mess when you are not around

Last year I decided to start up the hobby again with a smaller tank but now things are different. There is more information now and the hobby is so much more advanced then it is now PLUS you have 3reef and the great people here.

These are the things I do now compared to past:
* Don't rush things
* Do research before you buy
* If not sure ask the elders here at 3reef
* Don't buy things because its cheaper.(In long run your gonna end up spending more or end up buying both eventually)
* Check before you buy what fish isn't going to kill the other fishes or eat corals
* Check your hoses, connections and cables often
* MOST IMPORTANT take it SLOW!

I'm so glad I found this site. I see my tank blossom since I joined the site compared to the year before

 

I'm happy you found the site too! I'm really happy I found it too

 

Great read! Thanks for sharing all or your newbie mistakes so I don't have to make the same ones.

My first reef tank is still cycling. My only mistake so far was to move my brine shrimp colony into the tank after a week or so of running the tank with the live reef substrate. I ended up having to turn off the HOB filter because it was pulling them all in, and they all died anyway. Not a tragedy but definitely an annoyance! One of my bumblebee gobies won't eat that isn't live or frozen. He will eat frozen blood worms, but not frozen brine shrimp. Those have to be live. So losing my colony is a setback, but I can/will start them up again.

 

Almost 6 years in this hobby and I keep hearing about something called patience. Apparently this patience stuff is good for aquariums. Beats me....

 

You can do it! I recently bought a breeder box to try out the whole brine shrimp cultivation scenario. Good luck, man!

 

Thanks all for this thread. I have not got through the whole thing yet but it would be stupid to not learn from others mistakes.

 

Why are you using/greeding brine shrimp?

NOt much mutrition, good for fresh water fish sometimes.

I never even fed my fish, or thought about using brine shrimp.