Worst mistake

[chauwall]

What is the worst mistake that you did to your tank? This thread is meant as a learning tool for others.

Mine is attempting multiple anthias without a quarantine tank.

(1) All of the feeding polluted my tank which in turn caused massive red slime and nitrate issues. When I curbed my feedings, I ended up losing all of the anthias except 1

(2) All anthias should have all been dipped for internal parasites which ended up killing many of my established fish. It seems like they have more bugs than any other fish.

Live and learn.

 

[thanh386]

1. Not having a cover... bugs are everywhere on the surface of my tank!
2. Putting in fish too soon after starting tank.
3. Starting a marine tank ... It's like crack... once you're hooked... you spend all you're money on it.

 

[seedless reefer]

Getting into this money sucking pig of a hobby!

 

[ryanh487]

should have gotten a bigger tank lol

 

[ga-peaches72]

Buying a house not big enough for 4-5 220 gallon tanks.

 

[bobz]

Ahhh, so many to choose from! One of the bigger mistakes was not putting a clamp on the hose connected to one of the overflows on my 210. I *thought* that the barbed connection was on tight enough and it was fine for a couple of months. Did some work in the sump and must have accidentally loosened the hose because it came off and spilled about 20 gallons of water on the floor before I saw it. Bummer! I learned to either a) use clamps on all brabed connections or b) better yet use slip and GLUE everything!

 

[skriz]

Not getting a bigger tank.

Actually, wider. I love wide open spaces in tanks, and with a wider tank, I could have done such cool aquascaping. Oh well, maybe next time.

 

[derek_s]

bobz;291874 wrote: Ahhh, so many to choose from! One of the bigger mistakes was not putting a clamp on the hose connected to one of the overflows on my 210. I *thought* that the barbed connection was on tight enough and it was fine for a couple of months. Did some work in the sump and must have accidentally loosened the hose because it came off and spilled about 20 gallons of water on the floor before I saw it. Bummer! I learned to either a) use clamps on all brabed connections or b) better yet use slip and GLUE everything!

Bob, after reading your threadon that I actually went out and bought some stainless hose clamps for my tank. I'm glad you shared it, despite the mishap.

 

[derek_s]

Skriz;291875 wrote: Not getting a bigger tank.

Actually, wider. I love wide open spaces in tanks, and with a wider tank, I could have done such cool aquascaping. Oh well, maybe next time.

Aww poor baby, pitiful with your big puppy dog eyes and 32" wide 700 gallon tank. :doh:

 

[dave green]

adding wa-a-ay too many fish to a tank. i disrupted an entire ecosystem and only three survivors...

ouch

 

[crew]

I would def. say starting with too small of a tank, although I don't regret it too bad because I will be graduating soon and then moving im sure.. so Im glad I have a "small" tank (70 gal system)

tank of my dreams - 60x36x27

 

[ralph atl]

listening to my lfs for advice. (didn't hit the forums until 2 months after)

1. I used fish for cycle after a couple weeks (clowns, well they are damsels)
2. ICH (those spots are fine)
3. use purple up for alk/calcium
4. oh yeah, you have to adjust the skimmer air nozzle to get it working (after 2 months)
5. Your algae will go away on it's own (a year later it was greener than my lawn
6. small wet/dry sump with crappy skimmer, & I had no clue what the laws of syphoning were, so it seems at least once a week for like 2 months 5 gallons of water were on floor.

 

[chauwall]

GA-PEACHES72;291860 wrote: Buying a house not big enough for 4-5 220 gallon tanks.

(4-5) 220gal tanks :lol2:

Skriz;291875 wrote: Not getting a bigger tank.

Actually, wider. I love wide open spaces in tanks, and with a wider tank, I could have done such cool aquascaping. Oh well, maybe next time.

Ditto....poor baby. I need to come by when the lights are on to sympathize.

Derek_S;291877 wrote: Bob, after reading your threadon that I actually went out and bought some stainless hose clamps for my tank. I'm glad you shared it, despite the mishap.

That sounds like a good idea with the stainless hose clamps.

 

[budsreef]

Stainless clamps will still pit and rust over time. Use the black plastic ratcheting type.

 

[fish scales2]

Forgot to remove the plastic film from Lumenarc pendant and turned on the MH :doh: It took me 3 hours to remove the melted and baked on plastic film.

 

[budsreef]

My biggest is putting the 120G on an unfinished stand thinking I would be able to finish it later. Yea, like that's going to happen now.

 

[seedless reefer]

Budsreef;291977 wrote: My biggest is putting the 120G on an unfinished stand thinking I would be able to finish it later. Yea, like that's going to happen now.

I was actually looking at that when we were there.

It wouldn't take more than an afternoon to skin that thing.

I'd be more than happy to help. I bet your wife would love you forever!

I've got a 4 x 8 sheet of sanded one side in the garage taking up space that I could donate.

 

[jesspete]

Put a gorgeous nem in a three month old nano, even though I knew better. Went away for the weekend a few weeks later. Came home to a dead tank with sandsifters crawling out of sand and bristle worms crawling out of the rocks trying to escape. Fried the prettiest nem I ever had and some of my fave fish. Felt REALLY bad about that one. Poor fish had a bad tank mommy. Now, just home to a gorgeous orange spotted goby and his very busy tiger pistol.

 

[FutureInterest]

Biggest mistake? Hard to say... they're all pretty big .

I guess the one I suffered the most for though was having too small a sump for my display. With each power outage or pump failure I'd have 12 gallons of water to clean up! Now i have a 135 gallon sump to rectify that problem... talk about overkill.

 

[budsreef]

Ha, you're right she would like that. I told her we would probably have people coming to look at my set up next month so she went out yesterday and got velcro and black material to make a skirt for it. One of these days I'll go get a sheet of oak plywood to make the skins from.

Seedless Reefer;291998 wrote: I was actually looking at that when we were there.

It wouldn't take more than an afternoon to skin that thing.

I'd be more than happy to help. I bet your wife would love you forever!

I've got a 4 x 8 sheet of sanded one side in the garage taking up space that I could donate.