Okay... Time To Fess Up... :)

[TallTree01]

I wish I had crabs. Don't have the right equipment for them though.
Good thread.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Are we still doing the fess up thing? Yes? Okay good.
 
When I first began my aquarist career, I naturally did not do any research at all.  I had a hexagonal 1 gallon, a tetra whisper 3i, bubbler and air pump.  I bought some gravel and filled up my tank with water.  I actually used a dechlorinator!
 
Then I went to my LFS and picked up three indian glass fish.  Only three for these poor schooling fish.  And the ultimate offense, they were PAINTED pink.  My girlfriend insisted on getting them, and I, not knowing better, bought three of these poor, poor things. 
 
In an uncycled tank, with plastic plants, three painted, sick, and traumatized fish resided.  Needless to say, they all died within a week.  I am still ashamed.

 

[JenJ]

Didn't cycle my first tank - despite being advised to on here.
 
Never drip acclimate.
 
Forgot to switch off internal heater - melted plastic suction cups.
 
Forgot to switch in line heater back on after filter clean for 24 hours until I wondered why the fish were being so odd.
 
Have plants but don't use any ferts.
 
Have my lights on 9 hours a day and just have to put up with cleaning the algae off the glass all the time.
 
Frequently cycle back from lfs with new fish in my rucksack on my back
 
My worst one...
 
moved a fish from one tank to another, put net in sink to dry out. Only realised afterwards that one of my clown killifish had stowed away in the net...

 

[This Old Spouse]

I wish I had crabs. Don't have the right equipment for them though.
Good thread.

 
Careful what you wish for ... 

 
Here's a bit of good news. After frying one of my heaters, then forgetting to turn the new one back on the next time, I finally hooked up each tank's electrical plugs to their own power strips. Now I just flip the switch and everything turns off or on. Only took me a year to figure it out. 

 

[Joshwainwright]

And the ultimate offense, they were PAINTED pink. 

How does that even work? 

 

[r.w.girard]

They are tattooed.  There was a post not too long ago with an article linked from it about the process and the health risks for fish.  Can't remember where, what with the reshuffle...

 

[Joshwainwright]

Ah right, that's awful!

 

[This Old Spouse]

A horrible process. They inject the dye with a needle. 

 

[Maedhros]

When I was a kid I did the unforgivable - a goldie in a bowl we also had a cat at the time.  The poor little goldie came to a very messy end.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

They are tattooed.  There was a post not too long ago with an article linked from it about the process and the health risks for fish.  Can't remember where, what with the reshuffle...

 
 

A horrible process. They inject the dye with a needle. 

 
Correct.  I am a horrible, horrible person, even though I was ignorant to these practices at the time.  I had a hard time identifying my fish the night I bought them.  I think somewhere in my searches for "see-through fish with pink lines," I found an article about fishies that get painted "to entice beginning aquarists."  I wanted to go to that LFS (which I do not go to anymore!) and punch them in the face.  The tank at the LFS had at least 100 of them when I was purchasing them.

 

[dgwebster]

When everyone bought meat and meals containing horse did it make them a horrible person? No. Uninformed and not informed are two different things.

 

[TekFish]

When everyone bought meat and meals containing horse did it make them a horrible person? No. Uninformed and not informed are two different things.

Agreed horses do not make people horrible if they find their way into someone's digestive tract.

Tek oot.

 

[cpwebsite]

I put a school of 6 clown loaches in a non-cycled 55g tank. And I got them all from Petsmart. They had an ich outbreak and they all passed away. I loved the cute little clown loaches but didn't really know a lot about them besides they looked nice. Now, I love them, but I am saving up to get a proper sized tank for them.

 

[Joshwainwright]

When everyone bought meat and meals containing horse did it make them a horrible person? No. Uninformed and not informed are two different things.

Yeah, some people are ill informed and some are just ignorant. The first of the two can be forgiven

 

[Bruno]

Awesome thread for a beginner! For instance we are contemplating Corys and I read about the substrate errors which made me go do more research. Our gravel is rounded, but now I am going to look into sand before we go that route.
 
I am afraid I will probably have more to add to this thread as I learn but for now I will just confess to my past tank as a kid. Had a 29 G with a under gravel filter, no other filtering but did have heater and air pump with stones in the bes to flow water thru the gravel. I let it run empty for a week as I had heard that was how to condition a tank, then bought a few irridesent sharks and few bala sharks and a couple of chinese algae eaters to keep the tank clean   Of course this was all before the days of Internet and I was buying from a PetSmart type of place so not getting any helpful advice at all.
 
Added a few live plants, which may be how they survived as long as they did (lost them all in about a year), never did water changes just top ups.
 
Fast foward to now and my 8 year old son asked for a fish tank, saying he would give up all his toys if he could have one. When that wish persisted for a few months we decided to give it a go. This time I went to a specialty fish shop which I thought I could rely on for good advice. They told me how to cycle my tank with danios so we got a few of them. I was doing 30% water changes and bringing my water in to them to test. They said it was great after 2 weeks and said we could get more fish now. My son loved red tail sharks so I asked if they were appropiate for our 20G community tank, they said yes and sold us 2. A few days later one had lost all it color as it was being constantly harassed. I found this site thru a google search, realized we had been given bad advice yet again. The Red Tails went back to the shop, and we are now patiently waiting for the danios to finish cycling our tank, though I wish I read about fishless cycling. I have a test kit now and test every day, some days having to do about 75% water changes as my ammonia and Nitrites have spiked. We are also rethinking any ideas on fish but using the time to consdier every combination of fish we find.