What would you tell your past newbie-at-fishkeeping-self if you had the chance?

[BettaFishGirl]

If you could tell your past beginner-fishkeeper self ONE thing, what would it be???

Mine would be to not put my first Betta fish in a 1 gallon tank

 

[Morganna]

Get some plants is what I'd say.

 

[Sussy]

“use sand instead of gravel”

 

[davros]

No- they won't fit!

 

[Back in the fold]

Learn more about your Piranhas and find out how to take care of them . I really liked them . You don’t see them around much anymore . Nothing really sinister about them . Just a big tetra .

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

Don’t us ick tabs in a loach tank.

 

[GaryE]

Read more.

 

[Alice B]

that fish tanks cause humidity and when the big AC goes down it is time to give the fish away. working on it.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

To lisen to the experts... Don't be stubborn... Yes

 

[Colin_T]

I would tell myself about the filter cycle and to buy in as many wild caught fish as possible and avoid crap from Asian fish farms. Then collect a heap of rainbowfish from Australia and New Guinea and breed them. I would also tell myself to collect orange bellied parrots and swift parrots because they are about to become extinct.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

Tap Water Chlorine Remover exists

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

Learn more about your Piranhas and find out how to take care of them . I really liked them . You don’t see them around much anymore . Nothing really sinister about them . Just a big tetra .

I have seen a diamond piranha ta my lfs it was a few years ago.

 

[Fishies4Ever]

That keeping live plants alive isn’t that hard

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Look to the science (Google Scholar) instead of forums and social media for accurate information. It took me a few years to discover this.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Oh, my goodness, where to begin. The big one would probably be, "Don't start keeping fish until the internet is invented."

But seriously...When I was a kid, the available books pretty much said, "Plants are pretty, and they aren't supposed to just melt away and die like they do in your tank [but we aren't going to tell you how to prevent that]. Undergravel filters are pretty nifty, as are air stones. In fact, aeration and temperature are the only water parameters. OK, enough about all that silly stuff. Look, we have pictures of pretty fish!"

If someone had told me the following seven fun facts, it would have revolutionized my fish keeping and possibly my life. In approximate order of life-changingness:

1. The bacteria in the gravel are what keep the water clean. Scrubbing it clean and laying it out in the sun to dry when you clean the tank feels very satisfying, but it's counterproductive.
2. Water changes are a thing. Just replacing evaporated water isn't enough.
3. Aquatic plants need more light than what's coming in from the room.
4. Yes, ich treatment makes the water pretty, but adding it as a precaution after a water change is a bad idea.
5. #5 is doubly true when you have snails in the tank.
6. Small tanks mean small fish. Goldfish are too big and active to live in a 20 gallon tank. So are most native Wyoming fish. In fact, most fish need a LOT more space than you think.
7. Don't keep a channel catfish with anything that could possibly fit in its mouth.
8. It's amazing, the things that will fit in a channel catfish's mouth.