The Greatest Newbie Mistakes of All Time

mombostic

mombostic

Member
I thought it might be funny and educational, and maybe even a little humbling, to relive some of our beginner boo-boos. It would be an encouraging (if slightly embarrassing) way of showing everyone that we all have to start somewhere.
I have two good ones. When I started doing water changes, I used to drain out the water, then mix the new water one gallon at a time in a pitcher I had. I had to tweak and adjust to make each gallon right. It took FOREVER.
A less funny one--I bought an orange linckia star at the pet store because the guy told me it would "eat algae." That was about a year ago. So far, he's living and growing, but still a very bad thing to do.
Any contributions?
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
It is only a matter of time for me. My tank is currently 22 hours old and after months of research and reading, I'm sure there will be many in my future.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Good luck Airforce!!
(First tank I had back in 1990)
First mistake I made: Listened to LFS...
Second: Ooooh. That CC looks really white and pretty. I can't wait to add that!
Third: Picked up a 90lb box of uncured live rock from airport and put it in the back seat of my car for 40 minutes... my car stunk for a week.
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Mine is putting in 40 lbs. of CC because thats what the LFS told me to do and sounded right because thats the way we did it 15 years ago with UG filters.
 
fallinmor

fallinmor

Member
mine was about a month ago i listened to my lfs about live rock,was supossed to be cured but NO! it wasn't so it cured in my tank and killed $250 worth of fish. to any toher newbs out there DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR LFS! u get bad results cuz they just want to sell.
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
My most tragic newbie mistake was putting 2- Mandarin Dragonets (not just 1 which would have been bad enough but 2) in a very new 55g tank. This was the first and last time I took advise from a LFS. :mad:
Funnyist... not really a mistake but when we set up our first 55g tank we decided to go to Sam's Club to get some distilled water. All they has is 1g jugs so we loaded up 60 gallon jugs and headed for the check out. The look we got from people was priceless.

Stupidest... I tried for about 6- months to keep corals under NO lighting
 
dexter

dexter

Member
#1 has to be actually listening to the advise of a LFS that doesn't specalize in saltwater, didn't ask to test my water before they sold me 2 clownfish and 2 condi's (1 month into SW prior to finding this site
), and also sells birds, turtles, lizards, etc. (i'm sure there are some good ones out there, however, this isn't one of the,)
Dxtr :happyfish
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
we had a cc and ugf in our 20gl and our 55gl, and never had a problem, untill we removed the ugf from the 55gl tank...
I put a yellow tang in a 55gl. But I thought I could. We had 20gl. I saw the fish I wanted. the lfs worker told me I needed at least 55gl. So we found a good deal at walmart and bought a 55gl tang, set it up, got a clown, then added the yellow. I thought the tang needed seaweed, when the first package ran out I said I needed more, but I was told that the tang didn't need it.
I once added saltwater as top off, but that was just me being mindless, not a newbie mistake.
When I started doing water changes, I used to drain out the water, then mix the new water one gallon at a time in a pitcher I had. I had to tweak and adjust to make each gallon right. It took FOREVER.
:notsure: I did it that way forever. It was easier than having 12 gallon jugs laying around. Now I mix each gallon, let it sit (though I have no idea why I have to let it sit), then add the water to the tank. But I have them all mixed and ready when I add them. But because of possible temp diffs I don't add all the new water at once.
Picked up a 90lb box of uncured live rock from airport and put it in the back seat of my car for 40 minutes... my car stunk for a week.
bought 10ish lbs in Miami, went on a cruise, put the lr in a closet...with the door closed, air tight, at the end of 7 days...it was killer! Then to fly home, we put the rocks with our shoes and wet clothes. The truck smelled the yuckiest!
 
tang3

tang3

Member
Well Mine was not informing maids to clean my tank (I assumed that they would know) I was wrong and found out the hard way. Now evey monday I put up a sign on my tank just in case.
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
Since I am still new I am still making mistakes but so far....
I got Damsels...... (BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER)
I didn't test for Nitrates or Phosphates
Didn't premix my water for water changes
Saw a scooter blenny at a store and got him without researching into it (however it has worked out and luckily I had enough stuff for him to eat) but I felt dumb after adding him to my tank and the reading that the don't usually eat any prepared food.)
Thats it so far, hope there aren't to many more that I make
 
dr. evil

dr. evil

Member
i bought a skilter 400 off the auction site for my 75gal. it was three weeks late the guy tried to charge me for two it was a nitemare the crappiest filter on the planet
 
bgriff

bgriff

Member
I returned to the hobby after about a 15+ year layoff hoping to have better success. Replaced the old tank I had as it had sprung a leak, replaced my old HOB filter figuring technology had to have improved, bought 4 or 5 large bags of CC, powerheads, air lines, etc.. It took all weekend to set things up the old school way with UGF powered by PH, my old plastic decos, and I was all set. Waited a few weeks as I knew I had to wait and after a few weeks, got my first fish. (kids pushed here a little too.) Then, it dawned on me.. I should use my other hobby and do more research as things must have changed. (computers/internet!!) Well, soon came SWF.COM, I think a week later, I was pulling the UGF, replacing the CC with LS, ordered LR, bought a Skimmer, etc.. etc.. etc..
 
marsilly

marsilly

Member
I also did the cured LR trick Ha! She is so lucky that I did not loose my tang or I would have had my name in the paper.
 
mr.p

mr.p

Member
Listened to the back of the salt container and reading how much it told me to add into the tank. Tested my salt level a couples week later another newbie mistake (lol) and it was the highest level on the meter lol. No wonder ich thrived so well in my tank, I think I even heard them snickering "this is the life" I'm still a newbie and I know i'll make more mistakes in the future just hopefully not real bad ones.
 
O

oreo12

Guest
Ok 20 yeras ago I bought my first coral it was a hard coral I had one 24 inch long regular kitchen light over the tank. It looked cool in the pet shop and i don't think anyone knew beter back then. My crushed coral is 11 years old my nitrates are 0 so what is the real problem with cc not properly maintaing the tank?
 
mombostic

mombostic

Member
Is it just me, or did hearing from Reef Nut make everyone feel just a little better?
It's probably best not to get into the cc versus sand thing on this particular thread. It would take over, trust me.
 
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