Mistakes You've Made

[Stacef]

:hallo: So lets hear some stories of experiences that have taught you something in this hobby, fresh or salt. Of course-Learning from your mistakes lets hear the stupid things we all wish we would have thought of prior to the problem.

Think of it as...things you wish you knew as a newbie.

My first one, When I moved my 90g, I had air strips all along the length of the back of the tank. We went to bed after a long day. I woke up like 3-4 hours into the night. Well, we never turned the air pump on, and DIDN'T have check valves. So needless to say, we had well over 20 gallons of water on the floor, at 2 in the morning.

Moral of the story, if you use an air pump, spend 29 cents, and put a check valve on!

I can put many more, lets hear a few of yours. We won't laugh at you--too hard!

 

[Triggerjay]

uhmm.... Mistakes? Humm.... never really made any!....... LOL j/k...

I made every mistake there is to make.. I think the best one was using carbon for the first time without rinsing it.. Bad move..Heres a pic of it.. This was some time ago...:

 

[Varga]

I installed a pond pump and the next day all my sps corals were dead!!!!

 

[Triggerjay]

That was recently too, wasn't it? I remember the thread..

Jason

 

[Varga]

yup like 2 weeks ago

 

[cracker]

where to start? I keep making a "few" of the same mistakes. However there is one I won't make again. I had a mag 36 separated from the return & needed better light. Plugged in what I "thought" was the chord to the refugium light.

 

[rlcline76]

I have made mistakes, but none like y'all have. Mine were the general Noob mistakes...but unfortunately, I am dedicated just enough in the hobby to really screw something up down the line! lol

 

[Varga]

ouch

 

[msbdiving]

Didn't have a qt tank when I first started. 2nd was rushing. Wasted a lot of money that way. Hope others learn from mine. Take things slow, read up before you buy and qt.

 

[lcstorc]

Pretty much the standard newbie mistakes before finding RS.
Even afterwords I don't test as often as I should. I definitely overfeed. (Coempensated by a giant skimmer and lots of water changes.) Overstocking even when I know better. Not using proper QT methods.

 

[sasquatch]

I invent new mistakes, the most recent was rescuing a peppermint shrimp from the sock and casually throwing it back in the display, as "all food" comes from above umm poor shrimpy was headless in 0 time and everyone had a nice snack, Priscilla was like a heat seeking rocket, awesome to watch but not a happy event lol

 

[Frankie]

My mentor and teacher in keeping reefs taught me well. I made very few mistakes and no animal ever had to suffer because i listened. I was very fortunate to have learned from Gene the lfs owner in NY. Also the valuable members of RS have been my life line. I guess the biggest mistake i made is when i moved south and tried to put my faith in the lfs here.
I truly recommend all newbies to take the 101 class. good basic stuff. Saltwater Aquariums 101

 

[Kerchakone]

Bought a Toadstool from petco. Nuked my tank. Killed one fish, a bunch of cuc, a clam and all but 2 corals.

 

[slakker]

Impulse buying lifestock!!!! I never learn from this one...

 

[Stacef]

Haha the Impulse is a big one.

Seems to be the #1 problems--
No QT
Impulse Impulse Impulse
Overfeeding..the list goes on!

 

[Stacef]

Bought a Toadstool from petco. Nuked my tank. Killed one fish, a bunch of cuc, a clam and all but 2 corals.

Gosh! I'm sorry to hear that!

 

[Origami2547]

where to start? I keep making a "few" of the same mistakes. However there is one I won't make again. I had a mag 36 separated from the return & needed better light. Plugged in what I "thought" was the chord to the refugium light.

I spy with my little eye... a geyser...

 

[Witfull]

my worst mistake,,,,finding the internet~ 11 yrs later and im still posting~

 

[Kate]

My worst mistake, was forgetting to unplug the cannister filter I was trying to get the end turned around on, because it was stuck from coraline growth, and having it come apart at the top, with water shooting everywhere, including down over the electrical wires from the skimmer and lights! NOT a fun thing to do! My plugs were crackling, so I had to unplug everything, and clean and dry them all out, before plugging them back in!

 

[msbdiving]

Speaking of electrical encounters with water, hope you have a gfi outlet to your tank.