If you started over what would you never do?

7162 Views 71 Replies 54 Participants Last post by OVT, Dec 20, 2012

lotus02

Discussion Starter · Jul 10, 2012

I made tons of bad decision with my first tank , bad purchases and choices of substrate , plants ,fish and equipment a lot of money wasted. Since I'm starting fresh with my tank I want to try and avoid any and all mistakes.

So as the title says if you started over fresh what would you never do again?
What would stay the same?

1 - 20 of 72 Posts

zoony

· #2 · Jul 10, 2012

I bought waaaay too much light. Good news is if I ever go to marine I'm set.

I also wasted some money on a sicce life.

HD Blazingwolf

· #3 · Jul 10, 2012

i would not ever buy any other filtration other than a wet/dry filter

DerekFF

· #4 · Jul 10, 2012

Yeah to much light, not using timers, not having fans on shrimp tanks in the summer, putting endlers with my shrimp, putting marble crays with my shrimp, overdosing H2O2, letting algae grow because i thought it looked good (at the time it looked like a marimo carpet, soon whole tank was a marimo ball) theres a few others im sure im forgetting but thats all i can think of

P.S. gassing tanks with CO2

P.P.S. buying plants from people who have never shipped before and assuming it would make it here safe......

P.P.P.S. Doing a water change with half an inch of stagnant water left in my storage barrel (what could it hurt right!?) Nuked my 20 adult phillipine blue/pinoy angels

P.P.P.P.S Visiting Tom Barr and seeing all his manz wood makes me want to flood his yard and make it the most epic aquarium in the history of aquariums

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tomfromstlouis

· #5 · Jul 10, 2012

What's wrong with endlers + shrimp?

DerekFF

· #6 · Jul 10, 2012

tomfromstlouis said:
What's wrong with endlers + shrimp?

Nothings wrong with it, but they will 100% for sure pick a decent amount of fresh born shrimplets off. They were just a select breeding of the cherries i had going....so no major loss really but a lot of time spent to just be eaten by jerk endlers lol

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HD Blazingwolf

· #7 · Jul 10, 2012

tomfromstlouis said:
What's wrong with endlers + shrimp?

shrimp become scooby snacks

BigCountry

· #8 · Jul 10, 2012

I would not have bought Rainbowfish. Not that there is anything wrong with them, but I am really getting into Angels. Now I have 8 Rainbows I need to find room for.

Oh, and I would probably have gotten all of my plants through this forum instead of ordering a random large package online.

lotus02

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 10, 2012

BigCountry said:
Oh, and I would probably have gotten all of my plants through this forum instead of ordering a random large package online.

Yep did that one ,and buying plants from pet store.

causemisahastheeyes

· #10 · Jul 10, 2012

I would have bought Saul's zebra plecos when he had an Xmas special years ago, 10 for 1000 bucks. Instead I waited, thinking I'd have more money saved next year. The price never went back to that.

150EH

· #11 · Jul 10, 2012

I tend to buy quality gear because I don't like spending the money twice but I really got cheap on my substrate in my first tank and used Flourite which is OK but Amazoinia is way better and you get good growth with every plant and you can avoid the pitfalls of killing plants that won't a rich substrate.

Also I have all kinds of useless gear I bought like a Vortex filter to polish the water, etc. Also I waited years before joining my local plant club and it's the best way to meet people, get nice plants, and have fun.

Calmia22

· #12 · Jul 10, 2012

I am still relatively new to planted aquariums, but boy have I learned a lot like:

Never ever go with paintball co2. EVER....

Although cheap is good, go more expensive and get the product of a reputable brand.

Don't get plants even if you get an incredibly good deal until you have all your equipment otherwise it will end up looking like a BBA farm.

Just because you get a free 55 gallon does not mean you should use it, wait to get the tank you really want.

Amazonia sucks. It came in my 75 gallon, and my tank has never been fully clear.

And this is a personal gripe but...
Never let a family member take advantage of what you do have. Otherwise they will steal your eco complete the second you have it out of one tank as well as all of your really good looking plants then let them die off because the plants require more then sub-par lighting, and that family member wont do the research on it first. (Like I said personal gripe)

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FISTER_

· #13 · Jul 10, 2012

My mistake was using African cichlid sand. I had a bag left over from a previous tank and I figured if I rinse it out really good I would be able to use it. Major fail.

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chew

· #14 · Jul 10, 2012

DerekFF said:
P.P.P.P.S Visiting Tom Barr and seeing all his manz wood makes me want to flood his yard and make it the most epic aquarium in the history of aquariums

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

My mistake was bringing more money than the piece of wood that I wanted cost and then getting home realizing how much I bought

pejerrey

· #15 · Jul 10, 2012

I would never trust the snobby nerds at my LFS for advice.

fusiongt

· #16 · Jul 10, 2012

BigCountry said:
I would not have bought Rainbowfish. Not that there is anything wrong with them, but I am really getting into Angels. Now I have 8 Rainbows I need to find room for.

Oh, and I would probably have gotten all of my plants through this forum instead of ordering a random large package online.

If you can catch, I'm sure your LFS will take them.

steven p

· #17 · Jul 10, 2012

Common plecos, goldfish, lighting(lack,) buying lots of ten gallon kits because theyre cheap. I have never owned a heater that worked as advertised.

chicken

· #18 · Jul 10, 2012

I wouldn't wait so long to join Planted Tank and my local club.

I wouldn't buy plants at the LFS without researching them first (mondo grass, anyone?)

RyUGuy

· #19 · Jul 10, 2012

Buying 250lbs of gravel to fill my 125g for a planted tank.... Yes its still in there waiting till I move again to switch to something better.

Chaoslord

· #20 · Jul 10, 2012

Researched more on lights before buying. Wasted too much money to light the bottom of my tank. Happy with setup now.
Realized how fragile the stuff I'm cleaning is. Not only did I break my hob, I also broke my impeller shaft putting back together:frown:2 weeks ago.

1 - 20 of 72 Posts

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