I have learned the hard way.....

[barbiespoodle]

I'll start.

I have learned the hard way that it is not good to not give yourself enough clearance between any tank bigger than a 5 gallon, between the tank and the wall behind it to at least get your arm behind it.

At some time you will find it necessary to do something behind that tank as I recently learned with my 55 gallon.

 

[Aquariumlover1357]

Oof. I have learned the hard way that my betta doesn't like it when I fast him a day a week. The next day, fins were torn... Now I just feed him less.

 

[SnookusFish]

I learned the hard way that u shouldnt put a plant covered in bba Into you newly set up aquarium

 

[ValkyrieLips]

I learned the hard way that I can't keep floaters alive because of the condensation under my hood.

 

[JettsPapa]

Very early in my fish keeping I learned the hard way not to put a whole cube of freeze dried brine shrimp in a tank. I thought that thing would never quit expanding and throwing off shrimp.

 

[faywayway]

I've learned the hard way that you really should use some sort of method to sterilize and clean new plants before you place them in an aquarium. I've dealt with pest snails and I'm currently dealing with hydra and it's not fun...

I'm also learning that when you have super fast and tiny fish like endler's livebearers in a very heavily planted tank, it's pretty much impossible to get them out and in quarantine if they're sick

 

[Betta'sAnonymous]

I learned the hard way that not only will bettas jump out of a tank, plecos can, too.

 

[Hugooo]

I learned the hard way that buying cheap stuff for your tank is often gonna do more harm than good.

I also learned the hard way that changing your filter cartridge every month does not make you a professional fishkeeper

I also learned the hard way that you cannot have two goldfish, four mollies, and a pleco in a 10 gallon tank, especially while doing the above statements.

 

[erinw347]

I have learned the hard way that if you don’t add enough sand into your tank, your BN will single handedly uproot every plant in your tank within an hour

 

[erinw347]

I learned the hard way that not only will bettas jump out of a tank, plecos can, too.

Okay I really need the story behind this

 

[Betta'sAnonymous]

Okay I really need the story behind this

Well, the crowntail was pretty simple. Fed him, went to bed later, was gone when i went to feed next morning, he was dried and stuck to a brick window sill.

The pleco, this was probably 15 years ago, came home from work one morning, looked all around the tank for him, nothing. Later in the day, i was doing some cleaning, he was laying on the carpet, dry and stiff as a board, also with a spine stuck in the carpet.

EDIT: Both fish jumped through that small gap between the edges of the HOB and the lid.

 

[erinw347]

Well, the crowntail was pretty simple. Fed him, went to bed later, was gone when i went to feed next morning, he was dried and stuck to a brick window sill.

The pleco, this was probably 15 years ago, came home from work one morning, looked all around the tank for him, nothing. Later in the day, i was doing some cleaning, he was laying on the carpet, dry and stiff as a board, also with a spine stuck in the carpet.

EDIT: Both fish jumped through that small gap between the edges of the HOB and the lid.

Wowzers, Im sorry.

 

[Betta'sAnonymous]

Wowzers, Im sorry.

The betta wasn't such a shock. He was pretty energetic and aggressive overall, anyway. Wouldn't doubt he got spooked by a cat. The pleco....well, i was too new to have a clue.

 

[Leeman75]

I learned the hard way that it is not wise to invest in Amano Shrimp for a tank with Rams and Acaras.

 

[barbiespoodle]

I learned the hard way that when you are trying to convert from all plastic plants to all live plants in a tank that has silver dollars, it's best to first plant the plants in small pots. That way if the silver dollars, aka, the plant assassins, decide the plant is breakfast, you can easily remove what is left of the plant and put it another tank.

This is why 3 of my tanks are heavily planted and the silver dollar tank is lightly planted

 

[opalEssence]

I learned the hard way that you should secure your sponges in your filter before they float up and block off your outtake and then the filter drenches your homework that was sitting right under it because it overflowed :/

Edit: The shrimp were fine, the filter survived after running dry for multiple hours, just my homework was destroyed aha

 

[erinw347]

I learned the hard way that you should secure your sponges in your filter before they float up and block off your outtake and then the filter drenches your homework that was sitting right under it because it overflowed :/

Edit: The shrimp were fine, the filter survived after running dry for multiple hours, just my homework was destroyed aha

Teacher, my filter ate my homework!

 

[Edye]

I learned the hard way running your lawn hose through the house to the tank really wasn’t the best idea to save time in the long run when doing a water change.

 

[Bluebellie]

I'll start.

I have learned the hard way that it is not good to not give yourself enough clearance between any tank bigger than a 5 gallon, between the tank and the wall behind it to at least get your arm behind it.

At some time you will find it necessary to do something behind that tank as I recently learned with my 55 gallon.

This is me , but with smaller tanks. I have them placed on a closet wall shelf, but the filters and look cables fall behind the aquariums. There’s no way to get to the cords if not by bending my arms in all weird angles and getting some bruises. Cleaning filter, oof I don’t even want to talk about that. The struggle I have to go through to get to them each time is unimaginable. I really like my set up but I wish there was a sideway or back door I can access all that easier.

 

[erinw347]

This is me , but with smaller tanks. I have them placed on a closet wall shelf, but the filters and look cables fall behind the aquariums. There’s no way to get to the cords if not by bending my arms in all weird angles and getting some bruises. Cleaning filter, oof I don’t even want to talk about that. The struggle I have to go through to get to them each time is unimaginable. I really like my set up but I wish there was a sideway or back door I can access all that easier.

Oh boy. We’re not gonna talk about the time I completely filled up my 45g just to find the HOB didn’t fit between it and the wall and i had to completely empty it again just to move it a few inches forward.

 

[Betta'sAnonymous]

This is me , but with smaller tanks. I have them placed on a closet wall shelf, but the filters and look cables fall behind the aquariums. There’s no way to get to the cords if not by bending my arms in all weird angles and getting some bruises. Cleaning filter, oof I don’t even want to talk about that. The struggle I have to go through to get to them each time is unimaginable. I really like my set up but I wish there was a sideway or back door I can access all that easier.

If i didn't learn all this the hard way, i wouldn't have set up my betta rack the way i did.

I learned the hard way to ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO UNPLUG THE HEATER before removing water from the tank. I don't much like hearing a smoke alarm while doing a water change!

 

[barbiespoodle]

I learned the hard way that you should secure your sponges in your filter before they float up and block off your outtake and then the filter drenches your homework that was sitting right under it because it overflowed :/

Edit: The shrimp were fine, the filter survived after running dry for multiple hours, just my homework was destroyed aha

Sure beats the good old "the dog ate my homework, something that actually happened to me, but the teacher didn't buy it, lol. I did recently use the excuse that I have to leave work early because a shipment of shrimp arrived and my husband didn't know what to do with them, that one did work

 

[Megabeth]

I learned the hard way that i have to keep my cats away and out of the room my fish tanks are in. One of my cats TWICE in the middle of the night jumped on my lid, broke it, fell in and got water EVERYWHERE. Please keep in mind both times this happened at about 3 am and drying off a cat at 3 in the morning isn't fun!

 

[mattgirl]

It's not actually happened to me but has been known to happen. We learn the hard way not to keep our QT up and running if we have no fish needing to be quarantined. A QT will soon turn into a display tank if we keep it up and running. Then we have to get another tank when we need a QT.

 

[erinw347]

I’ve learned the hard way that you cannot go to the fish store just to “browse.” No, you can’t. Dont do it. I SAID DONT!!
I’ve also learned the hard way that Angelfish will absolutely annihilate corydoras eggs as soon as they’re laid :/

 

[Pfrozen]

I learned the hard way that peroxide at 5x the dose that's "supposed" to kill snail eggs won't actually kill snail eggs. currently watching baby snails scoot around my brand new setup. I spent so much time disinfecting everything

 

[erinw347]

I learned the hard way that peroxide at 5x the dose that's "supposed" to kill snail eggs won't actually kill snail eggs. currently watching baby snails scoot around my brand new setup. I spent so much time disinfecting everything

Peroxide is light sensitive. Perhaps the room was too bright and it didn’t have enough time to work?

 

[Pfrozen]

Peroxide is light sensitive. Perhaps the room was too bright and it didn’t have enough time to work?

I don't even know anymore soaking bba in pure excel and then overdosing the tank 20x afterwards doesn't do anything so I'm pretty sure that everything in my tank is just ultra healthy to point where its indestructible, snails included

 

[V1K]

I have learned the hard way that it is not good to not give yourself enough clearance between any tank bigger than a 5 gallon, between the tank and the wall behind it to at least get your arm behind it.

Not sure what would I need to do there? I was forced to pull my tank away from the wall because otherwise the lid woun't open, and I was highly displeased about that, even considered getting a different lid, because the tank being away from a wall looks weird and also complicates cleanup.

I learned the hard way that u shouldnt put a plant covered in bba Into you newly set up aquarium

Dodged that bullet. Went to buy some Java fern, the guy had two tanks, in one tank the fern had either melt of some deficiency, in other one it looked greener but was completely outlined with bba. I chose the melted one, despite the guy recommending the one with algae ("just pick it off and it'll be fine"). It took a while, but now the fern is getting nice new leaves.