What is your worst fish keeping experience?

I don't understand what hurt them in the gravel. Were they trying to eat it?

 

I can only guess that they were trying to hide in it. They would swim down through the tiny gaps between gravel pieces and then not be able to get back out. I could see them up against the glass from the outside of the tank. I guess from there they would starve or something. I poked the gravel loose with a BBQ skewer to give them a path back out. Until finally I had to just take it all out because they weren't really quick learners and I was finding one or two ever few hours when I was feeding them. Knock on wood I haven't lost one for a few days.

 

I started off with gold fish and I loved them all though I couldn't keep them long and I was at the pet store and of course the Saltwater fish catch your eye. So I decided to do saltwater fish and I must say I lost about 10 fish because I wasn't ready for that kind of work.

 

My worst was watching my first two fish, bettas (one male and one female) at the same time die from dropsy (the female had it really bad and I didn't know what to do about it) and Melafix poisoning. and then when I was getting back into fish from that catastrophe I had one tiny cory and 3 neons die all within one week for unknown reasons. Well I know the reason one of the neons died... when I got him home and in the tank, he had no tail fins and couldn't swim. It was terrible.

 

Ay, I tell you! Its terrible when you have to watch fish die!!
More so, because you feel you are resposible!!

Well I know the reason one of the neons died... when I got him home and in the tank, he had no tail fins and couldn't swim. It was terrible

That's horrible!! Did he come from the pet store in that condition or did he get bitten in the packet?

 

That's horrible!! Did he come from the pet store in that condition or did he get bitten in the packet?

I honestly don't know, I didn't see any in the store that looked bad but he and one of his buddies were dead by that evening

 

This was years ago but I had a 20 gal . long set-up don't even remember how many fish were in there, but my nephew and one of his buds were celebrating at our house and, apperantly were celebrating to much because, they got into this fight to make a long story short, one of them ended up with their head being smashed into the side of the aquarium! It was bad water and gravel...and fish everywhere .. at the time we only had the one tank....and did manage to get the fish into drinking glasses luckily we had some big ones.... we found them all but I never did find a betta and we had looked everywhere

 

Talk about panic! Did you buy new glasses or use those again.
LOL, I think I would have bought new ones, something about drinking out of a glass that had fish in it just....

Poor betta, that's sad. You didn't even mention if the guy got hurt. lol

 

Once I dumped the whole can of bloodworms into my 28 gallon by a silly accident! my fish just kept eating and eating and my water started to become foamy and yellow! I quickly ran to get the vacuum and syphon as many as I could out but they where everywhere... I guess it wasn't all that bad, but it did scare me that the water was foamy and yellow and that my piggy platies and guppies just wouldnt stop eating them!

 

Talk about panic! Did you buy new glasses or use those again.
LOL, I think I would have bought new ones, something about drinking out of a glass that had fish in it just....

Poor betta, that's sad. You didn't even mention if the guy got hurt. lol

no we threw the cups away after that! but the guy did get hurt but not bad...he lost hair and a piece of skin.......but didnt require stitches.....



I also had kids put pennies in the tank when they were little.

and I remember once I think they put soap??? not sure but it was something that made the whole tank turn slimy... but no fishy deaths

 

I've been lucky so far.

 

I take it, Slug, that there were no fish in that tank.

I've been pretty lucky so far. My two big incidents were a heater going overtime and an aquascaping mistake that caused two trapped gold barbs.

 

oh yes! now that sir mentions it, my bf, wanting to surprise me "re-organized" the whole appartment and scared the heck out of me! When I came home and I saw that the aquarium was in a different place, different stand, and he proudly told me that he "didnt need to empty it to move it" the first thing I asked him was "How in this world would you move a 28 gallon without taking the water out?...." then after Inspecting everything carefully for leaks or cracks I fugured that he had connected the heater and it had been ON for hours even though the appartament temperature was above 82 because the AC had broken. I quickly disconnected the heater, added a couple frozen water bottles to the aquarium, sat down and told him:

"baby... don't you EVER do this again.... ok?"

aside from that big scare.. I have been pretty lucky as well.

 

well i'm glad no fishie deaths ocurred , from those mishaps.
I'm curious though, how did your bf ever move a filled 28 to change the stand????

 

Long ago, my very first fish tank (though by then had a 2nd already....) cracked while the whole family was away on vacation. Needless to say it was not pretty by the time we got home. There was about an inch of water left in it, and only one of the swordtail fry that had been living in it still alive. Plus the carpet didn't fare too well either...

 

well i'm glad no fishie deaths ocurred , from those mishaps.
I'm curious though, how did your bf ever move a filled 28 to change the stand????

I have no idea, he never really explained how he did it... I think that both stands where about the same height (one has wheels) and he was able to somehow just "push" the aquarium from stand to stand... That's the only way I can think of!!!

anyways, I couldnt get out the shock for the next hour!

 

I feel your pain...my one co-worker had a 30 gal saltwater tank...this is what she told me a couple of weeks ago..guess it happened along time ago too...but she had the tank cycling nothing happened....then the 1'st or 2nd day she put fish in it just broke...said salt ate away at the seams???? i've never heard that but from what she said water and fish went everywhere.....after that she has never had another tank... I had a 10 gal saltwater before and the salt didnt hurt mine...anyone know what woulda happened with hers???? is it possible just seams werent that great but why then would it be ok for a month or however long it was the after putting the fish in it all of a sudden just happened?

 

When I was 5 years old I got my first tank. I had been begging to get for 3 months I finally got the tank it was cycled and I put neons, red eye's and a cory in it. After it had been up for about 6 months my mom started watching some other kids part time and of course my tank was a hit for all of them to look at well this was about thirty years ago and the heaters hung on the back with the dial on top. Apparently one of the kids turned the knob all the way up, we had gone out shopping and to dinner that evening and when I went to bed I went to feed the fish and they were all belly up and bloated the water was 90 + degrees. I was crushed. I am glad that the heaters are submersible now but I still keep an eye on my kids and the neighbor kids when they are over.

 

I had a corner seam on my 30 gallon tank blow out a couple weeks ago, I had a fish get sucked up my fiter intake when I was messing around with the end the pulls off and my platy went up the big intake tube but it survied. iv been lucyky

 

We all love our fish and its a great hobby!!!
But time n time again its only human that we do make mistakes!

So guys what's the worst mistake you've made!??


Ill start off:
I remember when I was 6yrs I had a pair of red-eared slider...winter came I put them outside and forgot to take them back inside...the next day they were dead!

now this is something I witnessed at a LFS only a week back...the stupid storekeeper was selling a power filter to a customer rated at 2300Litres/hour...now to test if it were working he placed it in a 10 gallon tank full of guppies and plugged it in! to my horror I saw atleast 3 guppies getting sucked up in the filter and minced out! I felt like smacking the shopkeeper...served him right that the customer shouted and left the store without buying the powerhead filter...

 

that's horrible...... poor guppies......... worst thing that happened to me was when I had my first set of cory babies I thought I had the sink blocked off for the water change I didnt and well one slipped down the drain... another thing I didn't do my self , it was when the hubby helped changed my tank this was years ago but.. I told him to make sure he put the chlorine drops in ...well apperantly he didnt for when I put my fish in they were all dead within minutes...needless to say I do all my tank cleanings myself now.....

 

Ooo. I am too new to have any really bad stories but let me tell you about my Mom - I was, I guess about 5/6/7 years old. We were moving. She spent so much time and care to move a fish tank. I don't know what she was thinking, now that I think back. But she placed an entire tank (water, fish and all) into the back seat of the car (I rememebr it being a beige volkswagon beetle). She closed the door and the inside door handle crashed into the tank.
I remember so well the water and fish spilling out onto the pavement. That was so sad, actually it still is.
Beth

 

I got a free 20 gallon tank several months ago. I spent 4 hours going and getting it and another 4 cleaning it. When I was finally done I went to rinse it one more time and hit the corner of the tank on my bathtub. It cracked the bottom and made it unusable..lol..I was so upset but things happen for a reason so who knows..I ended up giving it to someone with reptiles.

 

Umm..
I put a 10 gal. in the trunk of my car, closed the truck & cracked the tank! lol. I siliconed the crack though, so I can still use it.
I had to move 2 LARGE fish to a LFS, had them in a rubbermaid container, lets just say my car seats got SOAKED. Fish were fine though.
And of course the newbie mistake - bought a 5 gal. and threw a betta in it the next day.

 

I'm an unstable perfectionist.....can't think of one thing I've done wrong,

 

I have an angel pair and their fry in a 20 gallon. I do tons of water changes but the water level was down just a little from evaperation, maybe a half inch, it bugs me when I can hear a waterfall from the filter. So I fill a 3 gallon bucket about half way and add stress coat. Then I walked over and dumped it in the tank... all of it. Duh I guess I wasn't paying attention. The tank overflowed and I kinda just stood there wondering how I could be so dumb. lol

 

kept two weather loaches in a tropical 10g... had a couple corys, a bronchis, and some neons

ahh, those dojos are still my favorite fish ever... friendliest little water puppies I've ever met

 

When I was little I had a pair of hampsters (male and female) in an empty 29 gallon tank, wood shavings, water bottle the works. I didn't have a lid on it though because I thought it was high enough they'd never get out. One day I looked in the tank and the male was gone. He had climbed up and out of the tank via the water bottle. I found him a few days later in back of the dehumidifier drowned and bloated like you wouldn't believe. Eeeeeeeek!!!! LOL (it was really sad at the time though)

 

I have my hamster in a 10 gal., with a wire top with 2 SLATE rocks on top. Little things love to escape!

 

When I was about ten I caught a little snake (4 inches ?) in a creek. I figured it was a "water" snake so I put it in a wide mouth gallon jar (remember them ?) with nothing for it to rest on. 2 days later it was drown.

 

When I was about six years old I had goldfish that I won at "hot dog day" at Alfred University. Any ways, it started out in a fishbowl and not knowing any better I would scoop the fish out and hold it in my hands and actually pet it. I was told not to expect the fish to live long because I did win it playing a game... well time went on and the fish needed a bigger home so my parents bought a 10 gallon aquarium or slightly bigger and bought me more fish to add to the lonely one. Well all the other goldfish died and the one I kept taking out and holding lived for seven years.

I only hope and prayer that my two children won't try to take our fish out to hold them and pet them!!

 

Off topic but. proudmomoftwins, I've been to many "hot dog days" at alfred U and it always involved copious amounts of alcohol and rowdiness, certainly no place for a 6 year old! haha



My worst? Hmm.. I got a 10 gallon off craigslist with a HOB heater, the heater was old and the dial was broken, it's all I had to use at the time though. Well about 2 hours later the water hit 92 degrees with fish in! Not one died though, and all are ok to this day!

 

Shaner... Hot Dog Day was always fun... arts crafts, little rides for kids plus games for little kids to play... I won my first gold fish by throwing a ping pong ball into a cup that had the gold fish in.

When my kids get a little older, I'll be taking them to hot dog day.

 

I guess I never saw the family side of it, could be because of the company I kept then... haha. Great memories though, it's been awhile since i've been.

 

I think mine will ALWAYS be my rafikkI story...my betta boy who took on the life of a live person half the time!! heres a part of the thread and the incident that happened in april of 08

"My poor handsome boy, DID NOT like others in his tank..but I took a chance as some do get along with others...after a nite of him puffin, and just not likeing it a bit, I prepared him his own place...well while I was preparing, he jumped out of the bowl and onto the floor OMG OMG...his distance when I found him was about 5 feet...he was on the other side of the table... so he had to have jumped across the table, and then onto the floor for him to be where I found him on the floor being licked by our chI puppy..he was totally grey and had no fins..it was just like a body... He is now in his new home, with some stress coat...he is still alive"

he healed up thank god after 3 weeks of DAILY water changes with stress coat, fish protector, fresh garlic, and vita chem...he lived until september,at the age of 3, and never looking ill after that long recovery...

 

What was you works fish keeping related experience? Anything counts: Funny accidents, living room floods, ignorant LFS workers, dead fish, etc.

I can start with mine. About half a year ago I was cleaning my sump. There was so much "mud" that the pump could not work properly anymore. Everything was fine until I disturbed and clouded the water. The smell became terrible. I had to change all the water in sump. I used the usual siphoning method where you suck some air out of the hose to start water going. I've used to do it all the time without any problems, but that day I got my mouth full of muddy, stinking water! Even remembering it now makes me cringe. I thought I was gonna puke, but somehow I didn't. Fortunately I didn't get sick or anything afterwards. It served me right for using that mouth siphoning method

 

My worst experience was on my 75 gallon tank. After it was running for almost a year, I started hearing a lot of popping and cracking sounds near the tank. First the lower trim completely broke off the tank, then by morning the stand was almost split wide open.. I had to siphon out the water with a python and 4 siphons going into different buckets to get the water out before disaster.. The whole tank came down and the fish largely had to be given away.. Luckily my LFS replaced that stand for free but I still need to replace the tank. I don't really have the money to be doing that either right now.

 

My worst experience wasn't even my problem or my fish tank! I walked into a friend's living room while he was at work and discovered a thick river of water snaking its way across the concrete floor (if you're wondering why a living room would have a bare concrete floor ask the builders who turned a 1-car garage into a living space and put a nail right through the hot water pipe while putting up the drywall which eventually rusted through and caused a flood which required the carpet to be ripped out...anyway, back to the story) I walked into this garage--living room to see a small river headed for the wall. Not just any wall, but the wall that divided his living room from the neighbours' because this was a side-by-side duplex. I looked back at the fish tanks (many) to see one of the 20 gallons about half empty. I didn't know anything about aquariums at that point but I ran through all my options: I could try to scoop out the remaining water and save whatever was living in the tank (possibly babies, I was afraid I'd kill them), I could try to lift the tank into a plastic bin where it could leak in peace (probably too heavy), or I could alert the owner of the tank. It was a slow leak so I opted for the latter. Rather than call and be put on hold, I first put down all the towels in the place to prevent any more water from reaching the wall, then jumped in the car and drove to his workplace and told his boss that I needed to talk to his employee because it was "sort of" an emergency. Then I took him back to his living room to deal with his problem. Everybody was saved, no walls were harmed, and he only had to take an hour off work. Gave me a scare though.

 

My worst experience was moving a 90g down a stairwell and to my room with only my brother helping me. It was so heavy. We had to take brakes every 10'

Sent from my P900/Q900 using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum mobile app

 

The day my wife's waters broke with our first daughter went to ring hospital but had no power came out to the living to find my 75gal 3/4 empty had to make a choice of fish or child birth (my wife quickly changed my mind), ended up scooping them into a large cooler with a lid stuck my filter pipes into it and that's where they lived until I got a new tank about 3 weeks later