What is your worst fish keeping experience?

I haven't had a disaster myself, but my parents were cleaning the decorations in my tank a few years ago and my polkadot loach fell out of the helicopter. It flipped around and slipped out of my dads hands a few times before finally getting it in the tank. It survived for ages after that (Somehow)

 

I tried to catch my bullhead for a tank transfer and he jumped out of the cup I put him in. I was panicking about getting him back in the cup without actually touching him (cuz spikes) and ran across the room to grab something to shoo him with.

Long story short, I got him where he was supposed to be without him dying

 

I tried to catch my bullhead for a tank transfer and he jumped out of the cup I put him in. I was panicking about getting him back in the cup without actually touching him (cuz spikes) and ran across the room to grab something to shoo him with.

Long story short, I got him where he was supposed to be without him dying

Those suckers are sharp!! I caught one (fishing) and wow did that sucker get me when I was trying to get him off the hook! Then of course cause he spiked me, I drop the dumb fish. I’m sitting in a kayak and now have a ticked off pointy fish with a hook in his mouth flapping around on my legs. I did get the hook out and him back in the water with no more blood though.

 

Right? I'm paranoid about netting him. Hence why I used a cup with a handle. I'll have to figure out something different if I ever need it for when he gets bigger.

 

Right? I'm paranoid about netting him. Hence why I used a cup with a handle. I'll have to figure out something different if I ever need it for when he gets bigger.

I wonder if this would work?

 

I wonder if this would work?

It probably would. But I think it would hurt his slime coat.

 

Argulus. and that was when I was still a beginner. 5 fish dead. I still have nightmares....

 

It probably would. But I think it would hurt his slime coat.

The trick that I figured out to cath really pointy catfish is you gotta smooth them down as you catch them. I had a striped Raphael (no onlh pointy but serrated) I’d chase him into a corner, and use my hand to kinda smooth him down as he tried to wiggle out between my hand and the glass. Then just gently grabbed him. I know touching fish is a no-no but a net will do a heck of a lot more damage and he never had any issues. (Other then the ‘ticked off fish’ issue)

 

year 2011. 40 gallon tank burst during a water change, the tank was 33% drained. this would be the last time I ever did waterchanges as routine maintenance.

 

year 2011. 40 gallon tank burst during a water change, the tank was 33% drained. this would be the last time I ever did waterchanges as routine maintenance.

OOPS

 

Keeping a 1 gallon tank, with three neon tetras, and three ghost shrimp.
I was so clueless...

 

I'll add mine. It still makes me sad thinking about it. It was a heater malfunction. I lost 9 cories, most raised from fry.
The sparkling gouramis survived. I assume because they breathe air.

This was during that big heater recall several years ago. I didn't buy any fish for a really long time after that.

 

when I was new to keeping fish I had a oscar in a 10 gallon ( hold on lol) and kept it with 2 pickerel with get up to 14 inches
BTW tank crashed after a month.

 

Before reading/caring about "aquarium rules" I added 40 fish in one day to a 55 gallon already containing 30+ fish. The tank turned murky and hot. Many fish were lost .

 

Last year, when I was building my brackish tank and prepping it for a pufferfish, I put a piece of mopanI driftwood in the water for java ferns, and I only rinsed it in hot water. Overnight, the water was turned to tea, and I had no idea why. I had to drain the entire tank, and I was absolutely stunned by the clarity after that (it took me forever to put two and two together, surprisingly) Fortunately, there was nothing living in the tank at the time.

I haven’t had many aquariums that weren’t tiny betta/goldfish tanks when I was little, so other than the obvious, that’s all I can think of.

 

Last year, when I was building my brackish tank and prepping it for a pufferfish, I put a piece of mopanI driftwood in the water for java ferns, and I only rinsed it in hot water. Overnight, the water was turned to tea, and I had no idea why. I had to drain the entire tank, and I was absolutely stunned by the clarity after that (it took me forever to put two and two together, surprisingly) Fortunately, there was nothing living in the tank at the time.

I haven’t had many aquariums that weren’t tiny betta/goldfish tanks when I was little, so other than the obvious, that’s all I can think of.

Those were tannins they have their benefits actually

 

Those were tannins they have their benefits actually

Huh. I knew they were tannins, but I was not aware of their benefits (I seem to recall they make PH more acidic, though) Well then, I guess light amounts of tannins wouldn’t hurt for my future mudskipper.

 

I've never made a mistake

(snicker)

 

Huh. I knew they were tannins, but I was not aware of their benefits (I seem to recall they make PH more acidic, though) Well then, I guess light amounts of tannins wouldn’t hurt for my future mudskipper.

Yes they will make water more acidic

 

This one time when I was about 12... I had 2 younger brothers. We had a bunch of guppies in a bowl (bad thing#1). And when I was at school, one brother thought it would be a good idea to feed the fish a bunch of salami (bad thing #2). Only 3 males survived that and lived another year after that.

 

I can't think of one I guess my standards are pretty low.

 

I had a heater malfunction and kill my whole guppy tank while I was away on vacation. I had a bumblebee platy jump out of his acclimation bowl up on the counter and hit the floor. He didn't survive long after that

 

When I was younger, probably 10, my mom decided to spoil me rotten with aquarium equipment. I had a 20 Gallon and a 55 Gallon.

I cannot recall doing a single water change in the 2-3 years I had the tanks, and I know my mom didn't do any.

Most of the fish miraculously survived, and I even had two mollies breed. One baby survived.

Finally, most of my fish were wiped out by cotton mouth fungus. We had no idea what to do and we dismantled the aquariums.

 

Idk if this is funny, but my stupid , (growing up in LA and knowing fiddler crabs) got excited the Walmart dude showed me these crabs for my tank, so I bought them. Now I have a second tank, half water, half land, marine salt, and separate filter, heat, ect...all for two GD 3 dollar crabs! Bahahahaha!

 

Not really a disaster lol but I had a Betta Fish in a 10 gallon tank in my room & when I baby sat a family friends 4 year old daughter she looooved her. I always had to tell her to stop taping on the glass and putting her hand in the tank. One day when she put her hand in the tank I snapped at her and told her to take it out. She turned around and put the whole hand she has in the tank in her mouth. She said she liked the way it taste

 

I got a submersible pump to pump water from a bucket in my sink to my tanks. First time I turned it on the hose wasn't connected and I pumped 800gph like a fire hose all over my kitchen and living room.....couldn't figure out how to turn it off...then realized I could just pull the plug soaked the ceilings, floors, cabinets, appliances, dog, you name it I soaked it.

 

I got a submersible pump to pump water from a bucket in my sink to my tanks. First time I turned it on the hose wasn't connected and I pumped 800gph like a fire hose all over my kitchen and living room.....couldn't figure out how to turn it off...then realized I could just pull the plug ‍♀️‍♀️‍♀️ soaked the ceilings, floors, cabinets, appliances, dog, you name it I soaked it.

*gasp!

 

I have left water running filling a barell or tank for several hours before ..Not funny then or the second or third time !

 

Not really a disaster lol but I had a Betta Fish in a 10 gallon tank in my room & when I baby sat a family friends 4 year old daughter she looooved her. I always had to tell her to stop taping on the glass and putting her hand in the tank. One day when she put her hand in the tank I snapped at her and told her to take it out. She turned around and put the whole hand she has in the tank in her mouth. She said she liked the way it taste

Oh no!!!!
*gasp*

 

Augh, so many...
Snowflake eel. Back in NY, my dad and I set up a 39 gal nano cube. We hd no experience in fishkeeping so ww got a snowflake eel.
Worst.
Idea.
Ever.
It slithered into the filter and jammed the whole thig then ine say decided to slither OUT in front of a bunch of guests that we had over. The next day the eel was back in the fish store.

Another time was recent. I was filling up one of those 1 gallon milk jugs of water to add conditioner before adding it to one of my nano tanks during a water change. I places the bottle under the nozzle and left to take care of something and well, got distracted. A whole half hour later I remembered and ran to stop the water but the whole bathroom was DRENCHED. I slipped and slid like in those comedy movies or tv shows and landed on my side. So then I had to clean the whole thing up with a huge bruise in my side.

 

It slithered into the filter and jammed the whole thig then ine say decided to slither OUT in front of a bunch of guests that we had over. The next day the eel was back in the fish store

 

Augh, so many...
Snowflake eel. Back in NY, my dad and I set up a 39 gal nano cube. We hd no experience in fishkeeping so ww got a snowflake eel.
Worst.
Idea.
Ever.
It slithered into the filter and jammed the whole thig then ine say decided to slither OUT in front of a bunch of guests that we had over. The next day the eel was back in the fish store.

Another time was recent. I was filling up one of those 1 gallon milk jugs of water to add conditioner before adding it to one of my nano tanks during a water change. I places the bottle under the nozzle and left to take care of something and well, got distracted. A whole half hour later I remembered and ran to stop the water but the whole bathroom was DRENCHED. I slipped and slid like in those comedy movies or tv shows and landed on my side. So then I had to clean the whole thing up with a huge bruise in my side.

Oh no!!!!
How did the guest react haha

 

(in time order)
1. Accidentally drank enough kanaplex for prob 30 gallons
2. First time using a water pump to refill my tank... Didn't realize it back siphoned, spilled all over my floor when I went to fill the other bucket. After that, I accidentally plugged in the water pump (still in a bucket of back flow tank water) instead of my filter, and that went everywhere. Finally cleaned that up, stepped backwards to look at everything, knocked over my bucket. All on carpet
3. Bought a pair of betta imbellis three days ago and just, idk, expected them to coexist but they spawned already

 

This isn’t what I did, but my friend did a while ago.
She went into Walmart, and stole a sick fish.
She saw this sick betta at Walmart and just had to rescue it.
She basically found a box for something.... I forgot exactly what, but she took the stuff from the box, put it in her bag, and put the betta inside the box.
She then bought the box with the fish inside.
Miraculously, she got away with it.
He had ich and disgusting water.
The fish died a few months ago, she kept it alive for a year and a half.
Not really a disaster, just some funny stupid thing that my friend did.

 

I won’t go into specifics but a ten foot perimeter around the aquarium was now apparently off- limits, no matter what.

 

(in time order)
1. Accidentally drank enough kanaplex for prob 30 gallons
2. First time using a water pump to refill my tank... Didn't realize it back siphoned, spilled all over my floor when I went to fill the other bucket. After that, I accidentally plugged in the water pump (still in a bucket of back flow tank water) instead of my filter, and that went everywhere. Finally cleaned that up, stepped backwards to look at everything, knocked over my bucket. All on carpet
3. Bought a pair of betta imbellis three days ago and just, idk, expected them to coexist but they spawned already

How did u end up drinking kanaplex?!?

Not much of a disaster, but my new walstad tank is currently sitting with only water and substrate.
I thought I had more money than I did

 

How did u end up drinking kanaplex?!?

Uhhhh, I'll start off by saying I was really really tired. It was one of my first time dosing meds, and I didn't know you didn't have to dissolve kanaplex. So I dissolved enough kanaplex for my 60 gallonin a little cup in about 2-3 tbsps of water. I got some airline tubing and started to siphon it, using my mouth as suction (smart), and, honestly I don't remember what happened, probably my cat making a loud noises, but I got distracted, got a mouth full of kanaplex, and my reaction was to swallow it...

 

One time I had a hob canister type filter die on me. As far as I could figure , the intake mechanism broke...

So naturally, this all happened at 1 in the morning by waking me up with a loud shrill high pitched sound.

Which then leads to me leaping out of bed looking for a fire. Because it's the smoke alarm, right?

.... Nope! I traced the sound to my 20 gallon pea puffer tank, stared dumbly at it for a few seconds, then unplugged it. In my sleep deprived state, I somehow managed to find and setup an internal whisper filter without anything else happening.

 

Recently I obtained some huge mystery snails and spread them among my tanks. They were the size of golf balls. One morning I was looking at one of my tanks and couldn't find it. I know they can burrow sometimes, so I was looking and looking for a while. Still couldn't find it. I looked down and saw a slime trail about a foot long at my feet. It made a run for it, but didn't make it too far. We have dogs and cats. We found it later in another room.

 

I've had a canister filter hose pop off at 1 in the morning and dump about 25 gallons of water on my floor before I could shut it off.

I cracked a $400 Fluval M-40 that I was cleaning for my boss.

I forgot to unplug a heater during a water change once. It started making the water around it boil and the glass tubing around the heater cracked as it burned itself out. No fish were lost.