We all know fishkeeping can be a joy, but it can also be a real pain. What's been your worst experiences with fishkeeping?

I have a couple. I took a few years off from fishkeeping and then got back into it after I got married. My wife wanted a cat, and I wanted something (anything) that could be kept in an aquarium and wouldn't shed all over everything. So in an effort to disuade my wife from getting a cat, I got a fish tank. We still got the cat, which we later found out my wife is alergic to. So by this time we've got at least $1000 into the cat, $700 being my wife's medicines to control her alergy. Now a couple months later, I go to bed, all the fish are fine... wake up the next morning, and all but one are dead. So we went back to walmart and got some more guppies, a month later, same thing. Same single one survived. I called those days the permian mass tank extinction days. Anyway, after the second go round, we stopped buying fish from walmart, and havn't had anything like that happen again. We tried for a long time to get that one resilliant fish to breed, and she got pregnant, but never gave birth. She eventually did the day she died, to nearly adolescent fish, all with major deformities in their backbones from not having been born earlier. That was a major disappointment.

My wife now wants a dog (in addition to the cat which we are keeping). So I agreed to get her a dog, so long as I can get a 90g reef tank first. I figure if my pets are so expensive, then we won't have the extra money to get the dog. (Do you SEE what I'm sacrificing for you all here, as soon as my wife reads this, I will be sleeping on the couch for a month).

Anyway, my only other really bad experience in fishkeeping was when I had one of my 10g tanks sitting on the floor for a while this last year. I accidentally kicked it and it cracked. However, it didn't leak or anything, so that's not so bad.

I put a piece of toxic driftwood in my tank. The next morning all my fish had lost their color and were lethargic. Took the wood out and they are doing fine now. The pet store tells me that the driftwood is fine, but I'll just have to think otherwise, I guess.

About your guppy giving birth to adolescents.... Can you just imagine giving birth to teenagers? LoL

Oh, I can vouch for the guppies looking funny. I took one to the pet store to trade him in, and they said that the funny looking ones sold better than the normal looking ones!

Hmmm... Worst pain? I have one. Okay, so you know, I have 2 planted tanks. All of the plants were blooming and growing really well for a period of time. Then we went to Las Vegas for a few days for vacation. I told my aunt to turn the light on in the morning and leave it on for 12 hours and then turn it off for everyday so my plants wont die. So then, I come back from Vegas and find all but my Java Moss and Hygro dead! Ever since then, plants just haven't been doing too well in my tanks. Kind of discouraging, but, I'm trying to get some new plants to start over with.

The only thing I can seem to grow well are weeds (anachris aka water weed.) LoL. I'm wanting to upgrade my lighting though and put a little CO2 on my tank and see what masterpieces I can make.

I know leaving the light off can be bad, but I thought leaving it on for too long would only cause excess algae?

Also, I know this is a little late, but be sure when people are taking care of your tanks that they are sincere in doing so. I've heard alot of horror stories about leaving tanks with relatives or friends while on vacation.

I'm really nervous. I go on a cruise in march and will have to leave my tanks.

One thing you might do is invest in a simple timer. I bought one at Wal-Mart. It's a light timer, like what someone might use to turn their lights on and off while on vacation to make it seem like someone is home. Mine cost me only 5 dollars. I set it for the time I want the lights to come on, and the time for the lights to go off. I notice that my fish do MUCH better like that. It's consistent. It also seriously reduces the amount of algae I have to deal with. Perfect for planted tanks.

You ought to check one out whenever you go shopping next. It's probably one of the cheapest, but best investments that you could make.

my bichir ate my BGK........

At least it wasn't the other way around... now THAT would be bad. :(

How big do birchirs get? I thought the BGK would get bigger than it would...

How big do BGK's get? I'm looking to stock a 30 gallon here really soon.

A 30 gallon is way too small for a BGK. They need at least a minimum of 75 gallon, and same goes to the bichirs.

the BGK will get around 18 inches, the bichir that ate will get ~24''

Hmm sounds good. I'm thinking of just turning the 30 gallon into a cichlid tank until I can get used to using my RO filter in my other tank. I was even thinking of a single S.Sanchezi piranha to live in there after I got done with the cichlids.

You guys have any recommendations for stocking a 30 gallon?

Also, I'm leaning towards the 30g cube, but would the 30g long be better in the long run?

Thanks

My worst experience was of the "new to fishkeeping and got really really bad advice from the LFS" variety.

Back when I was in college, I got a 15 gallon tank and was assured that, yes, I could fully stock it with 10 fish and an undergravel filter right off the bat. Of course they all died, and that was the end of that. The tank went into storage for about five years, until I got a job with an aquarium loving co-worker who got me into the hobby the right way.

My most stressful experience was moving a 55 gallon community tank across town when we bought our house in '99. Only lost two fish, but my yo yo loach bit me when we were bagging him. ;)

LOL, I didn't even know yoyo loaches were capable of biting like that... that is too funny.

The last time I moved (when we bought our house), I only had a 10g tank, so I just drained it half-way and left the fish in... the fish made it fine. I on the other hand, gave myself a hernia. It's amazing how heavy water can be when it's not in the 1g jugs at the supermarket.

Neither did I, until it happened! My husband didn't believe me until I showed him the blood on my finger and on the little guy's face. I was impressed by the fish's plucky spirit, named him "Jaws," and he lived for several more years happily after the move. Yo-yos are still one of my favorite fish.

... and you never moved him again. :lol:

Sound familiar sergeant major?

I am hoping to have some yoyo loaches soon. They look like they would be great fish to have in an aquarium.

Well obviously I am biased since I still love them after the bite. ;)

But seriously, they are very nice fish. I am a big fan of loaches anyway, but I have found them to be very busy, active fish so they are interesting to watch and keep things lively. Plus they are just attractive to look at.

Can they survive in a higher pH? Such as 8.2-8.3? My dojo loach is doing great, but I just want to make sure.

Well, I keep mine in a tank of Malawi cichlids, and my pH runs around 7.8. I have never kept them in a pH over 8.0.

Hm. I guess I will have to acclimate them all day and see what happens. I'm sure things will be ok. How many do you recommend as a minimum?

I think 2 would be ok in a smaller tank, 3-4 in a larger tank (55G or bigger).

Argh. The other day my tank overflowed when I was sitting here (the 'safety switch' didn't trigger). I was so happy I was sitting here! I have never moved so fast in my life.
The day following the overflow incident, I turned my filter (a trickle filter) off and had the return siphon water into my cupboard. :angry: So I had two inches of water sitting in the bottom of my cabinet.

Worst 24 hours ever.

one time when i went on holidays i asked my neighbour to feed my fish when i came back all the fish food was gone and my tank was dark red (red fish food) and my whole tank was full of dissolved fish pellets my two oscars came through fine my old SAE didn't quite take the change as well when i got home the oscars were still swimming around like nothing had happened