What's the worst advice you received as a beginner?

[Rikostan]

15 hours ago, Ken Burke said:

70s, 80s, again in the 90s.  Heard it again not long ago🤨

People do still say it today, but my point was that when people spread that misinformation way back in the early 70s, it was a little more understandable, than it is today with all the sources of information we have now. There is no excuse at all for it now.

[Tetra Guy]

When I first got fish, I was told by the LFS guy not to use warm water from the tap, as household hot water pipes were made of copper and that would poison fish.  As a result, every water change I did, I warmed a big aluminum spaghetti pot of cold water on the stove, which was a real pain for me as a 10 year old, because the whole thing had to be coordinated with mom, who wasn't crazy about fish to begin with. Then I had to carry that pot upstairs without spilling any.   Soooo, basically I almost never did a water change and my fish suffered.  Later in life I noticed that ALL the pipes in the house were copper.  😐 

Edited September 26, 2020 by Tetra Guy

[Ken Burke]

6 hours ago, Rikostan said:

People do still say it today, but my point was that when people spread that misinformation way back in the early 70s, it was a little more understandable, than it is today with all the sources of information we have now. There is no excuse at all for it now.

Agreed.  And the other is one inch per gallon.  

[Daniel]

I can't remember any bad advice I was given back in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I sure I was given bad advice, I just can't remember.

On the other hand, I do remember some really good advice my old dad gave me in 1969.

I wanted to put a baby sunfish in my 10 gallon tank with my neon tetras and his advice was...

"Don't do it, son."

I said, don't worry dad, neon tetras are the fastest fish in the world!

There weren't neon tetras in the aquarium the next morning. Pretty good advice from someone who never kept an aquarium.

[ADMWNDSR83]

I was in a Petco today. Not shopping, just walking around and looking at the deplorable state of their aquarium section.  A gentleman was at the tanks getting an associate to dish him out fish.  He pointed at the gourami and said, "she'll love those things, three of them."  Then pointed at one of the Glofish tank and said, "I need two of each color for those, she'll love how bright they are."  He then went over to a tank with common plecos and said, "Two of those things to suck on the glass and make funny faces at her."  

I heard the associate say, " How big is your tank?"  He said, "it's pretty big, like ten gallons."  She looked at the assortment of fish all together in the plastic box and said, "Oh that will be a great stock for that tank!(#1 bad advice) How long has the tank been running?"  He looked at her and said, "I'm putting it together when I get home, Is there anything that I should get to put in the water or anything?   She handed him a pack of bacteria balls and said, "put these in your filter and they'll take care of everything."

After the man walked away, I walked over to the woman and said, "You just sentenced all those fish to death, you know that right?"  She looked at me confused and said, "I'm sure it will all be fine, as long as the tank isn't too big for just those small fish."  I know one store I won't be buying from anytime soon.

[decorative boulder]

I was told to completely drain the tank, bleach the decorations and leave everything to dry for a few days... because I had diatoms.

[AudreyB]

3 clown loaches will look great in your 29 gallon community tank. Wait until I have to tell my husband, “Honey! We’re gonna need a bigger tank!” I’ve already named them and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. 😳

[Terry Ellacott]

Don't worry, it'll be OK. 

[Ben Ellison]

Do you guys find this bad advice comes exclusively  from box store type places or LFS as well? All the employees  i have interaction with at the LFS are at least  as knowledgeable  as me.

[Daniel]

My experience in the big retail stores has been positive*. Most of the employees in the fish section are enthusiastic about fish keeping.

[ange]

I think that the negative view of P stores is overblown. The companies may not be as likeable as a LFS, but some aquatic departments can keep up with/beat the LFS since some of those P stores will have access to better resources for livestock (it's shown a lot recently since supply chain issues sprung up due to Covid).

There are a lot of clueless employees but I think people like to over-generalize. I have a pretty neutral view but lean toward defending them even if I prefer shopping at other places.

[Ben Ellison]

My major complaint with the P stores isn't so much the employees, but how the corporate chooses to handle the fish with out quarantine. They have very little interest in dealing healthy fish imo.

[Marnol D]

That buying a single bala shark for a 10 gallon tank would be fine. And then being told to buy 4 more to make a shoal for a ten gallon.... Welp now ive upgraded them to a longer 55 gallon tank and am trying to get a 5ft-6ft tank for them setup.

Also sure having 5 bala sharks and a rainbow shark will be fine together. 

 

[Vicki]

On 9/26/2020 at 2:56 PM, Ken Burke said:

Agreed.  And the other is one inch per gallon.

I’ve seen this written here several times, and this thread is the first indication I’ve ever had that the inch per gallon thing is poor advice.  So now I have to ask - what’s correct?  Or, what’s wrong with the inch/gallon thing that I’ve heard so much about?

[Ken Burke]

5 hours ago, Vicki said:

I’ve seen this written here several times, and this thread is the first indication I’ve ever had that the inch per gallon thing is poor advice.  So now I have to ask - what’s correct?  Or, what’s wrong with the inch/gallon thing that I’ve heard so much about?

Complicated answer.  Start with a 10 inch Oscar in a 10 gal tank.  As fish get larger, they need more room, and more water/filtration to handle the waste.

next is territory.  You might be under the 1” per gal, if your angle fish stakes out territory in middle of the tank, everyone else gets stuck in the corners.  This creates stress for all the Fish in the tank.

Im sure there is more on the why, so expect other will chime in.

The right answer is even more complicated.  I found a “stocking calculator “ online that accounts for all the factors like size, filtration, territory temp etc.  I will look for it later today.

[Jeff]

On 9/26/2020 at 3:17 AM, Wisnasky-tank said:

I’m guessing you ment to say can’t cause you definitely can cycle tank with fish lol 

No, I typed it correctly. My point is, you shouldn't do this -regardless of the fish. Having a fish go through the cycling process with Ammonia is not ethically right, IMO.

Since there's ways of cycling without fish, why would you cycle with one?

[ange]

Cycling with fish is faster and many common aquarium chemicals bind ammonia to prevent it from harming the fish while the new beneficial bacteria break it down.

[Ken Burke]

Here is the stocking calculator I mentioned this morning.  As near as I can tell, it is fairly comprehensive, and does not require personal info to use.  I like it, but only as a tool when combined with good judgement.

so  what do you think about it?  If you put in the info for your tanks, what does it say?

 

http://www.aqadvisor.com/

[ADMWNDSR83]

13 minutes ago, Ken Burke said:

Here is the stocking calculator I mentioned this morning.  As near as I can tell, it is fairly comprehensive, and does not require personal info to use.  I like it, but only as a tool when combined with good judgement.

so  what do you think about it?  If you put in the info for your tanks, what does it say?

 

http://www.aqadvisor.com/

It took me to a dead url.

 

[Ken Burke]

46 minutes ago, ADMWNDSR83 said:

It took me to a dead url.

 

Huh.  I did a google search using “aquarium stocking calculator “.  First entry is AqAdvisor. I’m using an iPad, so not sure if it is doing something odd.

[Brandy]

2 hours ago, ADMWNDSR83 said:

It took me to a dead url.

 

 

2 hours ago, Ken Burke said:

Here is the stocking calculator I mentioned this morning....

 

http://www.aqadvisor.com/

worked for me

[ADMWNDSR83]

14 minutes ago, Brandy said:

 

worked for me

OK, when I tried it on my home computer it worked.  This is a neat program!

[Brandy]

On 9/28/2020 at 8:35 AM, Ben Ellison said:

Do you guys find this bad advice comes exclusively  from box store type places or LFS as well? All the employees  i have interaction with at the LFS are at least  as knowledgeable  as me.

I have had bad, bad, bad advice from various LFS over the years, and I have had a super enthusiastic teen employee at a big box store jump into explaining nitrogen cycles and stem plant melt beautifully correctly, and warn me that the fish and plants arrived on a Friday, and that was the best time to shop. He then turned around and diplomatically explained to some very annoyed college girls that keeping a betta in a vase would shorten it's life, and here were some lovely and reasonable 5 gallon tanks...I think the experiences I have had in box stores vary just as much as those in LFS. The single thing a box store doesn't usually do that a LFS usually can is that dead or sick fish are likely removed promptly in a LFS, leading to a healthier overall impression. This is a direct function of staffing limitations in a corporate setting. 

 

I would add that I am pretty darn sure that teen was quoting some of @Cory's videos directly, and that made me smile to no end. I hope he knows he has an incredibly far reach.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Brandy

[ange]

6 hours ago, Ken Burke said:

Here is the stocking calculator I mentioned this morning.  As near as I can tell, it is fairly comprehensive, and does not require personal info to use.  I like it, but only as a tool when combined with good judgement.

so  what do you think about it?  If you put in the info for your tanks, what does it say?

 

http://www.aqadvisor.com/

AqAdvisor for whatever reason doesn't work on certain connections. The website works on my phone but not my PC. Most people who I've talked to dislike the website overall because it makes too many assumptions about the fish and doesn't allow you to account for things like plants.

Personally when I'm researching stocking I use websites like SeriouslyFish to do research, although some people on there can be pretty insistent that commonly suggested tank sizes (ex: 20H for a single angelfish) is too small.

I think our hobby is really about getting as many opinions from as many sources as possible and then drawing your own conclusion. The best we can do as hobbyists is provide an appropriate environment and then monitor our pets to ensure that they're doing well rather than chasing numbers (be it stocking/parameters) that X website says will work for the fish that we want.

Edited September 30, 2020 by ange
edited for clarity

[Ken Burke]

28 minutes ago, ange said:

AqAdvisor for whatever reason doesn't work on certain connections. The website works on my phone but not my PC. Most people who I've talked to dislike the website overall because it makes too many assumptions about the fish and doesn't allow you to account for things like plants.

Personally when I'm researching stocking I use websites like SeriouslyFish to do research, although some people on there can be pretty insistent that commonly suggested tank sizes (ex: 20H for a single angelfish) is too small.

I think the hobby is really about getting as many opinions from as many sources as problem and then drawing your own conclusion. The best we can do as hobbyists is provide an appropriate environment and then monitor our pets to ensure that they're doing well rather than chasing numbers (be it stocking/parameters) that X website says will work for the fish that we want.

Agreed for the most part.  I like the site as a starting point.  And I like that looks at other things like temperature etc, and compatibility.  But not a substitute for self education and good judgement.