5 lessons learned from my first month into the hobby

[CornAndCrawlers]

1. If you are trying to grow plants than ditch the store-bought replacement filters, it will absorb your liquid fertilizers. 

2. Don't try to do it all in one tank. Focus on aesthetics with display tanks and focus on making fish babies with your breeding tanks, if you try to marry the two you're just making things harder than they need to be.

3. Quality fish food is important. Learn to hatch live baby brine shrimp, learn about other live food cultures and buy frozen foods.

4. Invest in fish medicines and quarantine new fish. Preventative medication is more likely to succeed than trying to save weakened sick fish.

5. If you want plants, make life easy and just use gravel. Fine sand is a pain in the butt to plant things in and expensive aquarium substrates are not worth it. 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by CornAndCrawlers

[Guppysnail]

Sounds like you learned some good things right off the bat.  I’m not new to the hobby and I still learn things that make me do the face palm.  I also love gravel for plants. 

[Its Hutch]

The main thing I've learned in my time is to have patience. Any time I try to rush or take short cuts I fail or get something wrong. Take your time and do things right. Time is your friend when getting an aquarium balanced as well. You can't rush other life forms because you want things done now.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I'm with @Its Hutch big time. Patience. Patience. 

Be prepared BEFORE you get fish (have a first aid kit ready before not after you get fish). Have a QT. 

Do your research BEFORE being tempted to buy that pretty fish at the fish store. 

Cycle your tank BEFORE adding fish. 

There are so many things, and you'd be surprised how that patience can really pay off in the end no matter HOW torturous it is at the time. I've just taken to finding joy in the preparation and research. 

[Brian]

I’ve been doing this for 50 years.  
01. pick up a book.  02. Don’t only learn what the fish needs also learn about its behavior.  03.  Make changes slowly.  04. Most people don’t clean a filter or water change until they have a problem.  05. Don’t get down on yourself, we are going to make mistakes and kill fish.  06. And the list goes on……..

[PineSong]

What I learned in my first month was 1) LFS guppies are too risky for a risk-avoidant newbie, 2) more plants = more resilient tank, 3) sponge filters are pretty good.

[lefty o]

you should add #6 to the list. nothing in this hobby is written in stone.

[Brian]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:57 PM, lefty o said:

you should add #6 to the list. nothing in this hobby is written in stone.

Ok number 07.  Read number 6 again.

 

 

[Guppysnail]

I’ll add a few to the list. 1. Fish are very adaptable. 2. If they are not stressed fish have amazing immune systems. 3. most fauna and flora that folks get upset by are beneficial to an aquatic ecosystem. 4. My fish seldom if ever conform to what the internet repeats over and over.  Perhaps I should teach them to google so they learn what they are supposed to do/eat and temp to be comfy at 🤣

[Brian]

I have said many times I’m so glad my fish can’t read.     Lol