Jump to content

What was the best advice you were given as a beginner? If you could give one piece of advice what would it be?


Schuyler
 Share

Recommended Posts

(1) You cannot truly love what you do not really know. Learn in order to love. Study, study, study.

(2) Failure is a right of passage to expertise. When you fail, you are ready to improve.

(3) Nobody is right 100% of the time. Everybody is right at least 1%. Learn from everyone. But stay humble.

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hopping on the "Patience Train" here.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is a slow process.  Buying all the proper equipment takes time.  Cycling the tank takes time.  Researching fish takes time.  You just cannot rush things in this hobby.  So take your time and enjoy the ride.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/20/2023 at 4:10 PM, FLFishChik said:

“For a first time plant person - plants work in months not days or weeks - make adjustments slow and understand with many common plants (crypts/swords/anubias) you might not know how things are doing for 4 months”

- unless it’s Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, in which case, it’s just a matters of hours😂 j/k

 

I'm so sorry but PSO is not a plant it is a weed.

  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s been far too long ago to remember the best piece of advice I got as a new fishkeeper (would have been in 1975) but the single most important piece of advice that is still the very hardest to implement is:

DON’T OVER FEED!

Overfeeding gets more new aquarists into trouble than any other single thing that can be done wrong or that can go wrong.  It STILL gets me into trouble after far too many decades of fishkeeping.  Almost all the other advice circles around solving the issues that come from overfeeding.  🤷🏻‍♀️ 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/20/2023 at 6:43 PM, Flumpweesel said:

Match the fish to your water not water to your fish.

This, this, a million times this!

No matter how much you want "that awesome fish", it will be a world of heartache if you're constantly fighting to get water parameters that do not match what comes out of your tap, well, or mineralized RO/DI system.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, it's been a long time since I was a 'real' beginner, but I guess I'd go with these two things:

1. Ask for help when you need it--find a friendly source like this forum and ask away.

2. Quarantine new fish before adding them to your tank if your tank already has fish in it. Every time!

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/20/2023 at 11:59 AM, Jurrian Hering said:

This! The coop YouTube videos really helped me understand the basics! Will recommend their videos to all beginners!! 

I started watching the co-op vids when I got my 55gallon. Love them and recommend them to anyone I meet wanting to REALLY learn. A bonus benefit is how Cory is always talking about how to get the most bang for your buck.

On 1/20/2023 at 1:37 PM, Pepere said:

The only sure fire way to keep algae out of your aquarium is to never put water into it.

This just made me laugh because I legit don't understand why people freak out over algae. Water = algae.... Algae is a plant....

On 1/23/2023 at 12:32 PM, Sweet Fish O Mine said:

No matter how hungry you may be, don't eat your fish. 

Bahahahahaha..... I had an acquaintance go perch jerking in Louisiana. He caught a sun perch. (beautiful fish, truly), and didn't want to clean it right away. He kept that perch for EVER and would often joke about how someday he'd be broke, out of groceries, and have himself a good old fish fry. O.o

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't say that I got much (or any) GOOD advice when I brought home 2 goldfish from a county fair, then was "gifted" an enormous pleco. I set up that first tank, and thankfully those fish were VERY forgiving. I now have two happy community tanks that I adore (one 70 gal, one 38 gal). But if I could pick one thing I've learned over the years that I would tell  beginners is to PUT LIVE PLANTS IN YOUR TANK!!  They are so much better at keeping water quality stable then any chemical or additive ever will.  If you're not a great underwater gardener and they die sometimes, so what! Buy a few more and replace them. It's worth it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today I learned that if the snails are laying clutches a couple of times a week, and I see fish fry and shrimplets in the tank, I must be doing something right because the inhabitants find it a hospitable place to have babies. Makes me stress less about that algae I see or that my pH is high or myriad other issues. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/23/2023 at 10:10 PM, PineSong said:

2. Quarantine new fish before adding them to your tank if your tank already has fish in it. Every time!

This.  I struggle with patience once I've bought the critters.    I've never had a problem with an infected/diseased fish, but then, I just stick with long-lived goldies, but this is huge.

On 1/30/2023 at 8:46 PM, Val said:
On 1/23/2023 at 10:10 PM, PineSong said:

2. Quarantine new fish before adding them to your tank if your tank already has fish in it. Every time!

This.  I struggle with patience once I've bought the critters.    I've never had a problem with an infected/diseased fish, but then, I just stick with long-lived goldies, but this is huge.

 

On 1/21/2023 at 11:31 AM, drewzero1 said:

Besides patience and research, the biggest piece of beginner advice for me was that we don't keep fish, we keep water. Keep the water healthy and the fish will follow. Now whenever I have a sick fish I reach for the test kit before the meds.

And this.  I was going to say something like this when I saw this thread.

I was fortunate.  Years before I started fish keeping, I read the book, Confessions of a Fish Doctor, which is a simply charming book about a guy who lived the dream, working in a fish store in New York City in the 60s and 70s.  It is long out of print, but I am telling you, if you found it for $50, it would be a bargain.  The book is a veritable treatise on how to get started.  And this is the point of the book:  we keep water.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/29/2023 at 5:37 PM, Vtcourtney said:

  If you're not a great underwater gardener and they die sometimes, so what! Buy a few more and replace them. It's worth it.

This bears repeating. Everyone I know with planted tanks struggles with some plant or the other, but if you keep trying you'll find a few types of plants that do well in your particular tanks. It can be scary to order a $14 plant, but eventually you will end up with some plant that will provide you with a lifetime supply and then some. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My advice would be to make the tank the way you like it.  I see people ask for advice on how to arrange things in the tank (which I respect), but for a beginner, put together a tank that you like. You are the one who will see it the most. If you think the tank looks awesome, you’ll have fun and keep going in the hobby and then keep trying new things. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I would say, find someone (locally, preferably) who can guide you. I had someone on Reddit (of all places lol) offer to guide me along and it made such a huge difference. I'd ask tons of questions and he was very patient. I didn't know about this forum back then, and my interactions on Reddit were not very encouraging, apart from this one individual. The nearest local club is 2 hours away, so I was leaning on this person for weeks. I hope some day I can be that for someone else. I try to find posts on Reddit where someone isn't getting any replies and I try to encourage them. One positive insight can make all the difference. I would add, don't compare yourself to others, especially on social media. There are so many people posting these immaculate looking tanks on IG, who never post their failures or show what Algae has done to their systems. Enjoy your tanks for what they are, as you slowly learn more and more as you go. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/20/2023 at 12:56 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Be the fish"

Honestly this pretty much encompasses what you need to take into account. I always asked myself if I were a fish would I want to live in my tank(s)? As a fish would my fish keeper comment cards be positive or would they have criticisms for me? I'm always making sure my fish keeping holes are plugged so my comment card would be only positive:

  • Is this tank that I'm going to put fish in cycled? (did I do the right amount of research on the nitrogen cycle, and am I prepared to do a fish-in cycle if something goes wrong)
  • do I have the right combination of fish that they are all getting along and have the same water parameter needs and are also not overcrowded?
  • do I have the correct foods for these fish and is everyone getting enough food
  • do they have the right environment (plants, hides, etc)
  • is my filtration good enough and well maintained?
  • do I have all the right equipment (testing, cleaning, tools etc) and do I REALLY need a heater (most of the time the answer is no)
  • am I prepared for any type of emergency? (QT tanks, floating breeder boxes, extra filters, ALL the meds to cover ALL the basic illnesses)

If I were a fish I'd want my fish keeper to have all of this and care about my well being. If I ever ask myself would a fish want to live in this tank and the answer is no, there's some serious thinking that needs to go into what to do next!

Anyway to answer the ACTUAL question in the thread, the best advice I was given as a beginner was to have a fish first aid kit before you even get a fish. 

Edited by xXInkedPhoenixX
Link to comment
Share on other sites

RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH.. and find a person (or forum) you can get info from and ask questions freely. This one is great because even if there are disagreements no one makes you feel stupid, and there is no such thing as a dumb question here! Wish I had this when I first started out. 
 

Someone mentioned this already but get fish you like, and not what other people like! I avoided goldfish for years (reports of them being messy and annoying to keep) and tried out “cooler” fish like cichlids, oddballs, etc. before I finally got a cheap $6 fantail goldfish from petco… that goldfish is now huge and tattooed on my body 😂😂 Now I have two goldfish tanks and multiple species ♥️ 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/31/2023 at 7:17 PM, EVoyager31 said:

RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH.. and find a person (or forum) you can get info from and ask questions freely. This one is great because even if there are disagreements no one makes you feel stupid, and there is no such thing as a dumb question here! Wish I had this when I first started out. 
 

Someone mentioned this already but get fish you like, and not what other people like! I avoided goldfish for years (reports of them being messy and annoying to keep) and tried out “cooler” fish like cichlids, oddballs, etc. before I finally got a cheap $6 fantail goldfish from petco… that goldfish is now huge and tattooed on my body 😂😂 Now I have two goldfish tanks and multiple species ♥️ 

ALSO, be extremely patient with plants, especially if you’re not pumping c02 (not necessary but it makes my plants grow crazy fast). When I started I wanted a jungle look.. so I went and bought every different kind of plant I could find. No cohesion, no plan, just stuck it in the substrate large at the back and small up front. Was never happy with the look..It is much better to get a few plant species, let them grow out and trial and error until you find the look you want. 
 

Many MANY dollars spent on plants I ended up getting rid of.. 😂

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just buy the fish medicine. I can’t tell you how many times one of my fish had a disease or injury and it was of course at like 11 pm at night. It would also always be right after I get back from the pet store where they would have the medicine and I would think to myself “Do you really need that medicine?” Yes Yes I would. When I was getting my fish to put in to my cycled tank he told be to GET THE FISH MEDICINE. But I had to save myself $50. I have lost about 5 guppies and 2 platies over a course of a year because I wanted to save money. I know better now.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

'Do your research' has been great for me.

Having a good understanding of what type of fish I am getting and what they need to thrive has not only helped me to have the best chances of success, but it has also increased my enjoyment of the hobby. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...