Things you "shouldn't" do, but do anyways

[Milliardo Peacecraft]

I thought it would be interesting to start a topic of things that you are "not supposed" to do, but that you've been doing for years and have never had an issue with it.

I'll start.  I've been cleaning my aquarium top with dual action clorox wipes for years to scrub off all of the aglee, scale, and other nasties on both sides of the glass.  I just make sure it's good and dry before I put it back on.  When I'm cleaning the top, I'm also doing a water change, so declorinator goes in, I've never measured any chlorine afterwards, and my fish have always done just fine.

2nd one, large rocks or ceramic decorations or anything that is too big to clean well by boiling before using.... clorox anywhere spray.. which is now a home made version since you can't find it pre-made anymore. 

For my Texas Holey Stone, and some other large decorations, I've prepped them for use in the aquarium by scrubbing them with a brush and the garden hose, then letting them dry before I sprayed them down with clorox anywhere spray, let it sit a while to kill anything off it could.  Then hosed it down again with the garden hose to rinse off the left over spray.  Put it in the aquarium, used declorinator the same way I do for water changes, and have never had any measurable chlorine and all of the fish have been fine.

[Fish Folk]

"Shouldn't do" is probably going to be debatable on some of these... but I'll play. Here's a few...

I allow a massive colony of Malaysian Trumpet snails to infest my Discus Tank.

I just allow Duckweed to grow everywhere. If it gets too thick, I net it off with an aquascaping skimmer net.

I occasionally feed my fish small earthworms from under outside rocks and wood.

[nabokovfan87]

"Not have snails" is pretty much the big one for me and it's very debatable, but I think a lot of other people would point to issues I run into (BBA) and just say "add snails".

One of the previously big ones was have a RTBS in a smaller tank for an extended period as well as using a 10G to hold fish while I didn't have any other choice.   All fixed now, but it is absolutely something that weighed very heavily on me.

Running a heavily modded filter, based on another filter design.  It "works", and it's temporary, but it's also something I really shouldn't be doing.

Run a light that's 6" too long for a tank just because I need it to have more power.  There's always a risk of hitting it when I walk in/out of the room.  I have since fixed it, but this was running for a few weeks and it'll be up/running again, eventually.

Running way, way too much air then necessary.  At some points it can seem like a jacuzzi, but I have had a lot of issues getting pumps to be "the right size" for my needs.

Not dripping water in for shrimp.  Some do, some don't. If you can, drip.

[beastie]

I never turn off my heater when putting my hands in any of my tanks, neither when I take the water out and the heater is not submerged fully. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Suck to start the siphon!

Not cleaning siphons! (Water is just going out, not in, so… idc)

Also water changes used to be weekly, but now I just read the water tests weekly and change it if a parameter is not in range.

Overfeed. 🥲 Who else is guilty of this?  Fess up! 

On 10/2/2023 at 1:24 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Not have snails

😭💔

Keeping shrimp in tap water (But like, LFS said they were tap water raised, so it’s fine I guess. The shrimps seem happy; have built up a nice colony)

Not clean the filter mechanisms. Unless it sounds funny.

Siphon into the sand. Some say don’t disturb it because of the anerobic bacteria. But things looks better overall when I siphon it.

I don’t completely clean things I take out of a tank. Quick rinse in tap water. That’s it. (Unless it’s coming from a quarantine tank, then full disinfect)

Use garlic and higher temp to cure ich.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[FLFishChik]

Cleaning new tanks or reused tanks with Dawn dishsoap. I've not had an issue, just make sure it's really well rinsed

Boiling rocks. If gradually heated and gradually cooled, it shouldn't be an issue. I've never had one.

Rinsing intake sponges in tap water.

 

 I probably do loads of other things I'm not "supposed" to do, but can't think of them off the top of my head at the moment.

[mynameisnobody]

Housing neocaridinia’s with wakin goldfish, some in the 7”-8” range. It shouldn’t work but it definitely does for whatever reason. 

[JettsPapa]

Both of my 5.5 gallon tanks, and the four tubs outside, have a good amount of live plants, but no mechanical filtration or water movement.

When I add rocks or wood to my tanks, that I've collected, I rinse it and put it straight into the tank.  No boiling, no Clorox, no nothing.  I usually pick up leaves and drop them straight into the tanks without rinsing.

I can't remember the last time I vacuumed the substrate in any of my tanks.

[HelplessNewbie]

I like this list. Just goes to show there are many ways to do things. There's no right or wrong.

[Biotope Biologist]

I had a reject tank in college full of all sorts of compatibility issues, but never had a single issue. Most were adoptees from work.

 

Tank mates: 8” goldfish, 5 gold gourami, 6” gold chinese algae eater, 2 bluespot sunfish, a full grown male convict cichlid, and finally a full grown golden bristlenose pleco. All shared a 55 long. Oh and for a time a male bullfrog tadpole! 

 

I think another thing im not supposed to do but do anyway is feed my fish insects that make their way in my house. They love bottle flies. Just no bugs I know to be toxic or not pleasant to eat. I get a lot of shield bugs and june bugs. I must have very old pine trees around me.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Biotope Biologist

[Milliardo Peacecraft]

On 10/2/2023 at 9:31 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

Just no bugs I know to be toxic or not pleasant to eat.

LOL, dying to know how you know they are not pleasant to eat.  🙂

[VariegatedReticulated]

Corydoras on "sharp" substrate with lava rocks for decoration.

They've been on Ecocomplete substrate for a while now, including this summer, when they went into the tub pond with a bunch of lava rocks (and really, all the good decor from my few tanks.) They came out last week with their barbells as long as they've ever been. 

I finally listened to the club talk on breeding corydoras this weekend and will be changing them up soon for breeding. I will baby them on sand with less sharp rocks, but I'd be fine keeping them with sharp substrate if I didn't have the supplies. 

[Tanked]

I clean the outside of my tank with Windex, have never washed out the gravel syphon, I boil rocks, and am still waiting for a first person account of making one explode!  I don't turn off pumps or heaters when doing water changes.  I only feed once a day, don't quarantine, or have a pharmacy on standby. In the past, I have kept a common pleco and 3 Red Tailed Tinfoil Barbs in the same 29 gallon tank.  They lived long healthy lives and new fish did not grow as large when placed in the 75.  
I'm a terrible person.

[JettsPapa]

On 10/2/2023 at 12:43 PM, Tanked said:

. . . have never washed out the gravel syphon.

I've washed my large one exactly once.  The discharge hose was full of mildew, but after I used it to drain a tank that I'd set outside, filled 3/4 of the way with water, and then added bleach to kill the algae there was no more mildew.

[Sora]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:07 AM, beastie said:

I never turn off my heater when putting my hands in any of my tanks, neither when I take the water out and the heater is not submerged fully. 

are you supposed to do that? never knew until now lol. I have learned my lesson about being careless with heaters though. once I took a fully heated plugged in heater out of the water and only noticed when it started smoking. so in a panic I unplugged it and put it outside. in the morning i came back and the plastic was a bit melted. (I still use it now, I guess thats something I shouldent do haha.)

Edited October 2, 2023 by Sora

[JettsPapa]

On 10/2/2023 at 1:22 PM, Sora said:

are you supposed to do that? never knew until now lol. I have learned my lesson about being careless with heaters though. once I took a fully heated plugged in heater out of the water and only noticed when it started smoking. so in a panic I unplugged it and put it outside. in the morning i came back and the plastic was a bit melted. (I still use it now, I guess thats something I shouldent do haha.)

It depends on how low the water level will be, and how the heater is positioned in the tank.

[beastie]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:22 PM, Sora said:

are you supposed to do that

Well if it fails or the water level goes lower or anything happens it will electrocute you. So it would be safer if unplugged 🙂 i just never do as it is too hard and i always have wet hands. Also i plug stuff in with wet hands :)) i Wish to be electrocuted

 

 i think :))

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:34 PM, beastie said:

Also i plug stuff in with wet hands

Me too, lol. 

[Odd Duck]

I have been rinsing biomedia in tap water for literally decades with no issues.  I don’t rinse ALL of the biomedia in the tank at once if it’s well stocked, but a lightly stocked tank, . . . . rinse away.  I do tend to run loads of filtration but haven’t always in the past and not once have I had an issue.  I often rinse filters/biomedia very well when resetting tanks and may, or may not, test the water before the next inhabitants go in it as long as it was a well seasoned filter and restocking is light.

If nobody got sick in quarantine, I do nothing with the tank besides a water change before the next fish go in it.

I neglect my filters horribly.  The HOB’s tend to get a full cleaning only when I reset tanks, or it gets noisy, or there’s a rare unfortunate incident.  I really need to make progress on my fishroom and some easier water changes so I don’t feel the need for anything but sponges in my small tanks.

I rinse prefilters only when the water flow is impeded (not really what I recommend at all) but I run loads of plants, redundant filters, generally light stocking, etc.

I don’t have a pharmacy of meds.  I do have dewormers because of pea puffers, but don’t routinely use them.  I also keep Kanaplex on hand, but no others.

I’m sure there’s other things but can’t think of any right now.

[tolstoy21]

On 10/1/2023 at 8:12 PM, Milliardo Peacecraft said:

I'll start.  I've been cleaning my aquarium top with dual action clorox wipes for years to scrub off all of the aglee, scale, and other nasties on both sides of the glass. 

I use Windex. Never dechlorinate afterwards. I don't even own dechlorinator!

 

On 10/1/2023 at 8:12 PM, Milliardo Peacecraft said:

2nd one, large rocks or ceramic decorations or anything that is too big to clean well by boiling before using.... clorox anywhere spray.. which is now a home made version since you can't find it pre-made anymore. 

For my Texas Holey Stone, and some other large decorations, I've prepped them for use in the aquarium by scrubbing them with a brush and the garden hose, then letting them dry before I sprayed them down with clorox anywhere spray, let it sit a while to kill anything off it could.

My method is as follows . . .  see a rock I like in the woods, pick it up, take it home, drop it in tank. If I clean it, it's only to remove debris.

On 10/2/2023 at 4:07 AM, beastie said:

I never turn off my heater when putting my hands in any of my tanks, neither when I take the water out and the heater is not submerged fully. 

Me neither. If the fish are still alive, then there isn't enough current in the water to kill me.  🙂

On 10/1/2023 at 10:02 PM, Fish Folk said:

"Shouldn't do" is probably going to be debatable on some of these... but I'll play. Here's a few...

I allow a massive colony of Malaysian Trumpet snails to infest my Discus Tank.

I just allow Duckweed to grow everywhere. If it gets too thick, I net it off with an aquascaping skimmer net.

I occasionally feed my fish small earthworms from under outside rocks and wood.

Yup. Yup. And Yup.

I do so many things 'wrong' I don't even know where to start!

On 10/2/2023 at 2:22 PM, Sora said:

I have learned my lesson about being careless with heaters though. once I took a fully heated plugged in heater out of the water and only noticed when it started smoking.

I did this once (ok more than once). One started melting its way through a plastic folding table. The other started to burn the plywood it was laying on. I tend to remember I've left them out, plugged in, when I smell smoke.

[tolstoy21]

On 10/2/2023 at 5:20 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Suck to start the siphon!

Yup. God I swallowed the biggest mouthful of mulm this way.  Was like inhaling mud pudding!

I've also started a siphon like this that had a small amount of water still in the hose, in a bend, near the end I was sucking on. Sucked that water straight into my lungs. Thought, 'great I'm going to be the idiot who drowns on dry land!'

Edited October 24, 2023 by tolstoy21

[Ben P.]

Oh man I could think of a few things... 

First I don't own dechlorinator, I used to use it years ago.  Stopped and have had zero problems.  I live in a city and I know there's obviously some amount of chlorine but fish breed and are happy so.... I kind of think it's a hoax that you need it 😂

Every water change I do on adult fish tanks is always done with cold tap water, also never had a problem but to be fair my water changes are small.  

I'm not a frequent water changer on display tanks regardless, I just pay attention to my fish and if something looks off I change water but it's often about once a month if nothing makes me change it more frequently.

Never test water, it just makes me want to chase parameters that I will never be able to maintain.

I used to feed my culls to one of my oldest fish before he passed.  He was a Florida gar and lived 9 years.  (BTW if someone has a suggestion for what species to replace him with that would be great, preferably something that swallows them whole so there's less mess in the tank) 

Definitely rinse media in tap water

When I want a tank with a river rock bottom I just go get them out of my landscaping around my house and just put them in without cleaning.  Nature is nature and it'll work out

I realistically just try to balance my tanks so maintenance is minimal.  The only tank that needs regular water changes is my mbuna tank that is intentionally overstocked and light on plants

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/3/2023 at 2:03 PM, tolstoy21 said:

Yup. God I swallowed the biggest mouthful of mulm this way.  Was like inhaling mud pudding!

This happened to me with an airline I was starting. I guess it had some mold or mulm coating the inside of it, and that decided to let loose. I didn’t swallow it, I was spitting it into a white bathroom sink and it was black. Took several flushes of my mouth with tap water to rid myself of it. LOL!! 😝

Most of the time I get my mouth away from the tubing before the water comes out.

My theory is self-inflicted unpleasantries such as this strengthen the good ol’ immune system. 
 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[JettsPapa]

For the people who say they suck on the hose to start the siphon, do you not have the tube at the end that's larger than the hose?  I'm asking because it's easy enough to start a siphon with one of those without sucking on the hose (and I threw the bulbs away years ago).

[Ruud]

Gosh there is lots I am still doing wrong. Most likely I overfeed (hence my usual algae problem), I tend to overstock just because I love fish too much, can't choose and don't have enough tanks lol. I don't vacuum clean enough and keep the heater and filter on while doing water changes. And yes I suck the hose. 

For the cleaners under us... what is the best way to clean glass above the waterline, to get rid of the accumulated minerals etc? I am scared to use something like vinegar with the tank up and running and fish in it.