What are your biggest fishkeeping "oops!"?

[yah-the submariner]

I've always believed that we learn from our mistakes. I also believe others can benefit from our mistakes in this hobby(myself especially).:banghead:

That said list some or one of your greater mishaps. feel free to list why it happened and if you've since found the solution please list that as well.
also feel free to add on to any solutions or mishaps that has already been
`````posted by someone here.I will be watching and learning:Lurking:

 

[lanacane214]

:bigeyes2:I put the hose for my auto top off half way into my sump,I have a 55g sump half off the water suctioned back on to the floor.leave hose above water !!drrrr

 

[yah-the submariner]

My biggest oops was way back when i first started my fluval 6 gal. A gu at petland told me i didn't need to cycle or test. just some instant cycle(small bottle) and live rock( a few pieces). well i believed him and i did ok for a week. i had a damsel,peppermint shrimp and a turbo snail.Then all went to hell. i lost everything-snail first then damsel turned pale and died then the shrimp after another week. I almost gave up forever. it took a year and a half to try again.
i don't have to explain the solution for this but i will stress trust cycling and if only initially,test ,test and oh yeah.. test. remember these:fish: are our :grouphug: not our :chefico:
:snail:<----these guys too. Second most important thing-don't be afraid to ask for help,or second opinions. Discovery is great,innovation-great,but be the annoying question asking guy with the healthy,thriving tank.There's nothing wrong with making mistakes,just making ones that can be avoided when you have people who have done what your doing with success. why start from scratch? Then take their recipe and spice it up with innovation!!

 

[yah-the submariner]

:bigeyes2:I put the hose for my auto top off half way into my sump,I have a 55g sump half off the water suctioned back on to the floor.leave hose above water !!drrrr

:headache: that suuuucks,i did something similar to that once when draining a tank,i walked away and returned to a pool of water on the floor. thanks for the input. i'm working on a sum s i need to keep that in mind

 

[tentacles]

left the RODI running upstairs, forgot about it, ruined the ceiling downstairs. whoops

 

[CHEMCHEF]

left the rodi running upstairs, forgot about it, ruined the ceiling downstairs. Whoops

+1

 

[bigcapct]

left the rodi running upstairs, forgot about it, ruined the ceiling downstairs. Whoops

+2!!!

 

[yah-the submariner]

left the RODI running upstairs, forgot about it, ruined the ceiling downstairs. whoops

woow, So it goes..

 

[yah-the submariner]

+2!!!

I don't have my Rodi yet,so now i know what to lookout for!

 

[tenMann2]

My biggest makes, not watching the pump of my fresh mix dump water into my stand rather than into the sump, which ended up going through the hardwood floors on the main floor then into the basement. I'll never leave any pumps outside of the tank unattended again.

 

[yah-the submariner]

woow

 

[Euroreefer]

Reef octopus Hang on skimmers return was blocked with a stuck turbo snail causing it to overflow onto the floor of my house at 2am. Tank is on the 2nd floor. I was able to clean up the mess (about 20 gallons) before anyone woke up and noticed!, tank was half empty lol :shhh

 

[skene]

starting a saltwater tank. :p

 

[tenMann2]

starting a saltwater tank. :p

This oops supersedes all other oops.

 

[yah-the submariner]

This oops supersedes all other oops.

you don't have to tell me-:dead1:

 

[ocholoco]

hey

When i first started the hobby i would freak out about ick, so on one of those freak outs i put copper to get rid of ick in a tank that was full of live rock, snails,shrimps, anemone...... THAT WAS A HUGE OPPSSS. The firts to go were the shrimps instantly... and the worst part was that once the anemone went all fish died... there goes ick for you.

 

[tenMann2]

When i first started the hobby i would freak out about ick, so on one of those freak outs i put copper to get rid of ick in a tank that was full of live rock, snails,shrimps, anemone...... THAT WAS A HUGE OPPSSS. The firts to go were the shrimps instantly... and the worst part was that once the anemone went all fish died... there goes ick for you.

wow, that's bad. But the real question is, did copper take care of the ick? :eek1:

 

[ocholoco]

hey

as far as i know it made things worst!!!! It works but make sure you do it in a quarantine tank with nothing but saltwater. now when my fish get ick i let them be make sure they eat it usually goes away on its own. I wish i would've known this years ago.

 

[thirty5]

i was turning off my main pump and not the skimmer so the skimmer would then overflow and it drained into the sink. The ato would then top off with fresh water. Then not checking salinity and wondering why ALL my lps started to die. Salinity of 1.01 is not good!

 

[Weicowireman]

Telling my girlfriend how much time and money spend on my saltwater tank..