It’s sad but it’s a reminder! What’s the worst thing you ever did in this hobby?

[Chuk]

I was using a floating hydrometer to measure my salinity and it kept getting stuck which was ticking me off so I bought a refractometer. I figured it was a set it and forget it type thing didn't ever calibrate or even verify the readings with the float and carried on with my weekly water changes for a year or so. What I didn't realize is that the calibration screw is very easily adjustable and somehow it got twisted. Since I wasn't calibrating the meter it was WAY off and I accidentally lowered my salinity to 1.005 thinking I was fine at 1.025. Killed everything in my 90 gallon reef.
I now bought some calibration solution and check/ calibrate before every use.

 

[keddre]

When I was younger and stupider and had more hair, I sometimes would use Clorox to purify NSW from a beach.
I was worried about things then that I am not concerned with now.
For years I used Regular Clorox and everything was fine.
Then I used "New Fresh Scent Clorox" by accident and did a water change with that water.
Almost instantly fish started jumping out. I lost most of my fish including an 18 year old brutlyd (cusk eel) very old mandarin, Moorish idol and almost everything else. My fireclown made it through for some reason and is now 26 so maybe it made him immortal.
The corals were not affected as much but they now had a nice fresh scent.
I immediately took out the living fish that I could find and threw them in the old water. Then I carbon filtered the tank water for a day or so while I mixed up new water. I had to wait for my ro/di to make about 60 gallons of water.
The tank recovered but it took over a year before my fireclown looked me in the eye.

Lol, I think the best thing about this is your switch. You've gone from literally purifying everything with bleach to a "natural" let things come approach

 

[Katrina71]

The first time I removed asterina stars I tried to take them back to the lfs. They said they are like reef ants. Showed me how to re-home them. Flush...I feel kinda bad every time I do it to this day.

 

[dutch27]

I tried putting a wedge between a tank and a light - specifically an old Solana I modified, and the halide it had. I was trying to force the light backwards to get it centered on the tank. Well, the tank had a minor crack in it, and the wedge turned that minor crack into a massive one. I came back to my apartment at the time from the laundry room, and SW was running down the tank, around the stand, and pouring directly into an empty socket on my power strip, causing quite a bit of sparking. Had I not been home when that happened, I may have burned down my complex. I ended up with everything in a 12g rubbermaid in the kitched, with my light rigged up to a couple of chairs, lol. The LFS came to the rescue and ordered me a 25g Marineland at cost. Was ready to leave the hobby after that, I was so worried about fires and tank failure.

Also, not a stupid thing, but one that was heartbreaking. We had a snow storm wipe out power for several days. I rushed my clown (other one died a few days earlier to a dead return pump), my corals, and rocks into my office in a bucket as we have a generator. Came to work on Monday to find the heater I had dug out of the closet had malfunctioned and cooked everything. If I recall a few corals survived, but that was about it.

And like several other comments, I also didn't QT a fish and wiped out the entire population of a 120g. Sold the tank and took a break after that one.

 

[dutch27]

The first time I removed asterina stars I tried to take them back to the lfs. They said they are like reef ants. Showed me how to re-home them. Flush...I feel kinda bad every time I do it to this day.

FWIW, I've never had issues with asterinas. The only time I ever saw them eating corals, zoas specifically, was when the corals were already on their way out.

 

[ThunderGoose]

I'm only 1 year into this hobby (tank got wet on December 19 last year!) so I don't have too many bit mistakes yet. There are things I wish I had done differently - buying quality lights right off the bat, not hoping cheap ones would get me through is a big one.

I also wish I had used live rock (not because of the problems but because I really like the diversity and a lot of the hitchhikers that come with live rock).

AND I wish I had brought in a professional/ experienced reef keeper to set up my first tank. I'm having one in this week to help me change my sump design, set up my water station and make a regium that is separate from the sump (so no more cleaning the skimmer every couple of days when the chaeto clogs it). Even with all the research I did I couldn't match experience. I'm hoping that with his suggestions I'll quit killing corals and start growing them instead. Fingers crossed.

 

[XNavyDiver]

According to my wallet, the worse thing I have ever done in this hobby was getting into it.

Yup. I think it's the exception that one is able to slide by without a mishap, but this one we all make.

 

[nigelmansell]

Mistake 1
Away on holiday. Come back to water overflowing the tank and ATO empty. Some crud had blocked a sponge in the sump which was reducing the flow through the baffles so the ATO device kept add more and more RO to try and raise the level. Lost all corals apart from some pest palythoa I was trying to eliminate. :mad:

Mistake 2
Didn't leave enough space in the sump to deal with the back syphon through the return. Drilled the return line but not low enough. So one night at about midnight, the power goes off and water starts flooding out under the stand onto the wooden floors. Had to completely drain the tank to be able to move it and dry underneath. Wife was luckily very understanding.

Mistake 3
Didn't QT fish, got velvet in the display. Took all the fish out and put into QT tank. This somehow changed the balance in the tank and I lost all the corals. I also lost all the fish as one day I happened to check the QT and find ammonia off the chart. Turns out this is actually a known side effect of using copper meds, and whats more, using Prime to detoxify the (false positive) ammonia makes the copper far more toxic.

Mistake 4
Turned central heating right down to save a few quid while away for three weeks. Came back to a house at 5c and tank at 11c full of dead corals. Heater couldn't deal with the big drop in temperature. Probably the most expensive way of saving money possible

 

[cardiffgiant]

Before I had a controller I had a light switch on my first floor connected to my return pump in my basement so that I could shut off my return pump for feedings. I had a cover over the switch to prevent accidental shutoff... but some how it got shut off when we went out of town for 3 days. Coming home to the smell of dead fish was awful. I've been using an apex ever since.

 

[Mark Derail]

Got a Rescue Tank from Kijiji!!! Just have to move it!

Then not using a 5-stage Reverse Osmosis Deioniser... My city water was fine for years (still is) for my freshwater Discus tank.
Should be good enough for Marine! (spoiler: massive die-off)

TL;DR RODI vs Tap

 

[BigRedSpecial]

My first 10g tank... I had been using boiling water in a syringe to deal with aiptasia; someone suggested using vinegar instead. I didn't realize they meant to inject them; I was blasting them... 40 or so ml of vinegar later the pH crash and following bacterial bloom killed my crab and three shrimp. Fish and coral weren't bothered luckily. Neither were the aiptasia

 

[jasonrusso]

I killed my angler by overfeeding (the one on my avatar). I didn't know that you can't feed them daily. They only eat 2 times a week because their metabolism is so slow. Everytime he saw me he started fishing so I fed him thinking he was hungry.

 

[PedroYoung]

I was moving and had several buddies helping me move my 75G since I had just had shoulder surgery. One of them was stoned to the bone. I asked him to loosen the union fitting below the return bulkhead. He removed the bulkhead. Couldn't get the bulkhead to reseal, it was Sunday and couldn't find replacement gasket. Everything was in 5G buckets getting colder and colder. Finally got in touch with LFS owner who agreed to come in and hook me up with a new bulkhead. Lesson, Friends don't let Friends help stoned.

 

[Mark Derail]

My first 10g tank... I had been using boiling water in a syringe to deal with aiptasia; someone suggested using vinegar instead. I didn't realize they meant to inject them; I was blasting them... 40 or so ml of vinegar later the pH crash and following bacterial bloom killed my crab and three shrimp. Fish and coral weren't bothered luckily. Neither were the aiptasia

I blast them with 2ml of vinegar, with a stick, air tubing, and 2ml syringe at the end. Tie-wrapped to the stick. So I can't shoot more than 2ml, and I hover the tube on top of the aptasia. No problems so far.

 

[Brew12]

Using gfo

Yup, I did this one. I added around 15 beautiful SPS frags when someone mentioned my PO4 may be too high. It was only around 0.1ppm but not knowing any better I added GFO.
Did you know that stripping all the PO4 out of your system will kill all the coral in your tank?

I also lost all the fish as one day I happened to check the QT and find ammonia off the chart. Turns out this is actually a known side effect of using copper meds, and whats more, using Prime to detoxify the (false positive) ammonia makes the copper far more toxic.

Yup, did something like this one, too. First batch of fish I ever got from my LFS. I was going to QT them and was told drip acclimation was the way to go. Just add Prime to deal with the ammonia while you drip. So I did. I didn't realize my LFS kept low levels of copper in their systems. Nothing lived through the first day. I am happy to say that this store now posts the fact they run copper in their systems.

 

[splix]

Any pressurized lines need clamps. Do not rely on the barbs. BRS sells plastic hose clips for anything near the water.
100 gallons of salt water on the floor (luckily basement) after the line popped off the return pump and it performed tryouts for the bellagio fountains while emptying the 100g refugium it was sitting in. It was fine for months, and I always checked it to make sure it wasnt slipping. One day....pop.

 

[Will Milberger]

When I was in college, back in the mid-80's, I got started with a 35 gallon aquarium. Went to the local fish store, told him that I was starting out and what did I need. Dollar signs flashed in the dudes eyes. Didn't know about cycling, lighting anything. $600 and 8 dead fish later and ditching a crappy hob filter, I learned my lesson. By the way youngsters, $600 in 1985 was a lot of money. Wiped out my savings account.

 

[BigRedSpecial]

I blast them with 2ml of vinegar, with a stick, air tubing, and 2ml syringe at the end. Tie-wrapped to the stick. So I can't shoot more than 2ml, and I hover the tube on top of the aptasia. No problems so far.

That's all well and good, but 40ml in 10 gallons is a recipe for disaster!

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

While working at an LFS, I accidentally gave a customer who was doing a large water change on his reef filtered fresh water instead of saltwater. Found out years later his entire reef died due to my mistake. I think that guy still hates me to this day.

 

[nfrench2100]

The worst thing I’ve ever done in this hobby..... Well it just so happened to come to my attention last night while I was looking around my cabinet and sump. Mind you all, this is the first ever, tank that I’ve owned with a sump and return.

I broke this tank down November 25th from a local hobbyist, and had it full of water and running on the 27th. So it’s been up like this for a little over 2 weeks. Just a little insight so hopefully you guys can offer your best ways on what YOU would do to fix it.

My plan of attack is to turn the return pump off, let the couple inches of water drain back into the sump so that the water level is under the return nozzles. Then simply unscrew it and get a good seal back on them. Any advice would be much appreciated!