I'll start...
When I first got into the aquarium hobby, I started with a simple 10 gallon freshwater tank without doing any research. Went to Walmart, picked up a 10 gallon starter kit and strutted out the store as if I were getting ready to house a new species of fish that would change the world. I figure I'll just fill it and add fish...how much easier could this be. After a few days of adding water, the tank would get nasty!! I told myself, "what the heck did I do wrong?". So naturally, I emptied the contents, including the fish, and threw everything in the dishwasher to get cleaned....then started over.
A week later...same problem. "what the heck is going on with this darn filter?!" I told myself. So once again, dishwasher it went, I even scrubbed the equipment with the best Dawn soap I had. After the tank got ugly the 3rd time, I decided to finally do some research to see what the heck was happening and guess what the problem was....Nothing! My tank was trying to cycle. So the 4th time, I let it go and a little over a week later...crystal clear water, healthy fish, no problems for years. There were times where I didn't touch the water for weeks except to top it off.
That was the biggest amateur move I've ever made and still shake my head when I think about it but after tons of reading up on aquariums, I'm understanding it more and more everyday. We won't mention the fact that I didn't think about back siphon and flooded my basement floor 1 day after running my saltwater tank with the ATO pump hosing.
What's your story?? C'mon...it'll be out secret...
When I first got into the aquarium hobby, I started with a simple 10 gallon freshwater tank without doing any research. Went to Walmart, picked up a 10 gallon starter kit and strutted out the store as if I were getting ready to house a new species of fish that would change the world. I figure I'll just fill it and add fish...how much easier could this be. After a few days of adding water, the tank would get nasty!! I told myself, "what the heck did I do wrong?". So naturally, I emptied the contents, including the fish, and threw everything in the dishwasher to get cleaned....then started over.
A week later...same problem. "what the heck is going on with this darn filter?!" I told myself. So once again, dishwasher it went, I even scrubbed the equipment with the best Dawn soap I had. After the tank got ugly the 3rd time, I decided to finally do some research to see what the heck was happening and guess what the problem was....Nothing! My tank was trying to cycle. So the 4th time, I let it go and a little over a week later...crystal clear water, healthy fish, no problems for years. There were times where I didn't touch the water for weeks except to top it off.
That was the biggest amateur move I've ever made and still shake my head when I think about it but after tons of reading up on aquariums, I'm understanding it more and more everyday. We won't mention the fact that I didn't think about back siphon and flooded my basement floor 1 day after running my saltwater tank with the ATO pump hosing.
What's your story?? C'mon...it'll be out secret...