'Common Aquarium Mistakes'

Common Aquarium Mistakes

MissyG (64.136.27.228) -

I am a fish-o-phile :) I love keeping aquariums and it disturbs me to see people making some really big mistakes with their fish.

The number one mistake I see is putting too many fish into too small of a tank. There is no set rule for this (like the supposed 1 fish per gallon rule.) Different fish need different amounts of space. In general, for instance, 1 common goldfish needs at LEAST 10 gallons of water, but I see people putting 3 or 4 in 10 gallon tanks at a time.

What other mistakes do you see?

Comment #1 Courtney (1) from The South -

I have always been told one inch of fish per gallon so that is what I go by and I never have problems. That is for fish like goldfish, now a beta doesn't even need one gallon to itself. I think another mistake is not having a filter, it keeps the water clean longer. We would buy those fish that suck on the tank walls, but eventually they just ate the other fish.

Comment #2 Jeanette from AZ -

I like that rule of thumb - one inch of fish per gallon, easy to remember. I'll know now in the future if we do decide to get a freshwater tank.

Comment #3 endora (24.45.126.104) -

The biggest mistake i always make is overfeeding. I have never gotten that right. I cant even tell how many times of day i should feed them.

Comment #4 Jeff from IL -

the one inch to one gal is ok but... u simply need to no what the fish need when it comes to space and aggresivness. for ex afrcs cichlids need to be corowded bc otherwise they fight to much and in the longrun bigger is always better

Comment #5 Jak Whyte (63.176.159.42) - Sun Nov 9 20:52:58 2008

Well, one of the mistakes or biggest one I've seen so far is people taking care of fish without any knowledge at all. I am talking about people buying fishes at pet shops then dumping their fishes on thanks without proper accessories like the oxygen tube; overfeeding the fishes; and not knowing how to properly clean the fish tank. That is the biggest mistake I've seen... Hope next time people try asking pet shops first or a friend about proper fish care. Woah! That got me all worked up! I don't want to be a fish-o-phile, I still wanted to eat fish as a part of my main course hehehe.

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