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We all have those funny little stories, random lessons, and well, less than perfect moments. I'm talking about the ones you can't tell the abnormal people (ie: non-fishkeepers) without having them look at you funny. This is of course not to say that they don't already look @you funny, but it at least gives them one less reason to.

So what are some of the random lessons you've learned.
Here's two from me to start out.

1. When doing water changes in subzero temps, be sure your hands are dry before touching a metal doorhandle.

2. Before pouring new water into a tank, make sure the bucket is actually over the tank.

^_^[hr width='40%']"There’s an emptiness inside her. And she’d do anything to fill it in.
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now. It's more like cold blue ice in her heart.
She feels like kicking out all the windows. And setting fire to this life."

Unplug heaters before you change water (I've been zapped twice...)

><>

and make sure you plug them back in the same day, not 2 weeks later

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

You've been zapped by your heater?

They mustn't make them very well where you are then ... the ones I've bought recently are hermetically sealed units with temperature control of the thermostat via an easy to turn knob ... they have to pass all kinds of stringent safety tests here in the UK before they're allowed on the market ...

Anyway, that's today. Back in the 1970s, heaters were a different matter altogether. They had separate heater-stat combos back then, and the only way you could adjust the temperature was to open up the stat unit and twiddle a screw inside it with a screwdriver. Which I did ... without disconnecting it from the mains first. And UK mains voltage is 240 volts. Which promptly went up my right arm. Interesting experience for any teenager.

Just as well it didn't go up my left arm, or my fishkeeping career would have ended long ago ... 240 volts across the heart is not something you want to experience ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Twice? I've got the filters and heaters plugged into power strips with switches. First thing I do is shut it off when I'm about to do a water change.

Mine is going to need a preface. When I change water I siphon into a 10 gal. bucket. The bucket has a pond pump in it and I run a hose either out the door or to the toilet, depnding on which tank I'm cleaning. When I run it to the toilet I put the lid down and put a rock that I keep on my bookshelf on the lid to hold the hose.

It's very important to make sure the hose isn't pointed at the gap between the lid and the bowl. It only took 20 gallons to learn that.

Mike

*cough* this isn't supposed to be a "you do things wrong cause you don't do them my way" thread it's supposed to be all the things that you can't post elsewhere cause they're too random for the "worst mistakes" threads in getting started.

*hopes people stop ruining her thread* .

^_^
[hr width='40%']"There&#8217;s an emptiness inside her. And she&#8217;d do anything to fill it in.
And though it&#8217;s red blood bleeding from her now. It's more like cold blue ice in her heart.
She feels like kicking out all the windows. And setting fire to this life."

"The smallest hole/arch in ur fish tank decorations has to be bigger than your biggest fish."

I came home one morning and I had to medicate the tank for ich. Since I kept clowns and 2 black sharks, and had tried everything else before, I was going to do Methyl. So at 4 am (that's when I reach home), I switched on the tank light, switched off the filter, put in methyl and turned on the filter.

One of the black sharks may have been startled from its sleep and was stunned. Off it went and promptly wedged itself into the door of a little fishy house with 2 doors and 2 windows. The shark was about 8 inches, and the house door about 2 inches in length.

I had to push the shark out slowly but surely while keeping the house in the water, and it was quite an experience. Phew!

Luckily, the shark escaped with only a few scratches.

I've learned that when vacing out a betta tank keep a close eye on the hose.

They run from nets but get very interested in sucking hoses..]:|

When trying to fix a retrofitted light (later turned out both bulbs had burnt out, nothing wrong with it ) unplug before testing it EVERY TIME and Don't Touch Bare Wires!
That was quite an experience.

Or how about the really stupid: when dealing with a young mother, don't be constantly shining a flashlight into the shell to see if there are wrigglers visible because She'll Eat Them And Move To The Other Side Of The Tank!
Darn curiosity.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

My Contribution... From personal experiance...


ALWAYS remind wife to step OVER the Python Hose that runs
from the tank to the kitchen sink when syphoning the tank...

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Along with LittleMousling: When dealing with a young mother, don't do anything to disturb the tank when there are small fry in the tank (lost a whole lot of fry one day when I was trying to clean the tank thoroughly)

><>

Bettas have personality! And are the most curious things you ever will see. I've never seen a cory look quite as startled as when my betta girls came to investigate him... it looked like three or four of the girls were all interogating him.

You can cry over a fishy death. It doesn't matter that it's "just" a fish or "just" a BN pleco. He was damn cute and one of my favs. Poor Daffy.

Yes, I name my fish. They may not be dogs, but they're my babies!

I've spent almost as much on my fish and tanks as my mom has spent on her dog (a purebred english cocker spaniel, show quality). People don't seem to understand this.

Yes, I have eight tanks in my room. No, they don't keep me up at night. Yes, I have had half a dozen male bettas and eleven females. Yes, I will probably wind up with more. Yes, I need more tanks. No, I'm not crazy. Or obsessed. Well... maybe!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

And speaking of fish that need to be watched when gravel vac'ing ... Pandas. That follow your gravel vac as if magnetically drawn to it because it might dig up some tasty titbits they missed first time round. And Otocinclus that try using the gravel vac as a perch while you're using it. Adds considerably to the hilarity of the whole gravel vac operation.

Oh yes. Naming your fish. Always gets strange looks from the non fishkeepers. As in the reaction I got when I told someone that my Pandas were called Mata Hari, Shy Di, Scooter, Rudolf Valentino, Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo.

Last edited by Calilasseia at 28-Feb-2005 15:43

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

when keeping anything in a fish tank that may crawl out, tell everyone in the house about them. i have received many a distressed phone call at work from my wife about armor plated roaches crawling around the house. she no longer enjoys crayfish, crabs and such as much as me.

ot- i once kept a tarantula that was an adept escape artist. it would always find its way under my wife's pillow on the water bed. i am still married, although the tarantulas now stay in our yard (no more water bed either, but for other reasons).