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Aquariums: What’s one aquarium mistake every beginner makes?


I’ve been noticing that a lot of beginners enter the hobby with excitement but run into the same early mistakes.

In your experience, what’s the most common mistake people make when starting their first aquarium?

Posted by ManySherbert8555

28 Comments

  1. MavinMarv on

    Over feeding. Even 28 yrs in the trade I still do it. lol But that’s what over filtration and plants are for.

  3. Conscious-Chemist905 on

    Fish. Either too many or not enough, aggressive with peaceful, or too big for tank – incompatibility in general.

  4. Beneficial-Date4014 on

    Not being patient enough for their tank to completely cycle or even knowing what the nitrogen cycle is

  9. SheepherderDue1342 on

    Starting with a small tank because it’s perceived as easier. In my experience it’s far easier maintaining a 40+ gallon than say a 10 gallon.

  10. AltGunAccount on

    Assuming plecos are just inherent tank cleaners and require no maintenance or care.

    They shit more than they help clean, and you still have to feed them. Really cool fish but not the “fire and forget” solution so many people claim they are.

  14. paranoidlabscientist on

    Not having a lid or having the water level too high for fish/shrimp/snails that don’t know any better.

  17. CH3CH2OH_toxic on

    Overfeeding cherry shrimp , that can go so bad , since shrimp has much less bioload than fish

  18. Admirable_Champion97 on

    not adding enough soil. make that sht 10 inch idc. both tanks i did added like 3inch or something :/ thought i added more 2nd time around but nope

  19. Notquitechaosyet on

    Buying mixed gender groups of live bearers without being prepared for the population explosion.

  22. Peppercorn-Bing-Bong on

    I left my lights on all day until i had algae all over. Then i put a gourami that killed all my tetras hahaha

  23. owo1215 on

    immediately putting creatures into the tank after finishing setting it, and not waiting at least week for all plants, microorganisms, stuffs leaching out of wood and rocks to settle down and become stable

  26. beawol on

    Small mistake, but not fertilizing the water column. Ive always kept my tanks understocked for stable water, but there wasn’t enough nitrates for plant food. Now the “jungle” look I want is coming in.

  27. RadiantPreparation33 on

    My most noticed mistake is not cycling the tank first and then even if they try to do a fish n cycle they don’t even use prime or stability they use api crap like quick start that doesn’t work to dechlorinate your tap. Second would be a tank way to small and with many fake sharp decor items

  28. pianobench007 on

    This is a common mistake that all people make. The mistake is not to be open to the scientific method. It applies to an aquarium because, it is a science experiment.

    We are bringing in animals and plants that have evolved else where on this planet in moving living ecosystems that we people barely even understand but that nature maintains so easily.

    Some of the animals live in deep oceans that have deep water pressure but in our home aquariums, they essentially live at the shallow top edges of the beach. Where the fish are from naturally they will have a few feet above them to a few hundred feet of water above them.

    So there are many common mistakes. The biggest mistake that I see however is not enough water movement or not enough filtration. The difference between our systems and a bowl of water is water movement. But the difference between our systems and the oceans or rivers has to be water movement. We are simulating water movement in order to try and replicate the environment that allows plants, corals, and fish to survive in the wild but in our homes.

    Water movement and more filtration solves so many other problems in the aquarium. It keeps the system clean and when done properly the surface agitation or falling water movement will help to oxygenate the entire system.

    That oxygen is what a lot of new hobbyists miss. And the oxygen plays the biggest role in keeping all life in the system.

    So the last mistake is new hobbyist thinking that plants provide enough oxygen in our system. But on planet Earth, it is actually algae that provides upto 70% of our planet’s oxygen. The rest is from plants. And plants themselves undergo cellular respiration. That means that plants also need oxygen to survive.

    So finally. A lot of beginners make these mistakes and then often wonder why they have algae. Algae is the finally boss in our aquariums but honestly algae is the beginning of all life on this planet. Algae is what makes up 90% of all petroleum deposits on earth and provides the planet with 70% of all oxygen.

    Everything needs that oxygen. Including the most important thing that new beginners are told. They are told they need nitrifying beneficial bacteria. A lot of new beginners overlook that bacteria also need oxygen to survive. And infact, the nitrifying bacteria need respiration in order to complete the process.

    NH3/NH4 to NO2 and then NO3 sees that one nitrogen atom gain two oxygens and then finally three oxygen atoms.

    So Oxygen is the biggest mistake most beginners make in this hobby. That and water movement which adds oxygen to a system.

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