Beginners'
Most Common Mistakes
Here are lists of beginner aquarist most common mistakes. These are based on my personal experience and research.
Try to read and understand it. You may possibly avoid it by knowing it ahead of time.
Moving too fast
I’ve been there. We tend to get so excited and lose our patience that we fail to do our research about this hobby before getting started.
This is one of the most common mistakes beginner aquarist make. We get too anxious and tend to do so many things at one time.
Many people that are new to this hobby reports problems once they have put a saltwater aquarium together.
Remember that you need to control the building process of your saltwater aquarium.
Try to slow down and make changes one step at a time. Wait in between these steps and you will be rewarded with a healthy fish and other inhabitants you may have and a beautiful saltwater aquarium.
Tank overload
Another common mistake that goes hand-in-hand with moving too fast is “overloading” your saltwater aquarium with too many fish, invertebrates, and/or live rock.
Crowded aquarium leads to high levels of wastes, territorial battles, and all other syndromes that can lead to unbalance water parameter and even fish loss.
Again, try to, or should I say you have to “SLOW DOWN!” You don’t have to rush; this hobby doesn’t have a deadline! So work on your patience skills and take it easy.
Misdiagnosing Diseases and Overmedicating
Saltwater ich is one of the huge problems when we talk about diagnosing diseases. It is very important to properly diagnose and treat any kind of saltwater diseases.
If you use the wrong medication to treat whatever disease your inhabitants may have, it can be fatal.
Here is a list of treatment methods that might help you if you are treating a saltwater aquarium disease.
When using medication, try to use the ones that are formulated to target their specific disease or diseases. Medications should only be used when necessary and when you are sure of what kind of disease you are dealing with.
Click here to understand more about saltwater fish diseases and treatments.
Inadequate Filtration
There is couple of filtration method to choose from in the market nowadays. If you don’t pick the right filtration system, it can lead to variety of problems.
So depending on your planned bio-load should be the basis on choosing the right filter for your saltwater aquarium. It is always better to have more filter media being used than too little.
Incompatibility of your Livestock
Our next on our list of common mistakes is the incompatibility of the fish and other inhabitants.
It is always better to research anything and everything about any fish, invertebrates and/or corals you plan to get for your saltwater aquarium.
Learn about the compatibility of these animals before putting them together. Read about which ones you can house together peacefully to avoid stress, injured or dead inhabitants.
Not knowing enough information when buying livestock
Always get information about any new additions you would like for your saltwater aquarium. It’s very important to know what they are, how to feed them, what to feed them and how to care for them.
Most of us will think and say, “I like this one because it’s colorful” or cute or whatever it may be. Others would say "This is the one I like - just like in that Nemo movie!"
Try not to base it on those. If you really want that particular saltwater fish – then research more about it! It will help you enjoy them longer in your saltwater aquarium.
Purchasing Fish with Poor Health Condition
Most sick fish don’t eat. Try to have the sales person show you if the fish that you want to get is eating before buying it.
Another suggestion is read on and know how to determine the symptoms and other signs of common illness or diseases so you’d know what to look for when you try to inspect the fish you intended to buy to avoid this common mistake.
Overfeeding fish
I think this is the most common mistakes out of the most common mistakes there is! Like all other pets, we love to interact with them.
But since we can’t really pet a fish, like dogs, or cats or other pets you can possibly think of, the only time we can interact with them is when it’s feeding time! So we tend to do it more often.
This then leads to overfeeding that causes problems to the fish itself and to the saltwater. Remember that these fish are small and do not have the same appetite as we do!
Uneaten food and fish waste can lead to water chemistry change, and also look ugly in the aquarium. There are toxic by-products produced by uneaten food that can stress fish. Another problem is when the fish overeats. This can cause health problems.v
Poor Saltwater Aquarium Maintenance
I would suggest having a routine maintenance scheduled for your saltwater aquarium. This way, your aquarium will less likely to experience high nitrate levels, bacterial outbreaks, or other common aquarium problems.
Dedicate your time for a simple cleaning or water change once or twice every two weeks.
Trust me, this will make saltwater aquarium keeping a much exciting hobby by not dealing with common saltwater parameter problems and imbalances.
Thoughts or comments?
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