"Eric" wrote...


OK, I will now reveal that I have at one time worked as a fish
professional.
I worked for one of the big "evil empire" type stores when I needed an
extra
job to cover some expenses. Here are some things I wish people knew about
fish before they ever thought about keeping an aquarium.

1. You cannot buy an aquarium and the fish you want in it the same day.
There
were even people who wanted to buy a tank and a clownfish just because
they
saw Finding Nemo. Even if you bought live sand and filtered seawater this
would be a long shot for the little nemo's survival.

2. You can't stock a tank to capacity shortly after setting it up. the
number
one cause of death is ammonia. Bacteria get rid of ammonia. New tanks
don't
have these bacteria, so build up slow. It may take a couple of months.

3. Algae will not kill your fish. Some people panic when they see algae.
They
do stupid things as a result.

4. A teardown and rebuild is a good way to kill your fish. If the fish
were
happy why do you need to take everything apart? Oh, yeah, algae.

4. It's best to stick to fish that stay under 3 inches in a 10gal. tank

5. You don not *have to* get a CAE or a pl*co in order to "clean the
tank".
If you just think they're cool, get one, but they are by no means
necessary.
Every fish you add to a tank increases the load on a tank. There is no
magic
fish that improves water quality.

6. If you think that AmmoLock, Amquel, or zeolite are a long-term solution
to
your overcrowded tank, you're wrong. There are countless oscar abusers who
mistakenly rely on these products.

7. Don't worry so much about your pH. It's high. The water comes from deep
wells that extend into Jurassic seabeds. Your better off just not worrying
about and letting your cardinals die young than adding pH Down or worse
to
your tank.

Can anyone else add to this list?

just a couple,...

8. fish die. two reasons:
a. natural causes
b. effect causes
know the difference starts with how much you mess with their habitat as in
1-4 above.

9. if someone is telling you something you dont want to hear, you should
probably listen.

10. if someone is telling you something you didnt want to hear the first
time, thank them for having the care and patience to tell you again.

11. everyone was a newbie once, there is no mistake you can make that
someone somewhere hasnt already perfected.

12. there are no 'stupid' questions.

13. in spite of everything, fish will still die. take consolence that it
happens to everyone.


and just for something else to do... things you wish newbies knew about
usenet:

1. always type pl*co with an asterix- friday the 13th's and full moons are
real.

2. dont shot the messenger, he may be trying to help.

3. dont feed the trolls, they're canibalistic and get enough to eat anyway.

4. never type N*tM*x with an asterix, he'll still find you.

5. fix that CAPS LOCK key.

6. dont add fuel to the fire and dont fan the flames.

7. crossposting is a plonkable offense.

and last but not least,

8. if you cant say something nice... (this should probably be # 1).