Mistakes we've done as first time fish owners.

Back when we were still children who loves to explore, I remember how we(my older sister and I) escaped from the house during an afternoon nap to catch some fishes in the river near our house. Mama warned us already not to go to the river because the water level is too low and maybe we can't catch some fishes but we will be bitten by leech instead.

We were so happy that the fishes there was so big than what we expected and so we immediately jumped into the water with excitement. But to make the story short mama's proffecies happened, hahaha I can still remember how we were sorry and followed mama's order from then on.

If you like fishes too, maybe you will agree with me how relaxing they can get if you look at them, gaze at their beautiful details, and discover their different characteristics.

We started to pet a kind of betta fish last January 9, 2022. You can see how she was like in my post here: https://noise.cash/post/85wv7j4sn653

Her father is a red and blue colored rose-tailed betta fish and her mother was a colorful Koi-betta fish.

We are still in a newbie stage of petting fishes after three months now but I must say that we have done terrible mistakes before for our very first fish pet.

Here are some mistakes we have done as a newbie owner of pet fishes that maybe you are doing in your pets as well:

Constantly replacing water to the aquarium

As a newbie, we always thought that the clearer the water the happier the fishes can be. Like us humans, we feel comfortable living with the cleaner, fresher environment than places with roaches and rats aka dirty places.

With that in mind we did change the water more often as we see some poops or discoloration in the bottom which we regretted after.

Jb, as the giver of the betta fish explained to us how important micro aquatic organisms are to the growth of the fish. We can change the present water were the betta fish is but never pour it all.

Water can be replaced within two weeks for the betta fish. The kind of fish is so delicate yet self sufficient when it comes to oxygen needs. No need for airpumps because they breathe into the water surfaces.

Overfeeding or skipping the feeding hours

As I have mentioned above about the discoloration at the buttom of the aquarium. We just realized that those were excess fish foods, accumulated fish foods and sometimes melted so it was mixed with the water already. Also we have skipped some feeding schedule sometimes and the moment when we realized that, we then give the food immediately. The fish's diet was disrupted and so as their health. We are guilty of overfeeding too. Sometimes betta fish just love to munch and we can't help but give another pinch of fish food.

Aquascape Overdesigning

There is nothing more fulfilling to the eyes than to see different colors, different components or designs inside your personalized touch aquarium. Be it aquasoil, pebbles of different kinds, big stones or sometimes corals, leaves or aqua plants, dried wood or roots, some add ons like air pumps, aqua thermometer etc. But did you know that the lesser foreign objects inside your aquarium the better for your pet fishes? You just have to do your own research of what is best for your pet and what they actually need.

In our first betta fish, we did transfer her to a bigger aquarium with lots of designs that might have overwhelmed her or stress her out. Yes, fishes can be stressed too so better be careful to experimenting, for your pets sake.

Putting sharp stones or corals

That was what it looks like where we transfered Jojoe(Joejoe). Before we sleep, she was so lively but when we woke up the other day, she was at the corner-dead. We suspected she was stressed from transferring or she might be cornered. She was between the sharp-edges stones and the glass, with long poops still stocked in her stomach.

I don't know, that was just a suspicion but if you can omit those sharp edgy stones and corals, just put them away from your fishes unless they are huge enough to overcome barriers.

Putting unsure aquatic plants or stems

You may thought about putting a plant or stems that has captured your attention because it was so beautiful and you thought it's perfect for your aquarium. You put it inside the community of the living beautiful creatures called "fishes" and the next thing you know, they all died.

Have you experienced that one?

We didn't do that, I mean we almost did. Until I reminded my sister to be sure and we researched about what other aquatic plants we can put inside our aquarium and it wasn't included.

The plant I am pertaining to is white angel Pandakaki (Tabernaemontana pandacaqui).

It has many braches and we thought it might be pretty inside the aquarium. We then learned from a friend that their fishes died because they did the same as what we just thought of.

Please don't include those in your aquarium just because you find it beautiful unless you are sure enough that they are not poisonous to your pets.

Using very bright light for fish tanks

Setting up an aquarium out of excitement and putting your fish immediately is sometimes worst than dropping your fish on the floor.

It's like killing them slowly with stress, betta's eyes don't actually need lights at night or overly bright lighting during daytime. They may behave overly agressive if you are stressing them out.

Everything "over" may have cause your fish harm than you thought it could be.

This is just a reminder how delicate fishes can be and making necessary research is important for your pets to last. Don't make same mistakes as ours. Enjoy caring and loving your pets!:)