Aquarium MYTHS That might be harming Your Fish (Debunked) 

What is the biggest myth I missed? I want to know!

1. Definitely very important. Everyone says to let your tank cycle for a few weeks or months, but they don’t explain that you need to jumpstart it with fish food or used filter media (I personally like to use filter media. I did that when I had to set up an old tank of mine and transfer my fish over, and haven’t had any issues as far as I could tell) 2. So true about the filters. Filters circulate the water and trap debris, but they don’t actually remove the harmful stuff out of your tank 3. Verrry common and tragic mistake there. People put in the bare minimum effort to set up the tank then go overboard with cleaning it, when if you set your tank up right all you got to do is change out some of the water every week or two 4. “A lot of places will sell you a fish and don’t care what kind of tank you have.” SO true -.- And same for how it’s wrong to stunt their growth 5. Well said! Also algae is actually a good thing. As you mentioned it’s perfectly natural, and it can help to remove waste the way plants do (especially if you don’t have any) and the only real problem is that it’s an eye sore (and may outcompete plants). Adding something to eat it just creates problems with housing, caring for and cleaning up after them, compared to figuring out what’s causing the algae and putting a stop to it 6. Nothing to say there. Other than not only are they swimming through it they’re also *breathing* it, so it’s not just burning their bodies but also their gills, and that can’t be pleasant 7. Some fish are hardy enough to survive that, but that definitely doesn’t make it right. I really like that car analogy, great way of explaining it 👍

I am retired and have been in the hobby many years, I was tired of sitting in my recliner watching propaganda on TV, so I got a part time job at one of those chain pet stores as an "aquatic specialist". It is so frustrating to have people come in to return dead fish that had bought there while I was NOT working. I ask the customer questions about their set up (size, how long has it been set up ect...). My co-workers will sell them anything! It is amazing to me how many people know nothing about the nitrogen cycle. When I try to explain it to them, they look at me like a deer in the headlights. Anyway, I just needed to vent. I enjoyed you video and subscribed. I wish all of the people thinking of getting fish had to watch it. THANKS

Thanks man, thinking about making my first aquarium in a big tank I already have and your video popped up. Just a bit of youtube advice: think about using that chapter feature youtube has. Its good for the algorithm and helps with viewer retention. edit: Also you seem very down to earth. Would you consider making a video about notech/lowtech tanks? Thats really what I'm interested in the most, but I wouldn't want to be mislead and make a bad environment for the fish/shrimp.

I'm in a municipality in Northern Sweden that has tap water that has been UV sterilized instead of added chlorine. So I don't need to treat it. Also, chloramine is more rare in Sweden compared to chlorine gas, so off-gassing works too. Just read up on your local tap water, most government tap water have detailed info on their websites.

Other ways to combat Algae are to do with lighting1 try and position your tank away from natural light ie the sun is it hitting your tank through a window .2 Aquarium lighting . A lot of starter tanks have what i would call stadium lighting ,to much light for your requirements unless you have a planted tank keep lighting to a minimum a few hours in evening to view your fish

I live in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. Our water does not have any chlorine or chloramine. Having said that, I still always check before adding water to my tanks just to be on the safe side but after 10 years, I have never registered any chlorine or chloramine in our city water.

I want to start two in ground tanks/ponds with shipping containers.. how many 55 gallon barrel "filters" do you need per 10k gallons.. something I am unaware of a formula for

sucker fish clean up the tank is a myth?

If your tap water only has chlorine and not chloramine you can just leave the water in an open bottle or container for a couple of days and the chlorine will off-gas out of it and be safe for your fish. Of course, if you many or very large tanks it would still be more practical to use a water treatment.

Very valuable information which can save many fish lives! I always leave tapped water in open bottles for a week before using it for changing the aquarium water (the anti-chlorine agent is still a must of course). I would add that RO water needs to be remineralized before added to the aquarium to reduce the risk of osmotic shock. I consider the TDS meter one of the first things a new fishkeeper should buy after the tests for ammonia, nitrates and phosphates.

Great Chanell Aquarium Police, I am so pleased to have joined. Shout out from Australia

"Won" Two goldfish at the HV Fair last night. Do I keep them in the container I got last night or put them in the 20 gallon tank I bought today (water conditioner added)? Should I keep them in the container for a week or follow the directions from Aqueon and release them into their new tank within 24 hours? I want my son's fish friends (as he calls them)to survive and thrive.

That's a really good video it explains everything very good if anyone is new to fish keeping *listen to this man*

I used seasoned filter media and substrate from a long running tank…added some stability for the next 7 days to be sure …then stocked it very lightly. All is going great..but regardless I test for ammonia daily in the next 4 weeks, plus perform small weekly water changes.

Beat the cycle, use prime and Stability for the first 7 days. Test after 7 days and check to see if you're at 0/0/40. If you're not dose again for another 7 days and you'll be good to go. I've used this on numerous new tanks with zero deaths to any fish. Kaveman aquatics has a video about it

You can't do in fish cycle, but how do you add new stock to the tank? any new stock will increase ammonia because of increased bioload

In my location we use surface water that is chlorinated, otherwise it is good. You only need to let it sit for a day to let chlorine out or even better pump air through it. There is really no need for chemicals, although it is somewhat more time consuming.

Great tips although I take issue with the tap water thing. If you're just topping off your tank adding a pitcher of water to a 55 gallon. Honestly I don't even treat it for that small amount. I've had my tank for 10 years and have maybe lost 3 fish over that time and it wasn't from water quality it's because they are murderous little bastards lol. but great tips for sure!!!!

Well I opted to do what you said last we shouldn't, I'm a new fish keeper and looked at how to cycle my tank. I bought live plants and bio boost. Then I listened to someone explain the cycle, I decided to take their advice and go with using fish to cycle the tank. I was told that a new tank would probably lose fish, and using them to cycle it if any were lost then its same thing. Now I don't want to be the cause of a fish suffering if I can help it, but I was backed into a corner on putting fish in to cycle the tank. I weighed up all I could find about cycling a tank, and opted to buy Danios the hardy guys. We are now 11 weeks in and all 6 danios are still alive and just today I found babies!!!!!! I have also now added Guppies all male as didn't want breeding, we lost two of them, neon tetras, we lost one, cardinals all good, assassin snail and today a pleco. We do a 30% water change and hoover every week, and rinse the sponge filters once every four weeks. We use a magnetic glass cleaner, but don't bother cleaning the back glass. I didn't add all those fish at same time, we also test the water weekly. So far all readings are good, do you think we have gotten away with doing it that way or should we expect more issues? We are past the eight week cycle now, the plants are thriving is that a good sign?

THANK YOU FOR THE INFO!! 😬❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️☮️🐡🐌

Tap water is fine. On a slow drip system. But not on a water change. Dilution matters.

You can't use tap water if you're american, or if you are in another country that adds chlorine or chloramine. Plenty of countries do not do this and it is perfectly safe to use tap water. Check if your locality does so before you invest in something like an RO system for no reason if you don't need it.

good job thank you

Add fresh chicken shit the day you put water in the tank ... boom nitrogen cycle jump started. I am in my 60's and my "tap water" was never chlorinated until the last 5 years.

Biggest myth to Me is that you have to rinse your established filter media in tank water. You can absolutely rinse out your media or sponges under tap water as it takes long term exposure to chlorine or chloramine to kill off large amounts of beneficial bacteria. I would stress that this should only be done with a seasoned tank and filter not new tank or new filter. 😅❤

Here’s one that seems to a big taboo: Don’t use softened water. I use softened (with salt) treated tap water in my heavily planted 29 gallon low tech aquarium. Fish and plants are thriving. I know others that are doing the same. They’re just afraid to say it for fear of backlash.

Are you Canadian ?

The biggest myth I hate is people saying you need ROI or soft water. I have very hard water and have found that some types of fish respond better to it often growing bigger or getting better color then they do in softer water. You just have to know each type of fish and what they like.

You can speed it up with biological additive.

I honestly have never cycled a tank before, this will be the first tank I have cycled, I keep very low stocking and a lot of plants which may have helped, but I use no additives and have never cycled a tank for more than a few hours, I've always kept a single beta in a 10+ gallon tank with shrimp and at least 5 plants to start, I'm not recommending this just my experience

filter and gravel should be offset.

never cycled in my life no dead fish

I do fish in cycle, and i won't do it any other way. Not all plecos will eat algae. You can certainly rinse your filter media in tap water. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to kill all your beneficial bacteria. Im sorry, but this guy needs a lot more learning.