Made any real big mistakes in fishkeeping? I gave an old tropical tank to my aunt years ago. It was a 6' one and she filled it with some nice fish, which she became quite attached to.

She then added a tropical lobster....

You can guess the rest, I'm sure!

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bought my first lot of stock fish from a reputable supplier, then let HER talk me into buying some blue channel cat fish from a local garden centre . .

also bought sterlet . . then found couldn't add any treatments or anything to the pond . .

Perch & Trout in a community pond, I might just as well have added a Pike for good measure. :confused:

Yeh Peter I had access to another pool on a Cheshire estate nice carp to 8lb, Rudd to 4lb with the od tench.
Some Bar-steward put 6 pike well that's what we managed to get out, but the dammage was done they destroyed the water did not know just how much pike eat. Even the carp had bite marks on. oh by the way the bigest pike was 15lb.
Must go back to see if things have improved.

Pike in the wrong situation can be devastating. If you can't get them all out, all you can do is let them find their own level. Hope things have improved when you have a look Dragonbat.

I've made a few howlers in my time, especially with tank fish....

My first tank was supposed to be a tropical community tank complete with neon tetras, khuli loach, a single siamese fighter (I know that two would fight to the death) and some angelfish. They were all obviously added gradually, with the angelfish and the siamese fighter being the last. Next day, no neon tetras but several very well fed newcomers!

next day, bought another tank for those fish that do not live happily together....

I finally ended up with 2 tropical freshwater tanks, 2 cold freshwater and 3 tropical marine (one fish, one invertebrates and one specimen) as well as isolation tanks for each type. And a pond. Now, only the pond remains though I still have all the tanks in the loft or the shed. One day I will have to get them occupied again....

My second howler involved one of my marine tanks. I came down one morning and, as usual, opened the cover to the tank and stuck my hand in (well....the cleaner shrimps liked to have something to nibble on in the morning ). Suddenly I found myself resting over the back of the armchair with a numb arm and the kind of dazed feeling you get after plugging yourself into the National Grid - The glass on the thermostatic heater had cracked letting water in and turning the whole tank live, though it did not blow the fuze!

Thankfully none of the inhabitants suffered any ill effects, but it taught me to be very careful when electricity and water are in such close proximity

I read about this one in Practical Fishkeeping some years ago.... This bloke had dug his pond, placed the liner over it and had filled it with (IIRC) about 3,000 gallons of water. Then he checked his pocket and found his wallet missing - hten saw a lump at the bottom of the pond, under the liner....

I've also nearly got hospitalized by a lionfish, bitten by a moray eel, had a piranha attack my dog (well, it would have if the front of the tank hadn't got in the way), and nearly had my thumb split in two by a mantis shrimp!

John, something tells me you are best off leaving your tanks in the loft and shed.
Don't you agree folks??

I used to work in Aquatics and had tanks at home, one with a beautiful black moor goldfish(fancy tail, big eyes, short and stubby you know the sort), it started off black and as most untrue fish turned orange. One day someone bought me in this Pangasius cat fish, lovely little 4 inch black fish with the most gorgeous whiskers out, and in he went with "Dudley" the black moor. They lived happily for a short while until one day on a quick glance passed the tank, poor Dudley appeared to have lost one of his eyes, frantically searching around the tank for sharp objects and the gravel to see if I could see it(excuse the punn) Mr. Catfish proudly swam passed Dudley and whipped out his other eye. I never thought to look in his mouth for sharp objects. Poor Dudley kept swimming unrelentlessly hitting first one end of the tank and then the other and his loss did not bother him at all, but I could not stand to look at his poor gazeless face any longer and had to get rid of him. Aaarrrhhhh