Edward

What is the most common mistake people do when keeping planted tanks?

cwlodarczyk

Underestimating the importance of CO2.

Jimbo205

Expecting their local fish store to have the answers or be able to help.

werner

"N-E-G-L-E-C-T" (sing it like Aretha!) That's one of my most common mistakes.

Maybe for a beginner- not being aware that certain plants have certain requirements that their tank doesn't have.

xcooperx

Lightning

erijnal

AHHH LIGHTNING OH NOESSSS~!!! *thunderclap* Hahahah just kidding

Definitely have to agree with lighting. Newbies have the misconception that more is better.

A close second is too little plant mass from the get-go. Even with all the right information, newbies are going to run into a ton of problems, like algae, simply because they don't have enough plants.

slickwillislim

I say plant mass. But all of the other ones are very important as well. High light in my opinion is not a bad mistake for a newbie because they can always lower it by having it on a shorter time or turning of half the bulbs etc. I think patience is another mistake newbies(and I) make.

BSS

I've certainly been through most of the stages mentioned above already.

My two most recent mistakes were underdosing traces/Fe, and trusting my test kits/measurements more than what the algae was telling me. The second is related to CO2 levels (which per the charts should have been 60+ ppm), but per the continued regrowth of BBA indicated that more was needed.

So, what mistakes come next ?
Brian

eklikewhoa

research

Edward

patience