Fish that should NOT be kept in your aquarium.

[Cartman89]

*I would like this to kept on top of the page if you can Mods, it will help a lot, feel free to edit it if you want*

Welcome to this wonderful hobby! So you want to start a saltwater aquarium huh? Well Let me point out some fish that should be kept out in the ocean or to some very advanced hobbiest (which you may become someday).

*Moorish Idol* - The Moorish Idol is a very beautiful fish and attractive to a lot of hobbiest! But this fish should not be in the hands of a beginner. There's a lot of factors why it should not be with beginners. The Moorish Idol is a fish that does best when kept in schools, a 125gal is the minimum for only ONE of these fish. SO if you want to kep it healthy and happy just think how big of a tank you will need! The Moorish Idol also is a pain in the butt to get to eat frozen foods they mainly rely on sponges and algae on rocks. This fish probably one of the most difficult fish to start weaning on to foods.

*Sharks* - When you go into a pet store and see a shark for sale you probably are going to get excited and buy a tank for it. Sharks excite a lot of new people into the hobby, just because they are sharks! The most common in the pet trade are sold as Banded cat sharks, horn sharks, marbled cat sharks, and shark eggs. Sharks aren't really hard to keep and are quite easy. Now I'm not saying go out and buy one folks just because they are easy. They are very expensive!! The shark itself isn't but the equipment you need is, lets just say you are going to need way more than a $1,000. Same goes with stingrays. Be very caution about venomous fish in with the shark or ray.

*Blue Ribbon tail stingray* - Folks, just stay away from this fish. This fish has a very low success rate in aquariums, heck even SeaWorld has trouble with these guys. They need very soft sand, peaceful tankmates, and fantastic water quality. They are very hard to feed. I know many of people who tried these fish and failed with them due to the stingray not taking live or dead foods. These should be left in the ocean.

* Ribbon Eel*- For eels these guys are just unbelieveable! Aren't eels suppose to go nuts when they smell foods? Well this eel doesn't. The only hard thing about this creature is that it is just like the Blue Ribbon Tail Stingray......it is very hard to feed. They also get pretty aggressive, they will attack my finger but not the food??? Don't be surpirsed if it starves itself.

*Parrot Fish* - Those cute little guys get into big little guys! Unlike the fish we discussed so far this one will eat! But good luck trying to find the food that it wants. They mainly feed on types of corals and corals can cost a lot of $$$. They are very active swimmers and need tanks as big as sharks. The smaller ones in the hobby don't need all that big of a tank.

*Aggressive triggers* -Undulated, Titan, Queen oh my! What do those names have in common? The names of the most agressive, meanist, nastiest temperment in the saltwater aquarium world! These guys don't play buddy buddy these guys play a game called " kill it and then play with it! Yay!!". They can also get very big, except for the Undulated, which is the meanist of all! Some triggers to saty away from, Undulated, Titan, Queen, Starrys, and Blue lines.

*Dragonets* - Yes they may look cute and they are very common in the pet trade. These are one of those fish that find food on it's own. If you don't have a steady food supply in the tank for this fish it will die. They feed apon little inverts in the sand such as copepods. If you don't have a nice supply of pods......I don't recommend this fish.

*Cowfish* - Adorable lil guys. But if they die eveything dies and if they get stressed out everything gets stressed out. This fish will release a toxin so harmful that if it gets stressed out or dies it will release it into the water and could kill your fish!

*Octopus* - These guys catch everyones attention! Octopus should be kept by advanced hobbiest only. These animlas need top notch water quality and a tank by themselfs, they will go after anything that moves. Now these aren't dumb animals, you are going to need a very tight fitting lid because these animals are incredibly smart they are known to exit the tank and come back in it with out you ever noticing. Another reason I don't recommend these animals is because when they get scared they will release their ink for defense. A big water change is a must after this to avoid it's death.

Well there you haven't only piece of the "what fish not to have in your tank" cake. If you have any other fish you would like to put down PLEASE feel free. I will try to add some more later.

[boozeman]

How about poisonous fish such as scorpion and stone fish

[Cartman89]

I would like for the really hard fish to care for but if the fish is very deadly then that will work just fine. The blue ring octo is one I forgot to add, such as other octopus.

[Charlie97L]

i don't know if all octopii are bad... i mean, the dwarf ones have a really short lifespan, so if they die after a year and a half, that's not necessarily due to anything but old age.

[Cougra]

Cleaner Wrasse:

Here is an article that I wrote up on why I think they shouldn't be kept in an aquarium.

Cleaner Wrasse -They're too important to keep in a tank!

In short they are too important for the health of a reef, the fish are extremely difficult to keep in an aquarium and there are fish that perform as similar role as the cleaner wrasse that are very hardy and can even be bred in captivity.

[BoomerD]

MOST butterfly fish will die within a few weeks as well, since they tend to be very coral specific in their diets. Leave them in the ocean. There are a few that will do OK in our tanks, (most are NOT reef-safe) and if we ONLY buy those, maybe the collectors will quit catching the rest...

[Cartman89]

I like it. Lets keep this going.

[ReefDave]

i would disagree on most butterfly, most of the obligate corralivores aren't even available if you use good supplies that are concientious about it (sea dwelling creatures/quality) and i'd say about a dozen species do well in the hands of a moderately expereienced aquarist but, for the most part many species do perish in captivity.


also, there are many species that i would say are over collected and over sold, and by that i mean there are people out there who can keep them correctly.....many of these fish are easy to keep if specific requirements are taken into consideration but the vast majority of every day aquarists wont take these considerations to set up either a species tank or take these considerations at hand. some examples of fish that would fall into this category would be slow feeders (dragonets,sweetlips,seahorses etc.) and fish that get too large (groupers, most jacks, etc.) also, moorish idols can be kept but the systems required to maintain them are above and beyond this size and budget of most aquarists.

sharks, i totally agree. it makes me sick to hear people come in and ask questions about a shark they purchased at another store and the size tanks they were sold into.....the worst was a kid bought a shark egg case for his 55 then freaked when i told him that the store he bought it from lied about how big it got.....yeah, a 3 foot shark will do fine in a 4 foot tank....idiots....

[Boomer]

I agree with ReefDave for the most part. Also, most all of those fish you have mentioned have been kept and many by non-experts. Allot depends on the individual keeping them.

Undulate trigger; Theri aggressiveness is not match for a Clown trigger which is the worst. I have had most of the triggers.


Ribbon eels; Many have kept the Blue Ribbons alive for years if carried for properly.

Parrots; Can be trained to feed on other foods

Puffers; They do not always release tetrodotoxin when they die, it depends but can be dangerous, it also depends on species.

Moorish idols; I agree but once a girl kept one for 10 years in a 10 gal tank but that is an exception.


There are also many common fish on that list that should not be kept by many, i.e., Copper Banded Butterfly fish, Certain Pygmy angels, like the Lemon Peel ( best in odd # groups), Rock Beauty ( Holocanthus tricolor). I get nervous when people buy dragonets.

Cartman, it is a good list you started


And
Contrary to popular belief fish do not grow to the size of their tank or are controlled by the size of their tank. It is a function of growth retarding hormones in the water and is why some fish never seem to grow much or grow little and yet others are head-tail in the tank.

[Woodstock]

Great thread! I made it a 'sticky' ~

[cracker]

I agree with Boomer on growth. I made the mistake of putting a batfish in my 200. It very quickly outgrew the tank! I wouldn't suggest keeping one.

[Cartman89]

Originally Posted by Woodstock

Great thread! I made it a 'sticky' ~

Thanks. I feel that it will help a lot of people. But the list is too short...

[Woodstock]

It will grow~~~~

[reiple]

must have missed out on ....

all pipefish

very hard to keep.

[Cartman89]

Originally Posted by reiple

must have missed out on ....

all pipefish

very hard to keep.

Ah, yes totally forgot them. Why won't you help us out and tell us about them?