Fish to stay away from!

[kb]

Just a poll to tell others what fish to stay away from for whatever reason. My first one I would say is a powder blue tang! It is the coolest fish but i just got one last friday and put it in my tank and now a week later its dead and my fish have ick! He wasn't stressed and looked really good when i got him. Sweetlips don't eat and die soon after you get them. Parrotfish seem to do o.k. for a little while but then for no reason will just die. If you have smaller fish stay away from a lunare wrasse they get very agressive. Cleaner wrasses also die fairly quick-cleaner shrimp are much better. That's all i can think of for now!

 

[alleyesonme]

hippo tang...beautiful fish, but then you get them, and they get ich, and then internal parasites, and then your beautiful fish ends up upside down plastered against your rockwork because its too weak to swim anywhere...and then it dies. lol im bitter, can you tell?

 

[fugu]

powder blues and hippos are both notorious but can be kept if conditions are good. in my experience the fish to avoid would be blue ribbon eels- do not feed, also the moorish idol which is another beautiful specimen i have heard that dragonets can be tough but have not had first hand experienc with them. spotted sweetlips are difficult to feed but i have seen them being kept successfully .
hope this is useful

 

[misty927]

How horrible...blue hippo tangs are my favorite fish. I was really looking forward to getting one...I guess I'll have to reconsider if it's going to die on me. What a dissapointment.

 

[liongirl]

i only have damsels.
id say stay away from killer whales ... they just get too big.

 

[goofieones]

I was leary getting my hippo tang too, but I have had one now for a month, eats like a pig... actually the best eater in the tank!! No ich yet... knock on wood. He is healthy and color is great!! I love my guy.

 

[caymanlovers]

I am not sure I would rely on this type of poll to decide what fish to buy. The loss of a fish shortly after acquisition is probably not a good indicator of its compatibility, hardiness, etc. but may just reflect a bad specimen from the get-go or one that was not suited for the particular tank in which it was placed. As far as giving the other fish ick - was the fish properly quarantined before introduction to the main tank?
There are some reference books that describe the marine fishes and their traits, feeding habits, suitability for captive care, etc. One should check out their intended fish in the reference manuals first since they are based on far more experience than a single fish. I actually try to check two or more books and see how similar the authors rate the same fish.
I also quiz the LFS and let them know what I already have (they already know but I go through it again just to be sure)and get their input on a possible new fish. Let them know you are relying on them for candid advice and they should be honest - they do want you to come back (I hope.)
Like everything else about this hobby, time, patience and research are key to success and happiness.

 

[polka]

Dear Caymanlover......I envy you that you have that much trust in your lfs. I thought I had a reliable lfs as well. Told them what type of tank and then right from the get go was selling me the wrong kind of fish. I would go in and tell them that the fish died. Then they would sell me a different fish and it would die. I am now not going to that lfs and have read a great deal. I now go to a lfs that seems to have very healthy fish and I try to use my knowlegde and this sight for help. So far since I have been doing this, I have had only one fatality in about three months. This is after about 14 months of frustration. So in the end of this epic I would just like to say that lfs are great but you should reasearch on your own and take their advise with a grain of salt, after all they are there to make money....

 

[ilovefish]

I had a spotted sweetlips thought the was doing fine, eating like a pig and verything, then out of no where he dropped dead. I love the looks of them but now I heistiate to buy another one. I also had a mandrain that passed away and a nudi branch I also would not suggest the mandrain or the slug (nudi branch). What about a picasso trigger, heard anything. Would they do good with a yellow tang and a foxface fish.
Thanks

 

[fugu]

caymanlovers, you have the right idea, i trusted a lfs here (pakistan) and had two wipe outs after that i waited a year and researeched everything i cvould find and also visited lfs's in every country that i travelled to.
everyones knowledge and experience is different. trust only those who give advice willingly before you have commited your dollars (i was in charlotte,nc9 for a while and found good fish stores but never be afraid to take alot of time and then make your choice.

 

[grouperhead]

yeah, i would steer away from most adult wild caught angels, tang, and butterflies. orange spot filefish can be hard to keep, as can bicolor, lemonpeel, and potters dwarf angels. a hardy fish to stay away from are soapfish. they are cool fish but any time they could exude their toxic slime and wipe out your tank. ribbon eels are a pain, as are some sweetlips. dragonets can be tough if you dont have an established tank. well, i guess thats all i can think of right now. bo

 

[tangs_in_pacifica]

I hear Domino & Sergent Major Damsels can be real S.O.B.s when they grow up... I'd avoid them.

 

[grumpy vet]

Hippo Tang - fall down go boom x 2.
....one time taking the whole tank w/ it.

 

[mithrax]

I bought a 1.5 inch hippo tang at my lfs two months ago. I was afraid it wouldn't make it because I got the one with some frayed fins. Anyway, I still have him and his fins have healed and he decimated all the purple algae growing on my rocks. He eats with gusto. Now he's about 2.5 inches. He and my yellow mimic tang are best friends. Oh, BTW, I would stay away from purple queen anthias, they have special dietary needs. Mine wasted away eventhough he was trying to eat the food I give my other fishes. Are all anthias hard to keep?

 

[slk3599]

I had to chime in here. I got this list from John Tullock's book Natural Reef Aquariums
Marine Fish with a high likelihood of problems resulting from improper collecting and handling techniques:
Powder Brown Tang
Power Blue Tang
Regal or Hippo Tang
Clown Triggerfish
Threespot Wrasse
Harlequin Tuskfish
Dragon Wrasse
Moon or Lunare Wrasse
Bicolor Angelfish
Coral Beauty Angelfish
Emperor Angelfish
Majestic Angelfish
Blueface Angelfish
Clownsfishes - wild caught specimens only
Maroon clownfish - wilde caught
Comet or Marine Beta

 

[blueberryboomer]

I had to add my 2 cents about not trusting your lfs, fixit bought my set up for me as a christmas gift from our lfs, the man new we we're new to the hobby and he took total advantage of us, 1 week after our tank was up he let me buy my first first couple fishs, a pork puffer and a yellow tang, now mind you I had no idea about the cycling or even what it was, I was under the impression that the only levels you needed to worry about was the salt level, fixit asked him for everything we would need to set up and maintan it. He didn't even sell us a test kit or tell us we needed one. Thank the Lord fixit found this board, we would be dead in the water. The tank cycled, we lost our yellow tang, pork puff survived and here we are. Sorry to say puffer is nolonger with us, he was put into the hospital tank and someone turned the heater up on us. I guess I should get to the point...I'm just saying you can't alway trust the people you think know there business, some of them don't care if you come again! I know some of the problem was our not studying up on it before starting, but he knew better..Oh Well! we all have to learn something the hard way, I'm just sad our yellow tang got the short end of the stick...Later Lisa

 

[jimi]

The powder blue can be tough, mine is currently doing great but I did have an ich breakout with him. Moorish idols, hippos, regal angels,numerous butterflys, clown tangs and many more should be kept only by expert aquarist.

 

[grouperhead]

hey slk, does it say why clown triggers are hard to keep? just wondering, bo

 

[oxtim12345]

I thought i would join this great discussion on LFS. I have 3 lfs near my house and they will sell you anything. I tell them what's in my tank and they'll say it's compatible even though from this board i know there not. They'll even sell you a shark, tang, and angel fish even if you have a 29gal tank. They always says it's fine. Everything works with anything.
On the discussion on hard fish to keep. My Powder brown always had ick and it eventually died. All good looking angels always die on me too(french, cortez). I've now decided only to keep fairly hardy to hardy fish. I've noticed the best looking fishes are the hardest one's to keep. That sucks!