Fish Not Suitable for Beginners

Lupin

Please compile a list of fish that are not suitable for beginners and their reasons. This could be a huge help to those who are new to saltwater. Include the scientific names as well.

Titan Triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens)
This fish requires a very large tank since it has a potential of reaching 30 inches which therefore makes it unsuitable for beginners. It is not reef safe as well. More information was given in Tropical Fish Hobbyist (TFH)-January 2008. Happy reading from there!

Bicolor Angelfish (Centropyge bicolor)
I've noticed that these are not hardy at all. They are hard to feed on commercial foods so you'll have difficulty keeping this one alive.

Lionfish (Pterois volitans)
There is the tendency to feed them live foods which may not have sufficient nutrition needed by the lionfish. If fed properly, these do tend to become hardy. Avoid being hit by one of its spines.

Mandarin Dragonet (Pterosynchiropus splendidus)
These are notoriously difficult to keep without sustaining them with a constant supply of copepods, etc. A lot of these die from starvation as a result. Tank must be established for more than six months.

Powder Blue Tang (Acanthurus leucosternon)
Prone to ich which can be annoying and challenging to beginners especially in reef tanks. A tank no smaller than 100g is recommended.

Moorish Idols (Zanclus cornutus)
An interesting article can be found in TFH-January 2008. These basically need large tanks with powerful currents. If the requirements are not met, they generally will not survive for long.

dallops_of_polyps

i sett up my tank 2 months ago and have had a mandarin for a month he is very happy. if you don't believe me look at my avatar. he is a awesome!

pbun1

He's happy? How do you know? Either you asked him (or her-but I guess if you know he's happy you know he's a him also) or he has a smile on his face maybe?
Fish can easily go a month without food and despite their slowly starving to death, never seem to appear "unhappy".
If he is the extremely rare mandaarin that is eating prepared foods, good for you. You got very lucky. If not, to bad for the little guy.

Cody

Lupin, would Seahorses/Pipefish be an addition to the list? I've read they are defintely not for begginers. The need to be fed right, and when you go buy one, you should get a tank-bred/raised seahorse and one that eats. They need places to hold on to, and no corals that will hurt them. They do best in specie-only tanks, because they are very frgagile and not aggresive eaters.

Lupin

I'd add them up. Bettababy explained before about the pipefish. I will need to dig up her post about pipefish. Thanks for that.

Here it is.
http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14614

Cody

Butterfly Fish?

One of the most docile fish in Saltwater trade. They should only be placed in a tank that is lnog established, which means 1-2 years+. If not in a stable enviroment, they will pass. They are very hard to feed. They should be "experimented" (feeding wise) with many live foods. Most will eat live corals for a stable diet, which I personally think not too many people would want to do.

jtormey

This what I started with. I got it out of a book, but they're fine.

1 Cherub Angel (3")
1 Pajama Cardinalfish (3")
1 Chalk Bass (3")
1 Yellow Watchman Goby (3")
1 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels (2.5")

I'd stay away from piranah, too.

zupott

I had a Lion Fish before. Just less than a week with me and died. I never thought that'll be hard to have a fish pet such as that.

Bispinosa

I'm not sure I'd be too quick to warn people away from all butterflyfish. I have a 3-inch Raccoon Butterflyfish right now in a fairly young tank (2 months, I believe, when I added him) and he's a happy-looking, active fish that gets his share during feeding time. I just have to make sure I put in bits of frozen food small enough for him, but brine shrimp, spirulina-enhanced brine, and mysis all work. Never used live food. He comes right to the surface without fail.

Of course, it's possible that the addition of my three longfin bannerfish, which are related to the butterflies and are supposedly hardy, had something to do with it; he often hangs around them and they are very active fish and very enthusiastic eaters. I put those in right after the Raccoon.

Anyhow, I'll change my assessment if I run into any problems down the road, but so far I've got a good opinion of the bannerfish and Raccoon.

knowbest

picked up koran angel.have very hard time for him to eat.tried spinach,algae flakes,frozen algea.freeze dried shrimp.even tried small pieces of krill.need help.