Fish that shouldn’t be in the hobby?

[jasonrusso]

I have never had problems with diamond gobies eating but twin spot gobies on the other hand are not very great in captivity from my experience.

How long have you kept one?

 

[BigMac426]

I don't know if it's just my clown tang but that fish is a bit psycho. it attacks it own reflection 75% of the day. If i don't turn that lights on in the room it would probably shred the rest of my fish because it gets so worked up...

 

[Badboyan93l]

They're easy to catch because they aren't afraid of people.

But really... I can't think of anything that shouldn't be in the hobby. It would be nice if there was more information about these fish at point of sale because they problem isn't that a delicate fish is available, it's almost always that it's being bought by someone who has no idea what it needs to thrive, or that it will get two feet long, etc. But that doesn't mean the animal should be unavailable to someone who is equipped to keep it.

They're easy to catch because they aren't afraid of people.

But really... I can't think of anything that shouldn't be in the hobby. It would be nice if there was more information about these fish at point of sale because they problem isn't that a delicate fish is available, it's almost always that it's being bought by someone who has no idea what it needs to thrive, or that it will get two feet long, etc. But that doesn't mean the animal should be unavailable to someone who is equipped to kee

I strongly disagree with you here. There are absolutely fish that shouldn’t be sold.

The problem is that almost nobody other than public aquariums can ACTUALLY keep them healthy and alive.
So the fact that random people see a cute fish and buy it keeps the collectors collecting it. That’s the problem.

Thankfully over the years enough people have failed at keeping them that collectors realize it’s not worth their time to catch them
Since nobody will buy them.

See, for the past 9 years of being in the hobby, I never understood when ppl say “you can’t keep a cleaner wrasse”. I’ve had a few for a few month to two years and I’ve kept with great success. Unfortunately, they past due husbandry issues (I was a newby) lol. Now I have 2 that’s been with me for 4 or 5 years. Still striving and eating like the past ones (pigs!). I believe they are abundant in the ocean! and serve a purpose like majority of the fishes in our reef tanks and like majority of our special fish you can keep them with great success as long as you chose the ones that are eating frozen or flakes and don’t look like a skeleton. I have to say the “needs a special nutrition” is a myth for this fish.

Ps: I believe they’re being captive breed now, if I can recall.

 

[Spare time]

How long have you kept one?

A had a diamond goby for a few years until the fish likely got sick from some food (the food was contaminated with some parasite [I can talk about this separately if you are interested]) and then a 3-4 years for a pair of gold head gobies until a tank crash while on vacation. I thinkk they are fine as long as the are eating prepared food. They usually eat prepared food too from my experience working at an lfs.

 

[hart24601]

It’s very tricky to make a list of fish to not be sold. I do think some species should be prohibitively expensive- another controversial take- however if you have a 5,000g tank and want huge predators or other challenging species the initial price is almost nothing compared to the upkeep of the system and price.

Want a fish that gets 3’ long or more? That’s cool but will cost you a grand. That will discourage people buying it that are not equipped but for those with the resources to support it the price is inconsequential.

It’s like red tail catfish in the FW world. So many people buy babies, they are cute and pretty - they either don’t realize or care it will become a 5’ 150lb murder machine. The systems required to house the waste they produce are so expensive jacking up the price would save a lot of little catfish from a sad existence

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Hippo Tangs, they ought to have a Two or Three page questioner for the buyer, proof of a proper aquarium setting, and a cooling off period.

 

[blecki]

Hippo Tangs, they ought to have a Two or Three page questioner for the buyer, proof of a proper aquarium setting, and a cooling off period.

It's even worse now. Used to be you knew you were buying a big fish. Now they come in the size of a quarter. How many people buy them not realizing they get a foot long?

 

[albano]

It's even worse now. Used to be you knew you were buying a big fish. Now they come in the size of a quarter. How many people buy them not realizing they get a foot long?

How many years does it take those quarters to get a foot long?

 

[blecki]

5 years supposedly. I've never owned one, ugly fish.

 

[albano]

5 years supposedly. I've never owned one, ugly fish.

Had them much longer than that, in a 500g tank…. No where near a foot long.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This is a favorite topic of mine. I've been maintaining a working list of "animals to avoid" for about 30 years. The list does change over time with new developments in husbandry techniques. I recently updated my working list and posted it as an article here on R2R.

MARINE FISH AND INVERTEBRATES TO AVOID

Knowing which species have extra challenges helps home aquarists avoid heartbreak down the road. The following are some species that may pose problems for you, despite the level of care that you offer them.

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Badboyan93l]

How many years does it take those quarters to get a foot long?

They super long to grow full length, some don’t even reach 12. I had mine since he was a quarter size. 7 years later and he’s about 6inches. Now let’s talk Salfin, those guys from a quarter size can reach 3-4 in a year and a half lol

 

[albano]

They super long to grow full length, some don’t even reach 12. I had mine since he was a quarter size. 7 years later and he’s about 6inches. Now let’s talk Salfin, those guys from a quarter size can reach 3-4 in a year and a half lol

That’s more like it. The only weird thing is that one just lost his blue coloring and is now Black!
But my RS sailfin has not gotten real big, even after about 7 years. Not sure if he’s grown much at all!

 

[Costareefer]

Blue Spotted Jawfish - I temperate water fish (~72 degrees) that often is short lived in our reef tanks.

Not all blue spotted jawfish live in such low water temps. I’ve seen them in 80 degree temps. It’s a fallacy that water temp is the issue with keeping them.

 

[blecki]

Had them much longer than that, in a 500g tank…. No where near a foot long.

12" is the 'max size'. In the same way you could say that 8' is the 'max height' of a human. Most don't get to the 'max size'. 8"-10" is a more typical adult size. But that's still too much fish to put in their 20 gallon with nemo.

This is a favorite topic of mine. I've been maintaining a working list of "animals to avoid" for about 30 years. The list does change over time with new developments in husbandry techniques. I recently updated my working list and posted it as an article here on R2R.

MARINE FISH AND INVERTEBRATES TO AVOID

Knowing which species have extra challenges helps home aquarists avoid heartbreak down the road. The following are some species that may pose problems for you, despite the level of care that you offer them.

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

I found it funny that you listed blue ring octopuses because they 'rarely live past a year' and not because they are one of the most venomous animals on the planet.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

12" is the 'max size'. In the same way you could say that 8' is the 'max height' of a human. Most don't get to the 'max size'. 8"-10" is a more typical adult size. But that's still too much fish to put in their 20 gallon with nemo.


I found it funny that you listed blue ring octopuses because they 'rarely live past a year' and not because they are one of the most venomous animals on the planet.

Yeah - this list was mostly just about animals that do poorly in captivity. I wrote another article that lists dangerous species and those that grow too large. For example, Geographic cone shells have a greater than 50% mortality rate from stings, but they live really well in aquariums.

Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Not all blue spotted jawfish live in such low water temps. I’ve seen them in 80 degree temps. It’s a fallacy that water temp is the issue with keeping them.

They can live in warmer water seasonally, but they don't do well if kept warm year-round. Walleye are the same way - they can live at 80 degrees, but it you keep them in water greater than 75 degrees all year, they die off in a couple of years.

Jay

 

[ReefEco]

Not all blue spotted jawfish live in such low water temps. I’ve seen them in 80 degree temps. It’s a fallacy that water temp is the issue with keeping them.

Here's a good article you may want to read about the Blue Spotted Jawfish. They are a cooler water fish. https://www.tfhmagazine.com/article...awfish-opistognathus-rosenblatti-full-article