Fish to avoid for New Hobbyists

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This is a list of some fish beginners should definitely avoid getting. Requiring more advanced care and setups, these fish need lots of research and preferably some experience before being acquired.

Boxfish
Leopard Wrasses
Tilefish
Batfish
Frogfish/Anglerfish
Seahorses (Even though they are common in the hobby they really do require specific setups to thrive long-term)
Sharks
Stingrays
Large Triggers, Eels, and Rabbitfish/Lionfish
Moorish idol
Blue Spot Jawfish

There's a lot more where that came from, but I feel like most of these are fairly well known.

 

[kfries]

What are some of the reasons you do not recommend those fish? What kind of special care requirements do they need?

 

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What are some of the reasons you do not recommend those fish? What kind of special care requirements do they need?

Boxfish - Most species require large tanks, and if stressed they can kill off an entire tank by releasing a self defense toxin. In the hobby they're known as ticking time bombs.
Leopard Wrasses - They can be very sensitive to changes and are known to be picky eaters and jumpers. If you have experience they are great fish but I don't recommend them for first time fish owners.
Tilefish - They are major jumpers, they will squeeze through the tiniest gap they can and are generally known to be sensitive and require a very large setups, also picky eaters.
Batfish - They require very large tanks and can be aggressive towards other fish and picky eaters
Frogfish/Anglerfish - Sensitive to getting air stuck inside their bodies, usually only want live food unless conditioned/tank raised, will eat tankmates.
Seahorses (Even though they are common in the hobby they really do require specific setups to thrive long-term)
Sharks - Self explanatory, they get too big for most beginner hobbyists
Stingrays - Self explanatory, they get too big for most beginner hobbyists, plus they have a venomous barb
Large Triggers, Eels, and Rabbitfish/Lionfish - require large tanks, a specialized diet, and for the rabbit fish and lionfish they have venomous spines so I would not recommend for a beginner
Moorish idol - They require a very large tank with open swimming space. Very picky eater and they have a fast metabolism so they have to be fed a lot.
Blue Spot Jawfish - Unsuspectingly also a very jumpy fish, they will try and squeeze out of the smallest spaces and they require colder water than most people have, and can be fairly sensitive to changes. They also require a deep sand bed to make Burrows and do better in well aged tanks.