Fish you will never keep... Nope Fish

[Punchanello]

The ONE fish that I will never spend money on is the Conspicuous Angel. My wife and I are both artists and we just don't understand what the hype is for this fish? it is both overpriced and very underwhelming in appearance. I would probably pay $80 tops for this fish based on appearance, but not with anymore zeros tacked onto the price tag.

I mean let's be honest, for a fraction of the price you get something 10X more beautiful in almost any other pomacanthus fish.

I actually think they are beautiful. It's the face. Admittedly, I didn't know the price until now and as much as I like them, I couldn't justify that.

 

[h2so4hurts]

Wait what lol?! Please explain

The puffer's teeth grew faster than he wore them down so every 6 months I had to go in the tank, net him, put him in a bucket, knock him out with MS-222 and trim his teeth with nail trimmers. It was tedious as hell.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

I would love to have a trigger or puffer, but afraid of what they'd do to my inverts or other fish

I have a niger trigger with 3 starfish, clams, cuc, YT, melanarus wrasse, 2 clowns, 1 azure damsel, pink spot goby, and a dottyback. Mixed reef. Never a nip to anything, other than the damsel when I first introduced it to the tank. That was after the damsel tried to punk him though...

 

[BillFish Coral Lover]

They look dumb

But they're so beautiful. I like a Potter's Angelfish in my reef. They're cool once they settle in.

 

[BillFish Coral Lover]

+1 to Mini-tangs! Anyone listening? ORA maybe?

 

[BillFish Coral Lover]

I love Sohals! I had a flame hawkfish for years. My daughters liked to call it "the deadfish" because it "sits" in one place for awhile instead of constantly moving. They were always afraid it had died. And sadly, it did. Eventually.

 

[BillFish Coral Lover]

Mmmmm, crab! Yummy!

 

[keephowlin]

Another fish that I think is overrated is a mandarin goby. I was fascinated by them and did all kinds of research and patiently waited for my fuge and the whole system to mature and enough pods to proliferate in order to successfully keep one. I finally got one a couple months ago and he is doing quite well but I hardly ever see him. He is always hunting deep in the rock work and comes out rarely. I actually thought he died once cause I couldn't find him for a week and then one day he was back. He is stunning but even when I see him he just goes around pecking at things and I get bored looking at him after a minute or so.

Interesting about the mandarin. I waited a year to let my reef mature with chaeto in the fuge before I added one. The idea of eventually having a mandarin was the main reason my wife approved our first reef project. It is beautiful and with all the other action in my tank, I don't mind having a cryptic fish that I don't see all the time. I enjoy "the hunt" looking for them, and actually prefer to have some cryptics in all my tanks. I like to be intentional about creating a balance between the swimmers, perchers and hiders.

 

[BillFish Coral Lover]

Coral banded shrimp. I had a bad boy that ate everything and everyone that got near it.

 

[Spydersweb]

Lionfish I love how they look, but I'm too clumsy for their stings

I got these Hazmat type gloves that I put on anytime my hands are in the aquarium. Never had an issue with my lion

 

[Rogersaw]

I hate those stupid dotty backs there aggressive for no reason

I agree. I bought a trio and all they did was bully everything in my tank; even each other. Except the yellow tang. He fought back.

 

[RC79ATC]

Hmm probably would not but It seems a lot safer than a lion fish but very very dangerous and if i had one my tank would have a lid

The sting of a foxface/rabbitfish was far worse than a lion....in my experience.

Got stung by a double bar rabbitfish and it throbbed and ached for hours. The volitan lionfish was more like a wasp sting. Hurt a lot at first then went away fairly quickly.

 

[bigjgmac]

For whatever reason, there are fish that just make us say nope. Aggression, fragility, bad luck, just plain ugly, etc...A great big ole pile of nope.

What is your "nope fish" and why?

Mine are the eared eel blenny or wolf eel and the yellow damselfish.

The wolf eel was one of my first predatory fish. From the start, the fish just gave me the creeps. Vicious and ugly, with a face that looks like an old thug mobster... lazy until times called for violence... that one specimen put me off and I have never desired to keep another one.

The Yellow Damsel I picked up as a kid, while i was learning about the hobby, was the first fish introduced to my 75 gallon aquarium. Alone, it was personable and interactive...always seemed to greet me when i came into my room. And then i decided to add more fish. I had always loved huma huma triggers and my mother picked up a small one. In the tank it went and the yellow damsel did what damsels do...bullied the equal sized trigger constantly. Woke up the morning after introducing the fish only to find it finless and near death...the yellow damsel making harassing passes at the little thing while it attempted to hide behind the heater. I caught out the little trigger and put it in my Q tank but it was too far gone. I tried then to find something that could hold its own and possibly eat the yellow monster...a lionfish came to mind. I got one that was definitely large enough to eat the damsel...but like david and goliath, the smaller fighter felled the giant...this time before it was beaten to death, i pulled the lionfish out and held it in my Q tank until i could convert a 45 tall that i had for the lion. I tried an eel, an undulated trigger, a grouper...all repelled and beaten by the 2 inch long yellow tyrant. Ultimately i had to break down the tank and catch the critter out before i could add anything else. I swore never again.

Cheers!

A bicolor dottyback. I had one and it terrorized everything in my tank. I ended up having to pull everything out of the tank to remove it. Never again.

 

[DJ Lone1]

I don't think I would ever keep Blennies, Dartfish, Damselfish or Chromis, I think they look boring. my favorite fish ( which I currently have ) is a Fathead Anthias, he is just beautiful to my eyes!

I love mine too..he has just started to show himself

 

[Blknovass]

Purple tang pretty but way too expensive!

 

[Jon Warner]

After a lot of thought...

30+ years of walking around Wholesalers, going to Air Freight at 2AM to pick up a foreign shipment... buying 10's of thousands of fish personally...

I've seen nearly EVERY fish ever in the hobby...

I don't think I've EVER bought a Yellow Brotulid.

And the fish I just hate to bring into the hobby? The larger groupers.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Saddle Grouper, Plectropomus laevis. To me, it's the most human-like marine fish. It's the Oscar of the Marine Aquarium. But that adorable 5"er at the store really wants to be four feet long and weigh 50 lbs.

And the Lanceolatus Grouper... oh my... how many times have I seen a 4-6"er in a tank and I just shake my head and dread what's inevitably coming. It's going to end up in a filthy 55 gallon tank until it's brought back to the LFS where it's thrown into a sump where the teenage store employees forget about it and it half starves until they throw in some dead goldfish until it dies of suffering health. In the wild, six feet long and 800 lbs.

Let's just leave the big groupers in the ocean. They're hardy and durable enough that they'll probably survive long enough to live a crappy suffering life.

 

[dru312]

Damsels, sohal tang , clown tang and flame hawk

Why the clown tang? I've had one for a while that has gotten large and it's one of the most peaceful fish in my tank and just looks for algae all the time.

 

[dru312]

I have had 3 valentini puffers. The first a model citizen but it jumped. The 2nd began eating coral the first day and promptly went back to LFS. The 3rd ,which I still have, is a great fish. Bothers nothing and is beautiful to watch. I feed it nori out of my hand.

I also have a pair of Blue Throat triggers in another tank. No issues whatsoever. They have a lot of personality.

It may be somewhat of a gamble to go with these fish, but if you really want one, give it a try.

I have the same puffer and it's a model citizen in my tank as well (220g). Loves the nori I put out and swims with a lot of my fish and gets along with them all.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Angels huh? Just curious why not?

Yeah I don’t like angels too.

 

[Alenya]

I always wanted a marlin but apparently I’m already overstocked with tangs in the swimming pool.