If you were to ban one fish from the hobby what would it be?

[dennis romano]

Any fish that would be considered a whopper on rod and reel e.g. panther grouper, emperor snapper, clown sweetlips. They may be cute while small, but what do you do with a fish that full size is measured in feet.

 

[LPS Bum]

Can't be any worse than my maroon, plus she was ruthless killing her mate. Still, she's front and center and loves her nem and leaves everyone else alone.

I don’t know. I think mine is worse. She actively chases and nips my Majestic Angel, my Porcupine Puffer and my Sargassum Trigger.

You said your Maroon leaves everyone else alone. My Tomato does not.

 

[Mackey]

Why the heck do people keep maroons! I've never heard "you know my favorite fish is my maroon clown, he's so sweet!"
instead it's "my maroon stalked and killed every one of my fish and then tried to bite off my hand"

 

[MaxM]

Why the heck do people keep maroons! I've never heard "you know my favorite fish is my maroon clown, he's so sweet!"
instead it's "my maroon stalked and killed every one of my fish and then tried to bite off my hand"

I was naive. First fish I bought and the lfs didn't warn me. I thought clowns were clowns.

 

[Hhaynie]

That's very fair. Anything like that should not be allowed in. Would be much better for the US saltwater hobby if fish had to pass health inspection by people who actually know what they are looking for before being allowed into the US. The same should be done with freshwater fish and reptiles. Tens of thousands of animals would be saved every year just by preventing sick/diseased/starved animals from being imported. The reptile hobby is the perfect example of this where in just Michigan alone at least 1000 various cheap imports still loaded with ticks and other parasites are for sale at one of the various reptile expos every weekend. 90% of those animals won't live past 30 days in captivity.

I think reptiles is a bit of a different ball game. They are decades behind the aquarium industry in their practices. However, most can be bred, so a ban would be unhelpful.

 

[Crabby48]

Instead of banning a fish do to poor collection, wholesalers or lfs not accepting special needs for a fish the people that don’t take the time to understand how to prep a fish for shipping or it’s care should be shut down.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Yeah I really feel like more than fish type, collection practices are the thing I'd want to see internationally banned. Catching fish with cyanide damaging all nearby life and essentially writing the death certificate for their premature death is a blight on this hobby and absolutely sets us back in the court of public opinion. At the end of the day if we want this hobby to be around forever, sustainable collection practices, aquaculture, and captive breeding are necessities even if you don't agree with the ethics driving them.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Also my fish that should be more regulated is probably dragonets. I don't think any fish should be banned, but I'd appreciate it if lfs and online vendors required tank stocking and setup list as background info for ordering challenging to keep aquarium life sort of like when you adopt a pet.

 

[Jase4224]

How about instead of banning anything, we educate collectors (who generally aren’t hobbyists) about what does and does not survive in our aquariums. They should have a list of target species and a list of inappropriate species. Don’t pay them for animals that don’t survive. And if LFS themselves didn’t order animals that require swimming pools or acro polyps that would be great too. No one wants to take responsibility but LFS owners are the ones ordering fish. More difficult species should be special order for a dedicated hobbyist with the correct setup. No need to ban anything.

 

[fish farmer]

Yeah I really feel like more than fish type, collection practices are the thing I'd want to see internationally banned. Catching fish with cyanide damaging all nearby life and essentially writing the death certificate for their premature death is a blight on this hobby and absolutely sets us back in the court of public opinion. At the end of the day if we want this hobby to be around forever, sustainable collection practices, aquaculture, and captive breeding are necessities even if you don't agree with the ethics driving them.

Actually cyanide fishing is banned in places like the Philippines.....yet is still gets used. These places are huge areas where things aren't easily enforced and testing for cyanide I believe is still very difficult.

 

[Amphibious Wallet]

Betta splendens and goldfish.

Agreed. Easily the most abused fish in the hobby.

With Betta's you get thousands of tiktok/youtube videos of people housing them in 1/2 gallon plastic tanks with 1 fake plant, owners bragging about changing their water as often as once a week - sometimes moving the fish into a bowl while they empty and clean out the 'tank' with detergent then fill the tank back up with straight tap water at whatever temperature it comes out. Almost every one features a child or teenager. Probably doesn't help that they can be had for $5.

Then you get these goldfish with deformed bodies, abdomens too small for their insides and huge bulging eyeballs left to swim around in a stagnant bowl for 6-12 months before clocking out. God forbid they last long enough to outgrow a 5gal tank.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Oh man...good thread! I think I'd ban panther groupers. Those poor fish get bought way too frequently as tiny fish only to outgrow their tanks really fast!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Cowfish and Boxfish- These guys are captured and sold to merely die in captivity. At a very small percentage, some make it but at a high percentage, they eventually starve, weaken and die

 

[Panky]

Red Coris Wrasse!!! And Clarkii Clown. I think I’m entitled to 2

 

[Hayhayharper56]

Falco hawkfish - entertaining personality, crappy tankmate

 

[Jubal_Harshaw]

Tomato Clowns. Mine is as mean as Mama Fratelli, tries to bite my hand whenever possible, and loves to use her tail to blow my sugar sand all over the place.

Clowns in general. I have two, they bite me all the time.

 

[MiniCoco]

Lionfish. Invasive species that is hurting the natural biodiversity of the reefs because hobbyists decide to let them go for their personal reasons.

 

[Sean Clark]

Red Coris Wrasse!!! And Clarkii Clown. I think I’m entitled to 2

Why Clarkii Clowns?

 

[Rmckoy]

Why Clarkii Clowns?

Perhaps the same reason as all blood thirsty killer clownfish , but Clarki are a lot bigger

 

[Sean Clark]

Perhaps the same reason as all blood thirsty killer clownfish , but Clarki are a lot bigger

Ther is only one #Luxo and it is not a Clarkii.