Scary Fish: These fish are too scary for you to keep in your aquarium?

Why are you afraid to keep certain fish in your aquarium?

  • Too Expensive

    Votes: 196 43.8%
  • Too Aggressive with other Fish

    Votes: 210 47.0%
  • Too Fragile

    Votes: 124 27.7%
  • Too Demanding

    Votes: 94 21.0%
  • Too Hit & Miss with Corals

    Votes: 199 44.5%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 31 6.9%

  • Total voters
    447

Susan Edwards

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I am not at the point where I want expensive fish. Bad enough that corals often don't make it as many are not in good health from the lfs's or online, and same is true for some fish I've gotten. So that is my biggest factor. Poisonous is number 2 as I have grandkids and cats!
 

hsosa

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I’d love to imagine of how a fish would react from being taken from a place with a bunch of fish they recognise to being in a tank with fish from the other side of the world, I love tanks like that though because it just adds a bit of every country/continent to the tank whereas a tank like mine adds a part of an Indonesian reef instead of a piece of reef from everywhere in the world!
I’m debating on my nano tank being mainly australian or African, because I have one African wrasse and another one growing out to be in the 4’ tank I’m tempting on doing an australian dominant tank. I have added the idea of the Caribbean too since it’s opposite to Indonesia.
the freshwater keepers tend to keep the same fish from the same region.
 

jskidds2294

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other: A mixture of aggression towards other fish/inverts, and not being coral safe. I look at fish like my cats, I’m not gonna buy a wolf that will eat them. And coral is too expensive for fish food most of the time for me.
Though I am planning on setting up a frag tank just for corral during a $1-$5 frag sale. That frag tank will supply me with coral for picky eaters that do eat corals like copperband butterflyfish etc.

the freshwater keepers tend to keep the same fish from the same region.
Has to do with water hardness that fish like. South American & Central American fish like soft water. North American, Australian, & European fish are rarely kept but typically like a neutral hardness water. African, and Asian fish like extremely hard if not brackish/salt water. African cichlids even tend to do better in lower salinity saltwater then fresh.

Basically freshwater is overall to varied to keep different continent fish together at their max health. Could a discus be slowly adapted to live in borderline brackish water with African peacocks yes. Would it every breed? Possible, but the eggs and semen wouldn't do as well, and injuries wouldn't heal as fast. Same for African peacocks in 5.5 ph acid filled water that discus like.
 

jskidds2294

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Angelfish that are reef safe: swallow tails, the regal angelfish, couple of pygmy angels, with caution. My purple tang unfortunately killed the regal i tried in my tank, which is only reason I won't get another.
The only scientifically confirmed safe angelfish for coral, are plankton eaters. Aka the genus the swallowtail comes from. No others can be trusted 100%.
 

jskidds2294

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I live to have healthy happy fish, but as I’ve progressed I’ve found some fish are just ***** and will beat up and kill others for no reason
Lol same, even more so with new world cichlids. Some of those guys are like peace was never an option. Watched my hyper aggressive female discus who attacks every new entry to my tank piledrive a pleco in the sand. She wanted the wafer it was eating, pecked at the wafer once and decided she didn't want it. Fish are bullies for the stupidest things.
 

Karen00

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Unicorn Tang. The ultimate fish. But I saw a video of a guy with a long, 1,200 gallon tank, and he lamented that it was still to small.
I just googled that fish. That is amazing looking. So weird!
 

i cant think

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Unicorn Tang. The ultimate fish. But I saw a video of a guy with a long, 1,200 gallon tank, and he lamented that it was still to small.
I went to a sealife centre and they had about 3-4 of these great big tangs that were Atleast 1.5’ long with a mix of other tangs, these guys were swimming so peacefully and got along with I think there were a total of 3 other species from that genus (N. brevirostris, N. vlamingii, N. elegans) along with a bunch of other tangs from separate genera. The tank was about 35’x35’x35’ or something around that.
They truly are beautiful fish and I would love to keep one if I had a tank that was Atleast a 1,500g long.
If you ever go to London, the sealife centre there is a very nice attraction (And has Atleast 4 almost if not already full grown Naso unicornis in with other tangs that are Atleast 1’ in that genus).
 
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daileyo

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Generally, price and aggressiveness where my primary factors. However, recently I'm afraid to add any fish. Just had a bad experience being too trusting with adding fish with no real quarantine time on my end (my own fault, I know). It essentially wiped almost all of my fish. I have my Koran angel fish in quarantine still... and some green chromis that are still going... will be in quarantine as soon as I can catch them.

I won't be adding any fish back into the tank until end of Feb at the earliest... with this last fail, not sure I want to add any. I'm sure its just frustration talking... but atm, I am considering finding homes for all the survivors after they have been quarantined long enough to be sure I'm not passing on any issues to someone else's tank.
 

lefkonj

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I have kept things in my reef that people say 'You can never do that' 'You can't keep that with those fish'... because I like the fish. After a while when things start to become a problem, I re-home them.

I have had a niger trigger, clown trigger, eels, large tangs, large angelfish. They were all fine for years but at some point they were either becoming aggressive, eating corals or just too big for my 180.
 

StewL6

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Cost would be important to me. I would just hate to buy an expensive fish and it kick the bucket on day 15 of a 14 day warranty. I find that the longer i am in this hobby that the fish i am buying have increased in price greatly i am up to 150 bucks each now as highest cost I've paid. (I bought three on one order)
 

jassermd

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I haven't heard of this fish before so I just googled it and one of the first pics to up pop is one where someone overlayed the wording "Pure Evil" on a shot of their tuskfish. I would say you made the right decision! LOL Too bad it's so evil, that's a beautiful fish! The teeth are a different story! :)
Mine is the most docile fish in my DT. He’s curious and hasn’t touched my inverts or caused any issues. Great citizen! I saw the video you referred to and have to say, not at all my experience with him. Maybe luck?
 

Thunderrap

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This could probably go into one of the other categories but I wasn't sure, my tank just isn't big enough for some of the fish I would like to keep.
 

Karen00

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Mine is the most docile fish in my DT. He’s curious and hasn’t touched my inverts or caused any issues. Great citizen! I saw the video you referred to and have to say, not at all my experience with him. Maybe luck?
That is amazing! I'm sure it's luck with most of our fish. LOL I truly believe each of us has no idea when our fish could pull a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on us. Haha. It could be the addition of a new fish, change in the aquascape, etc. I have heart palpitations every time I add a new fish, invert, etc. fearing my peaceful tank will turn into the land of chaos. Haha.
 

Pistol Peet

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Mine is the most docile fish in my DT. He’s curious and hasn’t touched my inverts or caused any issues. Great citizen! I saw the video you referred to and have to say, not at all my experience with him. Maybe luck?
Mine either so I am seconding u on this 1 for sure. I think they r like pitbulls. Get a bad undeserving rap.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 74 51.4%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 73 50.7%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 36 25.0%
  • None.

    Votes: 32 22.2%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 6.3%
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