Seriously!? You had one job to do!! Ever bought a fish or invert for one purpose and had them utterly fail you?

[Daniel@R2R]

Have you ever bought a fish or invert for one purpose and then had them utterly fail at that job?

I'm thinking of a copperband butterfly (like the one in the pic) or a filefish that you bought for aiptasia and then they ignored your aiptasia and went straight for your zoas. Or maybe a wrasse for pests that didn't do what you expected, and instead started picking on everything else in the tank... or a peppermint shrimp that liked your BTA or rock flower nems instead of the pests he was supposed to east, or a sea hare that didn't do his job on the algae, or any other critter you put in your tank that just didn't do their job.

1) What was the fish or invert that didn't do what you had hoped?

2) Were they just a freeloader?

3) Did they do the job, but also did something else they shouldn't have?

4) Did they go rogue and have to be removed from your tank completely?

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

I mean my hermit crabs successfully killed my snails..... ( they did however take care of my nasty brown rocks )

and fish aren't supposed to die, are they, so that is another one.

 

[rwreef]

File fish ended up eating my large acan colony. He is no longer a resident of my tank.

 

[Mike from TN]

Margarita Snails. Yes, they do a great job of keeping things clean BUT they are constantly climbing out of the tank and down the outside of the glass. Makes me crazy!

 

[living_tribunal]

Bought a pipe fish to get rid of nuisance amphipods eating a lot of my lps. It ended up being the laziest pipe fish on the planet. Refused to eat any of the 30,000 copepods I cultured weekly for it and only wanted his frozen cyclops.

 

[Dbichler]

My kole tang and one spot rabbit fish on my current tank. Previously had both types that were spectacular algae eaters and these two are just freeloaders. Still love the look of them but man they suck at their intended purpose.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

My most frustrating example was a filefish that I bought to take out the aiptasia in my 180...well he just waited to be fed with everyone else. Never even nipped at one of the blasted anemones... Then I bought a pair of peppermint shrimp...same thing... ;Facepalm I waged war on those stupid aiptasia with a tank full of freeloaders until I finally took it down when we moved.

 

[SteveG_inDC]

peppermint shrimps only interested in food that I pay for.

 

[fishlover1478]

the trick is to get fish that you like that may eat the pest
and yes this has happened my otocinclus loved my omnivore flakes that i was feeding my neon tetras

 

[sp1187]

had zoa nudi outbreak.
multiple sources said add a six line.
I observed the six line look directly at the nudi's and then just swim away.

 

[William Mumford]

Worst copper band ever. Eats all acans and favia in the tank and all the snails.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Margarita Snails. Yes, they do a great job of keeping things clean BUT they are constantly climbing out of the tank and down the outside of the glass. Makes me crazy!

This was nerite snails for me. Had one survive on the floor behind the tank for the better part of a week. I even had a glass lid but they would escape through the cable cutouts. No more nerites for me.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Count me among those who bought peppermint shrimps (the ones from Algae Barn) and had them actually eat aiptasia. They also spawn regularly much to the delight of my fish!

 

[Frosted_reef]

One spot fox face, I did my research, watched a ton of videos and got advice from several others that they were algae eating machines. He wasn't in my tank a week when he ate all my LPS and completely ignored all the algae and nori sheets. We went away on vacation and in a week he ate my 4" clam. I am currently trying to catch him in order to rehome him.

 

[dtrick]

Margarita Snails. Yes, they do a great job of keeping things clean BUT they are constantly climbing out of the tank and down the outside of the glass. Makes me crazy!

Nerite snails love to do this also.

 

[Silly clownfish]

I got my one spot foxface rabbit fish because I liked the look and it was a better fit for my tank than a tang, but was hoping it would eat algae off the rocks. It occasionally picks at it, but really likes nori placed in his clip...

 

[Roytrolls247]

My Blue Hippo Tang is a Freeloader all he does is mimic the other fish and eats his NORI off the clip lol

 

[vlangel]

I voted that all my critters did exactly what they were suppose to but then I read some posts. Now I recall having peppermint shrimp to clean up excess mysis that my seahorses left behind. They actually did do that for a while until they decided that they resided with very lazy ponies who would not exert the effort to eat them. At that point they became very brazen and came out into the open when I fed the seahorses and stole the mysis right out from under the ponies's noses! It became so frustrating for me that the peppermints were banished to the sump.

 

[Sleepydoc]

My diamond goby - all you had to do is stay IN the tank!!!!

Peppermint Shrimp - I haven't had a single one eat aiptasia!

Aside from that, most fish I get because I like them and like how they look. As long as they don't die they're doing their job. (some are better than others...)

 

[hllb]

Sea Hare that didn't eat a single strand of GHA.