Show me your experiences with difficult fish to keep or expert only fish.

LaloJ

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I am curious to know the experiences of the aquarists here, what fish have they had? What have been your methods to adapt these animals to your tank? Do you use a quarantine? What medications do you use in quarantine and how do you use them? Data like this can help many aquarists to be able to follow a kind of pattern to keep fish that are considered difficult to keep. Personally, the only fish in this range that I have dealt with have been the regal angel and the multibarred angel, I did not do well with the P. diacanthus 11 or 12 years ago, since I was quite new to keeping fish and to be honest the fish he never ate or left the rocks, I put it directly in my main tank, a small 50 gallon tank, at that time I did not even have a measurement test, a disaster, the fish died 10 days later, and I have never tried another .
Two years ago I tried my luck with the multibarred angelfish, they rarely arrive in Mexico, and I was fortunate that a trusted friend obtained it from QM. So again the fish went straight into the dt, a 90 gallon tank with a coral beauty angelfish (new fish) and a flame angelfish (came from my 30 gallon tank) that I added at the same time, luckily there was little aggression from the flame angel. The multibarred angel always had a lot of character, it roamed throughout the tank, however he never tried food, I tried everything I could find, mysis, seafood porridge, cyclopezee, brine shrimp, and of course dry food in pellets and flakes but without success, the fish refused to eat and died 5 weeks later, at least at this point I had no problem with my tank, just a difficult fish to keep that did not adapt, I'm planning to have a try with either of these two fish, considering the multibarred angel in a separate tank, but the regal angel would go into my main tank, these come from time to time but the prices are ridiculous, so since my last attempt I think I have more experience for either of these two fish, I will try soon as soon as I have the opportunity. Show your experiences here and add your photos, let's see those beautiful fish.

20190417_124408-1.jpg
 

i cant think

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I am curious to know the experiences of the aquarists here, what fish have they had? What have been your methods to adapt these animals to your tank? Do you use a quarantine? What medications do you use in quarantine and how do you use them? Data like this can help many aquarists to be able to follow a kind of pattern to keep fish that are considered difficult to keep. Personally, the only fish in this range that I have dealt with have been the regal angel and the multibarred angel, I did not do well with the P. diacanthus 11 or 12 years ago, since I was quite new to keeping fish and to be honest the fish he never ate or left the rocks, I put it directly in my main tank, a small 50 gallon tank, at that time I did not even have a measurement test, a disaster, the fish died 10 days later, and I have never tried another .
Two years ago I tried my luck with the multibarred angelfish, they rarely arrive in Mexico, and I was fortunate that a trusted friend obtained it from QM. So again the fish went straight into the dt, a 90 gallon tank with a coral beauty angelfish (new fish) and a flame angelfish (came from my 30 gallon tank) that I added at the same time, luckily there was little aggression from the flame angel. The multibarred angel always had a lot of character, it roamed throughout the tank, however he never tried food, I tried everything I could find, mysis, seafood porridge, cyclopezee, brine shrimp, and of course dry food in pellets and flakes but without success, the fish refused to eat and died 5 weeks later, at least at this point I had no problem with my tank, just a difficult fish to keep that did not adapt, I'm planning to have a try with either of these two fish, considering the multibarred angel in a separate tank, but the regal angel would go into my main tank, these come from time to time but the prices are ridiculous, so since my last attempt I think I have more experience for either of these two fish, I will try soon as soon as I have the opportunity. Show your experiences here and add your photos, let's see those beautiful fish.

20190417_124408-1.jpg
So at the moment I have 3? Hard to keep fish (1 wasn’t hard it’s just getting the right one to ship) These are:
- Copperband Butterflyfish
- Blue Star Leopard Wrasse
- Radiant Wrasse
I can’t say much on the care of the Blue Star since I’ve only had her for 2 days (today will be the third, and yes she did come out straight away yesterday - even though it was her first proper day in the tank)
I can tell you how easy my radiant and CBB have been:

The Radiant was never an issue with shipping or anything (I got her as a 2” young female, maybe juvenile) as with all wrasse, she grew quite quickly to get to her 3” stage she is now within 6 months she grew an inch, but I’ve now had her for over a year and she has stayed at the 3” phase, it may be because she is the only Radiant in the tank, and male wrasse get bigger than the females. I have seen no signs of her starting to transition to male which makes me say she will stay a female. The shipping was never an issue, although yes my LFS is 30 minutes away Ive never had an issue with any of my ship refusing to ship. I’ve even had fish from around 4 hours away ship properly, although that was a different LFS that I got my Siganus magnificus from. I didn’t notice anything wrong with her eating and she ate straight away. If I could redo my Halichoeres selection of wrasse I would always have a Radiant since they’re filled with colour - I’m adding a naoko into the tank when he gets to around 3” so fingers crossed she behaves perfectly since they have similar coloration. I have yet to catch her going into the sand and coming out (I know she does it I just don’t know where)
The CBB was never hard to care for but that’s because I got lucky and the one I got was already eating in the LFS, it made it into a year and still hasn’t grown a bit. Including the snout mine is around 2” maybe 3”. I added mine in after two clowns (Now one since the female vanished) and the Foxface then a few months later added a tang in and it still has no care in the world. When I bought it it was aggressive to newcomers and still is. It gladly takes food out of the foxface’s and Tang’s mouths. I have never had any struggles with this fish and have owned it for around 18 months.
 
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LaloJ

LaloJ

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Those are pretty pretty wrasse, although I like radiant wrasse better, so is this guy considered difficult to care for? In what size tank do you have these fish? It's great to know about the CBB, I have generally read that they don't adapt and starve, especially here in my country, I have never tried one although I have been tempted to do so.
 

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I don’t really buy in to the idea of “difficult fish”, I rather view it as they have specific requirements and if those aren’t being meet you’re going to have a hard time with them.

I have some fish that are traditionally viewed as hard to keep:
Achilles tang
Moorish idol
Regal angel
Copperband butterfly

They all share similar traits that they need excellent water conditions, a large established tank and frequent feeding with the right foods to be happy.

I don’t medicate any of my fish and the above species went straight in to the DT as you will have much more success if they go straight in to a large reef environment rather than a small..is observation tank.

I mainly feed the tank mysis, krill, clams, oysters, angel formula, masstick, nori, formula two flakes, different NLS pellets, brine shrimp, frozen formula one and two.
 

i cant think

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Those are pretty pretty wrasse, although I like radiant wrasse better, so is this guy considered difficult to care for? In what size tank do you have these fish? It's great to know about the CBB, I have generally read that they don't adapt and starve, especially here in my country, I have never tried one although I have been tempted to do so.
They’re both in a 4x2x2 tank, in long term care the radiants are easy. It’s just trying to get them to adapt to the tank (They often dive into the sand bed after introduction, although mine didn’t until it was lights out) they’re notoriously bad shippers though, so I don’t recommend buying online if possible try and get one from the LFS
 

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I don’t really buy in to the idea of “difficult fish”, I rather view it as they have specific requirements and if those aren’t being meet you’re going to have a hard time with them.

I have some fish that are traditionally viewed as hard to keep:
Achilles tang
Moorish idol
Regal angel
Copperband butterfly

They all share similar traits that they need excellent water conditions, a large established tank and frequent feeding with the right foods to be happy.

I don’t medicate any of my fish and the above species went straight in to the DT as you will have much more success if they go straight in to a large reef environment rather than a small..is observation tank.

I mainly feed the tank mysis, krill, clams, oysters, angel formula, masstick, nori, formula two flakes, different NLS pellets, brine shrimp, frozen formula one and two.
The Achilles tang and Moorish idol have been my dream fish to keep, always avoided both because they’re the hardest to keep fish in the hobby. I went with the Leopard wrasse first, then I’ll build up to the moorish idol from there (I know they’re two different fish however, Leopards are picky eaters and sensitive to stress similar to Achilles tangs and Moorish idols)
 

Tamberav

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I have a:
Copperband
Blue star leopard wrasse
Kuiters leopard wrasse
Radiant wrasse x2

They all went through hybrid TTM and then observation tank without any issues. People say not to QT but I had no problem QTing any of them but hybrid TTM doesn’t use harsh medications.

The wrasses are not bad to keep, just bad shippers.

Copperbands, as long as they come in good shape will often take live worms or clams so that’s a good place to get them started.

I would love a multibar but the LFS has never had one. Biota never seems to have them in stock either. Doh.
 

i cant think

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Leopards are harder to keep without just the shipping but that’s if it’s not already eating. I need help with what to feed my 1” BSLW
 

Tamberav

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Live worms or quality fish roe like ova (coral feast ova is great stuff but have to freeze it yourself, the bottle will spoil) if they won’t take mysis or LRS. Leopards have never been that picky for me or even my LFS. Stay away from one with a pinched head.

Sometimes fish just need to get started on something better than what a typical LFS carries. Anyone should be able to grow white worms or order specialty foods but it takes some planning.

Sometimes it comes down to someone buys a finicky fish then comes posts asking what to feed it (tried mysis, flake, brine, pellets, yada yada). Then says I don’t have access to what is suggested. However most of those items could have been planned before purchasing the fish.

So if there is a difficult fish you know you would like. Time to start planning.
 

i cant think

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image.jpg

that’s the radiant,
image.jpg
my Leopard next to a two inch naoko,
I just fed her and she ate instantly, just a bit of scared behaviour when I went to take off the lid
image.jpg

and my CBB (Fat and healthy like always) Hes around 2-2.5” and clearly likes rock pecking
 
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LaloJ

LaloJ

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A pity because Bali Aquarich breeds Multifasciata as well as Colini and Venusta. It would be cool to get your hands on the captive bred ones.
Yes, it's a shame, there are many fish that are available elsewhere and it is unlikely that we will have them around here, colins angelfish is most likely a fish that has never arrived in Mexico.
 
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LaloJ

LaloJ

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I don’t really buy in to the idea of “difficult fish”, I rather view it as they have specific requirements and if those aren’t being meet you’re going to have a hard time with them.

I have some fish that are traditionally viewed as hard to keep:
Achilles tang
Moorish idol
Regal angel
Copperband butterfly

They all share similar traits that they need excellent water conditions, a large established tank and frequent feeding with the right foods to be happy.

I don’t medicate any of my fish and the above species went straight in to the DT as you will have much more success if they go straight in to a large reef environment rather than a small..is observation tank.

I mainly feed the tank mysis, krill, clams, oysters, angel formula, masstick, nori, formula two flakes, different NLS pellets, brine shrimp, frozen formula one and two.
I think that even though I have never agreed with the approach of putting direct fish in DT, that is best for finicky fed fish and more prone to stress, did you have any kind of disease problems with regal angelfish and achilles tang? ?
Personally, I don't like to medicate in QT, I prefer observation before doing any movement, that's why I prepare a hospital tank apart from the QT tank, because I consider them different tanks.
 
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LaloJ

LaloJ

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I cant think: That's a beautiful CBB, pretty and healthy.
 

Viking_Reefing

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I think that even though I have never agreed with the approach of putting direct fish in DT, that is best for finicky fed fish and more prone to stress, did you have any kind of disease problems with regal angelfish and achilles tang? ?
Personally, I don't like to medicate in QT, I prefer observation before doing any movement, that's why I prepare a hospital tank apart from the QT tank, because I consider them different tanks.
That’s my reasoning. No issues with disease. I do have ich in the tank but I don’t view that as a problem with good nutrition and proper husbandry.
Some fish develop a couple of spots when they go in but that always disappears in a couple of days.
 

Paul B

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I don't generally have problems with copperbands or long nose butterflies but I find copperbands easier. They are large eaters and generally live, for me anyway about ten years.



Moorish Idols are hard no matter who you are. I have had a few of them and the longest I was able to keep one was 5 years, which is a dismal failure.

To learn about them I spent quite a bit of time with them in the sea in the South Pacific and Hawaii.



These guys are exactly the same as mandarins and spawn just as easy. But you need an aged tank.


Mandarins are very easy, again, "if" you have an older, not to clean tank. This guy lived about 10 years and spawned constantly.



This Janss pipefish is one of my favorites but only eats frozen mysis. Just about nothing else. This one is past his lifespan and is about 6 or a little more years old. There was another one but he killed her.



These bluestripes I also find easy but they hunt all day so need an older tank with growth. Theyalso spawn constantly but have a short lifespan of about 4 years.


 
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LaloJ

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That’s my reasoning. No issues with disease. I do have ich in the tank but I don’t view that as a problem with good nutrition and proper husbandry.
Some fish develop a couple of spots when they go in but that always disappears in a couple of days.
Well cared fish do exactly that. My concern is the handling of these delicate fish before reaching our tanks, a lot of stress and sometimes they scale in deplorable systems, I have plans to buy a regal angelfish next month, I'm preparing a QT tank with many sponges for it, varied foods and no annoying companions, maybe some firefish or blue damsel who are mostly peaceful.
 
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LaloJ

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Paul, beautiful pipefish, so he just keeps eating frozen mysis? Don't have something like a specialized diet? for example like the butterflies that feed exclusively on coral.
 
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