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

[LaloJ]

It’s annoying when people say they’re ‘Hard to keep’ because they really aren’t when you get the right specimen, same with any of the wrasse such as A. femininus - A dream wrasse of mine with the most money on its price tag too haha. I’m a complete freak for the wrasse and it started with just a Jade and Lubbock fairy.. I now have 8 wrasse total

Well, when I run into a beginning aquarist I always recommend staying away from angels and butterflies until they have some experience, most newbies get carried away by the beauty, design and color of these fish and most fail at their attempt to maintain them, with them I always handle them as difficult fish although you are right in saying that a well cared specimen must be found, this is practically more than half the work, they also require a lot of attention from the aquarist to continue maintaining those standards be careful with delicate fish, since the effort of a well quarantined and fat fish would be of no use if it's going to arrive in a tank with insufficient equipment and poor or regular water quality.

 

[i cant think]

Well, when I run into a beginning aquarist I always recommend staying away from angels and butterflies until they have some experience, most newbies get carried away by the beauty, design and color of these fish and most fail at their attempt to maintain them, with them I always handle them as difficult fish although you are right in saying that a well cared specimen must be found, this is practically more than half the work, they also require a lot of attention from the aquarist to continue maintaining those standards be careful with delicate fish, since the effort of a well quarantined and fat fish would be of no use if it's going to arrive in a tank with insufficient equipment and poor or regular water quality.

That’s true - I’ve been with my CBB (My second attempt) since January 2020 and he’s thriving in my tank. I wouldn’t say I was a newbie when getting him however he definitely wasn’t added into an established tank.
Also 2nd attempt meaning - I tried one in a 3’ tank with a scopas already established.. never again will I get a tang like the scopas (The exception being Z. Desjardini, I mean who can’t resist those colours - Although if I get one it’ll be a 7’ tank) All the fish that were in the 3’ tank were meant to go to the new 4’ tank but the ammonia spiked and everything went badly. It was either they all froze or they died of something that I could try lower and unfortunately I failed to lower ammonia in time.

I did wait 20 months before going with a Blue star leopard, and owned her for a week with no issues yet - I’m not qting her however, I am letting her grow out and establish with the naoko before she gets introduced to other more aggressive wrasse.

 

[LaloJ]

That’s true - I’ve been with my CBB (My second attempt) since January 2020 and he’s thriving in my tank. I wouldn’t say I was a newbie when getting him however he definitely wasn’t added into an established tank.
Also 2nd attempt meaning - I tried one in a 3’ tank with a scopas already established.. never again will I get a tang like the scopas (The exception being Z. Desjardini, I mean who can’t resist those colours - Although if I get one it’ll be a 7’ tank) All the fish that were in the 3’ tank were meant to go to the new 4’ tank but the ammonia spiked and everything went badly. It was either they all froze or they died of something that I could try lower and unfortunately I failed to lower ammonia in time.

I did wait 20 months before going with a Blue star leopard, and owned her for a week with no issues yet - I’m not qting her however, I am letting her grow out and establish with the naoko before she gets introduced to other more aggressive wrasse.

I'm sorry for your losses, I hope everything goes well with your wrasses, I like the Naokos it's a quite beautiful fish, I had it for a while until it decided to fly through the air..., I hope to try with C. marginalis instead of CBB, if I have the opportunity.

 

[jaganshi066]

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.

I’m getting a multibar angel tomorrow but the store said it’s already eating so maybe that’s a good sign

 

[jaganshi066]

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.

Yea biota never seems to have one

 

[Rtaylor]

I have a multibar angel, 6 orange spotted filefish, cb butterfly, pair of blue star leopards, and a moyers leopard.

I didn’t qt any of them. The wrasses aren’t really difficult as long as they arrive healthy. No special treatment was needed for them.
I also had no trouble with my filefish. I was prepared with Masstick and Panta Rhei pellets and they all started eating day 1.

The angel and cb butterfly were both difficult to get eating. I seriously think the cb lived for 3 months on nothing but aptasia, pods, worms, etc. The angel too took quite a while to eat anything. Eventually after getting some fresh live clams, that did the trick. I became a serial clam murderer for about 3 months as they eventually took to live black worms and finally frozen mysis. I just about cried the first time I saw Spike (multibar angel) eat a shrimp

 

[i cant think]

I’m assuming these two are the male and female leopard before the bigger of the two transitioned?

 

[HK180]

Probably the most stressful fish was my copperband. It was small (~2") and refused to eat for 5 days. Every day I offered it live blackworms, an oyster, roe, Masstick, and added a fanworm covered rock. It finally began eating the oyster and has been great since.

 

[BVF]

Great thread for the “pretty fish to avoid” list.

 

[i cant think]

Great thread for the “pretty fish to avoid” list.

Haha, yeah. A lot of “Hard to keep” fish are the prettiest - Angels being the exception

 

[Rtaylor]

I’m assuming these two are the male and female leopard before the bigger of the two transitioned?

Yes

 

[code4]

 

[code4]

These are my regals. Yellow belly is younger. I quarantined them in an aged 40 gallon breeder. Been set up for about a year. I was in no hurry. Both were under 3 inches when I purchased them. I watched them carefully for about 6 months. Healthy fish. Ate well from the start. I have had them for 3 years now.

 

[LaloJ]

I’m getting a multibar angel tomorrow but the store said it’s already eating so maybe that’s a good sign

Nice, keep us informed.

 

[LaloJ]

I’m assuming these two are the male and female leopard before the bigger of the two transitioned?

Lol, I would have cried too if my multibar angel had fed, I loved the picture of the orange spotted filefish. Your multibar looks pretty good, it looks healthy and fat, I suppose it comes from Indonesia, I don't see the yellow lines that are more characteristic of multibars collected in the Marshall Islands.

 

[LaloJ]

These are my regals. Yellow belly is younger. I quarantined them in an aged 40 gallon breeder. Been set up for about a year. I was in no hurry. Both were under 3 inches when I purchased them. I watched them carefully for about 6 months. Healthy fish. Ate well from the start. I have had them for 3 years now.

Stunnig fish. I hope to try again soon soon, it's great that they have been fed from the beginning, did you have cryptocarion in them?

 

[jaganshi066]

Lol, I would have cried too if my multibar angel had fed, I loved the picture of the orange spotted filefish. Your multibar looks pretty good, it looks healthy and fat, I suppose it comes from Indonesia, I don't see the yellow lines that are more characteristic of multibars collected in the Marshall Islands.

The fish store got me one from the Marshall Islands, I specifically requested that cause I heard they are hardier.

 

[LaloJ]

The fish store got me one from the Marshall Islands, I specifically requested that cause I heard they are hardier.

That is correct, although it doesn't take away the difficulty for this fish but it has a greater chance of feeding and thriving, perhaps better harvesting methods are handled ...

 

[i cant think]

That is correct, although it doesn't take away the difficulty for this fish but it has a greater chance of feeding and thriving, perhaps better harvesting methods are handled ...

I’m pretty sure that fish from the marshal islands are hand caught but fish from Indonesia are net caught - I may be wrong

 

[code4]

Stunnig fish. I hope to try again soon soon, it's great that they have been fed from the beginning, did you have cryptocarion in them?

I never noticed any. And I used black mollys in the display tank after I put them in it to check. I also have a White tail bristle tooth tang with no signs of any pests. No new fish, other than black mollies, have been added. Nothing goes in without a long quarantine. I know when I have it good.