Was there any livestock that did not work out for you?

[Gumbies R Us]

Imagine this. Your Local fish store finally has the fish you want to add to your tank. You buy that fish and eagerly rush home to put it into your tank. Come to find out, the fish is not what you expected. Maybe it is too aggressive for your tank, or maybe you just did not like how it interacted with the rest of your tank inhabitants. I am wondering, have you ever had livestock that you regretted getting or simply just did not work for you. Photo Credit: @mk_reefs

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ghost pipefish - I got one to live 12 hours after shipping.

Spotted triggerfish - Canthidermis maculatus. These should be hardy, but always die in a month or so for me.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I was so excited to find a Ruby crab (mithraculus ruber) at my lfs.... immediately went for my coral.

 

[Joe31415]

I've had 3 Lettuce Nudibranches (at different times). The first two were gone in less than 24 hours, the third one disappeared after a few days.

I also really liked my Halloween Crab, but I wasn't entirely broken up when it died. I could never find a shell that was the right size for it. After about two weeks of it going back and forth between a few of them, it started chasing the conch around the tank. It didn't fit in the conch's shell either.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Does my whole tank count?

 

[JayM]

Not with fish, but I can't keep large snails for more than a week or so. My tank was being overrun with GHA and my LFS suggested Top Crown snails. The first batch was dead in two days, the second batch within about 6 days.
I've got probably a half-dozen other types of snails and they're all fine.

Pitho & Emerald crabs don't last long either. Maybe a month.

 

[World Citizen]

If I call my LFS to ask if they have Globulus urchins or Clams... they instantly die. I don't even have to be physically around them it seems.

But seriously, in all my tanks I had I can't keep these things alive for more than a week. The globulus is not happening. Same goes for de Clam... No-go.

Funny part is I love Urchins and have many of them.

 

[JGT]

Hippo tang. Loved acans. But had such personality I sacrificed my acans to keep him.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I was so excited to find a Ruby crab (mithraculus ruber) at my lfs.... immediately went for my coral.

That is disappointing!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Not with fish, but I can't keep large snails for more than a week or so. My tank was being overrun with GHA and my LFS suggested Top Crown snails. The first batch was dead in two days, the second batch within about 6 days.
I've got probably a half-dozen other types of snails and they're all fine.

Pitho & Emerald crabs don't last long either. Maybe a month.

Weird how all of those snails would die so quickly!

 

[BristleWormHater]

That is disappointing!

Yeah after that, the only crabs I allow are hermits and I'll try a decorator crab once everything is grown out.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Yeah after that, the only crabs I allow are hermits and I'll try a decorator crab once everything is grown out.

I'm too nervous to put any other crabs in my tank besides hermits as well.

 

[littlefoxx]

My sohal little guy looked fine and ate fine but found him dead a day later in QT. Couldnt figure out what happened.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

My sohal little guy looked fine and ate fine but found him dead a day later in QT. Couldnt figure out what happened.

Sorry to hear about that!

 

[littlefoxx]

Sorry to hear about that!

Its okay, I just got everyone back into my 300 so I will add one then!

 

[Andreas' Reef]

I have never had a red firefish make it more than a few months, even in a completely peaceful tank

 

[DoodleFish]

In my original NanoCube I could not keep any snails or crabs (hermit or emerald). I'd put them in the tank and within days they'd all be dead. Then one night from across the house I heard a snapping noise come from the tank, and figured out I had a hitchhiker get in the tank - a black pistol shrimp. He was killing everything. Took me months to get him lured into a trap and dispose of him. No problems with snails and crabs after that.

I was new to the hobby at the time (about 20 years ago), and not getting good advice from my LFS. I was buying corals and adding them without dipping them first. Lesson learned, everything gets dipped since then!