What's the one fish you regretted buying the most?

[champyeti]

I haven't kept tons and tons of fish yet in my reefing experiences, but I regret buying a firefish. It's such a waste- it hides in the rock work and only comes out to eat before darting back. The other fish don't even look at him- he must be a tender-hearted little fella if he thinks he's being bullied. I should have bought a fish that would spend more time in the water column being seen, or at least have a job to do.

For what it's worth, I have two clowns but they don't misbehave at all. Now if they actually ever pair up they might get more aggressive, but right now they're just tankmates, not a mated pair. Maybe someday they'll figure it out.

I must have the boldest firefish ever lol, he is ALWAYS out swimming. Sometimes with one/both of the clowns. Tucks himself under a rock once the room lights start going off for the night but emerges as things turn back on in the morning.

Personally I regret getting my now-female clown. She was supposed to be the smaller male, because my other clown is prettier. But somehow she wound up turning into a female and outgrowing the other one who was there first. Wish I had saved the money and gotten a smaller, non-longfin lol. Oh well...

 

[BKLYN651]

My yellow hog is a really nice looking fish, and always active. My 2 clowns just stay in a corner. Never see him bother anyone, just think other fish don’t like him. Large pajama card, large hawk. Added other fish in past 2 years but didn’t last long. Think it’s due to hog.

 

[shaggydoo]

Without a doubt a yellow clown goby. He didn't like any lps extension so went around the whole tank biting and harassing each of my larger polyped lps (acans, lobos, eyc.) making them all shrink. Never bothered euphylias but all of my other 20+ lps were fair game. He mysteriously disappeared after almost 2 years and I was so happy (as were all my corals).

 

[damselindistress]

I second that on the purple dottyback.. Had one in my last tank and that fish was a legit psychopath. Terrorized everything no matter how much the size difference. Was a pita to catch too. 2 litre soda bottle trap FTW.

I also have a 6-line in my current DT, but so far he's a model citizen. The ruby longfin fairy wrasse is the most aggressive thing in the tank right now, but he's mostly all bark and no bite.

I have a purple pseudochromis right now but he was the last addition to the tank and knows his place - tankmates are pair of bonded clowns, tomini tang and one yellow tail damsel. Pseudo is by far the sketchiest of all of them and super opportunistic. He's shady and will sneak up behind them and ram them every now and then but then he darts back to his rock before they can get to him. He's got little man syndrome I think and needs to make himself feel validated at times lol. Oddly though he is the last one at the end of the food line though and patiently waits his turn.

Prior to I had a purple stripe dottyback that I grew to despise. He would pick up rocks in his mouth and spit them against the glass right at my face. Terrorized everything and everyone. One day he caught a ride on the karma train and got himself so wedged into his sleeping hole that he could not get himself out. I couldn't find him for about 3 days and got the flashlight out - he had wedged himself in the wrong way and couldn't back himself out, by the time I found him he had rubbed all the skin off both sides of his flanks and I actually felt pretty bad for him. I had to get my husband help me with the extraction because he was STUCK. He was still alive but died within a minute of getting him free - he would have had to be euthanized anyway. I hated him but still felt bad that he had suffered quite a bit.

 

[damselindistress]

Mrs Nasty

She's beautiful though! When you're sexy and you know it...

 

[Hyde2406]

She gives me a super dirty look too, when I fix what she did. lol.

That was my jaw fish back in the day!

 

[Hyde2406]

Yup getting rid of it is the only solution. I Never quite understand why people would keep a bad fish? Except that they can’t catch them.

Yeah just catch and return! I have returned many fish. I am trying to replace a mated pair of mandarins I had before everything died in hurricane Erma. I got a huge male and put him in my tank and they did this spiral dance, it was so beautiful! I tried this recently with a female I have in my tank now, put a small make in and my female tried to eat his face it was crazy how aggressive she got... So I souped him out and brought him back to the store.... I'll try a much bigger male next time and fingers crossed...

 

[don74136]

I am sure this has been asked before, but I am going to ask it anyhow. What is the one fish you bought that you regretted buying the most?

A valentini puffer. Considered to be reef safe with caution. I’ll never buy anything else that is considered reef safe with caution.

 

[Richyreefer]

I did not know they were aggressive.

What planet are you from? Powder blue tangs are super aggressive. I hope you were not told otherwise so you would buy it!

 

[Miller535]

What planet are you from? Powder blue tangs are super aggressive. I hope you were not told otherwise so you would buy it!

I never bought one, and never researched one because I never had any intention of buying one. I think you misread something

 

[Richyreefer]

I never bought one, and never researched one because I never had any intention of buying one. I think you misread something

Sorry! I have one and it is one of my favorite fish. Only tang in the tank though. I get a little defensive when people bag on them. In the right situation i highly recommend them.

 

[JCMelski]

my six line Wrasse would chase my one other fish(can remember the name it was purple and yellow) all the time in my biocube. Once I moved them to my 110g tank and added another fish it chilled out. It died during a power outage and I had no back up battery connected to my Vortecs.

 

[Trizzot]

If Satan could swim, he would be an Undulate Triggerfish. They will kill anything in the aquarium up to and including sharks. Mine lived alone, there was nothing that could be kept with him.

 

[MarineREEFpassion]

I am sure this has been asked before, but I am going to ask it anyhow. What is the one fish you bought that you regretted buying the most?

Powder blue tang! I’ve had three and no matter how good my water is or readily available food tangs always get stressed and ick soon follows killing them and at least three other fish. Such an irritating fish, but so alluring. Kinda like a black widow lol.

 

[KeithsReefa]

Six line wrasse for me. Hardest dam fish also to get out of the tank when they are smaller. Was a bully to some my fish and picked off some shrimp i had. Ended up he went missing when i was on vacation with no where left to be found in site, possible purple lobster got em. Best loss i took!!! haha

 

[1Matthew]

The fish I regretted buying most was a juvenile hippo tang. It does in a couple weeks and infected my whole tank with ich.

 

[Southpaw240]

I'm a pretty experienced reefer and do a decent amount of research before I buy any livestock so no fish regrets in quite a while. There are a few fish that I no longer keep due to hyper aggression problems. Sohal tang is a beautiful fish, and reasonably well behaved when small, but once they get beyond about 7-8" …. watch out. Three stripe and domino damsels are a pass also.

Also had a Sohal Tang Yes it was big mistake. Not a cheap fish either to have to part with.

 

[Keen4]

I am sure this has been asked before, but I am going to ask it anyhow. What is the one fish you bought that you regretted buying the most?

Not so much a fish but a carpet anemone because they fought my beautiful rock flowers and created a chemical warfare in my nano 20 gal.

 

[Keen4]

Mine was a blue velvet damsel. That thing became the devil. And lost all of it color that I liked for an ugly almost brown. And was the hardest fish I ever had to catch. I ended up having to mostly drain the tank to catch him.

They're also incredibly aggressive, do you still have them? I think big pairs are good looking

Same- I luckily managed to pair a young couple. The one that decided to be the Dom fem is a jerk. she nibbles at me when I need to work on my frags or on any aquascaping. it was a horrendous thing to watch the little guy get beat so bad that I had to quarantine him until he was ready to fight again but he made it and now they share an anemone.

 

[Keen4]

Lemon peel Angelfish, the most efficient coral destroyer I know. I have a deep tank and it was super hard to remove. i made a little speargun and hit him a bunch of times and he still would not die. Eventually broke down the tank and then he died on the way to his new home.

OMG you tried to kill it?