[jwtrojan44]

On this board, and many others, there are numerous posts about various species that are generally thought poor choices for aquariums and hobbyists. Has it ever been suggested that a list be compiled, possibly in a new forum, that would list such species in an effort to educate new hobbyists and steer them away from potentially disappointing results? I'm sure there will always be the guy who has succesfully kept a Moorish Idol in a ten gallon tank for the past five years feeding it only flake food once a day, but there seems to be consensus among most of us about which species do not "as a rule" do well and should be avoided. Any takers? From my own point of view, I'd include; Rock Beauty Angels, Regal Angels, Moorish Idol, cleaner Wrasses, Ribbon eels, all sharks and rays, copperband butterflies, bi-color parrotfish,Pinnate batfish. I'm sure others could add more, and i know some of you are keeping these fish succesfully, but perhaps a list of the hard to keep species would be helpful to those starting out?

[FishTechie]

Mandarin Dragonet in nothing smaller than an ESTABLISHED 75 with plenty of LR

[jwtrojan44]

I knew I forgot one that really should be on the list! Can you imagine the thousands of these beautiful fish that die every week because stores sell them to anyone, with no regard as to the person's knowledge of how to care for them. I will never buy one in spite of how attractive they are. Actually, the lfs have to spearhead some sort of conscientious effort not to sell species that are practically doomed from the start. The average person, without the proper knowledge, will buy what is pretty, affordable, etc, when it comes to fish. This is not intended to ruffle any feathers, just to draw attention to a problem within the industry.

[mastaJ]

Maybe a mod could "sticky" this to the top of the forum??? That way this could be our own black list???? Otherwise I don't have any to add that I can think of now...(you took em all...lol )

[chromis]

I would not include CBB's. Thanks largely to Dr. Ron, they are now being kept in reefs with good sucess. He has 2 in his 55 sandbed/ reef tank. Buying eating, quarantined butterflys has helped many to keep thesse. But, I would add all dragonets to the list.

IMO
Andrew

[chinitoe]

whats wrong with a bi-color parrot fish? i know it gets pretty big... any problems when its a juvenile?

[mastaJ]

See, this is the problem with making a "black list" everyone has different opinions...so, IMO there never can be any real black list...Just hadta say that....

[fishguy_8]

mastaj is right.....certain fish are deffinitely off limits to some of us due to tank restrictions....like a mandarin wouldnt go good in a 7gal nano......the list goes on.... and finding someone w/ enough guts to come out and say "THIS FISH IS NO GOOD IN AQUARIA" knowing full well there is several people w/ each fish and have them doing well in their given tanks.....its tough to say what is acceptable and what isnt. if everyone had the same sized tank then it'd be easy to say this is too big this is too aggressive this is .....whatever you get my point. but starting a thread like this discussing the problems with certain fish is deffinitely a good idea. keep up the good work.
Jon
p.s. i too dont think cbb's should be on the "black list" because they have been reported to be doing quite well in aquaria and seem to be one of the few things that will take care of aptasia NATURALLY.

[eses]

I have seen in some FAQ's and other guides on keeping a marine aquarium that have a list of fish newbies should avoid. I followed one when first setting up my tank.

But for an absolute newbie, you should also add fish like Sea Horses, Lawnmower/Sailfin Gobies/Blennie (whichever it is) many varieties of sea-stars, as well as other inverts like Sea Apples, Anemones, etc.

While compiling a list would be helpful, I think there are going to end up being fish on there that someone will look at and go "well, i kept it just fine, it wasn't that hard" like the lawnmower blennie .. not all of them will eat whatever you feed it.

I don't think having the "black list" in a main forum is really necessary, but having a up-to-date FAQ would be helpful; and could be something that is linked off the main page of the this BB or site.

[jwtrojan44]

thanks for all the response. I figured this could lead to some controversy, but also figured that many of us at one time or another have seen a fish that we just had to have, or that the lfs told us was o.k. for our tank, only to find out later that that particular species is almost impossible to keep alive. Then we ask ourselves, "I wonder why nobody told me?" Rather than belabor the issue, perhaps we can from time to time post info on troublesome fish, or pass on to new hobbyists information that we have gleaned through our own experiences, or from the teachings of others. It's interesting, albeit sad, to see new hobbyists buying ribbon eels, mandarins and moorish idols without having a clue as to how to care for them, or the knowledge that thet should not even be kept. Thanks all for the input.

[Aquariust]

I must say the sight of sharks/rays/idols in the lfs's really hurts me.

All of the above sounds good, except for mandrain gobies. If you can provide them with enough food they normally eat, I think they can be quite a hardy little fish!

The catalina goby should be on the list. The cleaner wrasse I think more than any on the list

With continued doom to idols/gobies/etc, the cleaner wrasse plays the most improtan role in the reef. Until they can be captive bread, I say let them do what they are supposed to do on the reef! Neon Gobies and cleaner shrimp can do the same thing!

[the_blue_tuna]

This is exactly why this forum , and others like it exist. As part of being a responsible aquarist , doing the homework on any fish you plan to introduce is a must . Although we have all seen the "I just have to have it goby" buying said fish without knowing anything about it is not very responsible. Trying to compile a list that would include all the different variables one might come across would also be quite the challenge. What I do , as well as many others , is see a fish I might like then come to the boards and ask for personal experience dealing with the fish . You get many responses from a varied group , some FO tanks , reef tanks , and anywhere in the middle tanks , all with different tankmates and parameters . This also allows you to ask a specific question to a specific answer you may recieve.IMO this is a very good way to start your research . We can all learn from each others success's and failure's. Thats what the marine aquaria community is all about .

[Neal359]

a good way to tell if its dificalt to keep or not look at the online stores and find out witch ones dont get their arive alive garanty this will usually tell you for the most part witch fish to stay away from