Fish to avoid as a newbie

It seems the list of fish you should get would be shorter

 

Guys, i think it would be nice to have a list of common fish reccomeded for newbies. this is a good useful thread but its a bit like talking about all the things in the world you cannot eat. i mean its a good thread, and can surely help many newbies. However i think it would also be nice to have a thread with all the reccomended fish for newbies, because im sure reading this is rather discouraging.

 

Guppies? lol

Some fish I know aren't hard to keep (please correct me if I'm wrong) is guppies, platys, mollies, black neons, angelfish, flying fox, most tetras I think, sunset gourami, pleco (just get a species that doesn't get huge). Just a short list that pops in my head I know there's much more.

 

Would like to add the helicopter catfish (Wallago attu) 6 foot long and a serious predator. A local LFS has juvie in its tanks.

Luke

 

what about discus
livinstoni cichlid
malawi eye biter
most african specise are agerssive

 

I'm a newbie. After my 5 tetrazones died of white spot disease,I went to a LFS. In my country,guys that work at LFS are not educated well and they do it just for money. So,he told me to buy Pangasius. I bought 2 Pangasius and a Corydoras. Pangasius are just 2'' now and they are in a small tank,but surely I will buy them a huuuge tank. They are great fish,but not for aquariums... If I had known that they grow so much,I wouldn't buy them. I have nowhere to give them now and I will do anything to make them feel ok.

 

The biggest mistake people make with angels are that they buy them small... marked as "Medium" but only measuring 2-3cm which is small to say the least and then go shove them by the dozens into a 1ft or 2ft tank. I bought 4 a few months ago for a 5ft 340L community tank working on the concept of 50L water per angel... Stocked a couple of other fish as well like corry's, Labeo Bicolor, assorted tetras and rasboras (Bigger varieties), and 4 baby Bala sharks that's going to move to a special tank soon. 5 months down the line my angels measure between 5cm and 9cm with the bigger being my two males. Would have liked for them to pair but it didn't happen yet. Maybe a bit later as the males seem to start maturing now.

This is something that happens all over the world and my opinion on this is that there should be a law enforcing educated employment in the trade which will boil down to tertiary courses being introduced which is a score however you look at it. But enough of my dream bubble. The Pangasius is a lovely fish if kept under the correct conditions (ample swimming space and water conditions) their elegance when moving around captures you. The corry needs some mates to keep him/her company. Corry's have a very intricate social desire and when not sufficiently catered for they become "droopy" and just lie around doing nothing. A nice group of 5 or 6 will ensure hours of entertainment as they almost never slow down. Anyway that's my 2c

 

Any fish that we have an incling to keep should be researched thoroughly prior to attaining it. We need to be responsible aquarists and if we have any doubt in our ability to exceed their mimimum requirements, the idea should be shelved until our abilities and equipment are able to do so. I know that this is far from new advice but it really can not be stressed enough. I entered this hobby for the sole purpose of keeping Oscars and in the past have had some stunning specimens which I have bred in suitable aquariums but now despite having a 320l tank standing empty, I will not house Oscars as it just isn't suitable for the long term. We need to place the well being of the fish far ahead of our wants and be realistic about our ability. For instance, if you want to breed Discus then challenge yourself to getting to the point where your chance for success greatly outways that of failure prior to even trying. Just my take on things, use it.... Don't NOT use it.

 

Well Said!

 

Some others I think should be added to the list~
Goldfish - Yes, Goldfish are coldwater fish, but my LFS keeps them in tropical conditions and has told me that they are perfectly okay to keep in warm water, even mixed with tropicals, which is NOT true. They also sell them in tiny little bowls which they have out of their display counters, and not too long ago I had to tell them to remove the one little guy, as it was dead. People need to understand that goldfish are potentially LARGE fish that require suitable accommodation.
Chinese Hi Fin Banded Sharks / Hi-Fin Tiger Loach / Hi Fin Doll Loach etc. - Also coldwater fish with the potential to get huge (3ft) - better suited to a koi pond than an aquarium. My LFS sells them as tropicals, but fortunately they're a bit too expensive for most newbies to try.
Giant Gourami - Not something I've ever seen for sale, but I have heard of people getting these without knowing anything about them. Grows too large for most people and will eat anything that fits in its mouth.
Skunk Loach - I loved the one I had until my bichir ate him/her a few months later But supposedly they're very aggressive.

Can't really think of anything else.

 

not sayin these are bad fishbut i realised that to keep them parasite and white spot free (mine were prone to it) add a bit of salt to a mollie tank (not loads just enough to keep the bacteria and parasites at bay)

this might not be the case with all mollies though maybe its just an unfortunate cirse for me but i seemed to not succeed with these guys

 

Mollies, as well as some other livebearers, tend to do slightly better with salt in the water. It's not required, though, as many people keep and breed these fish without the use of any salt. I guess you were just a little unlucky there.

 

when i started out mistakes i made where MANY , but a nice concise list.
1. not keeping Cory's in a school, then they die. Generally applies to most schooling fish. My Rummy noses also died probably due to this.
2. Getting big fish as babies and them outgrowing the tank (oscars, plecos)
3. any fish that has specific feeding requirements - had a tyre track loach, it never ate anything and i think died of starvation
4. Puffers - so cute - untill 24 hours later and all my plants had cute little square holes punched into the leaves. they jumped out the tank.
5. those big blue gourami's and pink kissers - so agressive.

i think allot of the problems newbies have are overstocking related.

 

@ksmith - yeah, I think things like that are sadly experienced by most of us as newbies :< I have a few similar experiences when I started out. I was 8 or 9 at the time so knew very little and trusted the LFS people XD :~
1. Got sold a reedfish and was not told that he would only eat frozen, meaty foods. Well, every morning there would be a nice round bump in the reedfish, and my little tank would be one neon less... My parents eventually took me to take him back to the store. I am really glad that we did this, as he would have died in my tank.
2. Got sold an African Butterfly and was not told of its feeding habits either. It never accepted flake foods and I think, died of starvation
3. Got sold lots of fish that were potentially way too big for my tank, being told "it will stay small in your tank". They all died before they could reach adult size though, as back then I didn't take very good care of the tank x.x

And I agree that most of the newbie problems are overstocking related. That and overfeeding-related.

 

interesting post. apart from the eating of plants - i love my silver dollars - had them originally in a school of 5 - down to 2 now - they're about 10 - 12 cm in length - but they're great.
Also I've always had CAEs from the very beginning - and while they may not be good clean up crew - i find as long as they have a place to hide and call home - they're pretty chilled - get a bit territorial, but nothing bad - I have a golden one - he's such a character - and very peaceful with his tank mates.

 

Wish this thread could be consolidated!! in one big list haha

 

@wrenchy - funny, I hadn't seen your post and I was thinking about making a list this morning. Make it an image with pictures of all the bad fish for newbies. Would be very simple for me to do.

 

@Zeiphex.... that would be FABULOUS! Please do it!

 

y are silver dollars added to the list? i have 3 of them, they are die hard.. one of them was stuck in my filter compartment for 2 days and survived. only issue is they eat almost all plants. i had them with guppies and swordtails and they seamed to get along happily. tiny fish might be in trouble tho...

 

because they get big. and most newbies dont know it