fishcatch's list: fish newbies should NEVER attempt!

[fishcatch22]

hey all you people in fishland! :hi: this is just a list of fish newbs should NEVER get for their first aquarium. feel free to add to it.(P.S. please make this a sticky!)

electric catfish/eels: c'mon, a HUGE fish that could deliver an electric shock powerful enough to send you to a hopsital?!!? puh-leeze!

stingrays: need a huge tank, special food, are VERY sensitive to ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, and are potentially dangerous.

butterflyfish: need a big tank and live food; also aggressive.

elephantfish: need live food, immaculate water, and a big species tank.

rainbowfish: are sensitive and need loads of room, best off in a species tank.

pacus: large, destructive, ever-hungry, tankbusters.

arowanas: get HUGE, need live food and very big and very immaculate tank.

pirhanas: need big tanks, clean water, and special foods. can also give you a really bad bite. ouch!

also, anything that grows over a foot should only be attempted by the experienced!

 

[DaisyTattoo]

Albino Channel Catfish-Very aggressive and very large.

Discus-Very high maintenance and expensive

German Blue Rams- Sensitive

All predatory fish-special food needs plus extra cleaning required

 

[rosita]

Here are some commonly sold fish at stores like WalMart with little to no info:

Common pleco: gets enormous and poops alot

Bala Sharks: get much larger than expected

Oscars: get much larger than expected and make huge messes

Irridescent sharks: get much larger than expected

Goldfish: get much larger than expected, and have much different needs than tropicals, with which they are often placed

Silver Dollars: very attractive to the beginner, who usually has no idea just how large they get

Angel Fish: same as SD's

Clown loaches: very appealing, but get way big and do best in groups

 

[graphicdesign_r]

Red tailed cats (size)

Predatory inverts (lobsters, crabs) in community setup

Wolf fish (size)

African CLAWED frogs for community setup

Koi belong in PONDS not TANKS (size)

Beware brackish sold as FW (esp. gobies and puffers)

Knifefish (size)

There are hundreds of "special needs" fish that could be classified as "non-beginner" fish. That's why people should come somewhere like here to ask or do research BEFORE getting any stock.

Everyone into fish (myself included) has walked into a store and said "WOW COOL!" and wanted to buy something on sight. My last "almost impulse" buy was whip tailed cats that looked like dead leaves sitting on the bottom of their tank. I asked the LFS clerk how big they got. He said "7-8 inches, and are fine for community setups", on researching the species, I found out they grew far larger (12" for males and 15+ for females") and were semi aggressive.

:laugh:

 

[alyattes]

Newbie with inherited Pacu (3)

When I bouth the house I told the owners to take the fish with them. I now have 3 red Pacu and 1 albino oscar. They were in a 55 gal. Just recently bought a 180gal. I did not want fish, but since they are here, & are interesting to look at, I'm trying to do the best for them. I did not know what they were, having NEVER seen fish like these before. I found a guy who works for a fish store, he has been helping me with the fish. He cleans the tank, checks the water, etc.

Will 180 be enough for them? How big do they get?

?? & how do I get the pics reduced so that I can attach files?

 

[fishcatch22]

to house all of them happily, you would need 1000g+ tank. PLEASE REHOME THEM!!