View Full Version : Beginner Buyer Beware
ILuvMyGoldBarb
04-06-2008, 02:46 AM
I wanted to put this up here because I just got rather ticked when I looked at a popular online mail order fish site. They have a section listed for Beginner SW fish and some of the fish listed in there were absolutely ridiculous. Here is a list of the fish listed there that should absolutely not be in that catagory at all.
Chaetodon lunula - Raccoon Butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga - Threadfin Butterflyfish
Heniochus acuminatus - Longfin Bannerfish (Heniochus Butterflyfish)
Paracanthurus hepatus - Blue Hippo Tang
Centropyge bispinosus -Coral Beauty
Pterapogon kauderni - Banggai Cardinalfish
Sphaeramia nematoptera - Pajama Cardinalfish
Echidna nebulosa - Snowflake Eel
Pterois volitans - Volitans Lionfish
Pomacanthus maculosus - Yellowbar Angelfish
The lionfish and the Coral Beauty are borderline for beginners but the Butterflies are absolutely terrible choices for beginners. They have terrible tank records. Cardinalfish have the same dismal tank records and need almost perfect water. The Banggai's are tank bred but sill not a good choice for a beginner. Blue Hippos are very aggressive and Ich prone when not kept in good conditions. The Eel and the Lionfish are bad beginner choices because of feeding.
I'm quite frankly shocked and disappointed that a reputable site would recommend such fish for beginners. If you are a beginner Marine hobbyist, do yourself a huge favor and avoid the above listed species. Get some experience before you give them a try.
PUNISHER VETTE
04-06-2008, 03:00 AM
I'm sure you're right. I don't have a saltwater tank but it seems like fish/plants they say are for beginners don't do well in my tank yet fish/plants they say are advanced/moderately hard to keep make it so it all depends i guess....maybe i'm just lucky with the medium ones and the easy ones were just bad luck.
jbeining75
04-06-2008, 04:12 AM
Any type of butterfly or moorish idol is extremely hard to acclimate. They are very picky eaters and when I had my moorish idol I had to feed him with tongs to get him to eat. It took me four days to get him to eat. All butterflies are extremely picky and very very intolerant to water perimeters that are not perfect....
Great post GB...
ILuvMyGoldBarb
04-06-2008, 04:15 AM
Jamie, how long did your Moorish Idol live?
jbeining75
04-06-2008, 04:20 AM
I was in Hawaii and he lived for over a year when I had him. I had to put him back in the salt stores main reef. They promised not to sell him. I moved and didn't want to take the risk of relocating him in a tank. They are way to picky. Generally what happens is the handlers can't get them to eat and they end up dying... I got him to eat mysis after about a week and he waas fine after that. Some people can never get them to eat. Butterflies are the same way. They are extremely hard to keep. I would never try to keep a moorish idol ever again.
ILuvMyGoldBarb
04-06-2008, 04:26 AM
You are one of the very few lucky ones who have ever gotten them to eat at all. Most die within the first 2 weeks. They are one fish that IMO should not even be taken off the reef for anyone to try, beginner or advanced. If you subscribe to Tropical Fish Hobbyist there was a great article in there a few months back about them, very very eye opening.
jbeining75
04-06-2008, 04:32 AM
The one fish store that has them in Hawaii keeps them in a huge reef tank that is segregated off... It is relatively shallow but there is coral for them to pick at so they actually can keep them easier I guess. I had the worst time ever with him. I was debating releasing him in the ocean, back to the petstore.... then finally a miracle I got him to eat....
The thing with every petstore is and it is sad.... is the money. People see they have great color and are brilliant looking so they buy them. Being a scuba instructor in Hawaii I can go underwater and see hundreds and hundreds of them a day so they are easy for the fish stores to find. Kinda disappointing really....
siymdapolio
04-06-2008, 04:37 AM
ILMGB Thanks a lot for posting this! IT really goes to show you that you need to do REAsearch reasearch reasearch. This is a great thread helps out a great deal thanks so much!
ILuvMyGoldBarb
04-06-2008, 04:42 AM
yes it is. And the really sad part is that they are so inexpensive. I don't know if you saw the article I mentioned earlier, but the writer traced almost 300 specimens and almost 95% of the died within the first 2 weeks. Only 5 lived 2 years and none lived more than that. Quite sad for a fish that has a lifespan of 10-20 years.
jbeining75
04-06-2008, 04:47 AM
I kinda giggled at lionfish also... Put an extremely venomous lionfish on a beginners list. Just grab his dorsal fins it won't hurt after the heat goes away in an hour and your skin starts to peel....... This list is pretty bad....
cocoa_pleco
04-06-2008, 04:54 AM
dont forget mandarin goby's! they need a constant copepod supply, so unless you have a wad of cash laying around to buy pods, a huge refugium, or a copepod farm, and a tank 55g+ with 2lbs/g+ LR they arent for you
ILuvMyGoldBarb
04-06-2008, 05:06 AM
Nope. Thankfully they were not on the list this website had posted.
BTW, if anyone wants to know which site this is, just PM me. I don't want to publicly redicule them since they normally are a great site and a great sponsor of web forums.
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