Difficult and Special Care Species List

Peter Eichler said:
It's been believed for a long time that angelfish don't deal as well with copper as most other fish. Years ago when copper was more common, many claimed that their gills were harmed by copper and that it tended to cause excess mucus in their gills. I also always noticed sores on angelfish that were kept in copper, whether or not it was from the copper or perhaps because they're more prone to bacterial infections is hard to say.
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Tks for confirming my belief
I may try another regal with no treatment and see how it does
 
eatbreakfast said:
TTM= tank transfer method.
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^This. I have also had not so great luck with Regals starting with two juvs I tried that were close to 1/2"... One didn't ship well and the other never seem interested in food and I had limited things to offer a fish at that size (now I have a whole smorgasbord, but am reluctant to try any angel at that size again) the other time I tried one I lost it to a ammonia spike in QT caused by die off of bristle worms from a few rocks I used to seed the QT after treating with chloroquine phosphate (cp). First and last time I don't use a ammonia badge for QT by the way.
 
Longevity.

Longevity.

Dmorty217 said:
5yrs seems to be the length that people keep them alive for the longest... Problem is most people would think that 5 yrs is a long time, but it's only a short time relatively speaking in this hobby
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My Ocellaris Clown is approaching 25 years old. So consider strongly the possible outcomes of purchasing that next fish.
 
av8 said:
My Ocellaris Clown is approaching 25 years old. So consider strongly the possible outcomes of purchasing that next fish.
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I had a pair of ocellaris for a bit over 20 years - then they got cooked by a stuck heater :headwalls:
The female still looked great but the male was likely close to die of exhaustion from all the breeding they were doing. He looked old and exhausted.

In general I feel the clownfish males have a harder life than the females. My clarkii male also got worn out by all the egg fanning while the female stuffed herself to lay the next batch. They usually had a new clutch before the previous hatched. This didn't give the male the break he would have needed to regain some strength. I was feeding like crazy but he never came out enough to eat what he would have needed to eat.
 
manchestercity said:
Lol I was thinking the exact same thing. Sounds like the only safe fish to keep is the kind you keep in the freezer
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In all fairness there are many fish you can keep if you make yourself informed on the special needs , compatibility and size issues.
This thread is very useful in pointing that out.
A novice would have trouble with some of the fish listed,a more experienced reefer would not.
Eg PaulB has successfully kept moorish idols.. Fish that perish rather quickly in a novice tank
 
/
Aquarist007 said:
In all fairness there are many fish you can keep if you make yourself informed on the special needs , compatibility and size issues.
This thread is very useful in pointing that out.
A novice would have trouble with some of the fish listed,a more experienced reefer would not.
Eg PaulB has successfully kept moorish idols.. Fish that perish rather quickly in a novice tank
Click to expand...

Yes, many if not most of the fish on this list can be kept if special care is given. Sadly, many people will not do the research as to what those needs are or will simply ignore good advice from more experienced hobbyists. This is a pretty destructive hobby as a whole. I think we should try to do what we can to not be neglectful or else someday we may not have the privilege of keeping any of the animals we enjoy in our tanks.
 
The first time I read this, when I was just starting out, it made me wonder if there were any fish that I was capable of keeping. But it kept me from buying fish outside my skill level.
As I got more experienced, I tried some of the fish listed as harder or even expert only.
It has helped me avoid impulse buying and purchasing fish outside my skill level.
There is no doubt it prevented a lot of fish from dying while in my care due to my lack of knowledge.
 
kmbyrnes said:
The first time I read this, when I was just starting out, it made me wonder if there were any fish that I was capable of keeping. But it kept me from buying fish outside my skill level.
As I got more experienced, I tried some of the fish listed as harder or even expert only.
It has helped me avoid impulse buying and purchasing fish outside my skill level.
There is no doubt it prevented a lot of fish from dying while in my care due to my lack of knowledge.
Click to expand...

That was the original point of this list, to hopefully save some fish that might otherwise meet their early demise. Happy it helped!
 
I think there are some fish on that list that are not truly difficult to keep, but are so badly handled during collection and shipping that they are ruined before they even arrive in their destination country.
There have been improvements and some fish are doing much better now.
It also helps that reef tanks are no longer deserts of bleached coral skeletons but rather actual reefs.
Salt mixes also have improved vastly. In the past some were outright toxic.
 
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