Controversial fish in LFSs?

[i cant think]

What are some of the most controversial fish you’ve seen pop up in your LFS(s)?
Whether it’s their size they get to, care or something else, let’s hear them!

One controversial fish I see (I’m personally on the love side of them) is tilefish. I find they can be quite controversial as they can often be unsuitable for most reefs.

 

[TX_REEF]

I always chuckle when I see baby (3 inches or less) groupers for sale at the LFS... how many new hobbyists are gonna a. know how big those things get and b. actually have a system big enough to support them??

 

[Slocke]

So many I could list but off the top of my head

1. Harlequin Sweetlips are a common fish at my LFS
2. I’ve once seen a stonefish which is both ugly and too dangerous to be smart for an LFS to sell. Not as stupid as blue ring octopus though
3. Twin spot coris wrasse
4. All species of unicorn tang
5. Spadefish (sometimes called batfish but the nonbenthic batfish)
6. Parrotfish

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Vlamingii tang, my LFS never intentionally gets these however they do take in rescues, I've seen 2 or 3
1.5+ foot vlamingiis that I've been told We're living in 200 gallon systems before.... unfortunately the largest saltwater tank they have is 125.... they eventually go home to 600+ gallon setups after a month or so

 

[Cthulukelele]

So many I could list but off the top of my head

1. Harlequin Sweetlips are a common fish at my LFS
2. I’ve once seen a stonefish which is both ugly and too dangerous to be smart for an LFS to sell. Not as stupid as blue ring octopus though
3. Twin spot coris wrasse
4. All species of unicorn tang
5. Spadefish (sometimes called batfish but the nonbenthic batfish)
6. Parrotfish

A STONEFISH!? That is a shocking lfs stocking choice. That's like "maybe call somebody" level shocking to me. It's really irresponsible to sell that to some parents or something whose kid likes ugly fish.

 

[dkelley]

What are some of the most controversial fish you’ve seen pop up in your LFS(s)?
Whether it’s their size they get to, care or something else, let’s hear them!

One controversial fish I see (I’m personally on the love side of them) is tilefish. I find they can be quite controversial as they can often be unsuitable for most reefs.

Educate me. Why are tilefish not good or controversal in a reef tank? I was thinking about a bigger tank and was going to include a tilefish. I don't know much about them other than the basics so what am I missing?

 

[Cthulukelele]

I'm going to be a little more broad here, the quantity of wild collected already bordering on emaciated dragonets I see at pretty much every lfs is a scourge on this hobby and the "but they're so pretty and some people have success with them" comments are one of the things that give this hobby a bad name. We all know for every 1 dragonet success story in a large established tank there are several dozen new reefers that slowly starved one to death in a 2 week old 20 gallon tank

 

[SpyC]

Nurse shark has been the worst one I've seen in person

 

[Waters]

I actually seen a lot of both freshwater and saltwater. I have seen baby barracuda, red tailed catfish, gar, etc.

 

[Miami Reef]

Moorish Idol

 

[threebuoys]

Lionfish.

I know, they are pretty.

But look at what has happened along the entire eastern seaboard when hobbyists decided they were too much to handle so they dumped them in the ocean. And they are still for sale today.

 

[Slocke]

A STONEFISH!? That is a shocking lfs stocking choice. That's like "maybe call somebody" level shocking to me. It's really irresponsible to sell that to some parents or something whose kid likes ugly fish.

Stonefish are weird. They can kill people but actually their venom is very similar to the venom in stingwrays, rabbitfish, catfish, lionfish, and scorpionfish. What makes them dangerous is actually that they often inject far more venom because they are stepped on and the spines and venom sacks are functionally like an upside down syringe. The more force put in the “syringe” the more venom is injected.

So arguably they aren’t that much more dangerous then a Foxface as you presumably won’t be stepping into your tank. However I think as a hobby we do not realize how bad the stings of rabbitfish, lionfish, etc are. A bad sting is so painful it could cause cardiac arrest. The risk is very low but not zero and I don’t think enough people know that.

 

[Rene2br]

Corallivore butterfly's. Those like the Ornate or Arabian. Stunners but even and expert would have a hard time with these. I think you'd have to have a huge established reef with lots and lots of corals to munch. In the wild these guys are always grazing the reef for coral. The Ornate has to be my favorite tropical marine fish so gorgeous.

 

[threebuoys]

Stonefish are weird. They can kill people but actually their venom is very similar to the venom in stingwrays, rabbitfish, catfish, lionfish, and scorpionfish. What makes them dangerous is actually that they often inject far more venom because they are stepped on and the spines and venom sacks are functionally like an upside down syringe. The more force put in the “syringe” the more venom is injected.

So arguably they aren’t that much more dangerous then a Foxface as you presumably won’t be stepping into your tank. However I think as a hobby we do not realize how bad the stings of rabbitfish, lionfish, etc are. A bad sting is so painful it could cause cardiac arrest. The risk is very low but not zero and I don’t think enough people know that.

I got stabbed in my foot by a stingray through the rubber boot of my fishing waders once. The pain from the venom was incredible. More than anything I've ever experienced.

 

[ptrahan]

Chrysiptera parasema

 

[Slocke]

I got stabbed in my foot by a stingray through the rubber boot of my fishing waders once. The pain from the venom was incredible. More than anything I've ever experienced.

Oof
I hear it’s the worst. It is known to be more painful than a bullet ant. Luckily the pain is really the only danger (well infection of the wound and the wound too of course) but the venom can be so painful it causes cardiac arrest in very rare instances. So the key after being stung is to stay calm, hot water, and potential use of pain reducers.

Not an expert though, I just work in toxicology and have basic field medical training.

 

[Troylee]

Oof
I hear it’s the worst. It is known to be more painful than a bullet ant. Luckily the pain is really the only danger (well infection of the wound and the wound too of course) but the venom can be so painful it causes cardiac arrest in very rare instances. So the key after being stung is to stay calm, hot water, and potential use of pain reducers.

Not an expert though, I just work in toxicology and have basic field medical training.

Ya know I’ve always had a fear of swimming in the ocean cause of sharks and what not.. I normally go like waist deep and what do you know!! Stepped on a stingray! Scared the living cahoots outta me, but I didn’t get stung thankfully! No more ocean for me hahahaha!

 

[Sharkbait19]

I’ve seen a fair share, but one thing that really comes to mind wasn’t at the lfs, but petsmart. For a brief time they sold juvenile red belly pacu, and labeled them as “community fish”. Glad it didn’t last very long, but I feel real bad for the poor saps who bought these tiny 1” fish not realizing what they’d become (I was one of them!). By no means am I against them as pets, or even against pet stores selling them, but it was quite irresponsible for a chain store to market them as common household fish, knowing the general public wouldn’t think twice about it.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Stonefish are weird. They can kill people but actually their venom is very similar to the venom in stingwrays, rabbitfish, catfish, lionfish, and scorpionfish. What makes them dangerous is actually that they often inject far more venom because they are stepped on and the spines and venom sacks are functionally like an upside down syringe. The more force put in the “syringe” the more venom is injected.

So arguably they aren’t that much more dangerous then a Foxface as you presumably won’t be stepping into your tank. However I think as a hobby we do not realize how bad the stings of rabbitfish, lionfish, etc are. A bad sting is so painful it could cause cardiac arrest. The risk is very low but not zero and I don’t think enough people know that.

We had stonefish on exhibit, and we had imported antivenin from Australia as a precaution. However, as you said, the mortality rate for stings is very low and hot water helps like it does for stingrays and lionfish. The calculated mortality rate is likely around 1%. However, we also had Geographic cone shells on exhibit - no antivenin and possibly a 60% mortality rate.
We handled them with tongs and had a strict two person rule when working with them.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Oof
I hear it’s the worst. It is known to be more painful than a bullet ant. Luckily the pain is really the only danger (well infection of the wound and the wound too of course) but the venom can be so painful it causes cardiac arrest in very rare instances. So the key after being stung is to stay calm, hot water, and potential use of pain reducers.

Not an expert though, I just work in toxicology and have basic field medical training.

It's interesting how variable rabbitfish stings are. Sometimes people describe it as nothing, sometimes a bad bee sting, and sometimes the single worst experience of their life.