Fish you will never keep... Nope Fish

Chromis because of urenoma. Not worth the risk to me.

I probably also wouldn't keep powder type tangs due to aggression and disease prone.

Plenty of things not appropriate for my tank but they are not hard no's if I had the set up for them.

Also surprised to see people calling blennies boring as they are generally regarded as one of the most personable fish. You could call them drab... But boring? Eh.
 
I love my grouper!

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The image is a little fuzzy. Is that a miniatus? I had one with some intense colors in the 90's and it was a beautiful fish. Problem with that fish is it was explosively fast and ate anything that fit in its mouth.

Here's a fun fact. Everything fits in a groupers mouth.
 
The image is a little fuzzy. Is that a miniatus? I had one with some intense colors in the 90's and it was a beautiful fish. Problem with that fish is it was explosively fast and ate anything that fit in its mouth.

Here's a fun fact. Everything fits in a groupers mouth.

It is a lyretail Grouper. I do love the miniatus though. The Pacific's version of the coney grouper. So beautiful!
 
Had one of these in my sump for the longest time. I’d say six lines and while not a fish, blue ring octopuses. Came across a local reefer that had one A few years back and of course I had to go see it in person! It was cool but, Nope!!
Not a full on nope/never, but almost...

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My favorite but likely forever nope is the undulate trigger. I had a baby by itself in a 75 during grad school. I want to grow one full size in a 120 gallon but that’s a lot of tank space for one fish. And actually a 250 for a blueline as well, and a 500+ for a queen or titan. Haha I love triggers but they don’t play nice once grown.

also a pair of Pseudochromis steenei by themselves as well...
 
I would love to have a trigger or puffer, but afraid of what they'd do to my inverts or other fish
We bought a porcupine puffer as YOUNG as possible. Hand feeding, and now I can pet him. He's our favorite fish by far. I've been told and read (although time will be the judge) that if we condition him and provide ample food, we can prevent problems with other fish/inverts. But holy COW is he cute and awesome.

Also, agree with 6-line wrasse. I also will not do a box fish. They are ugly and heard if they die they essentially just nuke the tank.
 
No Designer Clowns, they just look out of place IMHO.
Haha. Where’s the love for designer clowns?

To clarify...I’m fine with “typical” patterned clowns, in fact I’m considering a black onyx/photon pair. But just don’t have the stomach for the outlandish patterns on the designer’s. Just me.;)
 
Engineer Goby. I must say first and foremost that I HATE snakes....It's so bad, for reference I prefer a gun over a snake in my face if I had to choose!

Long story short, i bought one under the impression from an employee at one of my LFS that he wouldn't get big and stay the small size I bought him as. Fast forward just 4 months, this thing went from like 3 inches to about 8 inches! Shaped like a you know what...SNAKE!! I never would put my hand in the tank, he would literally punk me out because he would get go swimming fast like a boss and run me up out of there!! Send chills up my body, no joke!!

I love all my fish, but when I discovered this one had passed, I was extremely happy to say the least. Go ahead...laugh, I sure do, dang Goby.
 
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Tube Anemone ..... Red Hairy Leg Crab
Ursula - my tube just killed everything she could. Those tentacles could stretch half way across my tank to snag an unsuspecting fish. I woke up one morning to see her sucking down my purple firefish. The "B" had to go.
Crabzilla was like my wet dog. I loved the little guy. He begged for food... he would tap on the glass to say Hi. Honestly and truly, I got into the hobby because my LFS had one and it was a goal of mine to have a tank with a giant crab. Alas, Crabzilla was big. He frequently upgraded his shells and just got heavier and heavier. This did not play well for the rockwork. He really wasn't a predator ... more of an opportunist. He did turn my urchin into uni when the rock collapsed in it. (Urchins fault, not Crabzillas - or at least that is the story he used for an alibi.) When Ursula got out of control, I put Crabzilla and Ursula in a five gallon and let them fight it out. Crabzilla won... RIH Ursula.
Crabby Z lived out the rest of his days in a 35 gallon JBJ AIO. I hates the tank set up but I loved Crabzilla. It broke my heart when he passed on. Even still... I can say that I checked that off my bucket list and I won't go there again. Cool invert but too big for a delicate tank and he would eat his little friends.
Crabzilla, I love it! My giant is named Tamatoa. Got any pics?
 
Cardinals, especially Banggai Cardinals (idk why people go crazy over them).

Fairy and flasher wrasses, anthias, and dwarf angels (just sheer bad luck, can't seem to have one go through full QT)

In terms of large angels: Gray, Griffis, Armitage, African, and Old Woman (although these don't go in the aquarium trade, thank God). These guys have probably the worst coloration among all the angelfish.
 
Blue/hippo Tang - as much as I trust my QT practices I would just never be confident of adding one to the tank..... I am loving my parasite free reef and just not worth the risk imo.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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