MARINE FISH AND INVERTEBRATES TO AVOID

[ninjamyst]

Surprised to see yellow coris on the list.

 

[Miami Reef]

I didn’t see a moorish idol in the list of fish that don’t do well in captivity.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Interesting info about the cardinals and iridovirus, as I had just finished quarantining a cardinal which, despite acting perfectly fine in quarantine, died within hours of being acclimated to the main display. In spite of eating, it looked sickly thin before its death, but was treated for parasites, ich/velvet, and flukes. Is it possible it had this virus and the stress of transfer killed it?

 

[Slocke]

Great article! And you even acknowledged my "coris" pet peeve

See one minor thing though you list Anampses sp as "red" tamarin wrasse there is only one red tamarin wrasse, A chrysocephalus and as I understand it is one of the hardier ones. Tamarin wrasse generally refers to the whole genus and while they all generally do badly the ones that do the worst seem to be the blue and yellow complex ones of A lennardi and A femininus.
And if we're talking Anampses species then I'd add Pseudojuloides (pencil wrasse) and Macropharyngodon (leopard wrasse) who struggle with the same issue of shipping stress, injuries, and struggling to adjust to the day/night cycle in a new environment.

 

[ReeferHD]

great article, but i think you should add the (may be hardier once established) to boxfish, because in my experience they are quite resilient once comfortable with their environment, mine even fought off an ich breakout when i didn't have a quarantine system, and they eat like no tomorrow. there are plenty of people on this forum who have kept them successfully for many years aswell.

 

[flagg37]

Interesting to see what made the list and what didn’t. The only ones on the list that I’ve owned have been the clownfish and cardinals but I’m pretty sure they were captive bread.

I hadn’t heard about Tukas for several years now and so I wasn’t sure if they had any better odds of surviving as of late. It seems that they are still prone to fatality.

 

[jasonrusso]

Many other scorpionfish have toxins in their spines that are unknown in their effect on humans – treat ALL unknown scorpionfish as if they are as toxic as stonefish!

My antenna lion got me in 5 spots on my hand. 2 were in my index finger. I didn't have full range of motion for months afterwards.

My arm was a bit tingly also.

Blue-spotted jawfish, Opistognathus rosenblatti – This species does not thrive at tropical temperatures and is prone to developing severe external bacterial infections.

My first blue spot lasted for 2 and a half years. I never did anything different. He had a burrow right in front. My wife and I loved him. After he disappeared I got 4 more Blue spots. None lasted over a few weeks. I even lowered the temp to 78°.

No more of them. It breaks my heart.

 

[sc50964]

How about male watanabei angel? The near translucent blue on the head and through the body makes it difficult to tell if the subtle pinkness is the inside or bacterial infection. Idk if it’s just me, but this is an angel with very low rate of success making out of QT.

 

[steveschuerger]

My antenna lion got me in 5 spots on my hand. 2 were in my index finger. I didn't have full range of motion for months afterwards.

My arm was a bit tingly also.


My first blue spot lasted for 2 and a half years. I never did anything different. He had a burrow right in front. My wife and I loved him. After he disappeared I got 4 more Blue spots. None lasted over a few weeks. I even lowered the temp to 78°.

No more of them. It breaks my heart.

I’ve heard they actually prefer temps closer to 70, maybe even as low s 68. Unlike the Pearly Jawfish of which I have and is happy at 77.

 

[jasonrusso]

I’ve heard they actually prefer temps closer to 70, maybe even as low s 68. Unlike the Pearly Jawfish of which I have and is happy at 77.

I tried one of those as well. It didn't last.

Maybe I'll think about it again.

 

[sticksxx84]

Avoid: Six line wrasse and GSP

Why the six line?

 

[steveschuerger]

Why the six line?

Cause they’re small punks that terrorize even fish bigger than themselves

 

[sc50964]

Red Head Wrasse (Halichoeres rubricephalus) and China Wrasse - prob one out of ten makes it past a year in cavity

Venustus Angel - also hard

 

[jasonrusso]

Why the six line?

I have never had one, but I hear they are the nipping devil

 

[sc50964]

I have never had one, but I hear they are the nipping devil

Prob no one wants it after a few weeks of it being a terror

 

[jasonrusso]

Prob no one wants it after a few weeks of it being a terror

And they are impossible to catch,

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

@Jay Hemdal really nice article. I have a question. I have an order out with Dr Reef and one fish in that order is a Blue/Green Chromis. Should i avoid that one?

The problem with green chromis lays solely on the supply chain. Buying pre quarantined fish from Dr. Reef reduces that issue to a high degree.

Jay

I have a very good source from Africa BUT internal uronema DOES NOT show up till they are subjected to shipping stresses or acclimation to new tank stress etc. I have sold many and i would say 5% of them do show uronema.

@Jay Hemdal Blonde Naso mostly come from Indo and Sri Lanka (south Asia) areas and unfortunately divers use cyanide to catch these fish. Fish looks healthy and clean onthe outside but slowly dying inside.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Surprised to see copperbands not being on this list.. don't many of them die off due to shipping stress or fail to eat prepared food? Been avoiding them specifically because of that.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Surprised to see copperbands not being on this list.. don't many of them die off due to shipping stress or fail to eat prepared food? Been avoiding them specifically because of that.

If you can find the source and find ones from Philippines you will be better off.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

If you can find the source and find ones from Philippines you will be better off.

Oh, interesting. Is it due to different collection methods or does that locality just produce tougher fish? They do seem to have a large range so maybe different populations are built different.

Does your butterflies come from the Philippines by any chance? ;]