Show me your experiences with difficult fish to keep or expert only fish.

[i cant think]

Apparently this store got it to eat cyclops but now I’m starting to doubt it

I think you’ve been lied to, usually if it eats in the store it eats at home (Atleast I know that’s with Leopard/Anampses wrasse as long as they don’t go under severe stress in transport)
It’s hard to give a fish severe stress unless it’s been in the bag for like 38 hours+

 

[blaxsun]

Brief update on my parrotfish with several insights I've gleamed. They love to eat and view the tank as an open buffet. Mine has essentially ignored all my corals (reef-safe) but has inadvertently fragged a few zoas and mushrooms when he sampled the ceramic frag plugs. He's also ignored all my inverts (invert-safe).

They have a particular fondness for coralline, but will eat basically everything: red/green SeaVeggies, algae pellets and mysis shrimp are favorites. Their lust for food makes them fairly effective problem solvers, as they will turn seaweed covered rocks over with ease and have been spotted inside the auto-feeder ring (picture that scene in Jaws where the shark breaks over the stern of the boat)

Every night they produce a mucus cocoon for protection, and every morning it looks like someone blew a quart of flem into the tank. I also din't realize that they're diggers - as mine has diligently carved out a "hidey hole" under some rocks (he could teach the melanarus a few things).

Smart and an endless personality. I can't wait to see what he thinks up next...!

 

[LaloJ]

I hope to revive this thread, I'm about to receive a Flagfin angelfish, supposedly it's a difficult angel to keep, I have never tried one so this is my first opportunity, reasonable price so I hope to be successful, does anyone have any experience with these beautiful angelfish?

 

[Zionas]

Bump

 

[i cant think]

I hope to revive this thread, I'm about to receive a Flagfin angelfish, supposedly it's a difficult angel to keep, I have never tried one so this is my first opportunity, reasonable price so I hope to be successful, does anyone have any experience with these beautiful angelfish?

IME they’re the same in terms of care with a Paracentropyge (Possibly easier if I’m honest). The main issues I find with these fish are with Shipping and Feeding.


Also, I have added to the “Expert Only” fish that thrive in my care - Albeit not an Angel, it is a Hoplolatilus chlupatyi (Flashing Tilefish). I love this guy SO much more than my wrasses and other fish.

My other hard to keep fish are still with me and thrive - Blue Star Leopard, Radiant, and the CBB.

 

[Biff0rz]

I'm currently quarantining an Achilles tang. I hit a rough spot but he seems to be doing good now.

 

[LaloJ]

IME they’re the same in terms of care with a Paracentropyge (Possibly easier if I’m honest). The main issues I find with these fish are with Shipping and Feeding.


Also, I have added to the “Expert Only” fish that thrive in my care - Albeit not an Angel, it is a Hoplolatilus chlupatyi (Flashing Tilefish). I love this guy SO much more than my wrasses and other fish.

My other hard to keep fish are still with me and thrive - Blue Star Leopard, Radiant, and the CBB.

Well, I had no success keeping P. multifasciata and although I have not had the opportunity to try again as I'm confident in my abilities to adapt to this type of fish, I informed myself of the person with whom I bought this flagfin angelfish and he has good references of healthy fish and very safe shipments, this guy is on his way and I do a water change in the 30 gallon QT tank that I prepare for larger fish.
I love Hoplolatilus, those little mouths seem very fussy, what do you feed yours?

 

[LaloJ]

I'm currently quarantining an Achilles tang. I hit a rough spot but he seems to be doing good now.

Beautiful fish, I love it but they need bigger tanks than what I can offer them, maybe one day... I wish you good luck.

 

[i cant think]

Well, I had no success keeping P. multifasciata and although I have not had the opportunity to try again as I'm confident in my abilities to adapt to this type of fish, I informed myself of the person with whom I bought this flagfin angelfish and he has good references of healthy fish and very safe shipments, this guy is on his way and I do a water change in the 30 gallon QT tank that I prepare for larger fish.
I love Hoplolatilus, those little mouths seem very fussy, what do you feed yours?

He eats the same as my other fish, mysis/brine. They seem hard but really if you get one that flashes when not stressed and it isn’t deformed or ill/distressed they’re really easy.

 

[LaloJ]

The boy is in home, he looks magnificent and a big fish, I hope that from today he starts to feed, really in person he is a beautiful fish, I don't want to imagine how a Goldflake angelfish can look live.

 

[LaloJ]

Hello guys, happy new year to all of you, I was remembering this thread and I wanted to see if there is anyone else who wants to participate here, especially if you have experience with butterflyfish or angelfishes you are completely welcome. I recently lost my coral beauty angel so I'm planning to keep butterflies or angels a little more demanding.

 

[dennis romano]

I had a Rock Beauty for about six months. She doubled in size, grew streamers and was the show fish in a 125 FOWLR. Sadly, over the course of about ten days, she went blind. She couldn't catch food, wouldn't swim around and just stayed in a dark cave until the end. I replaced her with a Flagfin. That fish is labelled "expert" and difficult for a reason. It wouldn't eat anything, Nori, clams on the half shell, all kinds of frozen food or live black worms. Right now, I have five butterflies.

 

[Zionas]

The number of people who continue to buy Moorish Idols without even a well-researched attempt continues to sadden me. Same goes for corallivore butterflies.

In small / tiny Chinese tanks I’ve seen people put Powder Brown / Blue Tangs, Clown Tangs and Emperor Angels and then wonder why they get sick and die. In a restaurant tank in Taiwan that I guess was probably no more than 75 gallons I saw a baby stingray (not sure about the species, don’t know much about them).

Perhaps the only thing more difficult about an inherently difficult species is dealing with the idiots who buy them without doing due research.

Rarity on its own doesn’t interest me either. While it’s true a lot of rare (often deepwater) fish make me drool, I just don’t really get the point of some. Spending an extraordinary sum of money on a 1.5” fish and having to set up a dedicated system for it, complete with a chiller and other specialized equipment, just isn’t for me. I’d rather be able to sleep soundly at night.

Hats off to the Japanese hobbyist who’s kept a P. Boylei for 21 years and counting (in its own tank), and the Peppermint is indeed a fish out of this world for an angelfish fan like me, but then if we look at something like one of those tiny 1.5” Lipogramma basslets collected by deep divers or in some cases, submersibles, setting up a dedicated tank just to view something so tiny and preferring to hide away in the rocks just isn’t good bang for buck. In terms of both colors and behaviors, they offer nothing that can’t be satisfied by a G. Loreto or G. Melancara or G. Dejongi (now that they’re being captive bred).

 

[LaloJ]

I had a Rock Beauty for about six months. She doubled in size, grew streamers and was the show fish in a 125 FOWLR. Sadly, over the course of about ten days, she went blind. She couldn't catch food, wouldn't swim around and just stayed in a dark cave until the end. I replaced her with a Flagfin. That fish is labelled "expert" and difficult for a reason. It wouldn't eat anything, Nori, clams on the half shell, all kinds of frozen food or live black worms. Right now, I have five butterflies.

Years ago I had a juvenile rock beauty angelfish, a difficult fish but I got it from a trusted supplier, it ate everything and it adapted to the tank very well but it had a pretty aggressive nigricans tang so it ended up hurting it in the eye and little by little it faded, also almost a year ago I got a flagfin angel that ate everything but was easily scared, I had it for a while in the qt until one day I got home from work and found it dead on the floor, he got scared and jumped. What butterflies do you have?

 

[LaloJ]

The number of people who continue to buy Moorish Idols without even a well-researched attempt continues to sadden me. Same goes for corallivore butterflies.

In small / tiny Chinese tanks I’ve seen people put Powder Brown / Blue Tangs, Clown Tangs and Emperor Angels and then wonder why they get sick and die. In a restaurant tank in Taiwan that I guess was probably no more than 75 gallons I saw a baby stingray (not sure about the species, don’t know much about them).

Perhaps the only thing more difficult about an inherently difficult species is dealing with the idiots who buy them without doing due research.

Rarity on its own doesn’t interest me either. While it’s true a lot of rare (often deepwater) fish make me drool, I just don’t really get the point of some. Spending an extraordinary sum of money on a 1.5” fish and having to set up a dedicated system for it, complete with a chiller and other specialized equipment, just isn’t for me. I’d rather be able to sleep soundly at night.

Hats off to the Japanese hobbyist who’s kept a P. Boylei for 21 years and counting (in its own tank), and the Peppermint is indeed a fish out of this world for an angelfish fan like me, but then if we look at something like one of those tiny 1.5” Lipogramma basslets collected by deep divers or in some cases, submersibles, setting up a dedicated tank just to view something so tiny and preferring to hide away in the rocks just isn’t good bang for buck. In terms of both colors and behaviors, they offer nothing that can’t be satisfied by a G. Loreto or G. Melancara or G. Dejongi (now that they’re being captive bred).

Hi Zionas, I understand your point, but sometimes the passion of aquarists is focused on various experiences or thoughts, maybe for those hobbyists it is quite nice to have a rare, small and extremely expensive fish living in their homes, and it satisfies them as is. To other hobbyists who like to keep only corals, or tanks of only aggressive fish. Sad the misinformation that still exists in fish stores, there is already too much information on the internet for a novice not to sit down and investigate before buying anything, that only increases the mortality rate of many valuable fish. For Mr. Urakami it must surely be enough to have that Peppermint angelfish at home, after all it is one of the holy grails and hardly anyone can say they have had it in their display tank, and for as long as he of course, so I also take off my hat .

 

[dennis romano]

Years ago I had a juvenile rock beauty angelfish, a difficult fish but I got it from a trusted supplier, it ate everything and it adapted to the tank very well but it had a pretty aggressive nigricans tang so it ended up hurting it in the eye and little by little it faded, also almost a year ago I got a flagfin angel that ate everything but was easily scared, I had it for a while in the qt until one day I got home from work and found it dead on the floor, he got scared and jumped. What butterflies do you have?

I have a Blackback, Auriga, Tahitian,

Coridian and Copperband

 

[LaloJ]

I love Tahitian butterflyfish and Coradion altivelis, however I have never seen them available here in Mexico, Kleini arrives regularly but the dark color of Tahitian surpasses it.

 

[lion king]

Fish from the family Scorpaenidae, other ambush predators like anglers, and certain eels have a very high mortality rate and take special care. A well kept secret; very few keep eels alive more than a couple of years, even though I literally see at least 100 baby snowflake eels at the lfs in my area every year. How many people do you know with a full grown adult snowflake. I post a ton of information on these species in the Predator forum, you can click my name and "find all threads" if you are interested in keeping these species alive.

 

[LaloJ]

Thanks for replying here, predatory fish are great but I've never thought of keeping them, although as I commented before: everyone knows their passions in this hobby, I like eels, Tessellata is very elegant, but I doubt I'll ever have any in a tank, and to be honest it has been many years since I have seen any here where I live, of any size.

 

[i cant think]

I now have 5 ‘hard to keep’ species of fish in total. I have 8 difficult fish in total though. Across the board, their care is rather the same. And what makes them difficult is also pretty much the same;
Bad shippers,
Bad eaters,
Bad with internal parasites.

My Halichoeres iridis which is now 3 years old.

My Chelmon rostratum, which again is 3 years old.

My Macropharyngodon bipartitus which is one and a half years old currently.

Then I have a trio of Pseudocheilinops ataenia which are 6 months old. However I had one previous to them which was one year old.

And my newest one which is only a week old, my juvenile Pygoplites diacanthus.