Fish to avoid as a newbie

Saw the mentioned Red Tail Catfish and Clown Knife. This is what I've got. Red Tail at 105cm and Clown Knife at 60cm

 

I have 2x Clown Knifes around 18cm and one of them yesterday ate my 8cm Pictus Catfish, I am really dissappointed in there behaviour as that catfish costed me R115

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Also I had a RED DEVIL few years ago and that guy was one agro dude

 

Coupla more I can think of:

- Those "cute" Kissing Gouramis - going to grow to round 25cm - 30 cm and usualy just wastes away because they are not fed enough vegetative matter in their diet...
- Killie fish - awsome colours lure the unsuspecting buyer to add to a community tank and fish usualy dies due to inadequite feeding of live food....+ certain males get dik agro....
- Plecostomus (Hypostomus plecostomus) or even the Hi fin Pleco (gibiceps) - {I know I'm gonna get hammered by the rest of you for this....} - But think about it....Most noobs buy like a 2 foot tank...very soon both of these will far outgrow the confines of such a space.... Rather concider a bristlenose - Ancistrus
- Black Shark - usualy not considered over it's pretier cousins,but grows to 2 foot + and becomes a true "devil"...
- Hatchet fish - just to delicate and prone to ick for a novice...

Will add some more as I think of them....

 

I would say angels. because many people think they don't get big .

 

Hehe, I have a black shark Mines very peaceful, You just shouldnt mix them with other shark species eg, other black sharks, rainbows, red tails etc. Alot of people have never even heard of black sharks :/

 

Peacefull? Must still be a 'lil guy - just wait dude - one of themost agro fish I have ever kept...

 

I had two black sharks - in seperate tanks, of course. One was an angel. The other... er... not so much...



Still among my favourite fish; black beauties

Back on topic:

*If you are new to fishkeeping, and you see a fish that you have no idea what it is, DON'T BUY IT. Asking the assistant what is is doesn't count as knowing what it is, because a good handful of the guys working at pet stores don't know what it is either. Go home and do some reading, and once you are certain that you are capable of caring for it, then you can go back and buy it.

 

Or a 8 inch fish bowl like I did back in '98 before I knew the difference between tropical and cold water fish, and internet was still under construction. Today I know why he never ate his flake food :-(

 

But you gotta admit, agro or not, black sharks are just awesome to watch!

 

Could I perhaps get a genus for a black shark? All I seem to be getting is red tails... :-(

 

Labeo chrysophekadion

 

Respect ;-) Thanks man!

 

Labeo Chrysophekadion

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sorry, didnt see previous comment!

 

The very first rule for a newbie is remember most of the fish you buy in the shop is not fully grown yet and they will still grow considerably. So make sure you know how big they will get once fully grown. Secondly the story about fish growing only to the size that their living quaters can sustain is nonsense. This is a whole other debate which I do not want to go into at the moment. So please make sure that you do not buy fish that is going to grow too big for the tank. Never buy on impulse, never mind how qute they are. First do your research!

I definately agree with Azurekoi about the common Pleco (Hypostomus Plecostumus). They grow huge and are messy guys and are definately not the cute little "cleaner" fish most pet shops market them for. The Ancistrus is definately a better choice.

A couple of others that comes to mind are some of the sharks, like the Red Tail Black Shark (Epalzeorhynchos bicolor/Labeo bicolor) Rainbow Shark (Epalzeorhynchus frenatum) and even the Bala Shark. The first two are usually fin nippers and can become very aggressive. If you absolutely have to buy one and you have made sure what you are getting yourself into, please make sure that you do not buy more than one of them or keep fish that resemble the same bodyshape and/or colours, since they do not tolerate their own species or similar looking species. The Bala Shark however is not aggressive, but they are actually schooling fish and they are very active and fast moving fish. They need a lot of space and will hurt themselves in small tanks. Because of their size almost no newbie will be able to keep a proper school of them. I have seen many Balas in small tanks in the past exhibiting sings of repetitive behaviour all day.

Another fish often sold to newbies are Siamese Fighters. Be careful, you can not keep more than one male per tank, they will kill each other. One problem with the males is they often become the victim in a community tank, when other fish nip their beatiful fins. So make sure with what kind of fish you keep them. PLEASE do not keep this fish in a small container without any filtration. This is pure cruelty!

 

OK, so what does the truly 'community' tank contain?

I have:
Neons x 10
Angel x 2
Red Platie x 2
Plecostimus x 1
Algae eater x 1
Coolie Loach x 1
Siamese Fighter x 1
Bala Shark x 1
Red Tail Shark x 1

Apple snail x 1

Various plants x 6

100lt triangular tank with external 4lt filter 360l/h (rated 1200l/h)

As can be seen, some of them will become a problem in future. Nobody mentioned the Coolie Loach. What can I expect?

But, if space is permitted, what is all the species that could be put together? OK, not all, but a big selection that is colourful, looking good and fun, or have a specialized job.

 

Hi Tom!

I haven't the experience to answer your "big" questions, but:
Do you know what kind of Algae eater it is? More than likely it's a Chinese(CAE), but can you make a positive id there?
Re: Kuhlis: they're supposed to be kept as a group, and are delightful fish, you needn't worry about them in your community. I've only 2, and am trying to acquire some more.
Based on hearsay, your trouble spots are likely to be: Bala shark (schooler, should be in a group), Pleco and CAE will get too big. But on your profile you mention that you're planning on a big tank, so all those problems may be solved in the future, depending of course on what you plan to keep in the big tank?

All the above stands under correction by the fundis, but I hope I helped a bit!
Oh: you might consider adding a few cory's: charming little characters, and you don't seem to have much in the line of bottom feeders.

 

Thanks @tracyp

Yes, I want to figure these and a lot of other things out before I tackle the big one! That tank will be a community tank and I do not want any in-compatibles, yet a wide variety.

 

tracyp, youre right. It is a Chinese (CAE) I now see how important it is to go read about a fish before you buy.

http://myfishtanks.info/fish-profile/freshwater-fish-species-profiles/chinese-algae-eater/

 

Will get more then when my chemical levels allow. Currently my bacteria levels is a mess!

PS. My apologies for my initial spelling of 'Kuhlis'. That is how it was spelled in the LPS...

 

@Slojo


I just saw your compatibility chart.

http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?6114-Compatability-Chart

Thanks. Any chance to get it up as a spreadsheet, so one can manipulate and delete what you do not want?