What fish have you had before, and never will again?

[jasurf21]

Red Tail Shark - Was very aggressive and rarely came out of it's cave
Blue Ram Cichlids - Have purchased about 5 or 6 of them for anywhere from 6 to 10 dollars each, so I've wasted at least $40 on them and they have all died from stress and infections. One I got was really aggressive too. Not trying ever again.

Some fish I do like are the kribensis cichlid. He's such a cool fish he's so timid and fun to watch. Balloon mollies are a lot fun in the tank also. I think I will always own a school of neon tetra's they are so cool. Despite being aggressive I do like my betta also.

 

[WendiDell]

Could be in some cases. I know for me though, at one point 6 angels had my 60 gallon to themselves and they were miserable to watch. Couldn't stand the aggression. And while they never picked on other fish once I added them, the other fish were scared of them because they saw them attacking one another all the time.

Did you have more females than males or matched pairs?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Could be in some cases. I know for me though, at one point 6 angels had my 60 gallon to themselves and they were miserable to watch. Couldn't stand the aggression. And while they never picked on other fish once I added them, the other fish were scared of them because they saw them attacking one another all the time.

Believe it or not, that is actually considered to be overstocked not in terms of bioload, but in terms of territory. Jen is exactly right.

 

[NODAK1979]

Believe it or not, that is actually considered to be overstocked not in terms of bioload, but in terms of territory. Jen is exactly right.

Well then I'd hate to see what people would say about my 6 discus in that tank.

 

[Homedog98]

... 6 discus!

 

[NODAK1979]

... 6 discus!

They're fantastic. Rule of thumb with discus is 1 per 10 gallons of water. So in actuality, I'm good with them. I wish I could put more in there though. I'd buy more in a heartbeat.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I don't know much about Discus. But like I said, I'm not talking bioload, but a territorial Angelfish (which isn't what all Angelfish seem to be) needs a lot of tank it can call it's own. That's what (for me) makes this hobby interesting... There's so many different elements to a tank setup, from the tank itself to the relationship between species, to the individual temperaments of the fish within the species and how your tank and decor affects them.

 

[Homedog98]

They're fantastic. Rule of thumb with discus is 1 per 10 gallons of water. So in actuality, I'm good with them. I wish I could put more in there though. I'd buy more in a heartbeat.

I wanna discus!!!!!! Oh wait... Just looked at the price... X0 HEART ATTACK!!!

 

[RamCichlidLover]

I wanna discus!!!!!! Oh wait... Just looked at the price... X0 HEART ATTACK!!!

So do I!!! buuuuuut... PRICE!
same thing with me

 

[maxima423]

goldy pleco, tried twice, it was the first fish i put into my fully cycled 55g, both died within two days, LFS policy is one day on returns, each pleco was 45$... no thanks

 

[Homedog98]

that stinks!!!

 

[severum mama]

I've noticed a lot of these stories include overstocked and undersized tanks.. Sharks, cichlids, angels, etc. in way too small tanks. Obviously they're semi-aggressive fish, but a lot of it may also have to do with inappropriate environment..

I couldn't agree more. Of course, there are some individual fish that are just more aggressive than the norm for the species, but I'm seeing a lot of inappropriate setups described for the "misbehaving fish".

Well then I'd hate to see what people would say about my 6 discus in that tank.

Totally different ballgame than 6 angels. Discus need to be kept in groups. They shoal, unlike most other cichlids, including angels.

Our 6 are in a 75. 55 gallons is pretty much a minimum for a group of 6 IMO.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

I would never get FW angels again either! I remember when i was younger we had a tank and one of our fish had babies so we put then in one of those little nets to protect them. The angels still somehow managed to kill them all by nipping at the net they were in. I felt so bad for the babies and have hated them since!

 

[freshwaterfan]

2 different ones for me. Bought 2 Gouramis and they killed everything in the tank. That miffed me pretty bad since the pet store told me they were pretty passive for the most part. The others are Tiger Barbs. I love the look of them but for some ungodly reason I cant keep them alive. My tank has a curse on it that seems to say "any fish welcome except tiger barbs, tigers will be assassinated"

 

[WendiDell]

I wanna discus!!!!!! Oh wait... Just looked at the price... X0 HEART ATTACK!!!

No Kidding, I was going to make my second 55g a Discus tank. They are so cool looking and their colors are great. But the price of 1 is around $60.00-$230, it's a little steep for me. But a tank of them wold be awesome.
I'm getting 2 Platinum Veil Angels and 2 Black & Blue Pinoy Angels, with a small school of Gold Veil tail Widow Tetras & a small school of Emperor Tetra. They look cool and won't break the bank.
What do you do if you buy a $230.00 fish and it dies? It's hard enough to lose a $2.99 Guppy.
I love all my fish, no matter their price. But $230.00 is quite an investment.

 

[WendiDell]

goldy pleco, tried twice, it was the first fish i put into my fully cycled 55g, both died within two days, LFS policy is one day on returns, each pleco was 45$... no thanks

I bought 2 Gold Nugget Plecos online. The same thing happened with mine two days later the first one died. The second one died on the third day.
I got mine from www.liveaquaria.com, they have a 14 day guarantee. So I was able to get my money back.
With that kind of money I'll only buy if they come with a guarantee.

 

[severum mama]

Glad you were able to get your money back. From what I understand (catfish expert was a guest speaker at our club last year), they have a really poor long term survival rate in aquaria. It's not just you. After hearing more about them from the speaker, I'm of the opinion that gold nuggets are better left in the wild.

BTW I tried one a few years ago. Only lived a couple months.

 

[NinjaFish]

The guy at PetSmart sold me them when they were as big as a betta and said they only grow to 1" (this was when I trusted PetSmart)
Yeah they are aggressive, on occasion I'd see them hit each other whenever I fed them, I mean they would swim directly into each other. This is how i think they killed my crayfish

 

[WendiDell]

Glad you were able to get your money back. From what I understand (catfish expert was a guest speaker at our club last year), they have a really poor long term survival rate in aquaria. It's not just you. After hearing more about them from the speaker, I'm of the opinion that gold nuggets are better left in the wild.

BTW I tried one a few years ago. Only lived a couple months.

That's good to know. I didn't get anymore after that. If I loose any type of fish like that I don't keep trying till I get it right. That costs lives and some may think it's only fish lives but it's life and I won't waste it practicing. If they can't survive well in an aquarium, I agree with you. Keep them in the wild.
But people have this stupid need to own things. I volunteered at an exotic animal rescue years ago. We had Mt. lions, wolves, monkeys, owls and 1 beautiful male African Lion that the F:censor: idiot owner had neutered at a very young age thinking it would keep it docile and smaller. It only stopped his mane from developing.
Before my grandson was born, my daughter and I raised wolves. But, one we knew what we were doing and two they had all been rescued from people that thought it would be cool to walk around with a wolf on a leash,:censor: :censor: :censor: .
There are so many animals that should be left to nature and not in an Apt,. in New York.
OOPS, touchy subject for me, I'll get off my now.

 

[WendiDell]

2 different ones for me. Bought 2 Gouramis and they killed everything in the tank. That miffed me pretty bad since the pet store told me they were pretty passive for the most part. The others are Tiger Barbs. I love the look of them but for some ungodly reason I cant keep them alive. My tank has a curse on it that seems to say "any fish welcome except tiger barbs, tigers will be assassinated"

It's not just you. I've read other posts where people just can't keep the Tigers alive. I'm one of those people that can't. I tried with 3 separate schools.
One by one they all died. If I can't keep it living, I don't keep trying and killing. Three times was more than enough death for me.
I'm not sure what it is about the Tiber Barbs, but that does seem to be a common problem.