Inverts (and fish) that should NOT be purchased unless you are an EXPERT!

I agree with some of these but sand sifting starfishs. My buddy has them and theyve been great in her tank. Shes had them for over a year. Also the sun coral ive had over a year and it gets bigger and bigger as long as u feed it, its does well and my mom has one that survived her tank crash a lil while ago so i dont know why they would be on ur list.

 

I've kept those, just because 1 person doesn't have success doesn't mean that it "shouldn't be sold"

In the correct order these words are Cheryl


I have to put an opinion here, everyone is entitled to their own (its a forum after all eh?)

Personally, I think calling this list stuff that "shouldn't be sold" is a bit too much. I understand you"re trying to keep newbs from buying this stuff, but wouldn't "expert only" or even better "experienced hobbyist" put you on a better track.
I've successfully kept species such as OSFF sun corals, purple queen anthias, sun corals and gorgonians. I think we should strive to keep these species, as they are both beautiful and challenging. Plus, we could learn MUCH more about their captive care and make advancements that will make them easier to care for.
Its not by giving up that we are gong to get anywhere, if we throw in the towel we won't be able to learn more about these animals.

Ultimately, I believe it is a person's individual option to choose what will go into their tanks, if someone has an NPS tank than hey can most likely care for the blueberry gorgonian and sun coral quite well.
If someone is willing to feed multiple ties a day and has a larger tank, then why not attempt the purple queen anthias?

I agree there are species that should not be imported due to population concerns such as the wunderpus, but on the whole most of the stuff you've listed can be kept (and is fairly often) in home aquaria.




Finally:
I think we as a hobby need to define "experts" as in "expert-only". Sorry for hijacking, but I think that would be a better solution.

 

Very well put. The mandarin is a great example. Not too long ago a lot of people said they shouldn't be kept, but since newbies are buying and killing so many, they will become extinct, etc. But because a few stuck with it, challenged themselves, they are now tank bred, and fairly easy to care for if your willing to target feed a little more often. If no one pushed the boundaries, we'd still be lighting our tanks with the fluorescent lights from the garage struggling to keep zoa's and mushrooms.

 

My LFS knows exactly what my set up is, I remind them every time I buy something along with what is already in the tank. The things I have listed are items that I have found through reading threads here on 3reef that are "almost impossible to keep" some have died and some have not (yet) but I am very discouraged by the number of things that are sold as being "easy to take care of" when they should be avoided by all but the most experienced reefers. I should edit that I meant WILD CAUGHT mandarins, not tank bred. I was very successful in getting them to eat and eat well, but they died from ick ( or actually some secondary infection caused by it)

 

+1 on Mandarin gobies. I got four in pairs in my biocube 29g for almost 1.5 years spawning as well. I am also lucky enough to see them several time doing their mating ritual as well and some who witnessed it know what i am talking about. Trick with them is patience and determination with feeding methods. I had them in my net custom built in my cube for almost 4 months. Got them to eat nori, pellets and frozen foods. I had a feeding station dish inside the net with attached tube leading down to that feeding station. Finally it paid off. Now i placed that feeding station in the corner of the cube and removed net. Guess what they come right up to the feeding station and take their share. Patience and determination really pays off. Also don't believe the hype for having great pod population they will wipe out their population sometimes in few feedings, but they serve good treats once in a while.

 

I can think of other problems too....

Being a newbie I WANT it and I'm going to be the one to show that it can be done even though it is marked expert-only.

Buying something that is fairly easy to care for, but waiting till I get home and have trouble with it before I start to try to figure out how, and by then it is too late.

And yes, there are LFS out there that don't ask the right questions and are more concerned about the sale than the wellbeing of the animal/owner.

But I'm still somewhat surprised everytime I read a post where somebody brought something home from the store, and now would like to know what it is.

Everything has its place, and I'd agree that most on the list don't have a place in an inexperienced reefer's tank.

 

For some reason I'm doubting this, or something was already so unhealthy with them it opened them up. You do realize mandarins have a very thick slime coat that is also poisonous? They are near impervious to ich. I've never personally seen one with it, and that's the first I've ever heard.

 

Powder Blue Tang because the are the meanest fish ever and can wipe out a tank.

 

i agree. I have never really heard of a mandarin getting ich. I kept a wild caught mandarin in my 150G for more than 3 years. It was really fat, and healthy. Unfortunately mine was caught by a gigantic aipstasia anemone. ( I had a really big infestation that took almost 6 months to get rid of)

The only coral that I just refuse to buy is the flower pot coral. I just never had luck with any, and they are just quite expensive to keep trying.

 

Emperor angelfish do not belong in aquariums IMO.