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

Well, there's no substitute for education when you are stocking your tanks. That said, somebody was the first to figure out how to care for most of the difficult animals that can now be kept with a little effort (Ribbon Eels come to mind, and a handful of people have successfully kept Moorish Idols in the last few years). I guess knowing your limits is probably the best advice, and don't assume that because they threw 15 tangs and a mandarin goby in a new aquarium on "Tanked" that it's necessarily a great idea. All that said, the guys that are likely to do that probably aren't reading this forum anyway....

Cheers,



Don

 

Beginners should avoid Potters angelfish. They can be hard to get eating.

 

Yes, I am aware that it is very rare for them to get ick. and I am aware of the slime coat. They got it from the blue green chromis I bought who instead of rubbing on the rocks or sand to itch himself, he decided to rub on my mandarins almost incessantly. It only took a few days to set up my hospital tank, but it was too late. He had rubbed the skin off of the mandarins in several spots. They were very healthy until then and eating very well.

 

I should also say that MOST of my losses were very early on, before I realized that some retailers will flat out lie to you just to get you to buy something. I now research the majority of my purchases before I make them. The blueberry gorgonian I thought would be fine since I've had another gorgonian since the beginning (10 months) that is flourishing. The blueberry is doing well so far, but the threads about them here on 3reef don't sound encouraging at all, so any tips would be appreciated. The sand star was pure stupidity. I knew better but I let him talk me into it, so now I'm pissed at myself.

 

Well, in all honesty, it's in their best interest to do exactly what they are doing. If every thing they sold lived for years and years, they would go out of business, as everyone would have a fully stocked tank and not need anything else.

I like the enthusiasm, but in all honesty, if you're gonna last in this hobby, things are going to die. I don't care how experienced you are, things occasionally die in your tank. Sometimes it's the keepers fault, sometimes it isn't, but it does, and always will happen. The ocean is always a better place than even the most experienced keepers tank.

Never had a sand sifting star, but I kept gargonians. Keep them in really low flow, but not still or slack, so they have a chance to actually latch on the particulates. Just a lower flow area of the reef, mine always did well in the top back corners. I fed mine a mix of phyto and VERY finely ground flake food. Just mixed those with tank water, filled a baster with it, shut down all pumps, and lightly basted every one of the buds daily. Let them sit like that for 15 minutes or so before turning the pumps back on. Try to do that every day.

 

Thanks for the tips on the blueberry, Packleader. I don't expect not to ever lose anything, but it does bother me that only 1 in every 10 animals taken from the sea for the aquarium trade survives for a full lifetime. That's a pretty poor success rate with any living thing.

 

When I started this hobby there were no SW forums. Information regarding less common creatures such as Basket Stars and their husbandry needs was practically non existent. There was no google.

If I had seen a list of livestock that was difficult or impossible to keep, I would have avoided those creatures. My contribution to this thread is those animals that I feel have dismal survival rates in the average home aquarium.

Let public aquariums or aquaculture facilities " push the envelop " with the difficult to keep items I listed. There are some hobbyist that can keep a Basket Star alive, those individuals are by far the exception to the rule.

If frustrate and saddens me more to loose an animal, than it boost my ego for thinking I was pushing the envelop.

How many fish and inverts are alive one year later after purchase, I am betting that is an ugly bleek percentage.

Do I contribute to the collection and sales of hard to keep creatures? No not now that I know better.

JM2C

 

Just to keep it in perspective, that mortality rate is probably not too different from what things in the ocean experience. Everything eats everything down there.

 

All Gorgonians need medium to strong waterflow to combat the buildup of algae or cyano. White polyped Gorgonians are NPS which need to be fed regularly.(You do not need to turn off flow for them to catch food.)
Brown polyped Gorgonians need a strong light source (and medium to strong flow)as they are PS.It is also better to have a random flow pattern for them.

 

Sea apples come to mind as something better left to folks with a good knowledge of them.