No one likes to finger a particular fish. What is easy to keep in one person's tank may wreak havoc in the life of another person's. If you are just starting out, the fish listed below may not be good first choices for many reasons.


Iridescent Sharks, Pangasius hypophthalmus

They look great in the tank at the lfs. Small, shiny, great swimmers. They don't stay that way. They can grow to almost 3 feet. They are excitable and can smash against the aquarium wall at high speeds and injure themselves. During water changes they can exit your tank like a rocket. They also become nocturnal.

Bala Sharks, Balantiocheilus melanopterus

Another teeny tiny fish that grows HUGE.

Plecos, Hypostomus sp.

Everyone needs an algae eater, right? Plecos can again outgrow most tanks.

Chinese Algae Eaters

These are the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde's of fishkeeping. These little fellows start out small and eating algae. They grow large and then develop an appetite for your tank inhabitants. Algae eating fish are frequently mislabelled at your lfs. Be careful.

Knifefishes

Grow huge and if your favorite fish becomes smaller in size than their mouth, they get pursued quietly from behind and then sucked in.

Goldfish

Very familiar to many of us at fairs and as kids. Goldfish tend to be 'dirty', ie, carry parasites and nasty bacteria. They also don't belong in tropical tanks as they are coldwater fish.

Piranhas

Grow huge. Need space. Should be in schools. Feed them well or they get hungry. Many end up getting ill from being fed 'feeder' fish for owners who keep them to watch their eating habits.

Painted Glassfish, Pseudambassis ranga or Chanda ranga

Now, how did nature get these guys do have a fluorescent stripe on their back? Well, nature didn't. They were cruelly injected with dye. These poor fish have a higher likelihood of getting sick. If you feel sorry for them, complain to the lfs who bought them. If you decide to give them a home, they will benefit from some aquarium salt in the tank.

Many othered dyed fish

If you think that many fish come in sorts of fruit colors, think again. Strawberried, raspberried, blueberries. NOT!!! Injected. Victims frequently include white skirt tetras, some botias. Ask first before buying.

Elephant nose, Gnathonemus petersii

High maintenance for beginners. Nocturnal and usually needs to be fed at night. Needs a larger tank, meaty foods, can be aggressive.

Red-tailed catfish, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus

Grows HUGE. Do you have an 8 foot tank?

Various other cats

Catfish eat fish.....aquarium fish. They grow large even tho' they are small at the lfs. One common species is the Pictus cat. Others are the channel cat and the shovelnose cat.

Baby Whale, Petrocephalus bovei

Similar to the elephant nose. May prefer live foods.

Various Eels of the Spiny Nature, Mastacembelus

Tire track eels, Zig Zag Yellowtail Eel, Fire Eel, eg. All nocturnal predators, grow large and require large tanks.

Fishes of a delicate nature

Listed below are a few fish that are very easy to obtain at the lfs but, for many reasons, just aren't that easy to keep. Although not in the category of growing large or being aggressive, they CAN be problematic for some and might be better choices after you have some experience under your belt. A few to give thought about before purchasing include:

• hatchetfish-can be prone to ich; they can and DO jump out of the tank when startled. Need to be in groups to reduce stress.
• glass cats-need to be in groups; like to have some current; can die for no apparent reason
• otos (otocinclus)-have been known to die soon after acclimation without any evidence of disease; theories include loss of the ability to digest food during transport
• pencilfish-sensitive to water conditions

Brackish Fish

Brackish fish have different requirements than regular FW fish in that they need salt in their environment. Brackish areas are those near the sea or where freshwater approaches the ocean. Setting up these tanks requires some research and preparation and, perhaps, is best left for when you have a few more miles underneath your belt. Some brackish fish include:

• scats
• monos
• various puffers
• archers
• Mollies; Poecilia sphenops, Poecilia latipinna, and Poecilia velifera (Though often a mix of two or more)
  
  Mollies are often regarded as a Beginner Fish, seeing as they are Livebearers, which are considered some of the easiest fish to breed and keep. Mollies are pretty easy, as fish go, however they aren't as easy as say...your common Platy. Mollies need to be kept in either some salt, or if kept in freshwater, hard and alkaline water. If you have soft, acidic water you can still keep Mollies, however you will want to add salt. Without salt or hard, alkaline water, they are much more prone to disease, especially "shimmies". Some Mollies are raised in total freshwater, and can live in softer, acidic water, however it's not going to be healthiest or best for them.
  
  Also, most Mollies get fairly large, and with Sailfins especially, the males can be aggressive. They need a larger tank then most Livebearers, so these aren't the fish to keep in your 10 gallon. Except possibly Balloons but even they should be kept in a bigger tank. Mollies are very hardy fish when kept in the right conditions, and I would recommend them to a Beginner as long as they have those conditions and a proper sized tank.

Final Comment

The final choice of what goes in your tank is YOURS. This thread was meant as a springboard for you to do more research before taking one of these fish home. Use caution when relying on 'future plans for a larger tank' because one never knows what will happen in several months to years. Many lfs' will not take back a large fish, nor will public aquariums. Be a conscientious aquarist and stock your tank with fish that will grow into it comfortably.

An excellent thread on a vital subject! I would just add (for the benefit of the newcomer) that not all plecos are the hypostomus sp. mentioned in the thread- smaller loricariids, such as the bristlenose, also commonly have plec in their English name, but don't grow into tankbusters.
Same with catfish- this term covers a vast number of very different fish and they don't all eat fish. But beware of the ones mentioned by name by Steelhealr!
Chinese Algae Eaters are also commonly labelled sucking loaches or golden sucking golden loaches. You have been warned!

So I have a question, which algae eater would be ideal for a beginner. I am by far not a beginner but what would be the best and easy to take care of.

Thanks

Lea-Andra

A friend of my family gave us a red-tail catfish!!! I'm not a beginning in general fish caring...but a red-tail catfish with it's potential size is way out of my league...what' should I do with the thing??? I didn't have the hearts to flush it down the toilet when he was only 5in".... but now it's already 1ft long!! luckily it has its own tank so we didn't lose any little guys to his appetite...and what an appitite!!

I, also as a beginner, have found my Yoyo Loach and Amano shrimp to be quite effective at munching algae. Plus, they are also very easy to keep and a lot of fun to watch!

why not donate it to a local zoo or public aquarium.



Flushing any fish live or dead is a very bad thing to even consider

Why would flushing a dead fish be a problem / just curious ?

You could be spreading a disease from a foreign ecosystem into a local ecosystem.

Exactly

Whilst on this subject (sorry for hijack)
IMHO the best way to dispose of a dead fish is wrapping it in newspaper and putting it in with the rest of your household waste, for large fish consider a compost heap/burial or incineration (particularly for diseased fish).

OH the zoo...I wonder if they'll take him...well I'll try, if not maybe the LFS~ hopefully somone will house the to-be-giant fish.

bu that's good to know about he flushing and foreign disease thing. Yikes! I better not do that next time.

Disposing of big fish...how about taking it to a taxidermist? We did that to 2 of our most beautiful grandpa kois but I'm sure that's not everyone's choice

Morbid, where are you located? I have a pond that may possibly work for him.

Great tread, however id add neon tetras to the list of delacit fish, or at least in my experiance they are. Another thing id add is that just because a fish is generally viewed to be weaker dosent always mean it will be in your tank, for example ive only ever lost one Otto in my life and it was preety old to. Accually come to think of it my oldest fish is an otto!

never kept them, but neon tetra's might be added to the list due to them being so sensitive and high death rates if not in good water conditions.

Yah, thats what I think

It's nice to know which fish to avoid, but are there any fish that anyone would recommend for a complete beginner (like me!)?

add these to the list:

arapaima gigas
catlocarpio siamensis
arowanas of any kind
snakeheads

Rainbowfish, they tend to look drab in the stores mostly due to the fact that they dont colour up till adulthood but once they do they are GOREGIOUS and in my experiance ive only ever had one die, it is also interesting to note that unlike most fish rainbows can handle hard alkaline water, they need lots of plant material in their diet though and frequent water changes if they are to be at their full health and colour! Do some reasearch into them and I think you will like what you see! They tend to be rare and expensive though, or atleast were I live

Corydoras, these little catfish are very easy to come by and come in a wide array of varietys, although they are often looked upon as the "garbagemen" of the tank it is very important that both water and substrate be kept clean if they are to thrive.

Loaches, preety mutch the same story as with the cory exept that you have to be carefull as some types such as the populair clown loach will outgrow the average community setup, although they grow frustratingly slow (well acually I dont care but some people dont like small fish)

Danio, VERY hardy

It is also important to note that I really am no expert so take this with a grain of salt, the true experts should be by any time now to correct me good luck!

my little fighter has litterally become ill in like 2 says, i noticed last night (after i changed his water, added salt and increased his temp) that he has like glaucoma (i'm a nurse, can't describe it any other way) over his eyes with flaky bits over his scales on his head, but this morning, the flakes were gone, but his eyes were still glazy.

it would surprise me if i go home today and find my little one belly-up... i was just wondering if anybody knew what this illness may be, so that i can buy appropriate medications etc for my next little fighter.

tah... Little Sushi