Potential Fish To Avoid For Newcomers

[tetraman]

Am I an idiot or are the 3 most popular beginner fish (neon tetras, guppies, and zebra danios) being added to a list of fish that aren't for beginners? ADVIL!!!!!

 

[Xebadir]

Not just for the newbie, but avoid at all costs:
Melanchromis Auratus.
These fish are murders, even if just the pair the male will strip the females scales off and destroy her tail. Note that in my case he also killed a bristlenose.

 

[ZeeZee]

sounds simple enough. Thanks

 

[Captain Neon]

Not just for the newbie, but avoid at all costs:
Melanchromis Auratus.
These fish are murders, even if just the pair the male will strip the females scales off and destroy her tail. Note that in my case he also killed a bristlenose.

I'll happily agree with that- it's also sometimes referred to as Pseudotropheus Auratus, and it's one of the Malawi Mbuna cichlids. These fish are hardy beasts, and like hard water, no plants and a rocky tank, with preferrably only other Mbunas for company. Only Mbuna and Cichlid specialists need apply. They are aggressive, territorial, and exceptionally vicious to smaller fish, often regarding them as prey.

When I first started in the hobby, my brother gave me one of these thinking it was a golden Julie. (And they do look similar, as the female is golden yellow, and doesn't often display her dark brown stripes.) No word of a lie, but within two DAYS of being introduced to my community tank, it had killed my red-tailed black shark, torn one of my Rams apart, and ate all but three of my Black Widow tetras. (I had a shoal of eight.) I began to wonder what this fish was, saw a picture of the Melanochromis in my book, and put the picture up against the side of the tank. True to form, the fish displayed her brown stripes, and lunged at the glass attempting to attack the picture. Needless to say, I asked my brother to have her back!

 

[tetraman]

There seems to be a lot of newbies with neon tetra related names since I made mine. Copyright infringement!!!

 

[RandomWiktor]

Not just for the newbie, but avoid at all costs:
Melanchromis Auratus.
These fish are murders, even if just the pair the male will strip the females scales off and destroy her tail. Note that in my case he also killed a bristlenose.

Fish can not be murderers; that term has uniquely human connotations as it suggests malicious intent. I continually hear aggressive, territorial species being given bad raps and referred to as murderers. Chances are if a species that behaves very agressively is killing other fish, it is because it has been placed with unsuitable tank mates (which for many species is ANY tank mate), or feels crowded and could use more space to themselves than the inch-per-gallon minimum - for example, the fish mentioned here is only 4-5in at adulthood, but most sites suggest anywhere from 30-75g for a pair; how probably end up in tanks that size instead of say, 2 in a 10g because someone didn't research and went by inch per gallon?
Remember that Melanchromis auratus, like most Cichlids, is a non-domesticated species. Captivity is stressful on all wild animals, and thus likely to heighten aggressive behaviors - we see it across the species board in everything from mammals to fish. Things like that must be taken into account when considering tank size, tank mates, etc.

 

[ileopard]

I recommend bettas as a beginner aquarium. They can survive in small tanks that goldfish can't, but I recommend a 5 gallon with a filter and heater. (A good betta setup is minimum 5 gallons)

But male bettas DO fight if you put them together. Females can live together most of the time.

 

[300hp+vr6]

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.

my first fish were 6 neons while iv lost 4 guppys the neons seem fine (touch wood)
although 1 neon got wedged in the side of the filter today got him out and hes eating fine but a bit off in general

 

[BrianW]

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

Platies, cories, and silver dollars are pretty hardy. Most livebearers. Barbs are also hardy but tiger barbs tend to be mean (Just something to keep in mind).

 

[stackem evs]

Great tread, however id add neon tetras to the list of delacit fish, or at least in my experiance

Lot of people here saying no to neons, but books and web-sites I've read all say neon and cardinals, along with harlequin and mollies, are ok as long as they are only put into well established tanks.

Anyone agree

 

[kjharve]

Great tread, however id add neon tetras to the list of delacit fish, or at least in my experiance

Lot of people here saying no to neons, but books and web-sites I've read all say neon and cardinals, along with harlequin and mollies, are ok as long as they are only put into well established tanks.

Anyone agree

The key phrase there is "well established tanks" - which won't apply to beginners.

 

[steelhealr]

Agreed. For some reason, cardinals and neons are sold by the billions in LFS's as starter fish. Well, you may have some 'beginner's luck' but these fish, IMO, are not easy FOR BEGINNERS and, as above, should only be stocked in a stable well-established tank. Many times, people think their neons/cardinals are being eaten, when, in fact, they are dying and simply dissolving/breaking down in the filter. Food for thought (did I say that?). SH

 

[Christine1014]

Agree. When I first started, I bought a bunch of them because they were cheap and cool-looking. But they're not very hardy for a beginner, and when they die, they decompose pretty quickly. Some I noticed floating, but I know there were other that just "disappeared" with nothing else in the tank that was going to eat them.

Personally, I'd recommend Giant Danios for beginners. They have so much character, are fun to watch, and really get some great coloring as they grow older. Plus, mine are 5 years old, and have lived through all the typical beginner disasters, an ick outbreak, and a heater malfunction. And still spend hours a day playing in the filter return current!

 

[Clovenhoof]

Still being a beginner myself, I have found that danios are one of the easiest to keep. I especially like the long fin variety as they get really gorgeous fins. However, I do have to warn to be very careful of disease. Since the danios are very social and like playing "tag" alot, they spread diseases between one another very quickly. Corys are wonderful, very active, and fun to watch. Kuhli loaches seem pretty hardy as well and have interesting personalities. Just make sure you have lots of places for them to hide. If you absolutely want a tetra, glow lites seem to be the hardiest of the small colorful varieties. The hardest thing about most of the others is that they are very touchy about their water (ph, nitrates, temperature etc.) I've also found clown loaches easy to keep and with the benefit that they will decimate tank snails. I've had some luck with raspboras as well, though you have to do some looking around to find nicely colored ones.

 

[-germ-]

I have a weeks experience keeping fish (struggling already!).
I didn't notice the black shark (Labeo Chrysophekadion) listed here, careful with this fella!!
He's listed as a community fish almost everywhere and not every aquarium who stocks one is going to tell you what aggressive fish they can be, or the fact they may grow to 600mm's or more.
Some sites even recommend feeding them beef heart!
I've just taken one back, due to a combination of advice on TFF and because after putting an angry Angel into my naughty tank with him, i had to remove the angel after about 2 minutes due to the shockingly brutal nature of my cute (ha) little shark.
The one good thing is; the angel has settled back into the main tank but won't for the life of him show aggression to any other fish.
Black sharks a no-no for me and all other beginners.
Ps. (i know that angels aren't exactly ideal either)
What about gourami, aside from the aggression issues between males?