Top 5 Worst Saltwater Beginner Fish: Don't Get Them!
- Feb 28, 2022
- Anshika Mishra
- 285 0 0
These are the top 5 worst beginner fish in the saltwater aquarium hobby
5. Seahorses & Pipefish
Seahorses sit around in the tank for most of the day. Most reefers keep them in the tank because of their interaction with macroalgae and the soft corals. However, just because they are boring doesn't mean they are not good beginner fish.
The things that make them not so great beginner fish is their requirement of some special stuff, including
- Most seahorses need a cooler temperature of the water. So, keeping seahorses at 78 degrees is just going to kill them slowly. Therefore, you will need to keep them in a chiller which is expensive and not beginner-friendly.
- Secondly, they are highly susceptible to diseases, So mixing seahorses with other fish means those other fish can get conditions to seahorses. Therefore, you need to be extremely careful about your tank mates.
So, you are a beginner, and it is better to stay away from them unless you want to build a seahorse-pipefish-specific tank.
4. Anthias
Anthias are not beginner-friendly fish. There are several reasons why they are not beginners, including:
- They don't acclimate well. So for $90 each anthia, often, you get them home, and they die.
- They need a larger tank. They are schooling fish and need at least a 150-gallon tank. You can put them in a slightly smaller tank, but a larger tank will be a lot better.
- They need to eat constantly. Therefore, you cannot just drop some pellets twice a day. These fishes like to eat small amounts throughout the entire day. Consequently, you need to supplement their diet and feed them four to five times a day with high-nutrient food.
So, unless you are home a lot and have a lot of money to spend, stay away from Anthias
3. Dragonets
They are very pretty fish, and some people can even breed them in captivity. The problem with them, however, similar to Anthias, is that they need to be fed all day long, and they only eat live food.
So, if you put a dragon net into a brand new tank that is not stocked with copepods, and you are not adding copepods every single week. It is likely going to starve to death.
However, if you can find the one raised in captivity, you can get them to eat pellet food.
You still shouldn't probably get one because you will still feed them several times a day, just like the Anthias, but they are harder.
So, as a beginner, stay away from these fish, at least until you have a large copepod population.
2. Coperband Butterflyfish
It is by far one of the most stunningly beautiful fish. So why is it on the list? They are some of the pickiest eaters, and like the Anthias, they need to eat constantly.
So, unless you have a larger tank that is super well stocked with lived food, and you have one that accepts frozen Mysis shrimp, then stay away from that because there is nothing worst than getting this large beautiful that is fat and happy die in your tank.
1. Moorish Idol
These are beautiful fish, Gorgeous, long-waving fins, but don't get them.
They are super picky eaters. Keeping this fish successfully is a story in a million. The only people who can succeed are the people with huge stocked tanks with tons of live foods.
However, if you want a Moorish Idol fish, do a ton of research, talk to other hobbyists who have successfully kept them, and then build a system around that fish.
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