Loading ...I see these fish at my LFS often enough that it’s troubling. I thought I’d start a list of fish that shouldn’t be kept in any aquarium. Did I miss any?
Harlequin Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)
Why they’re desireable: It’s hard to resist these guys. When you see them in at your LFS they’re spotted and cute, little and they swim like a poisonous flatworm. Um, a really cute poisonous flatworm. Who could resist them?
Why they don’t belong in your aquarium: Ignoring that they’re one of those fish that are OK one day and are crab food the next, they get substantially less cute as they age. Also, they get big. Much bigger. Nearly a meter long bigger. Did I mention that they’re less cute?
Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)
Why they’re desireable: These are one fish parasite fighting machines. They’ll keep your ich infestation to manageable levels and they’ll do it with a wrassy smily. They’re also pretty to look at and are relatively inexpensive. If you’re lucky they’ll ‘clean’ your hands as you aquascape.
Why they don’t belong in your aquarium: It’s not so much these fish don’t belong in the aquarium, they are likely to survive and adapt to captive life, it’s that they shouldn’t be removed from the ocean. Take it away Bob:
Obligates by definition get all or virtually all their nutrient from their cleaning activity; various species setting up permanent cleaning stations with “customer” hosts coming in for regular grooming. Experimental removal of some of these cleaners has demonstrated their immense importance as parasite controls. Local and even large pelagic fish populations are quickly negatively impacted by their removal. Fish populations drop or migrate and remaining fishes lose fitness as measured by increased external parasite loads, sores and torn fins.
If you’re looking for a fish to clean parasites, a much better choice is a neon goby.
Harlquin Filefish (Oxymonacanthus longirostris)
Why they’re desireable: These fish are gorgeous and they represent everything desireable about reef keeping. They’re brightly coloured, exotic and a little alien like. They would look great in any tank.
Why they don’t belong in your aquarium: I’m mentioning these fish here because in Toronto, they’ve been popping up a lot. I’ve seen them in nearly every store from the sad chain stores to the boutique shops. The mortality rate of these guys is too high. Sure, some of them survive eating mysis, brine and cyclop-eeze, but not enough is known about the long term captive survivability yet. Are they eating the right diet? What’s their lifespan? What’s their diet consist of? How do hobbyists get them eating consistently? Too many unknowns. Leave them in the ocean until they are more studied.
Related posts:
- Fish, Bags, and The Double Check
- A Toronto Aquarium? Say it ain’t so!
- Red Planaria Flat Worms And Your Beloved Fish
- MACNA Day 2: Getting your fish to eat
- A Transparent Head On A Fish?
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In the hobby since 2001, and has seen all kinds of fads come and go. As he gets older, Jeff is developing more and more of a conscience towards environmental concerns, especially towards reefs. Currently, he writes from Ontario, Canada, but would rather be snorkeling on a reef. 
Re the file fish, check out the last issue of Coral magazine. It has a whole section dedicated to this hard to keep species and may be of some help to anyone will to take up the challenge.
if it’s my pick there are alot more fish that shouldn’t be kept in an aquarium and those are not my top 3 picks.
For those in Toronto, of course you can find me for a copy of CORAL
One thing to note is that most of the so called ‘studies’ are done by hobbyist in this hobby, not by means of experts. Unlike the saltwater aquaculture farm fish that carries alot more $$$$$ value, not much real ‘studies’ are done by scientists.
So which ones are they?
@Hubert – it’s not an exhaustive list. What’r yours?
Those three would certainly be on my list too
Here’s one of mine thay may surprise you
Chromis viridis (!) I don’t know any other fish that comes even close to the number “killed” by hobbyists every day. Many beginners buy these as a small group only to find that all but one or two strongest will survive the fighting. They also seem to have very bad survival record just after shipping although this might have more to do with specific source than the fish itself (I have heard from LFS owners that sometimes there is very high mortality). Considering how many are sold, it is very rare to find a large group of full grown specimens…
That is an excellent point Tatu. I personally haven’t seen a single Chromis viridis that is in adult size.