Your most difficult fish poll

[Breez]

Ok, the title says it all. I'm curious about what the most difficult fish all of you have had has been.

1) What was your most difficult fish

2) Why was it difficult

3) What did you do right/wrong

4) How long did you have it for

5) Would you have another one or recommend it to a person you knew could handle its difficulty level.

[Blue spot]

1) Easy . A curious worm goby.
2) to damn curious, and ironically didn't like water .
3) what I did right was find it every single night in a location it wasn't supposed to be in. What I did wrong was I didn't have a perfectly vacuumed sealed aquarium.
4) 3 days (which was an achievement , my Lfs got me 3 in and lost 2 in one night)
5) no, no and no. A budgie would last longer in the aquarium and probably like the water more. Lol

[christopherjudd]

Orange spotted file fish, hard to find a good specimen to start with and hard to feed. Took him back to the lfs

[Breez]

Aww poor goby, those water hating fish are hard to keep lol

My most difficult fish is also an orange spotted filefish. I've had one for 27 days now and every day is a struggle. I have her eating though and she seems to be adapting well. Only time will tell at this point though. I think it's still too early to know what I'm doing right or wrong, but I have her choosing down on flake and pellet food, so that's something. I don't think I would recommend them. That's more because I'm still learning about these fish. I don't know enough to know who can take care of them and who can't.

[Bent]

Originally Posted by Breez

Ok, the title says it all. I'm curious about what the most difficult fish all of you have had has been.

1) What was your most difficult fish
blue ribbon eel

2) Why was it difficult
I couldn't get it to eat.

3) What did you do right/wrong
what did I do wrong? I bought it. Typically feeding with gut loaded shrimp will keep something alive long enough to wean it to a more varied diet, and then to frozen, but most of them refuse to eat and starve. No matter what you try to do.

4) How long did you have it for
a little over a month, before it starved.

5) Would you have another one or recommend it to a person you knew could handle its difficulty level.
nope, I would never recommend a ribbon to anyone no matter their expertise. Sure some people have had success, but almost all of those people have gone through at least 2 before they got one that started eating. All we are doing by buying them is depleting the natural population. All are wild caught. Not suitable for aquaria in my opinion. Stop importing them.

[kmbyrnes]

1) What was your most difficult fish

Copperband Butterfly

2) Why was it difficult

Very Picky about starting to eat. I've had 3. Only one made it out of quarantine, but died in a crash.

3) What did you do right/wrong

I was wrong to not verify it was eating at the store. I do that for all fish now. I tried to have one for the wrong reason - aiptasia eating. I was also wrong to think I could keep one early in my reefing experience.

I was right to keep trying various foods - flake, fresh, frozen, pellets until I found something it would eat.

4) How long did you have it for

Longest was six months, shortest was 6 days

5) Would you have another one or recommend it to a person you knew could handle its difficulty level.

This is a beautiful fish. I will definitely try again in the future. But I will get one for the right reasons and only when I can give it the full attention
required to get it settled in.

[CHSUB]

Originally Posted by christopherjudd

Orange spotted file fish, hard to find a good specimen to start with and hard to feed. Took him back to the lfs

never had one, however Scott Michael, noted book author, writes that they are nearly impossible to keep in home aquariums. i'm not sure why they are even offered for sale? must be easy to catch?

[kenpau]

I've been in the hobby 10 years and weirdly my most difficult fish is one that a lot of people keep successfully...

1) Hippo Tang

2) They are just so sensitive to everything IME, heaps of people keep them successfully but I've always had to deal with ich/Lympho/general stress with them, I've had more luck with Powder Blue Tangs!

3) Well I think I should have put this fish through longer than usual quarantine, got it fed up and fat before putting it in the display. I also did TTM with one specimen and it did not react well, it just got so stressed at being moved, I've never had that with any other fish I've put through TTM.

4) Had a couple at different times for a year or so, my latest one got ich, then got Lympho, so I had it in quarantine did a course of copper treatment and took it back to the LFS, I'm done with Hippo Tangs!!

5) I personally wouldn't have another, I have an Emperor Angel and a Purple Tang in my tank which are boisterous fish and I think the Hippo tang should be given as low stress life as it's possible to give. I'd definitely recommend this fish to an experienced reef keeper who can provide a stable, low stress environment, I think having this fish as your 'main, big fish' would suit it perfectly.

[rssjsb]

Originally Posted by CHSUB

never had one, however Scott Michael, noted book author, writes that they are nearly impossible to keep in home aquariums. i'm not sure why they are even offered for sale? must be easy to catch?

I think that things have improved for these fish since he wrote that. In the past, you couldn't expect these fish to live longer than a few days once you got them home. Most would refuse prepared foods. Now, that prospect seems to be improving somewhat. It could just be statistics - they're catching more and the absolute number of survivors is higher even though the percentage hasn't changed.

Mine take pellets, frozen, pretty much anything I feed them, and the seem to be maintaining body weight. However, I think the jury's still out about their long-term viability, and I am not comfortable promoting this fish to anyone starting out. If I lose my current pair, I probably won't replace them.

As to the OP's questions:

1. I've kept a number of difficult fish over the years, including the files, pipefish, boxfish, picky angeles (Singapore, potters, flagfiin, multibarred) yellow-striped clingfish.

2. Why difficult? Feeding. The bluestripe and Janns pipes seem to do ok foraging and will also supplement with prepared foods eventually. The DFs, not so much. Boxfish took awhile to see frozen/prepared foods as food, but eventually learned.

3. What did I do right? Nothing really, except keep trying until I got them to eat and keeping them in established tanks of sufficient size without major competition for food. Wrong? Dumb mistakes - sloppy QT mistakes, tank mates, etc.

4. Mixed results - Pipes: blue stripes (3 years), Janns (1 year), and dragon face (maybe a month). The Janns, the boxfish, multibar, potters, and many other favorites were all lost in a major tank crash two years ago that nearly drove me from the hobby. Still upsets me. The boxfish particularly broke my heart. Prior to the crash, all were stable and doing very well for several years.

5. Will I try again or recommend any of these fish? I honestly don't know. I would be sorely tempted to get another boxfish if one became available, but I don't know if I want to risk it. They're all beautiful fish that are doable with the right care and conditions, but I'm not sure I would recommend them.

[Sounds Fishy]

Blue Ribbon eel.
Escape artist
I got him eating regularly...He refused any initial attempts I made,but after he ate my neon dotty back,in a territorial dispute,he developed an appetite for Rosie's.(feeder fish)
But, the one thing I did wrong was assume I had taken every possible precaution to prevent his escape.I did not glue the glass lid all around the edge of the aquarium,but That is the only way to prevent their escape IMO.
It lived 6 months.Turned out to be a little pig with a big appetite.It was very interesting to watch him capture his feeder fish,then duck into his whole,resurfacing a minute later looking for another.He'd eat 3 or 4 at one feeding.
If you can get them to eat,and prevent their escape,they will live.I do not recommend them for these 2 reasons.Mine,slipped out of a space 1/8" wide at the top of the aquarium between the glass lid and the rim of the tank.

[Waters40]

1) What was your most difficult fish
Signal Goby

2) Why was it difficult
Normally do better in pairs....usually don't last when kept alone. Difficult to feed. Should have researched before I let the LFS talk me into one.

3) What did you do right/wrong
I bought it.

4) How long did you have it for
About 2 weeks.

5) Would you have another one or recommend it to a person you knew could handle its difficulty level.
Probably not.....I have never talked to anybody that has had long term success with them. Don't seem to do well in captivity. Best chance of success requires keeping them in pairs and having an established sandbed with a steady supply of food.

[Dmorty217]

Arabian butterfly. Very hard to feed, would only eat clams on the half shell and would occasionally eat very small pieces out of the water column of mysis (basically microscopic). Ich was introduced to the tank and had to treat with CP. Fish ate until one day suddenly developed black bacterial looking spots and died within 12 hrs. Yes I will try again, Caribfan got one in the same shipment I did and his still is alive and eating with gusto. Had it about a month

[ca1ore]

There are a lot of different fish that are difficult to keep that carry the 'expert only' designation. Some are just difficult, others nigh impossible. What's more interesting to me are those fish that each of us struggles with even though they are not considered difficult. My own personal problem fish are Naso tangs and carpenter wrasse. For whatever reason, I've had a poor record of sucess with both. Took three tries to get a surviving Naso; and I've given up on carpenters (even though I have success with leopards).

[mmittlesteadt]

Originally Posted by Breez

1) What was your most difficult fish?

Twin Spot Goby

Originally Posted by Breez

2) Why was it difficult?

It is a sand sifting feeder, eating tiny benthic zooplankton, something almost impossible to keep, unlike a pod population that lives in rockwork and all over really.

Originally Posted by Breez

3) What did you do right/wrong?

Right? I rescued it from certain slow starvation from an LFS. I target feed it reef chili and it does take some sinking pellet food. I have a huge pod population that it does seem to scavenge for on the rocks. Wrong? Getting it, but there really is no right/wrong answer other than telling LFS's to not stock them.

Originally Posted by Breez

4) How long did you have it for?

I've had it for 3 months. Still have it. Still doing well.

Originally Posted by Breez

5) Would you have another one or recommend it to a person you knew could handle its difficulty level.

Never. Not ever. They belong in the ocean, not in anyone's tank of any size or age.

[tzylak]

Mandarin, Feather star
Neither would eat
I should not have bought either.
3 months, 6 months.
Both exceptionally beautiful but IMHO with their low survival rate the LFS should not even stock them.

[blazend]

Upside down jelly
Not sure if it was eating or not
Tried applying zooplankton right at it but never can tell if it eats or not.
1-2 months.
Nah they are cool to see but not logical for home aquariums.

[heathlindner25]

redtail tamarin wrasse....I've tried twice they never live past a week.. both came from the same fish store which I trust but the distributor was Sunpet....soooooo..........

[Bent]

Anyone had any luck with a flame tang? My LFS has one.

[Dmorty217]

Originally Posted by Bent

Anyone had any luck with a flame tang? My LFS has one.

You mean a Tomini? They stay small and are mostly docile

[CHSUB]

Originally Posted by rssjsb

I think that things have improved for these fish since he wrote that. In the past, you couldn't expect these fish to live longer than a few days once you got them home. Most would refuse prepared foods. Now, that prospect seems to be improving somewhat. It could just be statistics - they're catching more and the absolute number of survivors is higher even though the percentage hasn't changed.

Mine take pellets, frozen, pretty much anything I feed them, and the seem to be maintaining body weight. However, I think the jury's still out about their long-term viability, and I am not comfortable promoting this fish to anyone starting out. If I lose my current pair, I probably won't replace them.

interesting and yes, the book i'm referencing is over 15 years old. however, would still not be interested in that fish!

i would add a purple tilefish to the list and while possible to keep are very difficult. i have one now that is doing well and have kept one for over a year the choked on a piece of fish i fed it.

others i have kept seem to kill themselves. the one i have now was a pair, but the other one crashed into the crossbrace moments after adding him to the DT and dove into the rocks never to be seen again!

[Bent]

Originally Posted by Dmorty217

You mean a Tomini? They stay small and are mostly docile

Yeah, I've been eyeing him for my 55. I think they only get like 6"...

They want 49.99 for him. My tank is a little to green right now though. Maybe in a few months.

[Apotack]

Any goby I've put in my tank finds a way out no matter how escape proof I think I have made my tank.

[Dmorty217]

Originally Posted by Bent

Yeah, I've been eyeing him for my 55. I think they only get like 6"...

They want 49.99 for him. My tank is a little to green right now though. Maybe in a few months.

55g will work, I have never seen one over 4"

[Fishguy622]

Sunrise Dottyback was a small/beautiful fish buy terrorized every fish till I DISMANTLED the tank to get him out! NEVER AGAIN!

[Breez]

Originally Posted by Fishguy622

Sunrise Dottyback was a small/beautiful fish buy terrorized every fish till I DISMANTLED the tank to get him out! NEVER AGAIN!

That's a shame, those fish are gorgeous. I haven't had too much luck with dottybacks either though to be honest. The only one I had that behaved was an orchid dottyback. It hung out with a fire fish of a things