The Puffer Forum

Read this from another forum and think its helpful for newbies starting out the fish keeping hobby.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Everyone. I've decided to help out the community of ebay a little bit. Here is a list of fish that most aspiring fish keepers make when starting out. I would not buy these fish when starting out unless you have experience and the proper equipment.

1) The Pacu- This thing can get huge i mean huge. You need at least a 2000g tank to house this. They get up to 30 inches.

2) Iridescent Shark- These things get huge too! Just look them up on google and see what you find. They can get up to 4 ft.

3) The Red Tail Catfish- Another Monster catfish. They can get up to 4 feet in length. There is a two other kinds of them out there, Red Tail Catfish mated with a Shovel nose catfish which get larger and the Asian Red tail cat which get big to.

4) The Common pleco- This is one of the most misunderstood fish. These fish get very large and put off high bioload. Some have also been reported to suck of the slime of your fish. They can get up to 1-2 feet and should be kept in aquariums larger then 100 gallons.

5) Arowana- There are many different types of Arows. such as silvers, jardines, black, super reds and so on. The most common is the silver and they get big. They Get somewhere around 3-4 feet and a tank 2 times there size and need to be able to turn around.

6) Hi Fin Banded Loach- Some of you might not see this kind of fish at some might see it a lot. They get pretty large buts thats not the problem. They like cold water and don't do the best in tropical water. They also get aroudn 1-2 feet and like to shoal of at least 6 to keep them happy.

7) Bala Shark- These are really common too! They are a cool looking fish and may be sold under the name silver shark. They get big too! They get around a foot long and need to school. They need 350 and at least 6 to school with to be happy.

8 ) Tinfoil Barb- They have around the same standards as the Bala Shark.

9) Black tip Sharks catfish- They are sold as brackish and get 12 inches and need full marine tank when full grown. They also like to school.

10) A.gigas- The biggest freshwater fish in the aquarium trade. Enough said.

11) Any type of Sturgeon- They get huge almost as big as the fish above. They also need cold water and fast current.

These are some fish that need a bigger home then most of the beg. or even me can provide. I would do proper research before anyone should by these fish or any fish at that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Of course for puffers it will be the MBU and the fahaka

Good list! I think we should all add to it.

12) Goldfish. Huge, and very prone to parasites.

To add to that list there are a few others I have seen entering the trade, first time I saw them for sale I nearly choked.......

13.) Tarpon: I've been seeing these on Aquabid and a few other sites. Beautiful fish, if I had an ocean to keep one in I may consider it. They get HUGE! They can get to a max length of 7 feet and do require brackish as young and full marine as adults. I've seen them advertised as FW fish.

14.) Banded Leporinus (Leporinus fasciatus): Once again, beautiful and interesting fish but they get big, around 12-16 inches. They are loners and get territorial as adults and will kill other tankmates for no particular reason. Most pet shops get them as babies (look at the stripe count if you do buy one to get an idea of age) and sell them as schooling fish.

15) Elephant noses.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:15) Elephant noses.

Why elephant noses?

Most people I know who've kept them, even advanced hobbyists, have trouble keeping them alive. Water quality and such... I don't know the ins and outs, just that most people have a lot of trouble with them.

Ah, okay, that makes sense. I do know they are finicky eaters. I guess the explanation would be "Requirements are difficult to provide in captivity inc. sensitivity to water params and difficulties with feeding" or something.

16) River/hillstream loaches: highly sensitive to water params, require cooler water temperatures and fast-flowing current which can be difficult to provide, and feeding requirements can be complex.

I have 2 20 year old elephantnoses who were kept in a 30g for 17 year of their life. Not sure about water changes but I bet not nearly as often as we all do them.

Now I see why my Hifin "sharks" never lived for very long...

haha I've had common plecos, bala sharks, tinfoil barbs, a fahaka, and a leporinus

also add most puffers, not for noobs.

And which ones have you actually kept long term?

Pufferpunk wrote:And which ones have you actually kept long term?

What do you mean by "long term"? You've been keeping fish longer than I've been alive, so I think "long term" is a matter of opinion here. I've had my fahaka over a year now, he's grown from 4'' to almost 11'', does that count? My Leporinus grew from 3'' to 11'' in about two years.

Until they died from old age.

Pufferpunk wrote:Until they died from old age.

Which one of those fish I mentioned have a life span less than how long I've been keeping fish?

I'm just giving you a hard time... It's so much fun!