Fish that get uglier as they grow up… ( or fish you wish you had never bought )

[Magnum Man]

Seems a lot of fish get prettier as they mature, they start out plain, and get their “colors” as they mature… some fish are nicer when they are little, and get uglier as they age… these seem to misrepresent… start out cute, and end up going down the toilet of a lot of average fish owners, and should probably not have been purchased in the 1st place, sometimes they grow quite large ( common pleco’s for example )… my “wish I never bought” fish are a couple flying foxes, I bought without researching, from the only semi local shop that sells fish around here… I bought a tiny pair… they don’t get along, so the small one hides most of the time… they started out kind of colorful, but now are just a muddy color… they do eat a little algae when they are small, but the bigger one is a pig, he pushes everyone away at feeding time, and eats until he can only lay around…

So what’s your fish buying mistakes??? And why??? Too big, too ugly, too aggressive???

 

[BigJfish12]

Barbs, well I don't actually have anything against the species but just my lack of knowledge about them when I had them. I had 2 rosy barbs and 2 or 3 tiger barbs really cool and active fish but I kept them with 2 angelfish in a 65 liter tank and they killed one of the angel fish

 

[GaryE]

There have been a few Cichlids over the years... including some that grow better on the rich diet diet in tanks than they do in nature.

Rich foods make ugly too, as I've seen a few misshapen, obese fish as a hobbyist created growth problem - they don't live long.

Clown loaches - they outgrow their tanks, and that leaves them open to some very ugly and sad to see diseases. They don't become ugly, but poor fishkeeping makes ugly happen to them.

 

[Back in the fold]

I can honestly say that I have never had a fish I regret acquiring. I went through a phase that I think most aquarists do where you just have to have every fish you see in the shop . The only thing I regret was that I was unable to give them what they needed and that was always a bigger aquarium . Parents or spouses or finances always nixed the big aquarium acquisition and as a result my Oscar’s and Jack Dempsey’s had to be given away . It is really something to see how fast an Oscar can grow into and out of a twenty high . Fortunately I had a guy who wanted them . Every fish is cool and they all have something about them that is fun to watch . Only one fish spooks me and that is piranhas. If you have ever seen a really big one you will know what I’m talking about . I like piranhas and have had them but I will leave them alone now .

 

[Magnum Man]

Piranha's were my 1st fish... we had a typical, family 10 gallon back in the early 70's but when I set up "my" 1st tank it was Piranha's... I could go to the local Montgomery Wards store, ( an old fashioned "dime store" ) they had a couple tanks & sold fish... I could buy little red bellies the size of a dime for a quarter back then... my 1st 55 gallon had too many big ones... at the time my dad was buddies with the guy that ran the local "boy's ranch" and one had this tank, & it had to go... I inherited 4 or 5... 8 to10 inch red belly Piranha's... fed them chicken livers back then, as we raised meat birds, & no one liked the livers... when I really got into fish as a young adult, something I tried was a multi species Piranha tank... I don't remember all of them now, I had like 5 different varieties in the same tank... but I do remember a few... I had a Black Piranha, they were "bad" & supposed to be banned from import at the time, as supposedly they had some bacteria in their teeth that caused gang green or some such infection, & supposedly if you got bit, they would never let go ( urban myths ) ( that one was hard to get ) & I had a pair of Wimple Piranha's in that tank...

Catoprion mento (Wimpel Piranha) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

my Wimples were a more gold speckled color, & at the time I thought it looked more like an angel fish, than a Piranha... if I remember correctly the black one ate the wimples, & ended up killing everyone else in the tank... he was a bad fish...

just spent some time on the www. reading ( something we didn't have when I was into fish before ) apparently the Red belly's are considered more aggressive today, but the blacks are the world champion as far as bite power, more than crocs, killer whales, or sharks

 

[GaryE]

It's a good thing humans don't look worse as they get older. Or maybe my wife is wondering what the heck she committed to 30 years ago. I should be careful if I see her with a large net and the door to the toilet open.

 

[Back in the fold]

@Magnum Man I had Red Belly Piranha’s twice . Both times I got three at a time and wound up with just one . One would disappear completely and the next time I would find just the head . I guess the remaining one was the Alpha Piranha. My Dad had an aquarium when he was a kid in the late twenties - early thirties and he was always eager to encourage my interest in aquariums . My first aquarium was a five gallon and I came home from school one afternoon and it was all set up with my guppies that I had in a gallon jar already in it . I got my first twenty high the same way , came home from school and there it was all set up with the first three piranhas I had . I fed mine beef heart and chicken giblets and the occasional live goldfish but I always felt bad about that and left the room after the first time . I couldn‘t bear to watch the gruesome spectacle. When my Dad found out I was doing that he chewed me out royal and told me he better not ever catch me doing that again .

 

[Magnum Man]

another failure was a red breasted piranha in a small tank, I think it was a 10 gallon, & at the time ( 1980's ) they were selling what they called Hong Kong eels... I had a skull in the tank, that the eel lived in ( Piranha was about a 5 incher ) he would eat, & the eel would come out & clean up... the eel was 14 to 16 inches long... one night I came home late, & the tank was blood red, & the eel was gone, & the fish was fat... turned me off enough, I think that was my last Piranha

I've not seen a Honk Kong eel listed anywhere since I got back into fish... they were really snake like, no noticeable dorsal fin if I remember right...

 

[Magnum Man]

That got me looking... I wonder, really what that Hong Kong eel was... spent a while looking on the www. nothing comes up looking right under Hong Kong eels... I did find Monopterus albus I think common name of Asian swamp eel... but if I remember right, the head is different... I seem to remember the head looking more like a reed fish that what those swamp eels heads look like

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

another failure was a red breasted piranha in a small tank, I think it was a 10 gallon, & at the time ( 1980's ) they were selling what they called Hong Kong eels... I had a skull in the tank, that the eel lived in ( Piranha was about a 5 incher ) he would eat, & the eel would come out & clean up... the eel was 14 to 16 inches long... one night I came home late, & the tank was blood red, & the eel was gone, & the fish was fat... turned me off enough, I think that was my last Piranha

Oh nooooo, that must have been a horrible sight. I'm surprised you didn't fully give up on fishkeeping there and then

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

I'm gonna have to say that my biggest mistake in fishkeeping was rescaping my tank. I had large buckets and bowls all set up and cycled for the fish, however I only had one heater, and that was in the main tank, so I moved all the fish, added Peime, had them all fed, all was good. Rescaled the tank, went to bed proud that it looked good. I woke up the next morning to see my favorite swordtail a husk on the floor, and all my corydoras and harlequin rasboras died, probably because I forgot to put the heater in. I was really upset. Note that I was like 12

 

[davros]

People are going to be up in arms over this but I'll say it: PLECOs

 

[Alex Kadyshevich]

Barbs, well I don't actually have anything against the species but just my lack of knowledge about them when I had them. I had 2 rosy barbs and 2 or 3 tiger barbs really cool and active fish but I kept them with 2 angelfish in a 65 liter tank and they killed one of the angel fish

Well done the barbs! Fish you wish you'd never bought? Let's start with the Angel....the worst named ever. Love killing anything they come across, but equally happy to kill each other.
Just be glad to have any fish left...and if I were you I'd rehome the remaining

 

[BrianK]

People are going to be up in arms over this but I'll say it: PLECOs

I would agree with this except for the bristlenose. I like my BN. Most of the plecos just get too big and ugly.

 

[Alex Kadyshevich]

Just as there are no bad dogs, just bad owners, so plecos are innocent. Its not their fault greedy ignorant retailers sell them to unknowing customers. Pfk, and I'm sure other mags are constantly warning us against buying these leviathans...so why is it still happening?
A mate of mine has 2 bristlenose and loves ❤ them.
1 more to avoid is the beautiful Kribensis.
Seduced by this one myself, passed on to same mate who eventually had to do the unthinkable.
To me all livebeares are a no-no as even if other fish do eat the inevitable fry, I want a happy tank, not a bloody abattoir!