Beginners Guide - Bad First Fish.

We have already discussed several poor choice for beginners fish alongside their more desirable cousins. Here are more fishes that are seen in the stores that beginners should be warned about.

Many of these fish make good fish for advanced hobbyists while others never make good aquarium fish. Some are even suitable for a well-informed beginner; you just need to know what you are getting yourself into before you buy the fishes on impulse and drop them into your community tank.

Goldfish
Goldfish are one of the most common fish sold to beginners, but are particularly poorly suited to this role. The common Goldfish sold as feeders are generally full of diseases and parasites which may kill them and other fish they are housed with. Fancy varieties, which have been selectively bred for centuries to achieve their unnatural appearances, are subject to a host of problems associated with their abnormalities. All Goldfish are cold water fish which do not do well in the lower oxygen levels found in tropical aquaria, and therefore should not be housed with tropical species.

Piranhas
Piranhas are among the most abused of all aquarium fish. They are often purchased in order to watch their legendary feeding habits. As mentioned above, feeder fish often bring diseases and parasites with them and these can infect Piranhas. A regular diet of feeder fish can also be quite expensive. Piranhas are schooling fish and are generally shy and stressed when kept as single specimens. Unfortunately, they also get big (many species well over a foot long), so most beginning aquarists don't have room to house more than a single Piranha. If enough tank space is available to keep several Piranhas together, they must be kept well fed or they will turn on each other, killing and cannibalizing one fish after another.

Knife Fishes
There are several families of fish from South America, Africa, and Asia, referred to as Knife Fishes. Many species of Knives get large, some over 3' long although some of the less attractive species stay as small as 8". All of them are nocturnal predators, a fact that many a beginner could have used before all of his or her small fish ``mysteriously'' disappeared a few at a time.

Hatchet and Pencil Fishes
Somewhat related to Tetras, Hatchets (family Gasteropelecidae) and Pencils (genus Nannostomus) are Characins from South America. Many of them need soft and acid water and all of them are delicate. Hatchets have the added disadvantage that they tend to launch themselves out of the aquarium to an untimely death.

Elephant Nose and Baby Whale
More fragile fish include Elephant Noses - Gnathonemus petersi and Baby Whales - Petrocephalus bovei. African fishes from the family Mormyridae, these are night feeders and are hard to provide for in the aquarium.

Chinese Algae Eater
Chinese Algae Eaters - Gyrinocheilus aymonieri are often introduced into the aquarium to do what their common (sales) name implies - eat algae. They are usually seen at a small size and many die within a short time of purchase. If they live, however, they get big (up to a foot long) and tend to prefer to rasp at the sides of slow moving fish (making them susceptible to infections) to eating algae.

Bala Shark
Not a shark at all but a Cyprinid (related to the Carp), Bala Sharks - Balantiocheilus melanopterus quickly outgrow most home aquaria. They get to be over one foot long.

Iridescent Shark
Unrelated to the Bala Shark or to true sharks, the Iridescent Shark - Pangasius sutchi is a catfish. It grows to over 3' and tends to injure its nose against the aquarium glass.

Glass Catfish
Another catfish to avoid is the Glass Catfish - Kryptopterus bicirrhis. While it stays small enough to be an aquarium fish (up to 6"), it is very delicate and should not be purchased by beginners.

Plecos
The suckermouth catfish of the genus Hypostomus are often sold in the stores as algae cleaners. Most of these species get in excess of 12". Some of the slender suckermouth catfish, such as the Whiptail - Dasyloricaria filamentosa and the Farlowella - Farlowella gracilis, are quite delicate species.

Long-Whiskered Catfish
Catfish don't have long whiskers for looks. They are there to help them hunt for their food - other fish! In addition to eating all fish of less than half their size in the tank, many of the piscivorous (fish-eating) Cats will outgrow most tanks. One common species of long-whiskered catfish, the Pictus Cat - Pimelodus pictus grows to 10" while the Channel Cat (a pink form is often seen) grows over 2 feet long. Shovelnose Cats are usually only seen at six inches or greater, so the beginner does have some warning with these. Still, one might not expect them to get 2 or 3' long.

Red-Tailed Catfish
Red-Tailed Catfish - Phractocephalus hemiliopterus are particularly largegrowing predatory catfish. A dark body with a horizontal white stripe and red tail gives them an attractive appearance at a small size that has unfortunately made them a popular aquarium fish with those who fail to appreciate the enormity of adults. Adults may grow to well over 4' in length and have mouths that more than match their lengths. As such, they are more than many public aquaria can house, not to mention private aquarists.

Spiny Eels
Spiny Eels (family Mastacembelidae) are aggressive fish, some of which grow quite large (over 3'). Some do stay small (less than 4" for one species), but all are likely to have internal parasites.

Painted Glassfish
Painted Glassfish are Glassfish - Chanda ranga which have been "painted'' with chemical dyes. This procedure adds a temporary bit of unnatural color (which disappears with time) and stresses the fish, causing them to be prone to diseases and parasites. This fish needs at least 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon of aquarium water.

Dyed Fish
While Painted Glassfish were for a long time the only fish commonly seen that had been ``colorized'' by unscrupulous marketers, the last few years have seen several other fishes subjected to this abuse. One of these is the White Skirt Tetra (an albino version of the Black Skirt Tetra - Gymnocorymbus ternetzi) which are sold as Blueberry Tetras, Strawberry Tetras, Rainbow Tetras, etc. depending on the dyes used to color the individuals. Similarly, Blueberry and Strawberry Loaches have also been seen. If you are unsure if a fish has been dyed, ask.

Brackish Water Fish
I have already mentioned some fish, such as Mollies and Glassfish, which come from brackish waters - I simply have not called it that before. Brackish water is intermediate between the fresh water of most rivers and lakes and the salt water of the Oceans. Brackish water is found in gulfs, deltas, and lagoons, as well as a some lakes and rivers. Because brackish water fish need so much salt in their water they are not compatible with most aquarium fish. Further, brackish water fish generally need more room per fish to stay healthy than freshwater fish. Some commonly seen brackish water fish
include Monos - Monodactylus species, Archers - Toxotes species, Scats - Scatophagus species, and many species of Puffers (family Tetraodontidae)

Salt Water Fish
If brackish water fish are to be avoided by beginners, then beginners should stay well away from salt water fish. Their bright colors are attractive, but they are generally much more difficult for beginners to keep alive than are fresh water fish.

Conclusion
There are thousands of species of aquarium-suitable fish from a host of families that are not covered above; this article is far from comprehensive. Killifish (fish of the family Cyprinodontidae) for example, are widely kept by many advanced hobbyists, but not often by beginners. This is not because they are all unsuitable as beginner's fish. In fact, some of them would make very good first or second fish. They are simply not widely available in pet stores.
For choices of good beginners' fish beyond those listed here, and for expanding once one has moved beyond the beginner level, local aquarium clubs and friends who are aquarists can be very good sources of information.
So can many of the available fishkeeping books and magazines. At every level of experience, the aquarist will find that good information is well worth the time and/or money it takes to get it.