I wish I had someone to help me on deciding fish when I was new to the hobby. I usually would be in the pet shop looking at the wonderful choices without any prior knowledge of the care requirements and specifics for my purchase. Here is a list of the 5 fish beginner hobbyist should avoid when starting in the aquarium hobby.
1. Red Belly Pacu (Piaractus brachypomus): The red belly pacu can be found in any fish store at the reasonable size of one inch. But these guys made the list mainly due to their eventual size of 30 inches! A great seller among piranha enthusiast because of their like appearance (they are related). Not only do they get large but they grow uncommonly fast for any fish and thus should not be purchased by those who cannot afford their tank size requirements.
2. Oscars (Astronotus ocellatus ): A member of the cichlid family, oscar fish are found in any pet store and even some grocery stores. Oscars are great fish but should only be kept by hobbyist whom have the aquarium size to do so due to their adult size of 15 inches. Oscars require at least 75 gallons and will uproot plants, disturb rock arrangement and cause a mess when eating.
3. Bala Shark (Balantiocheilos melanopterus): A large seller among beginners is the bala shark, which is mainly due to the name including "shark". The bala shark is not even related to sharks and is actually a type of carp. These fish get too large for any beginner aquarium (adult size is 15 inches) and are considered to be endangered in the wild. Not only do they get big, but they are highly active swimmers and are considered to be jumpers. Stay clear of purchasing this "shark"!
4. Red-Tailed Catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus): Newly appearing catfish in the aquarium trade, the red-tail catfish should be completely avoided by all. These monster fish can reach up to 4 feet (48 inches) in length and will consume anything they can fit in their huge mouths. even aquarium decorations. Only public aquariums should be able to house these large cats.
5. Ghost Knife Fish (Apteronotus albifrons): The ghost knife fish is a very popular fish due to its appearance and interesting swimming style. But, like the others on this list, it gets too big for many beginner sized aquariums. These fish get up to 25 inches and are very delicate to maintain due to being scaleless. They require a minimum of 75 gallons and should not be kept together.
I have to agree with you about those fish. I always see people with giant oscar in a 20g tank trying to find someone to give it away. But who wants that??
Even the fish store has nothing to do with mature oscars
Posted by: AquariumsLife.com | 02/10/2010 at 06:41 PM