Here are some fish that don't do good in captivity:

Should we really be taking fish out of this enviroment to put them in small glass boxes?

Many parrotfish do poorly due to their specialized feeding method. See our Parrotfish page for more info.

Seahorses need a species tank and a constant supply of live food, as they lack a real stomach. You would have to fill up a 30 gallon tank with a whole lot of live rock to keep one. Mysid shrimp is the best food, but hard to find. The Pipefish also require quite specific conditions and are touchy

The Majestic (blue-girdled) and Blue-Masked angels (they are the most common fish collected with cyniade poisioning) do poorly. 85% of Majestics are collected with cyanide and doomed. The other 15% are mod hardy however.

Rock beauty angels grow 16 in and their diet cannot be supplied in the average aquarium, so they starve, even if feeding great, the absence of coral and othe ritems in their diet leads to certain death.

Some TAngs do poorly in general, see the rest of the site for info. The Clown, Powder Blue, Powder Brown, Achilles, and a few others can be quite iffy. For an aquarist's account of the Clown Tang who has had luck with it actually, click here==> Clown Tang Page And another account: Click here

Most goatfish--including the yellow one, do poorly.

Moorish Idols have a death rate of around 90%. A min size tank of 100 gallons is needed, and they have to have perfect water quality, have been perfectly collected (hand caught), should ideally be from the Hawaii area, and should be fed a very varied vegatable and general diet to try. Here is an interesting summary of an article on them from Ocean Realm Magazine:

"Konad Lorenz is a evolotuion and behavioral expert that has completed a couple decade running paper on the behavior of certain coral reef fish. He has completed a study on the Moorish Idol's behavior, in a special aquarium. Lorenz found that young Idols which were not settled in yet were very terrotorial, but this terroriality broke down as the fish further matured, and they began to school and roam common terrorites. Idols that were introduced after the schools were formed were often attacked , and if they managed to integrate into the group anyway, they caused aggression to spur up among members that had been in that school for long periods of time. They said that such disptues are more than likely to limit group size, and competition. They also found that the transition between terroriality and schooling behavior was marked by very complex communitcative signals, that are most often associated with primates."

Regal angels--a 400 gallon reef is the only way to keep one for any lenth of time (like a month at least) according to AFM magazine. They are extremly pretty, but the death rate is over 95% within a couple months. They are shy fish that have to be fed coral and other inverts if one wanted to attempt to keep them.

Most Butterfly fish, except the Threadfin and Longnose, and a couple other exceptions, are very delicate.

Leopard Wrasses require specific food items if they are to thrive. A refugium is reccomended so one can continually breed the live food items they need to thrive. If given their natrual diet, they are hardy; see the Wrasse Page for more info.

The Blue Ribbon Eel must be kept under quite specific conditions in order to live. For more info on any of these fish, email me at witmer26@erols.com and scan the fish articles section of the site.

Many anthias are very hard, or even impossible to keep. To stand a chance, keep 1 male with 3 females and feed a steady supply of live foods along with the regular saltwater fish diet. The Purple Square has an extremly high death rate.

These are just some of the fish to stay away from. Don't ever assume that all the fish you see in stores are aquarium fish at all. The above is hardly 10% of the common species in the hobby which do poorly in captivity. Here is yet another fish that tends to do poorly in captivity:

Copperband Butterfly Page!

This article is to inform you about a fish that you may need to advoid, because they are quite delicate. The Copperband Buttefly has an incredible look to it though, and although it may occasionally nip at Open Brain Corals if it is starving, it is generally reef safe and will eat pest anemones (Aipstia), and Bristleworms in the aquarium.

It is estimated that 35% starve to death (due to not quarenting and not giving it the right food) and another 20% die within 3 months. That's over half of them.

Besides not quarenting them, another reason they don't live and die unexplicable deaths is because of their unique diet. They need a whole lot of protein. Mysid shrimp should be offered as opposed to Brine. Possibly frozen squid. Clam meat, maybe scallops, and mussels should be offered along with the standard flakes and lettuce. Black Worms could possibly be another suitable food. Where their imported from and how they're caught does make a big difference, however this pretty fish needs specific dietary conditions in order to survive for the long term, and Brine Shrimp as the only source of food just does not cut it.

Getting them to accept food in captivity can be quite challenging. Quarentine them in a 10-20 gallon tank, 20 is better, and leave an open mussel in the aquarium for the fish to naturally pick at. When the inside of the Mussell is gone, begin placing other foods into the open Mussell, and eventually you can coax it onto just about any food.

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