Caution Marine Fish

Caution Marine Fish

More and more aquarists these days are opting for community fish settings. A community aquarium is the one, where an eclectic collection of aquatic animals co-exists. Deciding upon the mix is a matter of research, as not all animals are compatible to each other. There are certain fish, which are not considered suitable for first time community breeding and are known as caution fish. Nevertheless, experienced hobbyists often choose to keep such fish after gathering information about their behavior and exercising due caution. Following is an inclusive list of key considerations with caution fish:

Sectarian Behavior: Territorial fish, including red-tailed black shark, pearl gourami, giant gourami, kissing gourami, dwarf gourami, paradise fish, blue gourami, spotted climbing perch, cichlid, firemouth, and convict, closely guard their area. They attack other fish that appear to be entering their region. Of these, black sharks are more hostile towards their own or related species. Smaller of relatively calmer fish can be their easy targets. Therefore, much precaution is needed to stock these fish.

Aggression: Some species like sharks are quite aggressive in nature and are always ready to fight. The smaller varieties of sharks are often found chasing other fish, even without an intention of actually attacking them. This creates a stressful environment for the victims, which tells on their health. On the other hand, angelfish is an amicable fish in general, but becomes quite aggressive under certain circumstances, particularly during mating season. Some varieties of knife fish are known to be extremely aggressive. Similarly, crayfish is not suitable for small, less aggressive animals. Siamese fighters, usually males, fight among each other. All territorial fish, in general, are unfriendly.

Fin Nipping: Tiger barbs are recommended for groups, such that they keep fighting among themselves. They are notorious fin nippers and target any slow moving fish with large fins, such as sword tails, angelfish, guppies, Siamese fighters, and so on. Serpae tetras, black ruby barb, clown barb, puffers, and danios are other known fin nippers.

Feeding Habits: The water kingdom has similar food cycle as that of land kingdom. Certain variety of aquatic animals feed on other, while some feed upon each other. Adult angelfishes often prey upon the small school fish, neon tetras, and the like. Piranha is a cannibal species that eats others as well as each other. Keep in mind that most of the large fish, even the vegetarian ones, can prey upon smaller ones in case of need.

Size: Some of the otherwise good community fish become caution fish because of their speed of growth and adult size. Angelfish, silver shark, certain variants of gouramies, eels, loaches, convicts, sucker-mouth catfish, cichlid, synodontis catfish, plecostomus catfish, oscars, etc. can grow so large that a bigger tank may be needed. It is not easy to estimate their adult size when they are infants. Therefore, seek professional advice before acquiring such fish.

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