So you are perusing your favorite saltwater fish source whether online or a great LFS, and you see it. That perfect fish, the one you have always wanted, a true centerpiece! But wait, it is marked or you have read, heard etc. that this fish is an expert only fish. What does this mean, why is it for sale, I want it, I want it!!!
So there are a number of reasons for marking fish as expert only and we will explore and discuss them. For some online retailers (my favorite one included) mark some species as expert only as this means they do not honor any warranty beyond “Arrive Alive”, for an example, this applies to eels from my favorite source, and has little to do with ability to keep, but rather their ability to carpet surf. Other species though are given this destination as they are difficult to impossible to keep in an aquarium for various reasons. Some species have very specific dietary needs that are not easily duplicated in an aquarium. Some Angelfish and Moorish Idols (Zanclus cornutus) require sponge, Anthias, certain Wrasses, and other fish have such high metabolisms that they will wither and starve without a constant and consistent food source. Other species just can’t acclimate to tank life because they stress too much for lack of open swimming space, adequate structure for hiding, improper temperature ranges, or intolerance to anything less than pristine water parameters.
You will have people on this and other forums who state it is cruel and unethical to purchase these fish. Let’s avoid that debate as in some cases I 100% agree and others not so much. But if a person is going to choose one of these species, there are actions they can take to try to achieve success. If you desire one of these species with unique care requirements, a harder level of difficulty, what can you do in order to fulfill that desire?
The first and probably most important step is to gather information about the specific species and its specific or unique needs. This will help you to understand what is required to improve your chances of success. It may also lead you to determine you cannot provide for this animal’s requirements, which would hopefully lead you to determine that this species is not right for you. So what are these requirements and how can we overcome them?
I have always loved the Blue Ribbon Eel (Rhinomuraena Quaesita), having tried one 20 years ago (zero knowledge purchased from an LFS is Denver) assuming they would be like other eels and easy to care for. Didn’t go well. Now I have read threads about them and it seems they can be kept with proper food availability and a series of pvc tunnels under the sand for them to have a secure den. This would be a species that I would consider setting up a system for, now that I have more knowledge and a source (our beloved Reef2Reef) for information that wasn’t available to me in the 90’s.
Once I got back into the Hobby in 2021 the internet became my best friend. Instead of coming home and looking up fish in Dr. Axelrod’s encyclopedia of Marine fish, I could now look them up in my phone while in the LFS. My wife @Ocean_Queenie made me promise to look up all our fish purchases to ensure compatibility, reef compatibility, and to avoid fish outside of my capabilities. I followed this agreement so well, until it came to the Purple Queen Anthias (Pseudanthias tuka). I had been looking at Dispar Anthias (Pseudanthias dispar) but not finding any at the LFS when I happened upon a school of Tukas. Had three of them in a bag and headed home before I looked them up. When I got home I looked them up and found out they had far different needs than I expected. I placed an order for pods (this was before I started culturing my own) but assume either not enough, too late, or the wrong pods. Turns out they would probably have faired better with free swimming pods like Acartia and Parvo as they have such high a metabolism requiring them to eat almost nonstop. Having an endless supply of pods, I would seriously consider trying these or a similar constant forager, but would caution others to avoid them unless they are going to setup a subscription for pods or culture their own. Also need to be committed to constant observation (after lights out) of tanks pod levels to ensure there is an adequate food supply. I am wondering if a consistent supply of rotifers, baby brine shrimp and adult brine in addition to pods would make keeping these guys possible, or as some suggest, it’s better to leave these guys in the ocean?
Since then, I have been very deliberate and cautious in my fish choices. As time has passed I have had the opportunity to try my hand at other challenging species with a mix of success and failure.
One such fish was a Blue Boxfish (Ostracion meleagris), which unfortunately was a failure. However I am not convinced that the fish was not starving when it came in. All the pictures that I have seen show their sides being straight giving them a “box” appearance, this fish came with inverted v shape, leading me to believe it was emaciated. To prepare for the receipt of this fish, I stocked up on live foods with the knowledge that it is often easier to get a fish to take live foods as you transition them to frozen or prepared foods. However we never witnessed him eating.
Sherry then gave me the nod on getting a Warty Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus). I will say this has been one of my favorite fish. Such personality and a face that almost looks human. I loved watching the lure come out attracting that unsuspecting meal. Watching it crawl on “hands and feet”. The absolute flash as he attacked, unbelievably fast. Daily attention was given to this beautiful fish as we fed live shrimp, and the occasional Molly. Reading about the difficulty of keeping these guys I prepared by stocking up on feeder shrimp and made the occasional trip to Petsmart for some fresh mollies. I really did awesome with this little guy, and felt so proud of how he had adapted and was taking krill, frozen shrimp and silversides from me. I found that using fishing line (no hook lol) worked really well to mimic live action, after feeding him this way for a time, he finally got to where he would take food without teasing as long as the flow moved it a little. Everything I knew told me to feed them sparingly, however Sherry would express concern that I wasn’t feeding enough. I knew they had slow metabolisms, but forgetting why I didn’t feed more and not wanting Sherry to feel I was abusing the little guy, I started feeding daily with everybody else. It wasn’t too long before I noticed our little guy looked bloated. Yeah, don’t over feed anglers because they digest really slowly and can get constipated. So after having this little guy for nearly a year, we lost him, and it was totally my fault. Once you do the research, don’t ignore what you learned.
Our latest addition to challenging species is our Ornate Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon ornatus) named “Sparky”. These wrasses provide a challenge to adapt to an aquarium environment and need fed constantly throughout the day much like Anthias. We have had ours for 6 months now and he has quickly become one of my wife’s favorites. After a lengthy QT period (we dosed pods routinely during the process) she has been moved to our S1000 and is very active right up front. Not shy about eating at feeding time, and Sherry says she sees her hanging with our Falco Hawkfish (Cirrhitchthys falco) “Hacksaw McGraw” and they seem to be buddies. Having a sand dish and providing large amounts of live pods is a couple of steps we took to help this fish to thrive.
What are some fish you either want to keep that are touted as being difficult to raise? What difficult fish have you kept successfully, and what tips and or pointers can you share with us?