These Fish SHOULDN'T Be In Aquariums!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ม.ค. 2024
- There are some fish that just shouldn't be in aquariums, period. That's what this video is about.
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Good list! Another rule of thumb. If it was ever featured by Jeremy Wade on River Monsters (e.g. Pacu, Arapaima), then it will probably not work in your home aquarium!
I agree with you 💯
One episode with the Pacu centered around the fact that they became an invasive species, and started attacking humans...that episode made me cringe when they described HOW they attacked humans.
Oh ya, check out monsterfishkeepers and you’ll see you’re wrong
Great advice danjensen 7477😎😎😎
I completely agree. I love watching river monsters...remember never to swim in that water....
There's a public aquarium near my home that houses a 9 foot Arapaima along with some other bruisers. Aquarium size? 250,000 gallons. You can float a small boat on the top of that aquarium. The decor includes bogwood ... in the form of two complete sunken trees. This aquarium is a civil engineering project. Probably the only aquarium I've ever seen that can house the Arapaima and a dozen adult Pacus, AND keep them all happy.
Oh, and the filtration system is *literally* industrial scale. Forget Eheim. Their primary filter is 7 feet tall and 4 feet in diameter. It costs them £2,000 per week in electricity to run it. I dread to think what the heating bill for that aquarium is, but I suspect the monthly cost would buy you a Mercedes.
That puts things into perspective nicely I think. :)
😂love it!!!
There is a fishing and hunting store near me that has a similar setup, 130000 gallon tank with various sportfish. I don't even want to guess the monthly cost of keeping the tank.
Replicating nature gets expensive!!
@@renaultman4230 ... the marine aquarium in the same building that houses the Tiger Sharks is even more expensive. That's a 2 million gallon affair that's deep enough for you to scuba dive in :)
That’s almost 4x the size of @Ohio Fish Rescue 59,000 gallon pool pond that’s insane and you say this is a TANK?
I used to run a large scale fish store and I had a 1500 gallon bow front aquarium that i put customers overgrown fish in. I had oscars, midas cichlids, a wolf cichlid, some weird catfish i was never able to identify, a clown knife, an african lung fish, and of course pacus. It was the first aquarium you would see when you walked in the store. I used it as a warning for customers to avoid buying these fish.
That's a great idea for any fish store. When people hear that a fish gets big and needs a big tank without specifics, sometimes they think things like, "Cool! I've got a 55 gallon at home perfect for these" when the fish needs at least double or triple that. Some people even think 20 gallons are big tanks. I once had an armored Plecostomus unlike any that I'd ever seen. No one else could figure out what it was either. I did a bunch of research, but only got close comparisons. He was a rescue and never got any bigger after I took him in. He was just a little guy and he was gorgeous; such a cool fish. I miss him.
@mermaid_at_heart213 Some fish stores may not have the room for such a massive tank but they could be using life-size cardboard cutouts of fully-grown adults for these large species to bring out when people ask to buy them.
I've been saying for years that larger fish should be available as pets with a special order only. That way the folks with bigger aquariums can stil get them and the general public cannot.
I totally agree with this. That or they should be in a special tank labeled "monster fish - not for small tanks"
@@giftofthewild6665 I don't even think that would work because what a small fish tank is based on a person' perception. I remember talking about what people think a large aquarium is back on forums.
@chaliceflame1314 Spot on, if I can't lift it myself this four foot tank is massive. Good for life, I could probably fit more Oscars!
@@giftofthewild6665 "monster fish" would be the selling point for some though :(
@@giftofthewild6665 I'd add to your tank sign: minimum "however many" gallons and be accurate and truthful.
I’ve had the honor of meeting Bruce the Arapaima. So if anyone wants one remember Bruce is housed in a 58,000 gallon what used to be an indoor pool. So yes Big Rich is the only person who should have one. Pretty sure there are 3 in that pool
Its name is Brutus
@@DireWolf1971 I was there at like 10pm got a private tour. Though his name was Bruce thanks for correcting me
It was over 20yrs ago and boy was I surprised. A local fish store (no longer in business) sold me a "cute little" catfish. This fish grew exponentially to a horrifying size in my 72. Research informed me that I had a Blue catfish. I had to use an actual fishing net to remove from tank.
What did you do with it?
I did a lot of research. Although they had been indigenous to many local waterways, they hadn't been in IL since the 70's. All I can say is long road trip with a large tub & battery aerator. Not something I condone and again this was well over 20 years ago. I did what I thought was right at the time. @cormacsaleem9966
Shovel nose are good eats. I tried it in South America. If it gets too eat you can always eat it 😂
@@cormacsaleem9966 giant blue cat? It would have been dinner in my house.
Great list, I'd also add the Arowana as well. Not only do they grow just as large if not larger than the first 3-4 fish they are also capable of jumping 6 feet out of the water.
I agree. 👍
I was sure that would be the number 1 fish.
I was just going to write the same. I also want to include snakeheads. Yes, I know, there are some small species (I have had Channa gachua), but even the small species are batshit crazy. They will eat anything they can get their mouth around and they JUMP. Even at three inches long, mine could jump over a foot straight up. You seldom even get a warning, they just go into this S-shape and then BAM. For the bigger species... well, no. :)
yep Arowana and Saratoga too... one of my mates had them and both got too big and jumped out of the tank to their death. good tanks but fish just got too big and strong... couple of vids of the Arowana on my channel.
I actually thought the number 1 fish was going to be arowana
Likewise. And the Arowanas are super easy to find. Easier than pacus actually where I live.
It's the same in herps, some of the worst pets are the cheapest and most accessible - green iguanas, sulcatas, red-eared sliders.
Right now, my local Petsmart has dinosaur bichirs for sale for $8 : (
Luckily, PetSmart does show the maximum sizes of the fish they sell, as well as those fishes minimum tank sizes.
Green Iguanas, Sulcatas and red-eared sliders all make great house pets, though? Like, you can't slap 'em in a terrarium and expect it to go well, but a sulcata is totally fine just roaming around the house, and red-eared sliders are perfect for in even the smallest of backyard ponds(assuming you have a good fence). The Green iguana is the most troublesome of the tree, but even it should be fine if you keep your living room nice and toasty and don't mind getting whipped every now and again.
To be fair, captive bred Senegal bichirs rarely get over 10 inches and don't have much bulk. An adult can easily be kept in a 55 gallon. Some other species of bichirs can get huge for sure.
They make fine pets, but only if you can provide for them. People should always do research before getting any pet. I took in a tiny red eared slider for a friend whose pet shop got run out of business by a big chain. It was such a shame because he was very knowledgeable and ethical. Gamera was too small to sale, but his teacher friend only wanted one, so he got left behind. He is now almost 27 years old and such a character! He LOVES cilantro; goes crazy for the stuff! lol 🐢
I remember watching 'River Monsters' and seeing Jeremy Wade get hit in the chest by a jumping Arapaima. Wade staggered and for a while afterwards his team had to monitor his heart rate as the strike knocked his heart out of rhythm.
Ward's show about the Pacu was interesting. Pacus have been released in Southeast Asia for some reason. Fisherman were being bit in a sensitive area of the male anatomy quite frequently.
There is a fish store nearby in Glen Burnie, Maryland that has a massive Giant Gourami in a HUGE tank just you enter the store. I cannot remember her name but she is 20 - 30 years old. It is the only place I buy my fish.
I remember that River Monsters episode with the Arapaima.
@@user-dq9pq8uv4e Watched him catch a 9 foot Bull shark out off a fresh water lake one time. THAT creeped me out.
I know Jeremy Wade did an episode of River Monsters about the pacu. Apparently someone let about 14,000 of them into a new habitat. They castrated some guy and have destroyed the ecosystem.
That episode was nightmare fuel.
He also has a payara piranha in the tank with the pacu
Never skinny dip where large fish hang out. Heck, I have a mole on my back that gets attacked by Blue Gill at the lake. 😀
really doubt the castration part, because unless the guy deliberately put the fish's head near his balls, it probably wouldn't happen
everything else though? totally believable, and terrible.
I've seen nearly every episode of River monsters, and I can confirm that Pacu do attack humans. The episode was in Nugine,spell checker off, the pacu was somehow introduced, and quickly took over. They started running out of food and began attack the privates of the natives.
I saw that one, too. I felt so bad for the people whom that happened to. In the pacus' defense, though, they do eat tree nuts in their natural habitat. (I believe Jeremy Wade mentioned that in the episode.) Those human-like teeth are used to break nut shells. Ouch!
That episode they show them going after the crocs or alligators in New Zealand from being so hungry after clearing the water of plant matter
I wish sellers would be require to say "pond only." I have been lucky enough to have had ponds on properties I've owned. Also, there are "hardiness zones" for plants; why not fish? I am USDA hardiness zone 6A for plants. The USDA should regulate big fish just as they regulate plants. I can legally grow a cotton plant in my state, MA, and I have; the flowers are pretty. However, my cousins in VA cannot legally grow an ornamental cotton plant! Aren't fish one up from plants?
I won't deny I'm smiling as I watch this. It brings back memories of my favorite fish that I saw, fell in love with, and bought for my little 20 gallon tank as a child... the cutest tiny little 'common pleco' (at least that's what it was purchased as). Actually, it turned out to be a sailfin pleco, as best I could identify. It was gorgeous. Then it moved to a fifty gallon tank. Then it moved to a hundred gallon. Then it had to move to someone else's house, to live in their large indoor heated pond... I really miss that fish. So beautiful, with a huge dorsal fin! It was fascinating to watch it change colors - it was dark brown with vivid tan-yellow webbing all over when it thought no one could see it, and as soon as it saw someone looking, would visibly fade to a dull, mottled light brown all over.
I ended up with a sailfin pleco as well under the "common pleco" name (much younger and uninformed). Had to change tanks 3 times...but he ended up being my favorite fish, despite having gotten one or two "prettier" fish at the time.
Such beautiful patterns, and watching the colour shifts. "Kong" also had a very friendly personality, too.
I'm in the UK and one of my kids is asking for fish now. Glad I found this video because Bala Sharks are *everywhere* in fish stores in the UK.
Same with redtail cat fish small when you get it but it can grow over 4 foot long..
If you google the fish name and "Seriously fish", you get to a homepage with a lot(!) of excellent info about almost every type of fish available in pet stores. There you can find what the fish needs when it comes to aquarium size, water parameters, food and so on, and also info about it's behavior, if it's suitable with other fish or not. Look at what size of an aquarium you can get, find a few types of fish that is interesting and see if any of them can be a good choice. If your kid like active, cool looking fish that's oftentimes easy to care for, look at the group of danios. There's many type of smaller danios that's a lot of fun and looks amazing!
I’ve seen every single one of these at my local fish store for sale at one time or another. Arowanas too. People still believe the myth that fish only get as big as their tank though.
My dad donated his giant gouramis to the local Zoo, at first they didnt want it but the dude managing the aquarium section took it in, apparently the guy was working in that LFS where my dad got them all those years ago 😅
I agree that there should be more precaution around these fish, perhaps they should be marketed as pond fish for tropical areas only
I know someone who could probably house an Arapaima, just in an enclosure he made out of an old above ground swimming pool that he built several large windows into and built a massive patio around. He's in a region that doesn't really get cold so the heating setup doesn't break the bank, but he's only interested in keeping a massive Koi school right now.
I'd also add the common pleco to this list. They are in virtually every pet store. Pretty much every pet store I've seen them in claim they stay small, but they are capable of getting gigantic.
Some species like bristlenose max out at 6inches but the common plecos should not be available at most stores
@williamturcotte8588 I agree, which is why I specified common pleco. ^^
Bristlenose should be available in most pet stores instead because of their smaller size. I had one and it was fun to watch it. :) bristle noses are rare to find for some reason.
To make things worse for the common pleco, the pet stores lie on how big they get too. They usually claim they only get to maybe 6 or 7 inches.
I have a common pleco around 10 inches long he’s ridiculous I think he’s about 5 years old
When I was working for state fisheries years ago one of our stations caught a pleco on one of their sampling trips that was over two feet long. Quite the surprise given that that was in Iowa!
@@brycealthoff8092 dang, that is one huge pleco!
I used to work in a pet store. I had one customer coming talking about his new fish when I asked him what it was. He told me it was a red tail catfish.... he saw my face and all you could ask was what's wrong. I explained to him where he got himself into see the guy 3 months later telling me that it has tripled in size
Add leperinus (sp?) to the list. They grow huge in a 55-gallon tank but are so cute and small when they are sold in the aquarium shop. We had one when my daughter worked in animal care at PetsMart and a customer tried to return it because it was so large. My daughter informed him that the fish couldn't be returned, so the customer left it on the counter when no one was looking. My daughter brought him home and we kept him. I checked the information card for the fish at the store; it said they grow to six inches. Ha! This guy was at least fourteen inches long and huge. I can't imagine how big they grow in a larger tank. He ended up the only fish in the tank and lived for years.
My dad once brought home a giant gourami and I can't remember what species of catfish, but it was big. Being a little kid the size of them scared me lol. He said that his friend was downsizing and selling his home and couldn't take his two fish and couldn't find anyone that could take them. Well he told my mum that it was an aquarium with two fish but didn't specify the size, so she was thinking like a meter long at max. Well we came home in the evening the day it was brought over and boy were we in for a shock. The tank was on the floor and almost up the ceiling and took up most of the dining room, like the tables and chairs had to be removed that's how big it was. No idea how they got it inside. It was a beautiful setup but my mum was understandably furious. The gourami was huge (so was the catfish) and they would both follow you and come right up to the glass because of them learning that it was humans that fed them. Apparently the catfish species was known to be tank busters and at night you would hear it, apparently it was how the fish used to pester the owner for extra food but it would worry my mum because even though the glass was apparently thick enough for the catfish not to bust through she always had the fear.
Anyway my mum didn't want to keep them so we had them for a few months, she had never had fish like this and felt bad that she may not be caring for them properly (plus we didn't have a dining room anymore because of the size). She knew a guy who she knew was into large aquariums and was really into the hobby. She told him about the fish and he offered to let her see his set up and give tips on caring for them. She checked out his home and he already had huge aquariums and basically had his whole home dedicated to his fish. So she asked him if he would like the fish and the tank for free or if he knew anyone that would take them. He excitedly took them in thankfully, my mum said as long as he arranged pickup he could take them. I remember seeing how excited he was when he came to get them. He kept asking if she was sure she didn't want money for them because fish the size they were were usually quite expensive, as well as the huge tank. She said as long as they went to a good home and were looked after properly that's all she wanted in return. I was around 6-7 at the time and I know he still had them when I was a teenager. We saw them once and they seemed very happy and healthy. Thankfully these guys ended up with someone who could look after them, can't imagine all fish that grow to be large are as lucky though :/
In the uk, when I was new to the hobby a large store (pets at home) sold me 2 yo-yo loaches stating that they would be good in my 40L tank. 40L! No mention of how much they grow, really sad. Thankfully I got really into the hobby and know better and have other tanks now.
I know pacu and Piranha look similar but im very certain that the fish in the tank shown are Piranha. I had Piranha in the past. They look like piranha. Piranha have the bull dog Jaw
Yes. I noticed that too. Piraya, caribe, and standard red piranhas
The underbite is the give away you are 100% correct
I was thinking the same thing
Yes sir definitely a piraya the yellow bellied mine just passed awhile back but was easily 15 inches
Tackle store in Florida I went to and it had a stuffed 18 lb. Pacu caught in a local lake. It didn't get that big eating fruit, it was eating other fish.
I think the iridescent shark should be on this list. I ended up adopting my sisters 29-gallon tank when she moved across the state. In the tank, she had a beautiful iridescent shark. Until watching you guys and other youtubers, we had no clue how big they get. I don't know what to do about it. I was able to afford to get it into a 40-gallon breeder, but I know that isn't anywhere close to what it needs. I don't have the resources to buy a monster tank or the space for one. The pet stores never inform you about these things, and this poor fish has to suffer for it. Is there any suggestions on what I can do for him?
My fish store had a 6 inch iridescent shark that nobody wanted for weeks. They finally asked me to just buy him one day and sold him for $20 because nobody wanted him. Well now he is in a 75 gallon tank and he is over a foot long. I don’t even know what to do with mine. I have been trying to find someone with a pool pond but no luck yet
look for fish rescues, advertise online, ask aquariums, fish stores, otherwise put the poor thing down instead of making it invasive
Frequently see Ghost / Clown Knives at our local petsmart. There's always some kid begging to get one. (I think the size thing on the tank says 55g) I will usually approach saying that they are very cool, that I wish I could have one but they get too big. The parent will usually ask and I show them with my hands, sometimes show them photos on my phone. They quickly move on. It's sad that stores are still putting tank-size suggestions that are way too small.
I do the opposite :p I work in a pet store, and when I make the signs for the aquariums, I often write a bit bigger tank size than actually needed. At our signs we have the name of the fish, some short words about it's behavior/needs and info about the water/aquarium size. So, if it needs a 8 gallon, I oftentimes write 9-10 gallon.
That's because people come and look at the fish, saying "well it's about 8 gallon" when it's actually 5-6 gallons, or they don't have an idea, or they put too many fish in, or just do something else making it difficult for them to keep the aquarium good for the fish. By saying that they need bigger, and also refuse to sell fish to people who shouldn't keep fish at all, at least we do what we can for the fish. And if someone who knows about aquariums ask us why we "lie" about the aquarium size needed, it's easy to explain why.
There are a lot of catfish, that are way too big for aquaria, but are nevertheless available in the hobby. I’m thinking of Pangasias from Asia, channel catfish from America, and others. These giant predators grow to be 3 and 4 feet long, and are totally unsuited to the home aquarium. Thankfully, they’re harder to come by these days, but if you do see them, don’t get them unless you have a pond or are the representative of a public aquarium or zoological garden.
The worst part is when you tell people you know about how these fish will NOT work for their aquariums THEY DONT LISTEN
"But it's so cute" 💀
But yet you have it for sale in your shop and you’ll still sell it to them to make a buck! Maybe place a little responsibility on the shop owners.
@@corey1788 I want a fish shop to actually tell the new fish keepers how to keep a fish. Not only dumb selling.
@@Xeuthymia you’re still not getting it. The guy is blaming the consumer but if these fish are so bad they shouldn’t be for sale in the first place. If shops refused to sell them then there wouldn’t be a need to “teach new fish keepers how to keep them!”
@@corey1788 Actually, when you will buy a new fish is your responsibility to know it parameters and tank size, mates, etc. However, if the owner of the shop gives you the specifications of the fish before you buy it, it would be more easy to take away those fish because nobody will buy them.
I love your channel. You helped me so much with my otocinclus. I just love them. I have a 60 gallon and they are the stars in my tank. You were absolutely correct when stating that they are not hard to keep. They require certain things.
I was giving them some seaweed today and noticed there are eggs all over the java ferns. Keep up the great work!
Otocinclus are so rare to breed in captivity, there hasn't been any breeding reports on them. Document everything about your tank, because if those eggs are fertile(and actually from your oto's), you may have a breakthrough for our hobby on your hands that many people would love to learn about.
It would be nice if the people in the store actually knew what they selling. 😊😊
Can there be a petition that can ban Petco from selling common plecos? It should not be the obligation, through customers guilting mom and pop shops, for us to take these fish in at one point of another, because Petco sells them cheap and WITHOUT full disclosure. I will NEVER bring them in my shop. Same for red tail cats and xl monster fish. I leave that to stores like Predatory Fins.
Something you may be interested in, there are two lakes in Broward County Florida which has Ft. Lauderdale in it, that have Clown Knife Fish, Peacock Bass, and a few other species from South and Central America. These fish basically took over the lakes, but instead of eradicating the invasive species they just put tight restrictions on fishing in those lakes. You can actually a hire guide that will take you on the lakes to fish for these exotic fish. Turning lemons in lemonade so to speak.
I worked with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida last year for an internship and volunteered at the invasive species roundup. The issue with turning lemons into lemonade is that people will see the success of fishing guides in the invasive lakes and then just keep moving those fish into native waters to repeat the process. It sucks, but there really needs to be no regulation on keeping any exotics. AKA eat the invasives out of home, open field.
@@trevorbergstrom00 Invasive fish species are all over South Florida, especially tropical fish. There are also parrots, reptiles, and amphibians of all sorts though the pythons and the Iguanas are the most destructive. The problem with your theory is that these invasive species in many cases will wipe out native species. As someone who is a Florida native, I have a decidedly different view from yours.
@@mysticwanderer4787 dude... I'm sorry but you're so so wrong. Go ask the Conservancy what they think about invasives and come back to me. The point is that invasives have a native range that they have an existing population where the species has been for hundreds of not thousands of years. Invasives displace natives and in many cases drive the natives out. There are only a handful of mostly "native populations" of organisms that live in Florida. The team I was in at the Conservancy pulled out 5k lbs (yes 5,000 pounds) of pythons from around naples and picayune strand. If you think pythons don't compete with the Florida panther you've got another thing coming haha
And who introduced the Peacock Bass into South Florida? Oh right, the government... South florida invasives are huge problem, however, the main issues afflicting the everglades are overdevelopment, flood control management, and the water pollution from agriculture. I'd love to see people discuss the eutrophication of lake okeechobee from Sugar Cane plantation runoff with the same enthusiasm as killing pythons. @@trevorbergstrom00
Peacock bass was introduced by the state of Florida. Absolutely wrong
Pacu get over 3' and weigh 40 to 60 pounds. Look no further than Ohio Fish Rescue who has several close to 40" and his heaviest weighs 63lbs.
Also, accoring to River Monsters' Jeremy Wade, Pacu in the wild have been known to bite and remove the, um... beans... of many a young man. So, you may say they wouldn't hurt a fly, but that would sure hurt the hell outta me. 😂
I wish more people would watch videos like this before getting fish. My partner and I took in a 29 gallon tank from someone in our area and we had to rehome half of the fish we got because the previous owner had 2 koi, a small dragon eel, a tiny baby dragon eel and a pleco that were too big. Luckily we still have 5, two blue gourami, two white tetras and one rainbowfish and they are all gorgeous.
Though I was frustrated at the previous owners for going "hey that looks cool, let's get it!" with no thought toward quality of life for the fish, it threw us right in the fire of learning about aquariums, so I am thankful for that.
Great list. I would love to have a tank big enough but can’t afford it. Even if I had the big enough tank I don’t think most people could afford to even feed these fish properly. I would love to know what it would cost to raise and maintain a arapima for its life. Great video love the content 🙏. When I was an assistant manager of a massive fish store chain we had a nurse shark that was my baby. When it got 3 to 3.5 feet long we shipped it from Canada back to Florida where it was originally caught. They tagged it and released it back where it was caught(so we were told) with a phone number to report its size and a note begging for its release.
The Pacu is the piranha if it ate nuts instead of meat; It's not a "special needs" fish, it's a just the piranha's derpy, friendly, cuter brother. As for your list, I found one fish just as bad; A store that I used to go to once sold juvenile Arowanas, a fish that can get more than 3 feet in length, with that fact being made worse by the fact that it can breathe air, which means if it gets loose because someone released the fish, it would dominate the waters that it gets released in (it's an arapaima, but not as big, but still a problem).
The peacock bass problem is more difficult then it seems. You have smaller types of peacock bass like Kelberi but here’s the problem when they are young, kelberi looks almost the same as Temensis (the biggest type of peacock bass)
Yesterday I was eating in a chinese restaurant and they got a large aquarium. I didn't measure it but it was about 10 feet long. There were way too many huge fish swimming in it. They had a Suckerfish (Hypostomus plecostomus), at least 5 Iridescent sharks (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus), about 10 Blood parrot cichlids and a few other smaller Cichlids. On top of that they also had a young Tiger Shovelnose Catfish. Unfortunately, such heavy overstocked aquariums are often seen in restaurants.
I bought one of those "sharks." The sales person said they eat plants & would clean the aquarium. I put one in with betas & guppies. The shark ate every other fish in the tank the first night. Its belly was distended & it too died in a day. Not a community fish!
When I was young (I'm 35 now) red tails, Bala sharks and I know they aren't fish but Iguanas were abundant and CHEAP! Smh the 80s and 90s were wild!
Great list john
My father brought home a small albino clarius (?). That walking catfish worked his way through about 4 tanks before my dad isolated it.
Good list!
I will add some variants of *puffer fish* . I am far from educated about these species, but I have seen some so large the poor things have a hard time turning in standard aquarium. These poor fish rub the front of their faces across the width of the tank when they turn.
I will add this, to the mention of *Alligator Gar* We used to have a house at a lake. I would regularly fish, boat and dock, from that lake.
The largest fish I pulled out of that lake, was an alligator gar. The thing was nearly as long as my leg! And that long mouth, full of needle teeth was as long as both of my hands, fingertip to fingertip. Let us also not forget their eating habits!
I've heard of arapaima being available before sure but for me I was kinda surprised alligator gar have ever even been made available in the hobby, never knew that...because just as a zoology nerd, I already know that ALL species gar from Florida to longnose and shortnose are too big for home aquariums, much less the biggest one of them all.
I believe it is ok to sell these giant fish in pet stores, however they should not sell them to everyone. The sellers should say something like: "This fish is going to be 8, 9 or whatever feet long. Do you have a pond or an aquarium as big as your room to keep em ? If yes, then here it is, if no, then let me recommend something proper sized for your tank". Sadly this rarely happens. 😢
Or better yet, they could only offer these fish through special order. That way, there is less chance of someone just coming in and lying in order to buy the fish, who think they know better or just don't care about what will happen when it gets too big. Typically, if a person is going to special order, they know quite a bit more about the fish they are looking for already and have suitable accommodations for them.
@@mermaid_at_heart213 This is a good solution too, but one thing is sure, it's not ok to sell gigantic fish to someone with a 20 gallon tank, petstores should stop with that.
Hey John I have a 125 gallon 6’ tank that’s been running for 2 years now that has 4 six inch geophagus tapajos and would like your expertise about me adding 2 baby Oscar’s and growing them up with the geos .
I picked out a common pleco when I was kid, and a year later, the thing had grown to over 2 feet. Luckily, my grandparents had a 150-gallon tank because we had no idea it would get so big
Great List. I have a 500 gallon tank. Fish that have outgrown it include a Black Pacu, a Red Taiil Catfish, a Shovelnose catfish, a Temensis Peacock bass, a Giant Gourami, and soon an Alligator Gar, -ll ones you mentioned. I also have a near 3 foot knife fish. No fish stores or public aquariums wanted these fish that out grew my tank, so some had to be sacrificed by me, an emotionally draining experience. Keep that in mind if you buy these future giants. Arowanas, Lung Fish (I have a 3 foot African Spotted one now), Arowanas, some Plecos (Common Plecos get massive), African Tiger Fsih and Goliath African Tiger Fish are a few other fish that could be on the list.
yes it's not nice for a living thing you cared for over a period of years to die. even if it's a plant.
Great video. I'd love to see a video of the guy with the huge aquarium in Toronto who was mentioned 🙂
Had 2 Sailfin Plecos and over time the got HUGE! But they were so loving, they shared a 50 gallon tank with a male Bata (usually this is recommend not doing) and got along great. These fish were so inner connected (quantum world), that when Sunset (the Bata fish) passed away from old age (he was at least 5 yrs old), a week later both Sailfin Plecos passed away a day apart from each other.
Both Sailfin Plecos (I’m simply placing an S on the name cause obviously there were 2 of them, so forgive me if that’s the wrong way of making their name plural…still learning) had been bought as babies, along with the Bata fish and it took 5 years to get to the size they were. Before they passed away, I was planning on getting 100 gallon for them.
But tanks to people like you who are willing to tell the truth about how many of those cute adorable little may grow to become giants, I am more aware of this now. I would rather be able to give a animal the best possible life they could have ever dreamed of and the more I know about the animal, the more I am aware of I am of the challenges that are laid before me, the better I am prepared and the happier we both are.
Thanks again for your video.
And for all you animal lovers out there, remember the more you know about your animal(s), the better you can give them and happier you both will be❤
Yeah. couple of those jungle bass turned up in our community pond a couple years ago. They weren't monsters, but definitely out grew some body's aquarium.
There was a giant gourami at a LFS near Baltimore who'd been turned in by its owner. It was cool looking, but my oh my, even the LFS didn't have a tank big enough for it. I like my little tetras. ❤
Ive seen wels catfish fir sale at my lfs. They get bigger than arapaima and even worse, they can survive in our temperature lakes potentially. Also sturgeon get sold in lfs quite often.
Unless you live at (or work at) a public aquarium (like Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies or Newport Aquarium) do. not. get any Sturgeon (unless it's a Shovelnose Sturgeon) or a Wels Catfish.
@@AnimalsVehiclesAndMore 100% agree. I was shocked to see them for sale. Our local lake has a "monster" (I know tons of lakes do) and I have researched it a good bit and believe there is a possibility it is a released wels catfish. One day I plan to document searching for it.
I have had nightmares about wels
I used to have an Oscar and Peacock Bass in a 125 gallon tank. Then I went to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and saw a school of Oscars in a tank at least 10 times the size of my tank. It opened my eyes to how difficult it must be for mine to live in a small tank. Since then I've bought much smaller fish.
I grew up near the Steinhart Aquarium. In the 80's they added a Great White shark to a large circular tank. You'd walk up a ramp into the viewing area and the fish swim around you.
At first the shark did okay, but then it started crashing into the wall at the same place with every lap. They tried to figure out why but the shark's physical condition was degrading very quickly.
Before it was too late they chose to return the shark to the ocean, where it improved to the point they knew it would be okay.
I know other aquariums have had trouble keeping great whites healthy.
As far as I know, no one has ever successfully kept one in captivity. They are amazing creatures and I'd love to get to see them in the wild.
Thank you for bringing back some of your kickass background music. Reminds me of the older videos. love it!
Excellent video! You could of taken it a step further and mentioned the dumbasses that release the monsters into our waterways. Good for another video 🤔
Those striped catfish are gorgeous... just fish store sold him to me and never told me he ate all fish and would get 100lbs
I once owned a 180 gal tank with 2 Oscar's, a red tip shark, a halfback gar, a knife and a piece.....they all lived together in peace....every one including myself were always amazed.... things got a little sketchy at feeding time though lol
Well done John.
Why is getting the government involved the "go-to"? Can we try getting the stores and wholesalers on board and change the culture of the hobby.
That would be great, but if there's a buck to be made, people will keep breeding and selling monster fish. To many, fish are just a commodity
The craziest fish I ever saw sold in a pet store was a sturgeon. I really wish I was making that up.
Munster fish don’t belong in aquariums period .BUT i do have respect for people like big rich .The guy literally turned a dam pool into an aquarium for this fish lol .
I have red tail cat fish and shovel nose cats they are in a 2500 gallon pond I had to build for them they get huge I agree know what you're getting in to before you buy them
Always, always, always research before buying.
All the world's information at your fingertips.
Arowana, Tin Foil Barb, Black Shark, need probably minimum 150 gallon tank. You will constantly be doing water changes and filter refreshing. Rather than enjoying looking at your tank you will be reminded that maintenance is required. Some, like the barbs will try and jump from the tank.
Thank you for this wonderful, honest and insightful video! I was an avid follower of your blog a few years back when I owned a 15 gallon tank with 6 fish. I wished to be a person who wanted to ensure that fish lived great lives while in captivity, but then unfortunately, the pandemic hit and I realized I had to give up the hobby because i couldn''t do justice. I really applaud you and your channel for your honesty!
I guarantee that the fish shown in the film, unlike the pacu, are capable of doing harm hehe. You are showing real piranhas, not pacu.
I noticed that too
I’d like to see a saltwater version of this.
That last would be so long. Like 99% of saltwater fish don't belong in aquariums
Orkas
@@jonathano_0479 you could say that about any animal.
I’d be interested in people’s opinions and thoughts. Been doing reef tanks for twenty years.
we are feeding a huge feral arapaima in a canal near our house. It made a huge length of river canal its territory. For these beasts, instead of tank size we should say territory size. That would restrain fish keepers from buying them for home aquariums
My local fish store is giving away free to a good home two Oscars and a blood parrot cichlid all over a foot long. I didn’t even realise blood parrots could get that big. They’re currently all cramped in 60cm tanks because they were surrendered with no warning and even my lfs didn’t have the space for them on such short notice. I can’t image how many fish that grow even larger get surrendered or euthanised as adults because suddenly their owners realise there’s no way they can afford a large enough tank.
If you can’t provide for a fish at its maximum adult size you have no business having it.
My favorite video of yours. Had me laughing. I just donat😂d my last African cichlid and converting to a tank of rainbow fish and Corydoras, and lots of plants. Bala sharks was removed from my want list after researching them and everything else that looked cool.
BTW I was expecting Arowanas on this list.
😂 great description of pacu. I had no idea a fish store would sell them. In the wild they get massive. Anyways, you and Lisa are the very best.
It aways dumbfounds me that in New York state I often see aropima, mekong giant carp, alligator gars, electric eels, ect. For sale and perfectly legal with stipulations, but there's 4 genus of piranha that are illegal in this state... I live around Buffalo NY between lake Ontario and lake Erie, theres maybe all of 3 months here where tropical species could live outdoors... none of it makes sense 😕
so many people buy these due to lack of knowledge on max size... or rely on faulty info from the petstore / online. I totally agree with your points. I think many people just assume that if it is in a fish store, it is appropriate for a home tank or believe the old "it will only grow to the size of the tank" urban legend.
Tbh the goldfish should also be on this list. People are always surprised when I say: they are a carper specie and they will turn big.
Someone told me, Ooo but those fancy fantails don't turn so big... NO.... they do. My mum had a pond and in the winter she would buy 4 small goldfish to keep indoors so she could see fish. In spring they would love to the pond.
I have seen one of those fancy long tails be the size of my foot the spring after.... so in 2 years it grew easily to 37 cm (without tail).
They do not stay tiny!
My petstore always asks first how much litre someone has before going over fish. I like that.
And me, as owner of some fancy shrimp.... big isn't always better 😊
I agree 100%. I was criticizing my (normally pretty responsible) LFS about red tail catfish and pacus but they claim people put them in ponds. I am a bit dubious - it is possible to do that but you have to heat the pond somehow, not easy in a pond big enough for a full grown pacu let alone arapima etc.
Pet stores are weird. Several years ago I asked to purchase six zebra danios. The clerk asked me how large my tank was. I said they were going into a 300 gallon pond. She said she couldn't sell them to me because they aren't pond fish and could only live in tanks. She had to consult with her manager. Those danios had probably been living in a small pond at the fish breeders a week earlier. Oh well. I should have lied and said I wanted them for a desktop aquarium, they probably would have thrown an extra one in for free.
A more achievable knifefish for home aquaria is the African Brown Knife. Mine never got larger than 8 inches. Normal range is around 8-12'.
Plant industry does the same thing. They offer plants and trees to buyers in zones they wont grow and freeze back and die the first year.
@KGTropicals
Good question about the pacu. Something like that has happened. Pacu were released as a food fish in a different country than they belong in and they ate nearly all the plant matter in the lake. After which they started eating meat to survive attacking some humans along the way.
I'd like to add Baramumndi & Murry Cod! People get them as pets here in Australia and they can grow HUGE. One pet store we used to have locally had one in a massive aquarium that no one is going to be able to afford to have. They're not something you'll find in the states but yeah they're quite big fish.
I had a 55 gallon aquarium once with a Pleco and Tiger Oscar in it. They were fine together for years as I introduced them to each other as 2 inch long fry. Needless to say, a couple of years later I came home from work, and they were both dead in the tank. They literally killed each other. There was water all over the floor, half the lid was broken and the tank was cracked in the corner. I should have known how territorial Oscars get when they get over 10 inches but I didn't think it would mess with an armored pleco of the same size with the giant dorsal spines.
I had a 100 gallon tank with a pacu in it. It grew very fast and within four or five months it was over the size of a dinner plate. At about that time I bought a small freshwater crab on a spur of the moment because I'd never had one before. It lived less than 24 hours. The Pacu crushed it to pieces with his teeth. But he never bothered any of the other fish in the tank all of which were way smaller than him.
I LOVE gar. As a kid I used to get to fish for them in the stocked ponds. I would NEVER have never considered keeping them in a tank!
Pacu? "Derpy". Derpy is the word you're looking for. :) Adorable little derps.
Just watch River Monsters and you can see how big the red tail, shovel nose, arapaima and gar gets in the wild
Oi.. yeah… great list! Sickest thing I’ve seen was a home aquarium holding a massive grouper… (wasn’t massive yet but we all know how that’s gonna end up)…
I'm from Louisiana and i worked in a seafood restaurant that got 6-7foot alligator gar all the time. I didn't know they sold them in pet stores.
Would be neat if there was a movement where you can get a "pool" in your backyard that's literally meant to keep fish you'd eat. Maybe this can be an urban/suburban thing.
I would really suggest for a very good looking small fish. White cloud minnows in a small planted tank are wonderful. Super simple, super hardy. Strong schooling instinct. Throw some snails and dwarf corys in a heavily planted tank. It's the easiest tank to maintain. Especially with some duckweed and strong lighting. I haven't done a water change in months. But I have to "Mow the Tank" Every weekend.
This is why when I’m in a fish store, I’m usually on my phone researching the fish. I don’t really trust fish store people, I’ve gotten bad advice in the past. The last one being that a Pictus Catfish was okay for my 20-gallon community tank.
I have seen stone fish,mantis shrimp,lion fish,eels,lots of rays and many poisonous fish in the hobby in my local store here in maryland.
I think another problem is they don't talk to customers about what fish they're buying and what kind of tank they have. Only time I've ever been questioned is when I am buying a species tank fish and community fish, I do have 2 separate aquariums, I don't mix then lol.
I think you could give some alternatives to buy, as my first thought when you mentioned sharks, was red tail sharks, which only grow a few inches and look just as amazing, if not better, depending on your preferences.
We used to have a Pet store here I bought fish from when I first got into the hobby. In one tank which was about 200 gallons they had a Pacu that was about 4 feet long and as tall as it was long. They told me it weighed in at about 75lbs. The poor fish could not move around very much unfortunately. I don't know whatever happened to the fish because the stores went out of business here but I felt sorry for the fish because of it's size
A couple of years ago I bought 6 bristlenose plecos for two of my tanks from Aqua Huna. They shipped me 6 sailfin plecos. One of them died withing the first four months. The other five are now almost a foot long. I've raised them since they were babies and don't want to donate them to my local fish store so I'm going to buy a 250g aquarium to put five fish in. Aqua Huna refunded me my money no problem and I still buy fish from them. But sailfins get up to 2ft and weigh 3lbs.
In the local Petsmart near where I live, they do have minimum tank sizes for the fish. Fortunately, none of the fish that they have grow to monster size. I have two aquariums, a 55 gallon and 45 gallon, which I am currently debating on which one to retry. Most of the fish sold at Petsmart would be very comfortable in either one, but I have no interest in getting monster fish, unless I win the lottery and have the funds to build a building dedicated solely to large aquariums or ponds.
I am so glad that you made this video. I hope a lot of people have watched it. Every time I go into a fish store I just shake my head at some of the fish they sell. The sellers either know nothing about these fish, don't care that they're not suitable for aquariums, or both. Two fish you can add to this list are iridescent sharks and Chinese sharks. Great video!
There’s always someone that will have space and knowledge for keeping special fish. Do not ruin the hobby for some, just because you can’t or someone does something they should not.
Great video! Someone has probably already mentioned that the “pacu” footage in your video actually shows a school of piranha at 7:56.