This article is about common popular aquarium fish that beginners should not buy but often do.
There are many reasons why these fish are commonly bought by beginners even though they truly are not suitable for this including but not limited to bad advice in the fish store, lack of knowledge or simply because the fish looks good in the store.
Some of these species are great aquarium fish, even great beginner species given the right circumstances but is for one reason or another usually not good beginner species.
Other species are not suitable aquarium fish period and should never be kept in aquariums.
Species 1: Oscar fish The oscar is an adorable fish when young.
It is often sold at around 1-2 inches of size.
This makes them a very popular aquarium fish that also are a common choice among beginners.
They are hardy and do not demand much from the aquarium keeper.
There is just one problem preventing this from being a good choice for beginners.
They grow large and require a large tank.
An oscar cichlid will grow to be more then a foot and you will need a large aquarium to keep one.
You should not keep them in aquarium smaller than 75 gallon.
If you have a bigger aquarium than that they make ideal beginner fish.
Species 2: The common pleco The common pleco is another species that is hardy and easy to keep but that grows to large for most home aquariums.
They grow to be more than 20 inches and require huge tanks as adults.
Species 3: The bale shark The bala shark is a shoaling fish that should only be kept in large groups.
Ad to this the fact that they grow huge and you get a fish that are not only unsuitable for beginners but unsuitable for home aquariums period.
Species 4: The Neon tetra The Neon tetra is a small friendly fish and has all the qualities of being a great good looking aquarium fish.
They are however often quite sensitive and should for that reason not be recommend to beginners.
They are however often recommended in fish stores but after reading this article you know better than to believe that.
Once you have kept aquariums for a little while and is starting to get the hang of it they make great aquarium fish.
Species 5: The clown loach The clown loach is a great looking fish but unsuitable for beginners for several reasons.
The first being that a lot of fish are wild caught and should therefore not be kept by inexperienced fish keepers that are more likely to loose them.
The second reason is that they are somewhat sensitive and can be a bit tricky to keep.
The third reason is that they grow too big for most beginner thanks.
They can reach a ft and even if they grow slowly you really should not get one unless you have somewhere to house it when it grows bigger.
This was only a few example of some of the most common species beginners buy, or are tricked into buying even though they are not suitable for their tanks.
There are many more and that's why you should never buy a fish without researching it first.
Researching a fish species should include finding out more about their demands and preferred habitat, their aggression level, if they should be kept alone or in groups, what they eat, how big they get and how hardy they are.
There are plenty of websites available online where you can find more information about fish.