Saltwater Aquarium Fish - What Not To Buy
Sometimes owners want to include a poisonous breed of fish in their saltwater aquarium. This is a difficult balance to maintain and in general saltwater aquarium fish choices should exclude these poison fish.The biggest problem with keeping poisonous fish in a saltwater aquarium is that certain species can not only inflict a sting of venom that kills other animals but that many of them can cause toxic poisoning in the aquarium. This toxicity can result in the death of all the creatures in the aquarium as well as the poisonous fish themselves. It might also happen that these poisonous fish end up stinging or poking humans as well.
A sting from a poisonous fish is generally only going to affect that particular fish that is stung. The usual behavior of this fish is erratic swimming. The fish will look like it has suddenly lost all sense of direction. Then the fish starts breathing heavy and rapidly and its eyes get cloudy. A fish that is stung by another poisonous fish will start to look ragged and then lay at the bottom of the saltwater aquarium until it convulses and then dies. It may only take a few minutes for all this to happen. The time it takes for a poisoned fish to die depends on how toxic the poisonous fish is, how many other creatures are in the tank, and how big the tank is. The smaller the saltwater aquarium the faster the toxic poison will act.
Ridding a toxic saltwater aquarium of the toxicity from poison fish must be done quickly or the aquarium will be ruined. The first thing to do is remove all fish and animals from the aquarium. AmQuel can help remove some of the fish toxin. No creatures can be returned to an aquarium until it is completely cleaned and the water changed. It is possible for a fish toxin to be so strong that it will never be completely removed. If someone were to clean a toxic saltwater aquarium and then return fish to it and find fish still dying without any other visible cause it might be that the toxin still remains in things like the carbon in the filtration system, the gravel, the sand or the rocks. The owner might need to completely strip down the tank and sterilize it, though this is seldom required.
The many varieties of scorpion fish dwell on the bottom of the aquarium and camouflage themselves well. They inject poison through their pelvic, dorsal and anal spines from a tissue along the spine that produces the toxin. A human who is stung by a scorpion fish doesn’t usually die but is in extreme pain that can persist for months after the sting. The most common scorpion fish to be kept in aquariums is the volitans lionfish. Natives of Japan and Australia, the volitans lionfish are beautiful. The adults can grow to be 1 ½ feet long. Their rays are feather like with bright colors and have strong venom in their tips. They are very secretive and hide in caves and under ledges throughout the day. Nocturnal predators, they actively feed at night on shrimp, crabs and small fish. The beauty of this poisonous fish is what makes it a favorite of saltwater aquarium enthusiasts.