- What is the most hardy saltwater fish?
I think most experienced hobbyists
and even pet shops would answer this question
by steering you towards clownfish.
They are quite hardy.
They're brightly colored, and they're a lot of fun to watch.
They tend to be bold and hang out in the open
and are easy to feed since they will eagerly accept
a variety of prepared foods, like pellets or flakes.
But there are quite a few different marine species
that are considered to be hardy,
and that list is actually growing.
So let's take a look at what makes a hardy fish hardy,
and then I'll give you some other options
just in case clownfish aren't on your wish list.
A hardy fish should be able to handle some swings
in water chemistry.
What this means is that
the fish should be able to easily tolerate changes
in water chemistry like elevated nutrients,
higher or lower than optimal salinity,
or swings of up to a few degrees in temperature
without becoming physically stressed
and getting sick, or worse.
A hardy fish should also be easy to feed.
Being easy to feed means
that they should readily accept prepared foods
like frozen foods, freeze-dried foods,
dried seaweed, flakes, or pellets.
They should not require any sort
of specialized feeding strategies or tools
and should not have to rely
on any copepods, amphipods, or other sources
of live food that are only provided by the reef itself.
You shouldn't have to work hard or use anything
in particular to entice them into eating
or to make sure that they're eating enough times per day.
If it takes more than you dropping an appropriate amount
of food into the tank once or twice a day,
chances are it isn't quite that easy to feed.
A hardy fish should also be bold and unafraid of people.
Getting a fish that is bold and doesn't dart and hide
as soon as it sees a human being
is important because it makes it much easier
to interact with them,
see how they're doing, make sure they're eating enough,
and ultimately means that they aren't constantly stressed
with people walking by the tank.
A fish that's fearful and skittish is more challenging
to keep tabs on and monitor,
it's harder to get them eating regularly,
and they may also be fearful of other fish
in the aquarium and hide when you feed the tank,
rather than coming out and eagerly competing for food.
A skittish and stressed out fish also tends to be weaker
and more susceptible to common parasites and pathogens.
Now, it's pretty normal for a brand new fish
that was just added to a tank
to be a little bit wary and cautious
for the first few days or so.
And that's totally okay.
On the other hand,
some species are just known to be flighty
and hard to find once they go into a tank,
regardless of how long they've been there.
A hardy fish should also be resistant,
or not easily susceptible,
to common parasites and pathogens.
There are quite a few fish that come to mind
as being magnets for a particular pathogen or parasite.
I think a pretty well-known example are tangs
and copperband butterflies
that are often called ich magnets.
A hardy fish shouldn't be a fish that's known
to easily catch or harbor common parasites or pathogens
that we find in our saltwater tanks.
In a perfect world,
we would all be doing perfectly practiced quarantines
for every single fish that we want to put in our tanks,
and the stores we buy from
would have already done that for us as well.
But for a lot of people, it just isn't practical,
so sticking with hardy, disease resistant species
is the best bet.
Which also means avoiding wild-caught fish,
which, at this point, I think the majority
of responsible aquarium owners prefers to do,
which leads me into getting captive-bred fish.
There are more species
of captive-bred marine fish available now
than ever before,
from a huge variety of clownfish species and morphs,
to basslets, dottybacks, damsels, gobies, blennies,
and even dwarf angelfish.
All of these captive-bred fish
were raised in the aquarium environment
and tend to be used to seeing humans
and tend to be aggressive feeders
that will accept prepared foods.
They're well taken care of,
healthy and resilient,
and tend not to get sick very easily,
making them a far better choice
than their wild-caught counterparts.
So here is my short list
of hardy marine species that I often go to
whenever I'm going to be setting up a new saltwater tank
and wanna put the first few fish in there.
At the top of the list,
for no particular reason, is clownfish, of course.
Followed by Chalk Basslets, Orchid and Neon Dottybacks,
Banggai and Pajama Cardinals,
Yellow Watchman Gobies, and Yellowtail Damselfish.
But here's the rub.
Just because a fish is hardy doesn't necessarily
make it a good fish for beginners,
especially if you want a reef tank
with corals and other invertebrates.
You also want to make sure
that it's a good community fish and that it's reef safe,
along with seven other important characteristics
that Matthew's gonna walk you through
on his beginner fish guide in this video right here.
(upbeat synth music)