5 Illegal Aquarium Fish That Shouldn’t Be Sold

Some aquarium fish aren’t just difficult to keep — they’re illegal, restricted, or banned outright in many places.

In this video, we break down five freshwater fish that should never be sold for home aquariums, and the real reasons governments stepped in.

These aren’t myths or exaggerated danger stories.
These are fish that:

Can deliver electrical shocks strong enough to disable a person

Can leave the water and move into new environments

Can survive droughts and collapse entire ecosystems

Or are so invasive they permanently change the waters they enter

Most aquarium disasters don’t start with bad intentions.
They start with underestimating what a fish is actually capable of.

If you keep fish — or are thinking about it — this is the side of the hobby most people never warn you about.

FISH COVERED IN THIS VIDEO:

Electric eel — the freshwater fish that turns water into a hazard

Snakehead — the predator that doesn’t stay where you put it

Pacu — powerful, misunderstood, and often released

African lungfish — a survivor built to outlast entire seasons

Piranha — efficient, invasive, and banned in many regions

⚠️ WHY THIS MATTERS

Learn which aquarium fish are illegal or restricted

Understand why invasive species are banned

Avoid fish that beginners unknowingly buy

See how small aquarium mistakes turn into permanent problems

If you want to understand how one decision in the hobby can become a mistake you can’t undo, watch the next video on screen — it connects directly to everything covered here.

Subscribe to Art Gills for honest aquarium education, real consequences, and the side of fishkeeping most videos never talk about.

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