The same thing happened when Finding Nemo came out...everyone went crazy for salt water fish..especially clown fish...I doubt many lasted long.
I was in college at the time, and was working part-time as one of the saltwater aquarists at a local shop (and a very good one at that). Clownfish have been really popular for decades, and luckily they are among the hardiest and easiest to care for marine fish around. Nemo and his father are Amphiprion occellaris, one of about 30 species of anemonefish. Even with very simple care, these guys are easy and can thrive under most circumstances (at least as captive bred--wild caughts tend to have serious disease issues that make acclimation challenging). After Finding Nemo came out the demand for clowns went up easily 10 fold, and with a little information and the most basic care reasonably acceptable for any fish, these guys can thrive (I'm sure many didn't).
The unfortunate aspect was that almost everyone that wanted a clown because of Finding Nemo wanted a 'Finding Nemo tank', complete with all the major characters in the movie, and a several of the other cast members are much more challenging to care for. For instance, most people wanted a "Dori", which is a Hippo tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) which are adult at about a foot in length, and really require a 150+ gal aquarium to do well. Proper housing for this species will easily set you back $2000-3000.
Another cast member (I forget the name--it had a scar on it's face) is a Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus). These are one of the most spectacular reef fish I can think of, and one of my very favorite species. These guys have similar needs to "Dori", except when it comes to diet: Moorish Idols feed primarily on sponges in nature, a diet people have had very limited success replacing in captivity. Very, very few of these guys survive in captivity, and usually only in the care of excellent aquarists with very large, established reef tanks that have a fair amount of sponge growth within them. To achieve that, figure at least $5000-10,000, at least a few years of growth in the aquarium, years of experience, and even then a 1 in 10 success rate would be a serious overstimate.
Suffice to say, when I was in that situation we were realistic with people that a 'Nemo tank' was simply unrealistic, but that they could still have very nice aquaria and, luckily, the star of the show, A. occellaris, is a hardy, easy to care for species.
Most people that bought their 'Nemo fish' likely got them at the Petco's of the world (as they did before the movie, and still do), and armed with nothing but good intentions, didn't have them very long.
cj
) Because if they don't do their homework there will be a lot of ailing chams on here.
But if it wasn't for stupid people it would make a great movie, I mean come on, johnny depp! But people are so DUMB! Look what happened to chihuahuas...
Luckily on the Island where I live, the reptile hop doesn't keep chameleons any more. They wouldn't sell them without people filling out a questionnaire about their care needs first either, so I think that where I live there shouldn't be that many. Just as well cos I would want to help them all!
