What tropical fish are good for an beginner?
I hope to get my first tropical fish tank, when my room is sorted out. And I was wondering, which fish are great for beginners and which are not great.
I have already planned out the Decor. I was to buy a small tank volcano; put it in the middle, with live and fake plants with small ornaments and these cube shaped glass jewels around the base of the live plants
July 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Start here:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Beginning_Fishkeeping
and here:
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Stocking_a_Peaceful_Community_Tank
That should give you a basic idea. The fish listed in the second link are fairly hardy and should be able to withstand a beginners mistakes!
Remember that glass beads and jewels look good at first, but once they’ve got a layer of algae they’ll look pretty nasty! As will most artificial decoration. Hell is trying to clean tough nasty algae off silk plants!
While you’re still in the research stage, research your little heart out! Be wary of conflicting advice and use your own common sense to resolve. A rushed tank is a rotten tank!
Edit: OH!
and PLECOS DON’T CLEAN!
in fact, NOTHING will clean your tank for you. that’s your job as a fishkeeper. Plecos and Snails in particular are pure poop machines, a happy Pleco is a pooping Pleco. They’re the entire opposite of a cleaner!
There are also over 800 species of Pleco getting anything from 1" to over 20" and some actually prefer a meaty diet, they should not be considered an algae eater. Even those that do eat algae, only eat certain types of algae.
July 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Make sure you stay within the same category – community, semi-aggressive, or aggressive…
Tetras are pretty and inexpensive but tend to be less hearty than many other tropical fish so you may want to avoid them… Mollies are good but they’re live-bearers so unless you want to deal with breeding nets, etc. you may want to avoid those also…
A couple that may be a good choice are tiger barbs and gouramis. Make sure you get either a pleco or a couple snails to help keep the tank clean.
Hope this helps!
Edit: Plecos and snails help with the reduction of algae so you don’t need to clean the glass as often. You will still need to clean the tank regularly.
July 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
I think this will help:
Good First Freshwater Tropical Fish
Saltwater Aquarium and Saltwater Fish Beginner’s Guide
July 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Try Danios or Rasboras. There are many fish under each (eg: Zebra Danio, Leopard Danio, Harlequin Rasbora, Brillaint Rasbora).
You know what they say, if a school of Zebra Danios can’t live in your tank, nothing can. They are by far one of the hardiest fish around.
July 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Tropical catfish are good choices, and there’s lots of variety, from small one-inch species to the larger six-inch kinds. Those from the Corydoras group make a great clean-up crew, as they’re bottom feeders that will gobble up any food that ends up on the floor of the tank.
There are many different kinds of barbs–and in general, these fish are best kept in small schools of three or four. Among the most popular are the shy, delicate-looking cherry barb and the black and orange tiger barb. Note that the larger, two- to four-inch varieties may nip at the fins of any slower, long-tailed residents of the tank.
Fast-moving danios are also popular and easy-to-care-for tropical species. Consider the blue and silver zebra danio, who can live up to 5 years, and the four-inch giant danio, who’ll appreciate lots of room for swimming.
When selecting fish for your warmwater aquarium, the old rule of thumb of one inch of fish per gallon is a good guide to follow. In a 10-gallon tank, for example, you could keep 10 one-inch fish or 5 two-inch fish. And remember, one of the hardest, most important parts of tropical fishkeeping is selecting species that will do well in the same type of water conditions and will get along with each other. Be sure to ask at your aquarium store and determine your fishes’ needs before you buy.
I hope this information is useful
Good Luck!
July 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
First off get as big of a tank as you can to start with. It is much easier to keep good water quality in a larger tank which means it is easier to keep fish alive. It also gives you more of a variety of fish to choose from. I recommend a 20-40 gallon tank if you have the money and space for it. If that isn’t possible try to get a minimum of 10 gallons. Those tiny tanks a very touchy and really limit the number and type of fish you can get. One good way to plan out which fish to get is to get one type of fish that prefers each level. Betta and groumi stay near the surface. Males of either species can be territorial so get a single male betta or dwarf groumi for the top. Many types of fish swim in the middle level including danios, barbs, and rasbora. All of these type of fish prefer to live in a group of at least 6. Once you spot a type that you like the looks of go online and do a little research. Some of the barbs get very big so do not get them unless your tank will be big enough for them once they grow up. Another option in a larger tank is to get two different groups of the smaller ones. It is probably best to stick with fish that stay in the 2-3 inch range though. For the bottom swimming fish their are many types of catfish, "sharks", loaches, and "algae eaters" but again look them up and check out for adult size and also see if they prefer to live alone or in a group. If you would like a group of bottom fish I recommend cory cats, if you prefer a single bottom dweller check out the red tailed black shark. If you have a 10-20 gallon tank go with a single bottom dweller or find dwarf cory cats since they stay small enough to still keep a group in a small tank. Many of the catfish and loaches get very large so do not get them unless you have atleast a 30-40 gallon or larger tank. I do not recommend angle fish unless you have a 55 gallon or larger since they need quite a bit of swimming space. And since you want plants stay away from african cichlids since they will quickly destroy and real plants. Here are a few good examples of what fish to put together in different size tanks:
10 gallon
1 male betta
6 zebra danio (or glofish if you like the wild neon colors)
3 dwarf corycats
20 gallon
1 male dwarf gourami
(optional, and can be difficult to find) 2 or more female dwarf grouami
8 cherry barbs
5 cory cats
30 gallon
1 male betta
(optional) 2 or more female betta
6 harlequin rasbora
6 cherry barbs
1 rainbow shark
40 gallon
1 male blue gourami
(optional) 2 or more female blue gourami
8 rosy barbs
1 rainbow shark
5 cory cats
Note that The 40 gallon tank uses larger species instead of larger number of fish. My 10 gallon stocking recommendation is actually a little overstocked but I think it would do fine because the zebra danio are a very clean fish and stay very small and a dwarf variety of the cory cat was used also. Since the rainbow "shark" gets 6 inches long I do not recommend keeping it in anything smaller than 30 gallons. Stay away from bala and irridecent sharks as both get MUCH too large for the typical home aquarium. Also avoid any catfish with long whiskers. They may look cute but they are made for feeling out other fish to eat. OMG I can think of SO much more you need to know but I don’t want to write a book here. One last peice of advice though….do NOT listen to the people selling you the fish or even the information on the label on the fish tank. You will get some misinformation online too but atleast if you read several websites you can figure out what the truth is. Good luck.