i want to start keeping tropical fish. any reccomendations for a beginner as to what fish to start with?

Answer 1

wooow. That was a loooong answer.

Im gonna keep it short and simple (kinda).

Start with a 10 gallon tank and limit yourself to a fish a gallon at MOST.

DO NOT buy Cichlids as a beginner. Rams are extremely sensitive to water conditions and nitrate levels. Many Cichlids are territorial towards other fish, and some grow to be bigger than some of their tank mates and it will only be a matter of time until they look at their finned-freinds with relish.

I would start with live-bearers such as guppies, mollies, and swordtails. They are easy to keep, they are colorful and nice to watch, and they all have good temperment.

Barbs are easy to keep, but they are fin-nippers, so if you plan to keep barbs dont include any fish with long fins.

Gouramis are also very easy to keep, they are a part of the "labrynth fish" family which means they can take oxygen from at the surface. They are also well tempered. I would avoid bettas in a tank with other fishes, they are aggresive, esp. to other fish with wide and colorful fins.

To summarize it all up, buy these fish: 3 guppies, 2 mollies, 1 swordtail (male, they have the attractive "sword" part of their tail), and a pleco (a bottom feeder that is like a catfish that eats algae and oher debris). Start with this and you can either add or plan according to how well they do!

Good luck

Exp- Fish hobbyist

Answer 2

It's my experience that there are 3 types of aquariums.

Fresh water, unheated, like for goldfish.

Tropical, which is heated for guppies etc...

Then salt water, which includes having to control the pH, and is quite expensive to maintain. Sure, it has the most exotic fish.

If you want pretty fish, I would start with a small tropical. I would go to a store that specializes in fish, even if you don't end up buying from them, to learn about the different types.

I actually enjoyed my goldfish tanks the best and there are many different types of goldfish.

Answer 3

If you really want to be smart, dont start out with tropical fish at all. First off a salt water aquarium is alot harder to take care of then a regular water aquarium, so that means the fish will also be alot more difficult. Had a saltwater aquarium and a freshwater aquarium for 2 years and the saltwater was defintly alot more work than the freshwater.

Answer 4

You can start out with different types of fish depending on tank size but if you do not have a tank at the moment i would recommend a 20 gallon tank with filter, pump , etc...
here are some fish that i would recommend since they are hardier and good for beginners.

Gouramis, Corydoras, Pleco, Rams, silver dollars, Guppies, And if you want a tank all for 1 fish try a oscar a great fish to have.

Answer 5

don't get Mollies, they require brackish water and get enormously great. Zebra Danios are large starter fish, very hardy. various the stay-bearers, including Guppies and Platies are additionally impressive possibilities. Get an all-male college to ward off a fry explosion. I even have an all-male college of Platies, and it works fantastically. they arrive in numerous varieties: purple Wag and Mickey Mouse (which I even have in my opinion had in orange and black, and a blue and silver mixture), to call yet 2. One species that i exchange into unfamiliar with greatly surprised me. i exchange into proficient a tank that were enormously plenty ignored. It had very great fish that I re-homed, even though it additionally contained one fish that I pointed out as a purple & Blue Columbian Tetra. How he had survived is previous me, and he exchange into healthful, too! i desperate if he needed to stay that badly, i'd provide him a solid homestead, and that i offered some acquaintances for him. i don't understand how old he exchange into then, a minimum of a pair of years. it particularly is now 2 years later, and he and his acquaintances are nonetheless doing large! i've got in no way completed something specific, merely recurring upkeep. One peculiarity they have is that jointly as they are going to consume tropical flakes, they plenty desire the shrimp pellets I feed my Cories. Corydora catfish are a could, in my view. I save a school of Albino Cories in all my tanks. they are large relaxing, and freshen up any uneaten nutrients left by your different fish. Your tank is sufficiently huge for a school of Cories, and a school of even though else you like. confirm your tank is cycled first, and inventory progressively. i'm happy you plan to study some newbie's books, it particularly is the superb thank you to verify what you're doing. in my view, tropical fish are much less confusing to maintain than chilly-water fish. there are various hardy species, and that they are no longer as messy as Goldfish, as an occasion. solid luck!

Answer 6

Get some neon tetras, like 5-6 they do well in a school, large Danios, 3-4 also do well in numbers, and black neons, blood fins, they are good fish, survive in a well balanced tank. make sure you have the pet store test your water before you put fish in to make sure it is ready for you to put fish in. oh and get a small plecostamus.

Answer 7

if you really want to keep tropical fish, ask an employee at pesmart or petco about the kind of tropical fish that are easiest to care for for beginner pet owners. ask about what kind of tank and temperatures you'll need for the fish after you get the right one.

Answer 8

If you're starting a saltwater aquarium start with Damsels. They are hearty fish, and inexpensive. But don't be surprised if they die in a new tank. When setting up a new tank this is just the way it goes. But keep in mind they're aggressive so you can't just throw in any other fish with them once your tank is established.

Good luck!!

Answer 9

Glolight tetras are good, also guppies, and a snail. Also look into African Dwarf frogs mine is about 7 months old and thats pretty long for fish that i've had!

Answer 10

Well, don't go with saltwater. I don't think that's what you intend to do, but in case you have it mind, please don't. Saltwater tanks are for people with experience with

freshwater. Freshwater is the gateway drug ;) And saltwater is hugely expensive, and all the fish and corals are taken from the oceans, which are rapidly being depleted of

living creatures :(
Whereas most FW fish are tank-bred.

Anyway, what size tank do you want to go with? I suggest you go with as big as you can afford / accomodate, because it's fun to have more fish ;)

When stocking a tank, you have to look at the levels of your tank. You have the bottom, the middle and the top. Let's start at the bottom, shall we? :)
Bottom is usually where your cleanup crew is. That's algae eaters, plecos, cories, etc.
A school of at least 6 corydoras julii or sterbai is great:
http://cyberaqua.free.fr/reportages/co2/31_corydoras_julii.jpg - you should have at least a 20 gallon tank to get a school of these.
or you can get a school of oto cats: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/oto_cat.jpg
Get a school of at least 5 of these (tank minimum: 15 gallons). They eat algae.
Or you can get a bushy-nosed pleco:
http://www.peteducation.com/images/articles/p_89881_bushy_nose_pleco.jpg
They hit 5-6", so the minimum tank size would be 30 gallons.

For the mid-to-bottom, you can get a school of glass catfish:
http://www.aquascape.co.uk/Glass_Cat.jpg
Get at least 6 of these. Minimum tank would be 40 gallons.

Next, you want your mid-to-upper range. A school of tetras is great for this level. If you have a big tank, you can go with two schools, of course. You could put one school of

8-15 fish (depending on what else you have in your tank) for each 20 gallons you have. Some nice fish are:
neon tetras http://www.geocities.com/theslidersmarsh/img/neon.jpg
cardinal tetra http://filer.case.edu/~jjw2/cardinal.jpg
lemon tetra http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/characins/images/LemonTetraWFCh_C1124.jpg
harlequin rasbora http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/harlequin_rasbora.jpg\
glowlight tetra http://www.solodvds.com/images/fish/Hemigrammus_erythrozonus_s.jpg
zebra danio http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/zebra_danios_w180.jpg
... the list goes on and on and on.

Next, you want your upper fish, which may also be your centrepiece fish.
A dwarf gourami is ideal for 20 gallons or so http://www.biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/naibunpi/Image/Gourami-photo-old.jpg
2 or 3 angelfish, or a pair of pearl gouramis is ideal for 40 gallons and up http://www.fishlore.com/Pictures/Profiles/ghost_angelfish_2.jpg
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/Fishpics/pearl_gourami.jpg
Or a pair of kribensis for 15 gallons http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CichlidPIX/Pelvicachromis_pulcherAQ.jpg

You'll also want to decide if you want live plants. To grow live plants, you'll need a fluorescent light bulb. They are fairly expensive, depending on the size, 15-40$, but the

plants may be well worth it for you. There are lots of plants out there, they look great, but some great ones are
anubias http://www.aqua-passion.com/fiches_plantes/images/Anubias_glai.2004316185215.jpg
java fern http://www.neptuneaquatics.com/images/Java%20Fern.jpg
java moss http://www.aquamoss.net/Java-Moss/images/Java-Moss-01.jpg
pennywort http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/00%20John%20Somerville/Pennywort,%20Floating%202.jpg
vallisneria http://aquavisie.retry.org/Database/Planten/Vallisneria_spiralis.jpg
amazon swords http://naturalaquariums.com/plants/echbleheri.JPG



OR you could go with cichlids. These require higher pH and hardness, and you can't put any plants in with them .They prefer caves and rock structures. They are also very

aggressive with any other types of fish, so you can only have cichlids. You could put 3 yellow labs: http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/images/thumbimg/650/2190_17.jpg
and 3 electric blues: http://www.alloddballaquatics.com/cichlids/Electric_Blue.jpg in a 50 gallon tank.

If you have a very small tank (10 and under) you could get a single betta or dwarf gourami and a school of small tetras or rasboras, or a betta and a group of african dwarf

frogs http://members.aol.com/sirchin/dwarf1.jpg



Whew! I hope that helps with your decision. If you need any assistance, feel free to email me or to join http://www.fishforums.com - in fact, I strongly recommend the latter!

Oh, please please please be sure to PROPERLY cycle your tank! It is a vital step that must NOT be overlooked. Please read: http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/article2.php

And above all, before you buy anything, go to your local fish store, take a look around and write down the various fish you like. Then come home, research them, ask questions about them, before buying them.

Good luck!