What are the best beginner fish for a small tank?

Question

I'm setting up a ten gallon tank. What freshwater fish are best to start with, and how many?

should I get a bottom feeder - like a cory cat? I've heard they're good cleaners :)

Answer 1

well there are some ways you could go with this. Betta fish are beautiful! The only problem there is that you can only have one. Unless of course you want to try a female betta tank. 4-5 female bettas would be perfect.

Goldfish are always great but in a ten gallon tank you could only have about two... and you would need to upgrade to a larger tank in the future as they grow.

A nice group of fancy guppies can be very enjoyable. Although i have never owned guppies, I have read that they can be quite nice to have, except for the fact that they`reproduce like crazy.

Maybe some mollies? They aren't very large.

Whatever you pick, make sure you dont over crowd. Use the one inch of fish per gallon rule.

For you thats like 10 one inck fishies.... or 5 two inch fish .... and so on and so forth. Make sure you also take into account how big the fish will grow and how that will effect you in the future.

Answer 2

Goldfish - one. If you want more than one fish, you can try guppies. They're beautiful and small. If the only tank you have is a ten gallon, then be careful if you get males and females together. The readily breed in captivity.

Answer 3

For a lot of movement, lots of colour, and some variety, I suggest you go for a community tank.
Start with a school of 5-8 tetras or danios, pick one of the following:
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.

Then you'll want a bigger, centrepiece fish:
dwarf gourami: http://www.biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/naibunpi/Image/Gourami-photo-old.jpg
You could also get a male betta if you like them.


If you want something a little more interesting, with more personality than a bunch of tetras, how about a pair of kribensis cichlids:
http://www.justbajan.com/pets/fish/species/krebensis/kribensis.jpg

Or tanganyikan shellies:
http://www.tanganika.host.pl/images/artykuly/brevis/brevis_2.jpg

I suggest you take a trip to your local fish store and browse. Bring a pen and paper and write down the names of the fish you like, come home, and research them.

Do you know to cycle your tank? In the wild, and in established tanks, there are nitrifying bacteria that break down toxic ammonia from fish waste and excess food into less toxic nitrates. In a brand new tank, these bacteria don't exist, so any fish in the tank will produce ammonia, which, not being broken down by bacteria, will kill or weaken the fish. So, of course, it is vital to cycle your tank.
There are a few methods. Do you have access to an established tank? These bacteria live in the gravel and in the filter cartridge, so if you can get some from another tank, you can put the bacteria right into your tank (don't let the gravel or filter cartridge dry out). If you do this, in a day or two, your tank will be A OK.
Another way is to get Bio-Spira. It is the actual live bacteria in a little pouch, and your tank will instantly be ready for fish.http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html

You can also put a source of ammonia into the tank, such as fish food every few days, or a piece of shrimp. You can also use a fish as a source of ammonia, but I don't recommend this - it borders on animal cruelty. Without bio-spira or bacteria from another tank, the bacteria will eventually develop, but it will take at least 2 weeks.

You should invest in an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate testing kit so you can keep an eye on your levels. It's worth the 30$!

Above all, take everything the petstores say with a grain of salt. Remember that their primary function is to SELL fish, they don't really care if they give correct information or not, so research everything before you buy it.

Answer 4

1-2 goldfish. I ended up after a while with only 1. But it grew bigger and bigger. His/her final tank was 20 gallons. 3-1/2 years. Big flowing fens and my fish would come right up to my hand if I put it into the water. Then came two hurricanes in two weeks, south Florida, no power for 14 days. Kerfew, could not buy bottle water. And my fish that I loved greatly died! Never have another fish again. Too much pain.

Answer 5

if its a sparkling tank set up in elementary words been goin 4 some weeks u dont opt for 2 positioned tetra in there they're small fish and function a small immune gadget i ought to signify zebra danios as they're a very hardy fish and ought to outlive somewhat a lot wish this enables

Answer 6

pretty much any tropical fish is the easiest. i suggest 2 or 3 at the most. that way you're not overrun when you clean the tank and they can move around. also, if you only have a few, you learn quickly how much food will not clog up the water but is also enough amount for the fish

Answer 7

Gold fish is the best try the really cheap kind you can experiment with them to see if you make any mistakes, i mean it's only 25 cents! bye about 24 of them

Answer 8

Gold fish

Answer 9

i had a 20 gallon tank and i had pretty good luck with tetras.

Answer 10

goldfish of course...also the elodea densa is an excellent oxygenator and is very easy to grow with just some sunlight. the goldfish are very hardy and can take their environment well. go with a catfish too if you want. good luck!