I am looking to start a fish tank and wondering what are some colorful and active fish to have?

Question

I am looking at getting at least a 20 gallon tank, can get a larger one if I need it. I have a son, and these will be our "pets". I am interested in fish that are active and colorful. Also, suggestions on fish that can be combined so there is more than one kind. I also recently read that you should start a tank with only 1-3 fish at a time. Do you find this to be true?

Answer 1

Make sure you cycle your tank first, you can do this fishlessly with adding ammonia until you have a 5ppm reading, then waiting until it drops to 0ppm, then having a nitrite spike, then that drops to 0ppm. When both read 0ppm, your tank is cycled, do a large water change, then add about 3 fish every few weeks. This allows the bacteria to adjust to the bioload of the fish.

Some good beginner fish:
Platies
Swordtails
guppies
Black/White Skirt Tetras
Gouramis (can be nippy, 30 gallons is better for larger species)
Betta (only 1 male per tank, watch he doesn't get his fins nipped)
Checkered Barb
Cherry Barb
Rosy Barb
Danios
White Clouds
Cories
Some types of tetras (neons are pretty but very delicate)

Stay away from the following unless you're getting an absolutely enormous tank:
Pacu (get up to 36" long)
Oscar (get up to 13" long)
Iridescent Shark (get up to 36" long)
Most shark species, unless you get 55+ gallons
Bala Sharks
Tinfoil Barbs
Common Plecos (get 24" long)
Clown Loaches (get 16" long)
African Cichlids (require specific water conditions and are VERY aggressive)
South American Cichlids (get LARGE and aggressive)
Koi (only belong in ponds, get 36" long)
Arrowana
Knife fish

Tiger barbs would be nice for a species only tank, and there are 3 varieties you could mix and match, but they can be aggressive with other species.

Do research ahead of time, and don't believe everything the pet store people tell you (some are good, some are morons). Good luck and have fun with your tank!

Answer 2

Hey, Some tetras are very hardy - black skirt I believe are good starter fish, as are x-ray tetras and lemon tetras. Neon and cardinal tetras are super sensitive (neon moreso) and need to be put in established tanks. Ideally you'd fishless cycle your tank with ammonia or rotting fish, but if you must get something in there then go for the tetras. Some plants REALLY help reduce ammonia and nitrite. Stuff like cobombma (which grows super fast) is great. You can put fish in the tank and not get a true reading of ammonia because of the plants, so I would definitely put some in there. You'll probably get a few small snails though, unless you pre-treat the plants, but they're not too much of an issue and keep the substrate turned over. So I'd say 6 x of your favourite hardy tetras and some plants if you must cycle with fish. Just feed sparingly and keep check of your ammonia and nitrite levels and be prepared to do a partial water change if levels get excessive. Centerpiece fish - probably not angels because they consume tetras. How about two kissing gouramis? Also a shoal of mini cat fish would be cool as they exhibit interesting shoaling behavior and keep the bottom of the tank active.

Answer 3

Honestly you are best cycling the tank without any fish. Or starting with hardy fish and adding no more than 1 per 10 gallon per week, watch the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels carefully, be prepare to do massive water changes or lose fish.
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

As far as starting fish. The 1st thing I'd do is test your water's pH, and hardness. If it's below 7 pH, and soft (Below 10 KH) you should look at soft water fish like tetras, cory cats, and danios. With high pH, and hard water you should look at the livebearers guppy, platy, swordtail, and molly. Also a single dwarf gourami is good for most water, but should a late addition.

If you are starting with fish, and not cycling 1st. A betta is a good fish to start with as they are pretty tough. Females are more peaceful, and get quite colorful once they are in a tank and not stressed. Males are generally do well with fish that don't look like bettas, or are really slow moving in a tank larger than 5 gallons. (IE male fancy guppy) Also if a male betta get out of line you can just put him in a breeder, or isolation box. He should get over new tank mates in a week or 2. Just remember betta, unlike most fish, need to be able to reach the surface of the water to breathe.

Answer 4

I'm assuming your meaning tropical / fresh water.
For limited space a 20 gallon tank is fine. But, as your enthusiasm grows so will your need for a bigger tank (your choice to go bigger). I would say start off with a male Betta, a clown loach, and a pleco. I would suggest some drift wood (size of your tank will determine the size of the driftwood).
REMEMBER to cycle your tank for at least 72 hours before introducing any fish (substrate, water, filter, and decorations) and run your filter for the same 72 hours.
Sorry for the long intro .... yes you should only introduce a few fish at a time and then wait a few weeks before introducing more to your tank mates (BIO reasons).
Tetras, dwarf gouramis,and a dwarf african frog would be a nice addition to the above recommended, actually 2 or more clown loaches will be very enjoyable to watch.
Depending on the age of your Son ... make sure you have a VERY Sturdy stand, for the safty, first most of your son. Boys will be boys.

Answer 5

I'd say to go with livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies) and maybe a betta. All of these are very colorful, active, and hardy if you give reasonably good water quality and temperature. Livebearers do give live birth, so you may even see some babies (although the other fish will probably eat them).

I see someone already beat me to the elmer's website recommendation - it's a great source of info. Here are a few more. These also have the info you're getting on cycling your tank:

http://www.fishlore.com/TropicalFishProfiles.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://www.totallyfish.com/tips/newtank.html

Answer 6

in my opinion a 20 is good for a starter you dont wanna go too big. you need to cycle the tank first or your fish may become stressed and die during cycling. to stop this put your water ,plants, water filter, air pump, and gravel in the tank and let it run all the time for a few weeks(2+). to start the cycle a source of ammonia is needed so feed the tank some sprinkles of fish food daily or you can put in pure ammonia. in a fish tank ammonia is put in by food, waste and fish. ammonia will kill your fish if you let it get too high. by putting the ammonia in from the food and not the fish no fish get harmed and your tank cycles. now as i sad feed the tank fish food daily. the ammonia will develop then bacteria will develop to turn the ammonia into nitrites then nitrites will turn into nitrates(a much less toxic form of ammonia). you can get a master test kit at any pet store. this will have liquid testing for ammonia and it runs you about 30 bucks but its a test kit for ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. i recommend liquid tests because test strip colours run and are hard to tell whats what. anywho, test your tanks ammonia after the 1st week of feeding it. then the 2nd and maybe even a 3rd but for a 20 gallon no more than 2 weeks and the bacteria should be doing its job. then its safe to put in fish.

i find that most fish are schoolers, they love to be around fish of their kind so try to get all of one kind as in tropical, cichilids etc. i have a 55 gallon freshwater and i find catfish are very wild. they are always swimming and they spotted and the wiskers are so cute. i also have some red finned sharks. iridescent sharks and bala sharks are also cute. but since you are keeping your tank at 20 gallons you will need fish that dont grow so large so i suggest some mollies, korydoras or my favorite-the tiger barb. it is silver red and black striped of course and small. they never leave one anothers side if you see one you see all 4 in my tank. also, korydoras are bottom feeders and will help keep the tank clean. you can tell this by noting their mouths are pointed and located on the bottom of their nose area. those are the most colorful fish i can think of for a 20 gallon fresh water tank. saltwater has soooo many neon colored fish but salt is hard to manage so for a starter id go fresh water.

Answer 7

A 20 Gallon is fine for tropical fish. Here are things you will want to buy along with the tank.

1. Tank
2. Hood w/ a light
3. A stand- if you do not already have something to put it on
4. Filter - Aqua Clear works great
5. Water Conditioner
6. Gravel - many colors to pick from and a 20lb bag
7. Heater
8. Plants and things for the fish to hide in.
9. Tropical Fish food
10. FISH

OK... now let’s talk about setting the tank up.

You want to have the tank and stand set up away from windows.

1. Put the tank on the surface it is going to be on
2. Rinse the gravel with hot water. (You want to get all the loose coloring off)
3. Place the Gravel in the tank
4. Place Plants and hiding places in tank
5. Fill tank with room temp water
6. Add Water Conditioner
7. Hook up filter- (you want to put some water in the filter to get it started)
8. Turn on the heater to 70-75*
9. Put on the hood and turn on the light - make sure you cut the holes out in the lid for the filter and heater

Ok now that everything is all set up you want to let your tank run for 48 hours. No fish in it yet!

Once the 48 hours is up take a water sample to the pet store and they will test it for you to make sure your water is ok for your fish.

You want to only get about 2 to 4 fish to start you off and I would stay with tropical community. All tropical community needs at least one buddy and they come in all different colors and shapes.

Once everything is set up and you have your fish there are some more things you need to know.

1. Only leave your light on for 8 hours a day - when it is light outside
2. Feed your fish twice a day - just a pinch of food each time
3. In a months time you will want to add a pleco or a few snails - for cleaning purposes of missed food and algae
4. Also every month you need to change your Filter Cartridges
5. With changing your cartridges you will want to change 25% of your water as well and clean the gravel - you can use a python - http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441776792&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030062&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1169522114106&itemNo=0&In=Fish&N=2030062&Ne=2 it hooks to your sink to make an easy spill free clean.
6. Remember to add your water conditioner when filling the tank back up with water

Good luck and I hope you enjoy your tank!

Answer 8

Well it really depends, if you get a saltwater fish tank it is more work and the fish seam to be more aggressive. But with a freshwater tank, get fish that won't get too big for their tank and fish that are the same size, otherwise they will eat each other. Shrimp are cool, they crawl around the bottom and clean it alittle. But goldfish can be cool, especially when they are different colors and shaped different.

Answer 9

Yes - definately cycle your tank first. Once you have healthy levels start out slow by adding your hardiest fish first.

My favorite community fish are:
Cardinal tetras
Dwarf Gouramis
Mollies
Dwarf African Frogs
Danios

I have all these fish together at some point and they are such wonderful peaceable, yet active, fish.

Good luck - fish are a great hobby!

Answer 10

You will need to read up a bit on cycling the tank, which can take around 4 weeks unless you want to use the new biospira stuff that does it in a night. www.aqua-reliable.co.nr for more.

Some fish I would recomend would be any tetras, zebra danios, barbs, www.elmersaquarium.com is a good site that has all good info on compatibility and fish.