Tropical freshwater aquarium fish?

Question

im a begginner at this and i was wondering what setup of fish would be best for my tank, i have set up everything there is to set up and have waited a week. I want lots of colourful fish * no boring ones*. i can fit at least 6 fish in the tank

Answer 1

what size is your tank? without knowing this it's very hard to recommend you anything. either gallons, litres, tank measurements anything!

as it's only been set up a week, it won't have cycled yet, this is very important and putting a fish in before it's cycled means theres a high chance the fish will die.

guppys need a 10 US gallon tank minimum and aren't as hardy as they used to be due to inbreeding. neon tetras are the same with hardiness, very inbred these days, they really need to be in groups of 6 or more in a 15 US gallon or larger as they're active lateral swimmers. danios are a common recommendation, but they really need 20 US gallons minimum as they're even more active than neons! dwarf gouramis have been bred badly lately and developed a nasty disease which means they're really not hardy anymore at all! so if you have 10-15 US gallons or more you could consider one or a male/female pair but watch them in the tank before you buy, any sign of lethergy, white spots, something not quite right, don't buy!

cycle your tank first!!!

Answer 2

Guppies and Platys.

Guppies are cheap, come in all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes and are tough little blighters.

Platys are the same but a little less flamboyant.

Both these fish are live-bearers (have babies, don't lay eggs). And BOY do they have babies! Many people breed them. You don't have to do that though.

In my tank I just have 2 males (they are smaller and brighter - with bigger tails). They don't breed obviously.

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/guppy.htm
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/platymac.htm

DON'T try goldfish, they are dirty eaters (they will pollute the water easily) and are harder to (properly) keep than most people think.

Betta fish...that is another good one. AKA siamese fighting fish. They are colourful, hardy, cheap and can be kept in a pretty small tank. Generally they are peaceful (sometimes they will go after gouramis - which are from the same family). Gouramis are good too. Both the betta and gouramis can breath directly from the air, so they can be kept is pretty small tanks.

Corys (corydoras) are good, but not too colourful. They are a bottom dwelling catfish that are cute and (if you get the right ones) don't grow too big. They can also swallow air directly from the surface. The air in then obsorbed into the body though the gut. So they are pretty hardy.

Good luck.


NOTE:
Tetras need an established tank, sharks get aggressive when they are older and need a semi-large tank (they move around a lot and are fast - young ones are good algae eaters).

Mollies need salt in the tank (they are a semi-saltwater fish - they live between the sea and rivers in brackish water). So they are not easy to keep - to their full extent. Though they do eat snails.

Dwarf Puffers can be pretty aggressive and should be kept on their own. They do become pretty tame though and are really cute. They are FRESH water fish (bigger ones are brackish fish, but the dwarf ones should be kept in fresh water. They are able to live in brackish water, but they won't live so long).

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/McKane_Dwarf_Puffers.html

Answer 3

PLENTY!

You could try...
[I shall just name 5 fishes; they are mostly hardy, active, colourful and ready breeders.]

1) Rosy barb
2) Zebra danio
3) Platy [Hardy]
4) Dwarf gourami
5) Guppies [Hardy]

And 5 more fishes that you SHOULDN'T try [as a beginner...]

1) Blind cave fish; you can only rear them in species as they have no eyes, and have difficulty locating for food.
2) Marbled hatchetfish; they tend to jump off tanks unless you place a lid to cover the surface of your tank.
3) Rummy nosed tetra; may look small and easy to raise, but they are VERY sensitive to changes in water conditions are therefore not advisable for a beginner.
4) Red Piranha; *ahem* we know why... [aggressive].
5) Angelfish; unless you are not intending to keep small fishes. Angelfishes tend to devour fishes smaller than their size, so watch out!


I hope this helps. :)

Answer 4

well, i have semi-agressive fish: gourami, blood parrot, spotted puffer. Although gourami and puffer are not really colorful I find they're more fun! they nibble on my finger and let me pet them instead of running away, they have personalities.

Answer 5

guppies, tetras, mollies, sharks (bala, iridecents, rainbow, albino rainbow)

Answer 6

how about some neon tetra?

here's some pics http://sg.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fsg.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dtetra%2520fish%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dks-ans%26x%3Dwrt%26fr2%3Dtab-web&w=356&h=225&imgurl=www.megatum.com%2Fimages%2Ffish%2Flarge%2Fl_tetra_neon.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.megatum.com%2Fimages%2Ffish%2Flarge&size=23.1kB&name=l_tetra_neon.jpg&p=tetra+fish&type=jpeg&no=6&tt=9485&oid=da2b8edfb55e84ca&ei=UTF-8