What fish should I get for my tropical fish tank - beginner!?

Question

Hi We have always kept coldwater fish and now want to expand into tropicals. We only have room for a small tank and have bought one that is 20 inches wide x 10 inches deep x 12 inches high which the man in the pet shop said would be enough to keep small fish.

I am assuming that the tank has to cycle - the same as coldwater - and this is being done at the moment.

What I want to know is what kind of tropical fish could I keep in this tank, how many etc. I want something that is easy to look after and something that doesn't breed like rabbits!

Answer 1

A small school of White Clouds or Tetras. (No danios is a 10 gal tank).
Anything in this category...
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/c106community1.htm

Answer 2

some good advice in there.
if you are used to coldwater fish then you will know all about keeping a clean tank, coldwater are 'messier' than freshwater tropicals.
10 gallon is a decent little starter tank but a bit small in truth.
with good filtration and regular feeds of just a 'sprinkle' every day or two you will have few problems with most small fish.
i like the idea of 'themed' tanks and would go for a south american theme with this.
obviously you are well limited on the amount of fish you can keep in this tank but the good news is there is plenty of colour and movement in your choice.
go for a couple of smaller plastic plants and some small bogwood for decor.
neon tetras would be an ideal choice with a couple of corydora catfish (corys will help clean the tank and take air often...if they visit the top too often this can give an early indication of water problems)
these fish are very hardy and quick to show any illness.
gourami's can be a nice fish to keep but i would suggest a much bigger tank as they do better in groups

Answer 3

My first tropicals were neon tetras and leopard danios. Danios are very good for beginners as they are easy to look after and hardy fish. You can also get zebra danios and a shoal of them look very striking. Neon tetras aren't recommended for absolute beginners as they are susceptible to changes, but I was brought up in a fish keeping family so had some experience of keeping them. May I suggest logging onto www.thinkfish.co.uk and looking up fish you may be interested in, it's such a good website. It also has a community creator that can help you find which fish are compatible with others and tell you the correct level of stocking your tank, all you do is input your tank's dimensions, filtration type, and when you see a fish you like you add it to your tank and you can research which fish you might like.

Answer 4

No you don't want mollies. They get way too big for that tank and will breed like mad rabbits. For a tank that small, stick with fish such as small barbs and tetras, maybe a dwarf gourami. Unfortunately, the fish that will fit a 10 gallon tank are mostly schooling fish and will need to be in groups, so you won't get much variety.

Answer 5

You want to get hardy fish to begin with like Guppys, the males have lovely colourful tails. They will bread and they give birth to live babies not eggs. So you will need to separate babies from other fish as they will eat them. Also Neon Tetris are really nice fish to have too. You will need something to keep the bottom of the tank clean like loach there are different ones or a cat fish. Go to a animal centre they will be able to give you advice on what fish will best suit you and what fish you can and cant actually mix together.

Answer 6

your tank is a 10 US gallon tank. this rules out pretty much any fish larger than 3" long, and any very active fish such as Danios.

but that doesn't mean you can't have an interesting tank! the link below is the best guide i've found for fish who are TRUELY suited to a 10 US gallon tank environment.

These fish include (but not all together of course!):
Sparkling Gouramis
Honey Gouramis
Endlers
Hasbrosus Corydoras
Pygmaeus Corydoras (don't know if I spelt that one right)
Microrasboras
Marbled Hatchetfish
Otocinclus

DO NOT get the following for reasons such as they produce too much waste, grow deceptively large, too active for a smaller tank:
any Plec - too much waste
any "Shark" - grows to large
any "Algae Eater" - unless it's an Oto, it will be too aggressive or grow too large
Danios - too active, need 20 US gallons minimum
Neon Tetras - too active
Other Tetras - grow too large, or too active
Guppies, Platys - breed like rabbits!
Mollys, Swordtails - grow too large AND breed like rabbits!
Cichlids - some are suitable such as shelldwellers, but they'd need more experienced care, others will be too large or too aggressive for a peaceful community tank.

Answer 7

Hi there, was in the same position as you just two years ago but we'd already decided which fish we wanted to keep ... with the aid of several books & websites, including:

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/easyfish.htm
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/start_up/start_up5.html

When we actually went to get the fish, we also had a chat with the bloke in the shop - who was really helpful - after listening to him & actually seeing the fish, we ended up changing our minds & buying a couple of platys & some tetra (plus after another month a plec).

Haven't regretted it. Really like the platys. They're available in a wonderful array of colours - we how have sunset, mickey mouse, & even blue ones. They come up to the front of the tank to interact with you. They seem hardy & very tolerant. Yes they have had babies - but not to excess - or possibly they may have - saw one disapear into the mouth of the tetra (ick!).

My cousin has a beautiful tank, with cichlid & Boseman Rainbow fish & Parrot fish. They're interesting fish too & probably more so than even the platy, seem to want to watch you as much as you watch them. However, I don't think that cichlid are really beginners fish as water conditions need to be spot on for them.

I'd really recommend having a word with your local 'fish' shop - they'll know about the water that comes out of your tap & which of their fish are best suited to live in it without having to compensate for water hardness or softness.

Hope the websites help.

Oh, there's also this one - a sort of on-line fish club - that offers you the chance to ask their 'experts'
http://www.aquariumclub.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=2

have fun

Answer 8

This sounds like a 10 gallon tank. For a beginner I would suggest 1 male betta (and only one), 4 to 6 neon's and an apple snail to begin with.

All of these fish are relativly hardy and easy to take care of, and are very child friendly ( active and fun to watch).

Good Luck
E.

Answer 9

Colorful, active, easy to care for, hardy, not too picky about water temp/pH/hardness? Try either White Cloud Mountain Minnows or the general run of Danios (Zebras, Pearls, Leopard, but not Giant--they're too big). They all swim in all areas of the tank, feed from top water, middle water, or even scavenge off the bottom, are constantly moving, do well and look gorgeous in shoals of 5-10, and will immediately eat any eggs that they do lay, so no worries about babies overrunning your tank.
Tetras are pretty, but really require soft, acid water and very consistent temperatures to do well. Also, they need to be in groups of 5 minimum. So do the species I recommended, but they're much more "social" with each other. Groups of tetras in small amounts of water tend to get "snippy" with each other (guess what--piranhas are tetras. Yup.)

Answer 10

I would tend to go for the small egg layers because your tank is small like the neon family and dwarf gouramies which are pretty then they will be harder to breed
Guppies and Mollies tend to breed often so you could be over run with them
Good Luck with your fish

Answer 11

As you have a small tank get small fish but only a few,don't overcrowd your tank.Go to a reputable fish breeder and ask advice ,some fish can be difficult to care for.Male guppies are nice and easy to care for, if you don't want them breeding only get males.