Beginner seeks Community Tank advice

[lolevo]

Hello,

I am interested In starting an aquarium and need some advice on where to begin..   I aim to have a community tank and really want to know what are the best tropical fish to start with.

I currently have 2 fairly smallish tanks with filters/heaters/etc but may invest in a slightly larger one depending on the advice I get.

I had an experience a couple of years ago with a big tank & tiger barbs but they ended up killing eachother and that kinda put me off..

Fear not though I am back and wish to succeed where I last failed !!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks.

Simon
UK

*celebratesmiley*

 

[aquaticgypsy]

A good fish to get is the neon tetra. They stay small and live for a long time, about 7 - 10 years. They school with fish of the same size, but you can't put bigger fish in the tank, because they will probably think of the tetra as " Oooo, yummy moving food! ".  Hope this helped! Good luck  ;D !

                                        ~aquaticgypsy

              P.S. - Are you new? I don't think I've ever seen your name before. Either that, or you're not on very often .

 

[lolevo]

Thanks for the advice, yes I am new : )

 

[equinom]

Check out the krib...
There is an interesting article on good first fish, good second fish and advanced fish.  He explains the basic about that fish, and why he classifies them as first, or second...

From what I remember, I believe he said neons weren't a good first fish... something about the way they are farmed... hormones or drugs or something like that.  I think he said cardinals were a better choice then neons.  (but go and check)

As far as the TBs, my TBs must have come from a dysfunctional school, because they do not get along... with anyone!  Folks say that you should have at least 6 TBs together - they establish a pecking order.  If there aren't enough TBs then the other fish are included in the pecking order, and get picked on.  But I believe that TBs are fairly hardy and easy to maintain.  (I haven't lost one yet, and I have lost a lot of fish)

I am quite certain that a bunch of folks are going to provide info on this thread, so I'll get out of their way now...

 

[mantis]

When I started with my 10 gallon tank. I started it with 2 Zebra Danio's, 2 Blue Danio's, ghost shrimp, frog and snail.
The Danio's are great survivors considering when I first started my tank i'm sure it was rough for the fish, don't plan on telling the stories to save some embarrasement. The frog killed the ghost shrimp. The danio's can also survive high nitrate levels which my tank did have for at least a month. Months later, the danio's are still happy in the tank to my knowledge chasing around each other. Strangely I heard the snails would lay tons of eggs, i saw them, but don't see the babies.

 

[RacerFish]

simon newbie!
When I started this hobby I hardly knew anything, like how many fish I could put in a certain size tank, water change, temp, ph, cycle etc etc, so my beginnings was'nt very good for me, so take it from someone who has made his mistakes..  *Patience is the Key* why do I say that? because you can make alot of mistakes as I mentioned above..  Well in terms of Tank Size, I think the bigger the better...the bigger tank you have, the more fish you have and the more kinds of fish you can get, be mindful that if you want bigger fish, you'll need a bigger tank..I made the mistake of buying to small of a tank, and i regret it because I have so many limitations with a small tank.  Start with a 55 gallon or more. Right now, I have a 29 gallon, and planning to get a 75 gallon soon...(I want more Fish!)

What fish to start with? I recommend the platys as a starter fish, but the best thing I would do before putting fish, If I knew better..I would of done a fishless Cycle (Read in the Articles) ..I would have probaly saved money and probaly saved more fish. How many tiger barbs did you have? Maybe they were too little of a school, so they probaly got tired chasing one another.  

Once again, take your time, get informed...the more you know the less mistakes your going to make and all the more better for your fishies.

RacerFish

 

[pdiddymoose]

Lolevo,
You can't go wrong with zebra danios as a starter in a ten gallon tank.  They seem to be able to survive everything you will soon learn you shouldn't do to fish.  I always have tiger barbs.  I've seen a few that did well alone in OPTs, but 6 or more has always been a must in my tanks.  They are pretty and very active.  A singleton will drive all other fish crazy as well as have them tailess in days.  Go big as you can with choosing a tank size.  You would be taxing the capacity of a ten gal with a school of 6 TBs and 3 z. danios.  Good luck.

 

[Troy-N-Eli]

All of the above are excellent starters.  We also recommend corys, since we believe that all aquariums should have some bottom feeders.  Just remember w/ corys, as we're sure you've read, don't get just one...they love friends of their own species.  There are also many types out there.  We're partial to pandas, albinos, and salt and peppers.

As far as tank size, like others said, the bigger the better, just don't get more than you can manage.  We started w/ a 55g and worked from there, getting additional tanks of various sizes that we needed at the time, depending on our specific purpose.

 

[capncrunch5177]

Another fish I have good experience with is the gourami. They are a labrynth fish which can breathe air from the surface. The bigger gourami may fight another male, but dwarf gouramis get along much better and more brilliantly colored.

A beginner fish definitely to avoid is the goldfish. Even if they are cheap like 20 for 1 dollar, they eat and excrete a lot and its a mess you are stuck with... And it's just mean to dispose them when they're not welcomed.

 

[fishboy]

All of the fish above are good starter fish but, i do agree with Equinom and that Neon Tetras are not a very good starter fish. Most livebearers such as platys , mollies, serpae tetras, and i had swordtails. by the way about how big is you tank going to be? If it is smaller than a twenty i would stay away from the swordtails. One last question, are you going to do a  fishless cycle?

                                          Fenos'tol

                                               Daniel  

 

[WonderFish]

Rainbowfish!!

Once you decide to get a larger aquarium, you should think about getting a school.  There are lots of differernt rainbow speices to choose from.  And most make ideal first fish.   *thumbsupsmiley*