View Full Version : Fish for an Idiot
tara brown
03-13-2008, 5:18 PM
So which fish are the easiest to keep alive?
What fish don't care too much about water parameters?
What fish are super hardy so that when you forget to turn your heater back on they don't die?
Which fish are the best for the lazy fish keeper?
I looked many places on the internet for an article about the easiest/hardiest fish and can't find anything. And i don't trust my fish books because they give neons and rummy noses the same rating and i know that's not true!
I love all the delicate fish but i'm tired of them dying on me!
Notophthalmus
03-13-2008, 5:23 PM
What size range are you thinking about?
jpappy789
03-13-2008, 5:24 PM
hmmm...I consider myself "lazy" but wouldnt pick a fish because of that.
I would pick one that I liked and then "step up to the plate" and become more active in with its care and maintenece. But maybe thats just me.
But to answer your question...zebra danios are about as hardy as they come. Poor things survive numerous fishy cycles...but a hardy fish is NO excuse to slack off on maintenence, these are just more forgiving of new aquarium owners who are learning the ropes of fish keeping...
Mgamer20o0
03-13-2008, 5:37 PM
http://boardsgalore.com/store/images/plastic%20fish.jpg
all fish are going to care if there is ammonia nitrite and super hi nirate. they will care about the TDS in the water.
most fish are very easy to keep. feed them good food change their water every week.
tara brown
03-13-2008, 5:45 PM
Haha, yes the magnetic fish on my fridge are doing quite well!
I'm not an idiot (at least i don't think) but i am moderately lazy. I want my fish to be happy and i don't want to bring fish home to kill them. There has got be a list out there somewhere of 'easy keepers'
Lets say for tanks under 50g
jpappy789
03-13-2008, 5:45 PM
Sorry, but thats funny...
most of the common fish you find at your LFS should be fine. Tetras, barbs, danios, rasboras, livebearers, plecos, corys, otos, ect.
Its hard to know though without a specific tank size but a good setup would be:
school of zebra danios or harlequin rasboras
platies (1 m: 2 f)
shoal of cories
Notophthalmus
03-13-2008, 5:55 PM
If you don't want to worry about heat, consider temperate-zone fishes like shiners, madtoms, topminnows, or sunfish; they all do fine at room temp. Most of these are pretty tough with regards to water quality, too. Darters, dace, and some shiners are a bit more finicky.
Yadokari
03-13-2008, 6:04 PM
Cories are pretty sensitive to water parameters, I wouldn't throw them in.
Cichlidgirl91
03-13-2008, 6:06 PM
Most fish will do fine as long as water parameters stay even and they are fed well. Fish aren't hard to take care of. You do need to change their water every week or every two weeks. I've even heard that angelfish will do fine as long as their water conditions stay stable and clean.
Just find the fish you like! That way, you will want to take care of them.
Livebearers are good starters, usually.
Cdubbz
03-13-2008, 6:21 PM
Gold fish!!! lol
jpappy789
03-13-2008, 7:12 PM
Cories are pretty sensitive to water parameters, I wouldn't throw them in.
Most species are, however, C. aeneus (bronze) are pretty hardy IME. Others, arent always great starter fish. You could always try subbing a bn plec too...
speaking as an idiot, I agree that you should find the fish you want to keep as a starting point, get the right size tank, and it will all come from that.
Fishy_Fun
03-13-2008, 7:18 PM
i would have to say danios or minnows like stated above would be a good choice.
Animallove
03-13-2008, 7:22 PM
zebra danio's or rosy red danios are good - but don't slack off too much -its not fair to the fishies.
paradisefish
03-13-2008, 7:28 PM
I don't consider danios to be all that hardy unfortunately. I think they tend to be too inbred and sickly. I lost 5 of my original 7 danios pretty quickly...although the two survivors are still doing well.
In contrast, I've had good luck with Gold barbs. They are very active and a bright, pretty color. They're also peaceful community fish - not nippy like tiger barbs!
Serpae tetras are also very hardy in my experience. BUT they are nippy (I had a school of six, which I thought would be enough to keep the aggression down, yet they still harassed my cories and paradise fish to the point that I had to separate them).
Paradise fish are pretty hardy too for that matter. They are considered coldwater fish so they don't really need a heater. The only downside with them is that some of them are aggressive (though mine got along with all my other fish except the serpaes!).
SmallFishi
03-14-2008, 7:48 AM
Beta fish we have one upstairs in my sons room it's quite ancient!
You could make a lovely scape for it and that could be more of what you do with your tank and then plop a Beta in and it will look lovely you could change it around from time to time if you get bored.
Plecosterone
03-14-2008, 7:56 AM
Convicts are probably the hardiest fish I have ever kept. I remember when I was young (a long time ago) we had a tank that was left for over a year with everything still in it and no filter running (we thought it had no fish). I finally decided to clean it out and found 3 cons still living in the water that looked like mud. That said, I wouldn't get any fish I was not going to look after their needs properly. Get a dog that can poop on the floor and let you know you have to clean it. It will "hound" you to feed it. Fish are at our mercy and can sometimes be hard enough to keep when doing things right.
Canuck
03-14-2008, 8:49 AM
I'm assuming you will provide good basic maintenance. My experience suggests barbs (either gold or rosy) are pretty well bullet proof fish. While livebearers and convicts are probably just as easy, the population can spin out of control pretty easily. My rosy barbs have never had a problem with lower temperatures, (I'm afraid I've forgotten to plug the heater back in too). That said you can run into poor stock with just about any species. Also keep in mind, an understocked tank is always more "easier" then an overstocked one given the same level of maintenance.
Vicious_Fish
03-14-2008, 9:55 AM
Back in the day it seems like I couldn't kill Gourami's if I wanted to. They live forever.
Danyal
03-14-2008, 11:23 AM
white clouds get my vote, beautiful schooling fish and do well at just about any temp. just keep them in tanks 20" long min and have no more than 1 per 2g, if you have just white clouds stocked at that level you're looking at feeding every other day, WC every 2 weeks(as long as you're source water is pretty good, should keep nitrates under 20 idealy but 30 is about as high as i'd recommend) and no heater needed, just a ton of water flow(they're stream fish and love the current)
A large school of while cloud minnows, one paradise fish, a pair of florida flag fish for algae eating and entertaining behavior, maybe some guppies if you want to deal with the fry that the flag fish and paradise fish do not eat.
No heater needed, reasonable tank upkeep is still necessary of course.
Mgamer20o0
03-14-2008, 10:50 PM
Haha, yes the magnetic fish on my fridge are doing quite well!
I'm not an idiot (at least i don't think) but i am moderately lazy. I want my fish to be happy and i don't want to bring fish home to kill them. There has got be a list out there somewhere of 'easy keepers'
Lets say for tanks under 50g
get a python. makes water changes super easy and fast. suck out the water 50% or so a week feed 4-5 times a week get a couple plants to help with the water... dont over stock the tank... spend 10-20 once a month to clean the filter......
gsparsan
03-15-2008, 9:52 AM
I know they are not pretiest of the lot but wild guppies, if kept in good numbers (i.e 10-12 at least) can be interesting. And they are the hardiest I know. Plus I suggest a lot of plant and low stock level should help.
tara brown
03-18-2008, 8:40 AM
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I do regular maintenance on my 30g planted tank. Maybe not as many water changes as i should. But the levels never get anywhere close to being an issue.
However i have never had any long-lived fish. The longest lived fish are a few harlequin rasboras that have lived for over 1 year. Everyone else lasts no more than 6 months. That can't be normal...
Danyal
03-18-2008, 1:15 PM
try increasing your matainence, what do you mean by levels not being an issue?
tara brown
03-19-2008, 4:35 PM
My nitrates/nitrites and ammonia reading are ultra low/none.
Are Floria Flag fish and American Flag fish the same?
Notophthalmus
03-19-2008, 4:42 PM
Yes they are.
jpappy789
03-19-2008, 5:22 PM
My nitrates/nitrites and ammonia reading are ultra low/none.
Are Floria Flag fish and American Flag fish the same?
by that do you mean 0 amm, 0 trite, <40 trate?
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I do regular maintenance on my 30g planted tank. Maybe not as many water changes as i should.
*opens bonnet* yup see that's your problem. you change 25% weekly, every week, without fail, in a moderately stocked tank (with appropriate fish in there) and you will be close to great, all the time.
skipping water changes & gravel vacs & filter maintenance = high nitrates & dissolved organic compounds that we don't/can't even test for = sick fishies = dead fishies
levels never being close to being a problem, as pointed out by jpappy, means that ammonia and nitrite are at 0, constantly, and nitrates are less than 40 ppm, constantly (personally I would shoot for 20 ppm or less, but 40 is generally considered safe; why settle for safe when you can have excellent with just an extra couple of bucket loads).
Fishfiles1
03-19-2008, 7:23 PM
If you don't want to worry about heat, consider temperate-zone fishes like shiners, madtoms, topminnows, or sunfish; they all do fine at room temp. Most of these are pretty tough with regards to water quality, too. Darters, dace, and some shiners are a bit more finicky.
ya there called blue gills, and you literly can kill them with bad water conditons, my friend tryed to his water was somthing like this
amo: 10ppm
Nitrate:20
nitrite:20
Gh:20
Kh:1
Ph:9.0
Notophthalmus
03-19-2008, 7:34 PM
Yeah, that would kill most anything. That's when it's time for plastic fish.
TommyR
03-23-2008, 10:37 AM
So which fish are the easiest to keep alive?
What fish don't care too much about water parameters?
What fish are super hardy so that when you forget to turn your heater back on they don't die?
Which fish are the best for the lazy fish keeper?
No fish are for lazy fish keepers. If your lazy forget about fish. You'll just kill them.
Maybe try pet rocks.