List of common fish?

[Sawyer]

Is there a list anywhere of easy-to-find fish? Because I'm not sure of what fish I'll be able to find, so it's hard to plan what to have in my tanks. I don't have any LFS so I have to get my fish at either Walmart, Petsmart, Petco, Superpetsmarket, or adoption (craigslist/kijiji/freecycle).

[Wycco]

Talking about Fresh water tropicals?



Livebearers: Guppy, Betta, Molly, Platty you'll find anywhere.
Swordtails are fairly frequent too.

Everyone seems to stock Danios- although my petsmart only carries Giant Danios and glofish and I thought Zebra were the more common. My LFS has Zebra- so still easy to find.

Catfish: Plecos (don't do it), Ottos, glassfish are all quite common.
Corys are fairly common- my LFS has them- Petsmart doesn't. Of course if you want Corys there is a guy on here selling them a lot less (even after shipping) than in the stores.

Cichlids: All stores have cichlids- not into them so can't tell you the most common. Angel Fish are everywhere.

Clown Loaches are everywhere (they grow big though).

Tiger Barbs are everywhere...

Neons, Black Neons, Glolights.... any LFS or petsmart will have these.


There are a lot of fish that MOST stores will have. If you want shrimp- check the classifieds on here. Seem to be a lot of people selling them for way cheaper than the stores.



OH... AND DON'T BUY FISH FROM WAL-MART!!!!


I've never been in a Walmart where there wern't several dead fish in their tanks. If the place you're buying from has a lot of dead fish that isn't a very good sign.


I've had good experiences from Petsmart before though... but I know others haven't. I think it depends on your local petsmart- some are good some are bad.

Same goes with LFS though... I know my local doesn't quarantine fish before putting them on display for example- and I've read a couple of complaints about them.

[Sawyer]

Thanks :D

Do you know whether Rasboras, Endler Liverbearers, most gouarmis, yoyo and kuhli loaches are commonly available?

Walmart's fish are always fine at mine. Even the bettas, which at most people's Walmarts are sick. I've never bought any though- all my fish are adopted.

[Wycco]

Thanks :D

Do you know whether Rasboras, Endler Liverbearers, most gouarmis, yoyo and kuhli loaches are commonly available?

Walmart's fish are always fine at mine. Even the bettas, which at most people's Walmarts are sick. I've never bought any though- all my fish are adopted.


Which Rasboras? The Harlequin- or just any Rasboras? I think they're fairly common in general. I've never seen Endlers for sale- but so many people have them they must be common somewhere. I was curious about
them but couldn't see them anywhere. (unless I just mistook them for guppies).

Everyone has Gourami's- depends on the kind you want. I was looking for Pearl's and saw them at my LFS but not at petsmart. I don't know how common Yoyo's are because I've never looked for them. I did look for Kuhlis though this past week and neither Petsmart nor my LFS had them. I thought they were common... I guess not so common anymore.

If you're into Kuhlis- as indeed I am... someone suggested Horsefaced loaches too me as an alternative- I was able to find these nearby to me... seem quite interesting creatures. From what I've read a little more shy than Kuhlis though- but less demanding of being with a lot of others of the same species.

[Sawyer]

what about

-Blue/Gold rams
-Kribs
-Rainbow cichlids
-Rainbows, especially Dwarf Neon Rainbows (Melanotaenia preacox) and Bosemani rainbows (Melanotaenia boesemani)
-Most barbs (rosy, filament, gold, arulius)
-silver dollars
-Any tetras hard to find?
-Dwarf puffers
-Lyretail kilifish
-Whats the most common plecos?
-Apistogramma Agassizii

[ChilDawg]

Oh, gosh, yes, lots of tetras are darn near IMPOSSIBLE to find. Every store has Neons and Skirts/Widows (and, yes, I'm sure now that I've said that, someone will have an LFS that doesn't), but there's a huge world of tetras beyond those, Bleeding Hearts, Serpaes, Congos and a few others that I see all the time.

[BadFishPa]

I usually buy my fish from local fish clubs,or private breeders..Craigslist for your area may have some for sale too.

[ChilDawg]

Endler's aren't always available in shops...where are you at, though? There might be some available nearby on AquaBid (or, if you're local, I've got an extra cloud I could part with for cheap in my fishroom, er, kitchen).

[jenazen69]

The problem with the question is your location. What may be common where I am, may not be common where you are. I would suggest going on a fact finding mission. Take a day and go to all of the LFS and chain stores that sell fish in your area, and write down the names of the fish you like then go home and find out what will be compatible that you have proper tank size to house. I would also ask the stores if they are able to order in other fish if a customer wants them.Then I would do a search to see what else is compatible with those fish, and see if you can find some on craigs list, or for sale or trade here.

[Sawyer]

I'm in FL