Best fish for a newbie?

[tylixxa]

hello
my husband and i are currently in the middle of fishless cycling a 37 gallon freshwater tank. we are starting to consider the fish. as i said we are both new to this so we want something that is easy to keep alive. i want colorful fish as well as fish that are interesting to watch. can you guys give me some ideas, please?

[Harry Tolen]

White cloud mountain minnows are hardy, attractive, and might even breed for you if you have some java moss in the tank. In a 37g you could have a substantial school, still with room for a few catfish, algae eaters, and perhaps a specimen fish or two.

[kikuchiyo]

Dwarf Cichlids are beautiful and interesting to watch, especially when they are breeding.

Ditto Gouramis - you could keep a male and a couple of females. They're personable fishies. If you get good specimans, the gouramis might be a little hardier. Both the three spot and the dwarf might be interesting.

With both you could get some other schooling fish to fill in the tank and a clean up crew at the bottom (gouramis and a small group of loaches would be a great South/South East Asian biotope!).

Hope that helps.

[vato]

a close relative to the white cloud minnow, and in some cases even more attreactive are danios. There are may kinds and very greaty in size awesome active little fish. Also Cories are pretty hardy little buggers, and have so much personality! give them a try.

[TKOS]

The things with white clouds is they are cool water fish. Not to say you can't keep them in a hotter tank but they will need water with a higher oxygen content, so that means more water changes if the water is hot and more surface agitation if it is hot.

I would second the danios. They are super zippy, come in a variety of patterns and fin lengths and mix well. Cory catfish, once acclimated usually do very well. Both of those fish need larger groups.

Barbs are also considered hardy fish. Keep them in groups of 5 or more and their aggressive tendancies will be amoungst themselves. Tiger barbs are a fair size and come in three varieties that mix well together.

Otherwise the standard live bearers of platies and swordfish tend to be hardy.

Stay away from guppies and neon tetras. In recent times they seem to be very weak fish and easily killed.

And watch out for anything labeled shark - most grow large and become aggressive, and of course aren't even sharks. Watch out for many algae eatser and catfish as well in the beginning.

You best bet is to go to the fish store and right down the names of the fish that look really interesting to you. Then come back and ask how hardy they are.

[vato]

The one thing that I would be cautious about is the barbs, if you keep them in relitivley large groups they can keep their aggressive tendencies to themselves, but if they are in too large or too small of groups their aggressievnes is going to spill over in a big way. If you have fish that are very dosile, then it will be a problem. They are notorious for being fin nippers. So just becareful when you are selecting fish. Barbs are very pretty, but not good for community tanks generally.

[tylixxa]

ok, we have been checking out the fish and so far this is what we have come up with. can you tell me if these will work?
1 female betta
1 red male betta
6 turquoise danios
2 neon blue dwarf gouramis
2 swartzs cory cats

and for a clean up crew, 4 black mystery snails and 4 ramshorn snails. what do you think? thanks :p

[kikuchiyo]

You can't have male and female bettas together. They'll beat up on each other alot. And if they spawn, that'll be it for the female if she's not taken out.

Danios are nippy with bettas. Not a good combination.

Gouramis and bettas don't get along. They know they're related and the tend to fight with each other. It's one or the other (if you keep the danios, I think I'd go with the gouramis, I don't think they have problems). I've heard that dwarf males are especially aggressive, but I wouldn't mix any labryinth fish together as they are all aggressive with each other.

You need more cory cats. They like being in groups of 3+, at least.

[TKOS]

Well it won't be a good idea to keep a male and female betta together. One or the other is okay but with the 2 1 will kill the other.

Also bettas and gouramis are cousins and generally don't get along very well. Some people manage to keep them together but it really depends on the betta and gouramis you pick up. Some are just a lot meaner than others.

If it were me I would stick to the gouramis only, add the danios (probably have a big school of 10) and then have a larger school of cories. Cories are always better fish if kept in bigger groups.

I also wouldn't bother with that many snails. Just a couple of each and soon there will be plenty of babies.

Add some live plants as well. Java fern is dead easy to keep and looks really nice as a beginner plant.

[tylixxa]

ok, thanks
i think i'll nix the bettas then. i just really wanted them for the color. is there a colorful fish that would work well with cory's, gouramis and the danios? and one more question, can you mix different types of cory's and gouramis? or do they all need to be the same type? thanks again!;)

[kikuchiyo]

The cory's can be different (though they most prefer their own kind and I think a school of the same fish look best aesthtically).

Gouramis I'm not sure about. You might be able to have a couple of males of the same kind, in a big tank, but gouramis can be awfully territorial and one would get picked on. I'd get one male, two or three females of the same species. (three spot or dwarf and any of its color morphs would work well).

Some kind of bigger tetra might work with the listed fish. Maybe some small cichlids (I'm just guessing, I really don't know much about cichlids). Maybe some of the non-bitesized livebearers (platies are really colorful, I adore the orange ones).

[Emaan]

You can get a variety of colors with Platies and from my experience with them, they are pretty much calm fish. I would keep 1 male to 3 or more females and when the conditions are right they will produce babies and you will always have a supply of color.

Emaan

[kikuchiyo]

they will produce babies and you will always have a supply of color.

And/or an endless supply of live food ;) The fry make a great food source for other fish as well as being interesting. Since you seem to be gravitating towards different/multicolored fish, platies would work extremely well. They come in a myraid of bright colors, get along well with others, and are hardy.

[vato]

gouramis aren't such a good idea together they don't do well with other gouramis. But if there are any acceptions they would be the dwarf gourami, and the pearl gourami, both of which are stunning fish. You still have to be a little cautious with dwarves but there usually isn't a problem, if it becomes a problem just take one back to the store if you can.

[TKOS]

Gouramis, esp dwarves, tend to be territorial. In a 37 gallon tank with some plants or other decorations as sight line blocks and hiding spots a couple of male dwarves will generally work fine. You will be very hard pressed to actually find female gouramis. Most fish stores do not carry them as they are not the prettiest fish around.

Platies are colourful and generally hardy. Also guppies can add a splash of colour as well. Either get all males or else 2-3 females per male of live bearers. All males is an easy way to go.

[tylixxa]

Ok, update after looking at your helpful replies....

4 Assorted Platys
6 Turquoise Danios
2 Neon Blue Dwarf Gouramis
4 Swartz's Cory Cats
2 Black Mystery Snails
2 Ramshorn Snails

Is this a good colorful and lively mix that will work well together? Also, I've read that the Platys need Java Fern or Java Moss. We would like to plant that if needed, but do we need some type of substrate for the plants to grow in, or will they grow on the rocks and ornaments?
Thank you for your help and time!

[vato]

That's a good mix you have there, may I suggest adding shrimp? As for the Java fern and Java moss, they do not need any special care at all. They will grow on ANYTHING. You can attach either to a rock. and after a while it will stick there. If you want to attach it to an object use a rubber band or fishing line for a few weeks. Then it'll be there for as long as you want it to be.

[kikuchiyo]

Platies are hardy, they don't need plants particularly (they might nibble on them if they get hungry and like all small fish they apperciate the cover), but you'll want to have a lot of java moss if you plan on saving some of the baby platies. If they don't have some place to dash to and hide after being born, they'll quickly become lunchmeat.

I've been talking to some people on another board and pennywort might make a good floating plant as well. The gouramis who will probably linger around the top of the tank a lot, will apperciate the floating cover.

[hcgirl80]

Platies all the way! Mollies are cool too but they like salt in the water, a bit like a brackishwater fish.