Noob fish

Evil Cyborg 10

Evil Cyborg 10

AC Members
Dec 25, 2008
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Hey, I am interested in fish but have no idea how to look after them.

I brought some prehistoric sea monsters triops and shrimp pets (google them) which is bassically fish/monsters and you have to stir them to give them oxygen every day feed them every 2 days so I thought it would be a good challenge. If I can look after these I can hopefully look after real fish :)

But what fish to get? I don't want one where you just look at and feed it, I would prefer one that got me more involved like cleaning the tank out, giving it so much light per day etc etc.

Hope you understand :) also any tips on raising the sea monsters would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Intresting.

Thanks for sharing that with me :)
 
Best idea is to find what interests YOU.

Sure there are some certain hardy fish out there that will allow for some beginner error but if you're not interested in the fish you'll get bored quick.

On the otherhand some fish aren't suited for new fish keepers...;)
 
Evil Cyborg 10 said:
I brought some prehistoric sea monsters triops and shrimp pets (google them) which is bassically fish/monsters and you have to stir them to give them oxygen every day feed them every 2 days so I thought it would be a good challenge. If I can look after these I can hopefully look after real fish :)
Click to expand...

It's probably best not to compare those triops with fish. Fish are much more involved than simply adding water and feeding. Those triop things reproduce like crazy and are practically indestructable. My friend used to have those triop things too. He got bored of it, and stopped feeding it for 2-3 months and they all died and he just left the little kit there filled with water and gunk (gross I know). Out of curiosity, I fed them for 3-4 days straight and what do you know, they started comming back to life, lol.

Evil Cyborg 10 said:
But what fish to get? I don't want one where you just look at and feed it, I would prefer one that got me more involved like cleaning the tank out, giving it so much light per day etc etc.
Click to expand...

Perfect! No matter what fish you get you should be doing frequent water changes.

Before purchasing anything, I would start simply by reading the stickies on these forums. They contain very useful information. I would also read up and understand the nitrogen cycle and the proper way of cycling a tank, which there are a few great stickies on. Then pick the size tank you want and research what fish will go good in your size tank. These are some good stickies to look at: 1) Freshwater Cycling 2) Freshwater Article Corner
It might sound strange, but I would recommend getting the largest tank you are willing to work with. The more water you have, the more stable your tank will be in case something goes wrong and the bigger your margin of error is. It's very easy to completely crash small tanks while cycling if your new and not carefull. Also, after your fish thrive since you started out the right way, you will have saved money since you went straight to the larger tank instead of buying a small one and upgrading later, though like most of us, you can never have a big enough tank and will want to upgrade anyway. :)

Do your research, as you will be investing quite a bit of money on this and be patient. I cannot stress enough how important patience is when first starting. Knowledge + Patience = success. By comming here first, you're already off to a great start! Good Luck
 
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I'd recommend fishless cycling. It's completely stress-free for you, and keeps fish out of harm's way. Look for ammonia with no surfactants if you choose this method. Or, you could fishless cycle your tank with raw shrimp from the grocery store. Pretty gross, but really easy, lol.

What size tank are you thinking about? I agree that you should start with as large a tank as you can afford. Not only is it much easier to keep a large tank stable, it also gives you a TON more options for what fish you can keep. You're pretty limited on fish choices in a tank that is smaller than 20 gallons or so.

Welcome to AC!!! :)
 
oh man i remember triops...they were awesome! :D

check out platies. they are the perfect beginner fish, even more so than bettas, zebra danios, neons, etc. platies are peacful, super hardy, and can be in tanks that are as small as 10 gallons. plus, they eat anything you give them and will even reproduce easily.
 
Welcome to the hobby!!

I think you should figure out what size tank you will be getting. This helps people give you better ideas on what to stock with.


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Oh and one important piece of advice, read about it before you do it. Whatever it is. It will save you from making some huge mistakes. Anything from stocking the wrong fish together to not cycling a tank. The stickies you see at the top of the forum are a god send.
 
research research research ! lol But really when i started i made a bunch of mistakes even now 4 years later with a new tank set up im researching every fish im putting in it the plants the lighting everything. It really is worth it though to see your fish grow and thrive with out having to worry about them dying( that takes work though)

Have fun!
 
I agree with 10010101001, Researching never hurts. The more time you take to research the better chances your future fish have of living!

But if I had to choose a fish to begin with, I'd go with Tetra's
Tetras seem pretty easy to handy. IMO
 
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