I got a 10 gallon tank for a early x-mas present and i never really had an aquarium before and i plan on making it a new hobby but what fish would you recommend for a newbie
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- Thread starter Chris2003
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The species profile section of Aquaria Central is a good place to start your homework.
I would suggest hardy varieties of Tetras (Characins) like Cardinals, Neons, Black Skirts (although Black Skirts can get a little agressive). Avoid sensitive varieties like Rummy Nose Tetras.
Guppies and Platies are also very hardy fish that are easy to start with.
Another note, long finned/fancy finned fish can be sensitive to fin rot/fin nipping etc.
On the home page of Aquaria Central, if you go to the link "Species Profiles" and then "Freshwater" you can browse by species. Each profile outlines the needs of the particular fish (ie minimum tank size, temp, pH, food etc) as well as their temperment and a link to find suitable tank mates. I'm sure you will find it very useful.
HTH,
tetra_girl
I would suggest hardy varieties of Tetras (Characins) like Cardinals, Neons, Black Skirts (although Black Skirts can get a little agressive). Avoid sensitive varieties like Rummy Nose Tetras.
Guppies and Platies are also very hardy fish that are easy to start with.
Another note, long finned/fancy finned fish can be sensitive to fin rot/fin nipping etc.
On the home page of Aquaria Central, if you go to the link "Species Profiles" and then "Freshwater" you can browse by species. Each profile outlines the needs of the particular fish (ie minimum tank size, temp, pH, food etc) as well as their temperment and a link to find suitable tank mates. I'm sure you will find it very useful.
HTH,
tetra_girl
Aloha e Chris,
Welcome to the hobby and to the board. Please take a little time and read up on 'cycling' your tank before you get too far. You can find articles on cycling as well as lots of valuable info here.
Welcome to the hobby and to the board. Please take a little time and read up on 'cycling' your tank before you get too far. You can find articles on cycling as well as lots of valuable info here.
Read up on your cycling..once you have done this, and understand it, you could try some cherry barbs to start with...other good starter fish are zebra and leopard danios, bettas, and corydoras catfishes...later on down the road you could try some neons and/or maybe cardinal tetras.
Here is a link that has a lot of information in an easy to use format.
http://www.algone.com/beginner_index.htm
It has clearly divided sections, inlcuding:
-"Your First Aquarium"
-"Common Fishkeeping Mistakes"
-"Routine Aquarium Maintenance"
-"The Nitrogen Cylce"
-"Common Problems in Aquariums", including "New Tank Syndrome"
And here is another link about the nitrogen cycle, "cycling" your tank and starting to add fish
http://www.aquahobby.com/tips/ciclo.html and the next article on fishless cycling
http://www.aquahobby.com/tips/fishless.html
http://www.algone.com/beginner_index.htm
It has clearly divided sections, inlcuding:
-"Your First Aquarium"
-"Common Fishkeeping Mistakes"
-"Routine Aquarium Maintenance"
-"The Nitrogen Cylce"
-"Common Problems in Aquariums", including "New Tank Syndrome"
And here is another link about the nitrogen cycle, "cycling" your tank and starting to add fish
http://www.aquahobby.com/tips/ciclo.html and the next article on fishless cycling
http://www.aquahobby.com/tips/fishless.html
Must respectfully disagree. Many of these fish are frequently poor quality, because they are mass bred. Neons are particularly good at going belly up for no adequately explored reason. Guppies and platys are often troublesome in soft warter.
So, Chris2003 - what sort of water do you have? You don't need to go into scientific detail - just how often you have to descale your kettle should do the job - is it basically soft or hard?
If it's soft, then Siamese fighters (Bettas), gouramis and tetras like black widows (black skirts) and bleeding hearts are pretty much beginner proof.
If hard, then guppies and platys are a possibility, but only if the stock is really good - look for really active fish at the shop, and don't buy if any of the fish in the stock tank have clamped fins, or are hanging at the top making swimming motions but going nowhere (called shimmying and usually the livebearer equivalent of the Grim Reaper). I find swordtails hardier than platys but a 10 is too small for the IMHO.
In any water, small danios (zebra or leopard) and white cloud mountain minnows are hardy, cheap and will survive most mistakes you can throw at them. You might get away with a small group of cherry barbs, but avoid any of the larger ones - a 1" tiger barb may seem pretty small but they like a lot of swimming space.
Whatever else you get, a small group of corydoras catfish is always called for - about three in a 10 should be enough to keep them happy without crowding the tank.
Your temptation with your first tank will be to try to have lots of different fish. This will probably be a mistake. A couple of different species + the corys would probably be more than enough.
Chris2003,
I think you should fishless cycle the tank while you are deciding.
I think platies are great, and there are lot of varieties. I keep platies in 'soft' water and they do fine, they even breed.
I also like corydoras a lot, you could squeeze 3 or 4 panda cories or pygmy cories along with 4 platies and that would make a great display that wouldn't be too crowded.
But do be carefull not to overcrowd the tank no matter what you decide.
I use a penguin 125 on my 10 gal.
good luck
I think you should fishless cycle the tank while you are deciding.
I think platies are great, and there are lot of varieties. I keep platies in 'soft' water and they do fine, they even breed.
I also like corydoras a lot, you could squeeze 3 or 4 panda cories or pygmy cories along with 4 platies and that would make a great display that wouldn't be too crowded.
But do be carefull not to overcrowd the tank no matter what you decide.
I use a penguin 125 on my 10 gal.
good luck
I decided to get a bigger tank and all i could afford was a 20 gallon 
oh well...
Its been cycling for about 5 days with a male betta and 3 neon tetras and the ammonia went way up the second night and right now the water is starting to clear up so i guess thats a good sign? oh yeah should i add more fish? i looked up on the barbs that you suggested Faramir and the cherrys look nice i love the color and i asked the woman at my lfs and she said corys wouldnt do well in a new tank like mine. and famman thanks for the advice but i guess its too late to do a fishless cycle and ill check out the platies and i have another question how often should i do a partial water change and what % of the water should i change?
oh well... Its been cycling for about 5 days with a male betta and 3 neon tetras and the ammonia went way up the second night and right now the water is starting to clear up so i guess thats a good sign? oh yeah should i add more fish? i looked up on the barbs that you suggested Faramir and the cherrys look nice i love the color
and i asked the woman at my lfs and she said corys wouldnt do well in a new tank like mine. and famman thanks for the advice but i guess its too late to do a fishless cycle and ill check out the platies and i have another question how often should i do a partial water change and what % of the water should i change?While fishy cycling you need to test your water for ammonia and nitrites and change whenever either one of them builds up. Probably 25% every other day.
When you finally cycle the tank, 25% weekly or so should be ok.
Be sure not to crowd the betta male, he may get aggressive.
good luck
When you finally cycle the tank, 25% weekly or so should be ok.
Be sure not to crowd the betta male, he may get aggressive.
good luck
I have a 20 gallon and it suits me just fine, but you could go with zebra danios, and for some reason i cant think of any more. But the first fish i ever had was a zebra danio and it lasted for 1 year until it dies. But my zebra killed like 10 fish in its life time. Beware, but i think mine was just like a rouge zebra danio