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Best Tropical Fish for a Complete Beginner

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  • 30-11-2008 1:33pm
    #1
    Fergal C
    Registered Users Posts: 298 ✭✭


    Can you please recommend a good breed of aquarium fish for a complete beginner?

    Preferably something colourful.

    The owner will have only one aquarium but would love to have a species of fish that could breed in the aquarium, is that possible?

    The owner doesn't expect to make any money from breeding the fish and can spend between €100 and €350 to get set up.

    The aquarium hasn't been purchased yet.


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    #2
    Rory123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 601 ✭✭✭Rory123


    mollies or guppies


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    #3
    cos!!
    Registered Users Posts: 202 ✭✭cos!!


    yeah i agree!if you want to breed id go with guppies!they breed very easily and they come in a lot of different colours!could add some neon tetra for more colour but nout much of a chance of them breeding for you


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    #4
    IrishWhite
    Registered Users Posts: 80 ✭✭IrishWhite


    Start with guppies or mollies. mature your tank first there are a couple of methods of doing this fishless is the quickest but normally I would use something like a half dozen danios depending on the size of the tank to mature also ask the shop for some mature gravel or filter media to help the bacteria along. For guppies I wouldnt bother with gravel for guppies. Research tank cycling on google carefully before you start.

    Now when you get your guppies keep at least 2 females for every male the females are grey and do not have the long colorful tails that the males have when they become pregnant they get a black spot on the underside called a gravid spot. To enduce the babies use a breeding trap and treat the female to good food like brine shrimp etc. I take a piece of nylon rope and tie a knot in the end and frey the other end and leave it floating in the tank for the fry to hide in when they are born I feed then brine shrimp and crushed flake food several times a day.

    If you do everthing properly you will have a tank teeming full of guppies in no time but be careful you can have too many aswell.


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    #5
    Rory123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 601 ✭✭✭Rory123


    Irish white...
    Do you remove the pregnant females to another tank when they become pregnant?
    And do you then remove the females once the fry are born?
    Or do you just leave them all in together?


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    #6
    IrishWhite
    Registered Users Posts: 80 ✭✭IrishWhite


    Hi Rory

    If you have plants or like I suggested the frayed rope on the surface I leave them in the tank and let nature take its course and generally get a good survival rate I found 2 problems when removing the females. One is she will eat the fry herself if she is in a bredding trap or a smaller second tank the second problem is you can stress the female while removing her and they give birth to less fry.

    Like I said if you manage to do everything perfectly and not lose any fry you will soon end up with several tanks full of guppies that you dont know what to do with you will find that most pet shops import them from singapore etc and will not buy your overstock from you.

    I was lucky in a sense that I friend of mine kept oscars and parrot fish who loved nothing better than a few frsh guppies for dinner although I found it a little cruel.


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    #7
    Fergal C
    Registered Users Posts: 298 ✭✭Fergal C


    Thanks everyone for your very helpful replies, very much appreciated. I will speak to my local pet shop about guppies and mollies.


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    #8
    IrishWhite
    Registered Users Posts: 80 ✭✭IrishWhite


    Just one thing here mollies and guppies are often sold together as community fish I have found that sometimes larger mollies will attack guppies so I personally dont recommend keeping them together. There is another bonus to keeping mollies and that is they eat algae.


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    #9
    Rory123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 601 ✭✭✭Rory123


    +1


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    #10
    Lauragoesmad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 842 ✭✭✭Lauragoesmad


    Don't know if this would be the pro's view on this but I bought 2 black widows when I bought my tank 4 years ago and I still have one of them. The other one only died a couple of months ago. Gorgeous fish and my two loved chasing each other around the tank. Clever buggers too. Always the first to the top of the water at feeding time!
    The Boardwalk petshop is where I get my fish. They make you get your water tested before they will sell you fish which I think is brilliant! At least you know your tank is in good nick and the fish will be happy and healthy!


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    #11
    ValerieR
    Registered Users Posts: 714 ✭✭✭ValerieR


    Henri,
    Welcome to the world of fishkeeping. They are quite a few species of fish that can breed in a captive environment. Livebearers (guppy, molly, swordtail, platty...) are easily bred and are quite colourful.
    Before you add fish to the aquarium, you need to make sure that the nitrogen cycle has completed so that your fish doesn't suffer.
    For more information on setting up a tank or breeding fish, you can go to www.irishfishkeepers.com. Most of the members on this discussion forum are based in Ireland and there is a lot of information at hand on this site.
    If you have any queries, don't hesitate to contact me.
    Kindest regards,
    ValerieR
    www.irishfishkeepers.com
    connaught.fishkeeping.society[at]gmail.com


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