What sort of starter fish should I get?

So, I’ve been thinking about trying to keep fish again. (Er, live ones in an aquarium, not fish to eat. I’m good at those.) When I was a kid, 11 or 12, I had an aquarium and I kept it and changed the water so responsibly and did everything I was supposed to do, and I killed fish in droves. Droves, I tell you. But now I’m a grownup, just moved into my very own house, know more about the nitrogen cycle, and I was thinking of trying it again. (Wouldn’t be my only pet; I do have a dog.) So these are my questions:

I don’t see in the phone book any small fish stores. There used to be a lot when I did this last time, and maybe they’re hidden or something, but I’m not seeing them. (Columbia, SC, if you know anybody.) Is it okay to get fish from PetSmart? How evil are they? I mean, I’d never buy fish from WalMart, I don’t even go down the fish aisle because it makes me sick, but is PetSmart better?

I’ve read that smaller aquariums are actually harder to keep working and that you should do at least 20 gallons. Is that true?

What sort of fish should I get? I was thinking maybe I’d just get one or two bigger ones with “personality” - I was considering goldfish but have read that they’re very dirty and need a lot of space. How about bettas? I know you can’t put the males together, but can you have a male and one or more females together?

Is it true you can use the old water as a fertilizer for your garden? How good is it?

Is there anything else I haven’t thought to wonder about?

Contrary to popular myth, goldfish are coldwater fish and require a chiller to thrive in addition to needing a lot of space, etc… they definitely aren’t beginner’s fish.

I suggest a betta–bettas have an organ that allows them to breathe air, which is why you see them in those tiny little jars at pet stores. If you want an impressive display, consider getting a private breeder. This guy has some of the most beautiful bettas you’ll ever see: http://www.wasanbetta.net/wasanbetta/

Bettas are good. They also do well in some community aquariums.
Years ago I had a shoal of Blue Moon platties. Platties in general are very happy and social fish, but the Blue Moons are really great as starter fish. Just feed them regularly and keep the tank clean, and they will thrive. One of them can live for 2 years or more, and if conditions are right, they will readily breed (as mine did). Mine were so tame I could stick my finger in the water and they’d all swim over and rub their little sides against me. Great fish, they were. I also had a betta in with them and they all got along well.

African cyclids are pretty carefree too and, like betas, will provide some color for your tank. As for tank size, yes, I always found the larger ones to require less maintenance, relatively speaking.

Also, once you’re comfortable with your aquarium skills again, consider venturing into salt too. A bit more work but, IMHO, absolutely worth every bit of it.

Larger tanks do require less maintenance and have more margin for error.

Livebearers are good starter fish: Platys, guppies, or mollies, though mollies do best in slightly salty water. Livebearers just seem to be tougher than most fish.

I wouldn’t put two bettas in any aquarium. Bettas with other fish can get their fins torn up badly. This can also happen to fancy guppies.

Goldfish need cooler temps and a lot of air. And they are big-bodied so they do produce more waste.

My Hubby’s had great luck w/his aquarium over the past 8 years. Before that the fish died on a regular basis. He started adding lives plants and voila! Happy fish!

(I don’t know what kinds they are. Just common little fishy fishes)

Okay, so goldfish are out. Any comments on PetSmart? I found in the phone book one place on the other side of town, but their website kind of sucks and so I don’t really know what they’re like. Opinions?

I’d also welcome any reference website reccommendations - there’s a lot of stuff out there, but a lot of it’s selling things and such.

And wow, dre2xl, those bettas on that website are freaking gorgeous. I may be spoiled for the ordinary kind now!

PetSmart doesn’t sell puppies and kittens. That’s a plus.

Basically, you just have to go look at the fish. They should look good, without sores or ragged/curling fins. Dorsal fins should be erect, not clamped down to their bodies. There shouldn’t be any white spots on the bodies or fins. Eyes should be clear instead of clouded. There shouldn’t be dead fish floating in the tanks. The fish, except for glass cats, should be actively swimming around.

Some chain stores have good fish managers. Some don’t. Essentially it’s a matter of personnel.

Depending on the type of fish, you’ll also want to consider how many to get. Schooling fish like tetras, for example, you’ll want at least three. Livebearers, consider one male and two females.

Another good beginner choice is a cory, small very cute catfish. They come in a variety of patterns, though because of my name I’m especially fond of Corydoras julii. :slight_smile:

If I were starting again, I’d get a betta and a couple of corys. Bettas are very interactive and pretty and corys are mild-mannered and cute. Plus they help keep the tank clean.

Don’t let anyone talk you into one of those long, pink algae eaters. Those things are the devil. We had one sold to us by someone who should have known better and it quadrupled in size in less than a year and is very aggressive.

The PetSmart I’ve shopped in seems to keep its fish clean and healthy looking. And it’s true they don’t sell puppies or kittens. They do keep cats and kittens on display for adoption, though, in our local store.

My local PetSmart has a chinchilla, and it is the cutiest wutiest thing I have ever in my life seen (only because I have never seen a hedgehog in person.)

So, on cycling - let’s say I get a 20 gallon tank with all the stuff I need in the box and all, and I set it up, but I don’t have access to an established tank or anything. I’ve read some online about it but I’m kind of confused on how fishless cycling works - how does it get started? Do I need to jump start it?

Also, do I need a different kind of light from the ones that come in the kits and stuff if I want to grow plants?

This sitehas been very useful to me. I set up my first aquarium about six months ago and it’s going swimmingly.

TWO WORDS:

NovAqua.

No, I’m serious. I’ve had aquariums for about eight years now and for awhile my fish were always getting ick (that spotty white stuff) and/or going belly-up for no obvious reason other than the fact that I couldn’t seem to keep 'em healthy and happy…no matter how often I changed the water, what kind of water/filters, etc. I used, or how many water-treatments I’d try.

Guy at a fish-store told me to use NovAqua. It’s a water-treatment you can find at Petsmart; a couple of squirts of that stuff and your tank is set. Water straight from your tap to the fishies!

The only reason I’ve lost any fish since I began using it is b/c my heater died overnight a couple of winters ago and the water got too cold.

Other advice: if your fish get Ick (and you’ll know they’ve got it b/c like I mentioned they get this spotty white coating) don’t even bother with ick medicine. It never works. It just turns your tank orange.

Turn your heater up instead; get the water above about eighty degrees. The fish can handle the heat but the ick can’t. Once the ick is gone gradually lower the tank back to its normal temp. Works like a charm.

And yes, don’t bother with anything smaller than a 20 gallon tank. They’re harder to maintain, require more cleaning, you can keep fewer fish, and inevitably you’ll want to upgrade. You might as well skip that nonsense and go for the largest tank you can. Trust me on this.

As far as starter fish…

My favorites are tiger barbs (small orange and black fishies that swim in schools of three or more; they’re very lively entertaining little fish) but I’ve also kept African cichlids…they’re beautiful and colorful fish that grow to pretty decent size. You can’t keep too many of them in the same tank because they’re pretty aggressive and very territorial, but if you want just one/two “specimen” fish I’d recommend them.

And I’ve never heard of anyone having problems with Petsmart; generally their fish are very well-kept and they feature homeless dogs and cats from local shelters in their stores to promote adoption.

It’s also worthwhile to check out your local fish stores too, b/c a good one will have a greater variety of fish to choose from, and their staff is generally more knowledgeable.

Use lots of NovAqua and have fun!

During my youth, I had a 10Gal tank almost continuously through college, and my first apartment. I never had a problem with fish dying on me.

I used an under gravel filter (the one with the 2 posts running up the back), and used small pebbles (washed & bleached driveway pea stone), rather than the cheesy colored stone from the shops.

I filled the tank with gouramis, swordtails, tetras, and other schooling fish, with a snail (ONLY ONE), and an algea eater added once the tank was going for a while. Sometimes, I had a few live plants, but usually I just went with the plastic ones. I also attempted to make my tank look like it was just a slice of a stream that I had enclosed in glass, with large rocks and hiding places.

Keep it simple, and it’s pretty easy.

-butler

Damn. I opened this thread hoping to recommend a small trout with almonds, leaving the palate relatively clear and the appetite for the main course relatively unscathed.

This is a good point. UG filters really are much better than the back-of-tank kind, especially for the little tanks.

Livebearers (guppies, mollies, platies, endler’s) are good to start with, but make SURE you have boys only! They do NOT eat their young as readily as some would have you believe, and if you get females (which are often impregnated when they are just days old and can hold milt for months) or mixed you will be euthanizing healthy live fish out of desperation within weeks. Don’t trust that they are “virgin” females - I have about 30 juvie guppies that can attest to the fact that there’s no such thing as a virgin livebearer! :wink: Don’t trust even the well-established fish store that you’ve trusted for years! THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A VIRGIN LIVEBEARER! :smiley:

I second the cories. They’ll win your heart the minute they wink at you. They don’t specifically school, but are sociable, so be sure and get multiples, preferably of the same species. They do best with a sandy substrate. If you insist on gravel, make sure it’s smooth as their barbels will become injured on sharp gravel. I learned from sad experience, too, that the beautiful Tahitian Moon black sand is too sharp for the little guys, so all my corys are in my white sand tank now.

Zebra danios are also great beginner fish and can often survive a cycling tank. They do school, though, so make sure you get at least six.

You can avoid cycling altogether with this but it’s hard to find.

As far as where to get your fish - I had a whole school of serpae tetras die within days that I got from an independent fish store with a great regional reputation. On the other hand, the oldest fish in my tank is one of my upside down catfish that I got from WalMart. If you’re careful about picking out healthy fish that haven’t been in the store tanks too long you usually can do okay no matter where you go. Some fish that are strictly wild-caught and don’t handle stress well, like otocinclus, have a high mortality rate no matter where you get them.

You seem to already have done a lot of research, and for that, I commend you. There are a lot of good fish forums out there. I would recommend using them. They are excellent resources, even if you do have to wade through a lot of teen and pre-teen webspeak to get to the good stuff. :wink:

One last piece of advice - don’t impulse buy! Most fish store clerks either (1) know not of which they speak and/or (2) are just out to make a sale and will happily tell you that that gold nugget pleco or that pacu can easily live in a 10 gallon tank. Be sure and research tank size, tank mate compatibility, and diet as a minimum before buying any fish.

Have fun!

When I said above to get a mix of sexes, I wasn’t thinking about a tank with no other fish to predate on the young. We’ve always had tanks where the young were dinner for some of the other fishes. Same with Kribensis (which are a great community tank fish, too.)

Sorry, OP, for not thinking about that!

Zebra danios are fun to watch because they swim and school so quickly. We’ve had a lot of success with them.

I wouldn’t put a betta in a tank with other fish, but they are fun. I’ve had several. My current one, Phil, has been with me for nearly a year now. He lives in an uncycled gallon fishbowl (yes, I change the water regularly) and flares at me all the time. I would never put one in a smaller tank but he seems happier in here than he was in a bigger one. My only problem with him is that since I moved he’s had fin problems. A lot of his tail is simply gone, and it doesn’t matter how I treat the water. There must be something in the water up here that his tail just doesn’t like.

But he seems fine otherwise, so I don’t worry about it.

Will an angelfish eat zebra danios? I’ve been looking at various “sample community tank for novice” pages and they contradict each other! I do like angelfish, but it sounds fun to have a school of things darting around.

Zebras should be fine with angelfish. Angelfish tend to be pretty slow-moving. I’d worry more about the zebras nibbling on the angelfish. Of course, angelfish are a lot bigger than zebras so I doubt there’d be any serious damage.