Colourful Tropical Fish

[Jonny_H]

Hi all im a newbie to this so bear with me ha,

im looking for some ideas of which fish to buy, and i want colourful tropical fish

i also want the fish to be able to grow to a decent size (i dont mind buying them small - as long as they grow )

anyone got any ideas? any pics?

 

[kyleb2003]

How about some species of rainbow fish

 

[pablothebetta]

What size is the tank?

 

[iadubber]

For freshwater if you want colorful and large go with Rainbowfish or make an all cichlid tank.

 

[Jay-93]

What do you mean by decent size?

In terms of colour alone, Rams, Dwarf Cichlids and Killifish are probably the most colourful fish you will find. I've kept these three fish in the same tank before with no trouble, but others on here may advise you not to.

 

[soybean]

If you have already bought a tank, please tell us what size it is

Rainbowfish and male guppies are very colourful.

If you haven't already read up about cycling your filter, you will need to before you add any fish. The link in my sig will explain everything for beginners.

 

[Jonny_H]

It's a 200l tank so pretty big! Just want some bright coloured fish! And not small but not massive if you understand me haha

 

[walkers101]

Anything over six inch will push it in a 200 litre

May I suggest looking at some sort of gourami?

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

oddessa barbs are very colourful however they're not that big. as walkers101 said a gourami would be nice- there a number of differant species and quite a few differant colours.
Before you add any fish be sure to look at the begginners section or you could end up with some very dead or ill fish

 

[eaglesaquarium]

How long is the tank?


Some fish require a lot of swimming space (like rainbowfish). Also in determining the fish that would be suitable, it helps to know the water parameters you are dealing with. Is your water soft or hard? What's the pH after sitting out for 24 hours?

 

[Jonny_H]

I had tank all setup for over a week before I put any fish in, and they've been in for about 5 days now and all seems ok. And I will hve a proper read of the beginners guide too to check everything

 

[CezzaXV]

Guppies are very colourful - you could get a large group of all different colours. They don't get too big though - depends what you mean by a decent size.

 

[soybean]

I had tank all setup for over a week before I put any fish in, and they've been in for about 5 days now and all seems ok. And I will hve a proper read of the beginners guide too to check everything

Which suggests the filter is not cycled. Do you have a testing kit? What fish have you added?

 

[tonyfoster]

Hi all im a newbie to this so bear with me ha,

im looking for some ideas of which fish to buy, and i want colourful tropical fish

i also want the fish to be able to grow to a decent size (i dont mind buying them small - as long as they grow )

anyone got any ideas? any pics?

I also wanted large colorful tropical fish in the beginning. Honestly, in my mind, I wanted colors that rivaled salt water fish. Discus are the bomb, color-wise but their care and water conditions are VERY particular. Some breeds of ciclids also fill the bill. If you are looking for big and colorful without murder and mayhem, well.... I bit the bullet and let my wifey and kids pick out some colorful plastic plants. My school of clowns splash color at the bottom and guromi's splash some at the top though.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

There are some great colorful fish, but keeping them is very dependent on tank size, water parameters and tank mates.


Discus are mentioned are probably some of the most beautiful fish in the freshwater trade. But, they are finicky in terms of their needs in both temp and water parameters.

Barbs - cherry males are brilliant red, as are rosy barbs.

Bettas both male and female are beautiful fish. There are different style of fins.

Livebearers - these can be quite brilliantly colored. Mollies (black are my favorite), Swordtails and platies (come in a variety of colors from red to blue, as well as yellows and oranges), guppies (especially the males, are brilliantly colored) and endlers can be very interestingly colored as well.

Rainbowfish are some brilliantly colored fish.

Even tetras have some very brilliantly colored fish: cardinals, neons, black neons are nearly iridescent, red phantoms, black phantoms, black skirts look very good.

Microrasboras are very interesting colors and the Trigonostigma genus is interesting... like the espei, hengeli and heteromorpha are very interesting.

Dwarf gouramis are excellently colored as well.


All of these are colorful, but your tank size and water parameters are where you need to start this discussion. While some fish can work well in certain situations, they simply can't work at all in others. Gouarmis are great, as are bettas, but they aren't suited to be with each other. Livebearers are also great, but they need very different conditions than many of these others. Rainbowfish are great too, but they need a lot of room to swim. If you only have a 10 gallon tank, forget about it.