Fish Ideas

[lisanne7]

I am in the process of Fishless Cycling my first fish tank ever. It is a 29 gallon and I really am confused about what to stock it with. I would like colorful exotic fish that are for the beginner. Any ideas?

 

[RedShark]

Check the whole forum before posting any questions. Plenty of information ont hat kind of question in other sections.

 

[FalconStorm]

You know, it can be kinda tough to single out that info, Redshark. There aren't many threads labelled 'exotic, colorful fish for the beginner'.

lisanne, there aren't many *exotic* fish that are good for a beginner, mostly because they're usually exotic because they're more difficult to handle. For some easy to handle fish that are exotic and colorful, you might want to look at endlers. They're very closely related to guppies, so their care is very similar, but you won't run across very many of them in pet stores and stuff. A 29 gallon would be perfect for them, but keep in mind that they are livebearers, so they'll breed as much as guppies do. Another colorful fish that isn't too common is killifish. I'm not as familiar with them, though I think their care is easier than your typical puffer or brackish type. There are also many tetras that are colorful and interesting looking, although maybe not so exotic. I recommend going to your LFS, see what they've got that interests you, and then come home and research the species to see if they're something you feel like you can handle. By doing this, you will learn a lot about the fish that you will end up with, before you even purchase them.

 

[paulioo]

Well you dont get much more colourful than Cichlids. In a 29G you could set up an electric yellow species tank and maybe a few more of the smaller peaceful Cichlids.

The advantages of a Cichlids tank is because its filled with rocks you dont have to worry about lighting requirements for plants.

I've been reading up on starting a Cichlids tank, and I wish I had started with one of them rather than the usual tropical community tank.

Electric Yellow Lab

Only thing to check is your pH and hardness values of your water.
Whatever type of setup you go for, read up on it and goodluck.

Here's a good website which lists all the different types of fish and gives you all you need to know about them.
http/www.aquahobby.com/e_gallery.php

 

[The-Wolf]

consider rainbowfish
there are many species to choose from
I'd highly recomend the psudomugil (blue eyed) species
but they are hard to find

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

I agree with Wolf on the rainbow fish! I have 5 boesmani rainbows and they are lovely! I think they are around 4 inches when fully grown. They are also very active and fun to feed.

 

[lisanne7]

Thank you all for your replies. They are appreciated.

 

[lunarflame]

I personally am getting ready to put my current 10 gallon inhabitants in a 29gallon tank.

Here's what I'd like to have:
1 male kribensis
8 head and tail light tetras
6 of a different species of tetra or similar fish
5-6 panda cory cats
4 otocinclus

Thats my plan for now

 

[abstract]

I agree with Wolf on the rainbow fish! I have 5 boesmani rainbows and they are lovely! I think they are around 4 inches when fully grown. They are also very active and fun to feed.

i would hesitate to put any rainbowfish (besides dwarf rainbows - i.e. dwarf praecox) in a 29 gallon tank...they get 4-6", very broad bodied, and produce a ton of waste for that size tank

 

[wwestar2000]

I think a pair or trio of small peaceful cichlids. They have the most personallity. And you would love sitting in front of the tank for hours watching them interact. There are alot of colorful ones too like kribs or rams and such.

 

[abstract]

I think a pair or trio of small peaceful cichlids. They have the most personallity. And you would love sitting in front of the tank for hours watching them interact. There are alot of colorful ones too like kribs or rams and such.

beginner fish .... ...unfortunately rams are known to be very sensitive and many cichlids require special water parameters

 

[wwestar2000]

Yeah but when i as researching rams they were considered great for begginers on every site i googled. Its a mater of opion.

 

[platyfreek]

I don't know much about Cichlids (though my dad really wants to try them) but tiger barbs are one of my personal favorites. they don't get too big and are pretty hardy but they are very energetic and are fin nippers so you can' t keep them with slow, pretty finned species so try to keep them with energetic species like themselves. and to minimize fighting i recommend a school of 5 or 6 but this is just my oppinion, if its the Cichlids you wanna go for go for it.

 

[abstract]

Yeah but when i as researching rams they were considered great for begginers on every site i googled. Its a mater of opion.

yup and if you base everything on what you read it's an uneducated opinion......at least there is experience behind my words...i know for a fact that rams are sensitive from my experiences and everyone else on this forum...they cannot handling cycling at ALL...they do not like rapid changes in temperature at ALL...and they won't hesitate to go ghostly white and refuse to eat if they don't like the water parameters....all of these reasons make them NOT a beginner fish...danios are an ideal beginner fish - they are hardy, can handle cycling, don't care too much about temperature, aren't picky eaters, etc - to compare rams to this is just ridiculous...

i just don't understand why it is so hard for you to listen to what other people have to say on this forum and to come up with your OWN opinions rather than relying solely on those things you READ, wwestar...we all know that ANYONE can write whatever they want on the internet and to say that rams are "great" for beginners, i dont just don't buy...there are much better choices out there...

from what i read on google a goldfish can be kept in a one gallon bowl

 

[@ombomb]

Yeah but when i as researching rams they were considered great for begginers on every site i googled. Its a mater of opion.

Didn't your research also say that you could NEVER keep Rams with Cories?

Avoid the Rams, they are really quite fussy as Abstract has said.