Five Best & Worst Fish For Beginners

[Mamashack]

That's how and why they become deformed! Poor things!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Or die.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yes, a slow and painful death.

 

[daizeUK]

4. Neon Tetra. pfft. Yeah Right!
 

 
Out of interest, did you disagree with what the article said about neon tetras?

 

[Mikey1]

there are no "best" or "worst" fish....
 
any fish will thrive if given the proper conditions/environment to do so....
 
a fish is only as "good" or only as "bad" as its environment dictates,
 
there are only "best" and "worst" fishkeepers....not fish

 

[This Old Spouse]

Well, right, but that's what experienced fishkeepers know. It would be nice to help out the newbies when they're looking to stock their tanks pick out fish that are the least demanding and suggest numbers to keep them in and such.

 

[Mamashack]

There is something like that in the Nano tank section TOS, perhaps it could be expanded to include larger size tanks?? Would anyone interested in editing a thread along those lines tho? I only have nano tanks so wouldn't be much help I'm afraid.


be* interested! lol

 

[This Old Spouse]

That's a great idea. Not me, however, as I don't really have enough experience with a wide range of fish species. I'd be happy to chime in now and again, as always, though!

 

[Mervin]

My khuli loach seems to be able to handle anything, he's awesome, very hardy. As far as tetras go I would say some of the hardest to keep are cardinal and rummynose, whilst the easiest ones (for me anyway) are neon and glowlights. Normans lampeye also seems to be a very hardy little fish. And what about mollies? They seem quite hardy to me too. I'm guessing we aren't including fish like Angelfish and Discus?
 
I guess my list would look like this.
 
#5 Best for beginners
 
Khuli Loach
Normans Lampeye
Molly
Neon Tetra
Glowlight Tetra
 
#5 Worst
 
Dwarf Blue Gourami
Cardinal Tetra
Rummynose Tetra
Ottocinclus (I could not get mine to eat a thing)
Betta
 
I guess it's different for everyone.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I was just talking to a friend of mine today who said she kept a betta in a vase with a plant in it. Had it for 4 years that way. I guess it was better than the 1 cup of water it was kept in at the LFS.

 

[snazy]

The ability of emmersed plants to absorb ammonia from the water is really great because they have constant supply of CO2 from the air in big amounts, so the water quality in that vase may have been fine actually, but in a vase....come on...unless it's a big vase..
Although I've got small tanks myself, if I had a way I'd ban the sales of anything less than 20-30G
 
As for beginner's safe fish, I am afraid there're none. They'll all suffer their share of beginner's mistakes, the question is which one will survive. I guess some fish are just not as sensitive so certain levels of toxins compared to other's or luck comes into play.
And keeping fish that grow too big for the size of the tank and taking no notice is not even animal cruelty, but just being pure stupid and ignorant. There's no excuse to be honest.
But we humans have sick twisted minds to the point that even keeping birds in cages has become like a pure normal thing no one takes any notice of at all. If one has to be honest, birds are supposed to fly, don't they?
 
Sorry, I think I feel better after letting it out of my chest

 

[stanleo]

I do think there is such a thing as fish that are bad for beginnners. An arowana comes to mind. and mudskippers too and those are just 2 that my LFS always have in stock.

 

[snazy]

I haven't done statistics or anything and it's pure observation but the amount of questions involving sick platies, guppies and similar hardy fish is enough to tell you that no fish is safe in the hands of a beginner

Some 20 and more years ago I did the same and even now still manage to kill fish by some sort of negligence.

 

[mbeer21]

A friend of mine has recently got her first fish tank - I think it's around 45g, and she's planning on putting Silver dollars and Discus in it.  I wouldn't think they're appropriate for a beginner ... or a tank of that size (not that I can talk her out of it, of course)

 

[the_lock_man]

A friend of mine has recently got her first fish tank - I think it's around 45g, and she's planning on putting Silver dollars and Discus in it.  I wouldn't think they're appropriate for a beginner ... or a tank of that size (not that I can talk her out of it, of course)

 
All you can do is to point her in the direction of the forum, so she can ask questions.