just starting out

[justethe]

i have just got a 15 gallon fish tank and i am woundering what are some good fish to start out with .. i want to have a crab or two but i am going to just start out with some fish. what tropical fish should i get to start out with??

 

[mike777]

Well if you plan on not fishless cycling I would get 3 or 4 zebra danios to start out with. They are hardy and they are also very fun to watch.

 

[justethe]

what is fish cycling

 

[finius]

Read the article titled "avoiding and treating new tank syndrome" or something like that at the top of this forum. You need to cycle your water to make sure all of your levels are acceptable before you fully stock your tank. Otherwise you will kill all of your fish. Trust me on this one.

Basically yout have to declorinate your water with stress coat and then you can add some fairly indestructible fish to start the ecosystem: fish pee & poo->amonia(bacteria)->nitrite(other bacteria)->nitrate. If you have $10 you can buy pregrown bacteria. That can drastically reduce the cycling time.