Newbie.

[shannonader]

Hello. I am new to the fish world, sorta. I had Gouramis growing up, but I didn't maintain the tank. (Thanks mom) I was recently reintroduced to the hobby courtesy of my boyfriend. He has a 90 Gallon, with plans for a Cichlid environment, a 20 Gallon that currently houses the cichlids, a 10 Gallon Breeder Tank, a 6 Gallon with a Betta, and a 1.5 Gallon with a Betta. I have a starter 10 Gallon, and I am in need of suggestions. I am learning about cycling and ph/ammonia, etc.

Though I am learning a ton from him, I am looking to be thoroughly educated. This is where you come in. I am welcoming any suggestions, tips, etc. What are good 'starter' fish? Sure, I can google it and find some random website, but I am wanting advice from real fish enthusiasts.

Thanks in advance.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Shannon and welcome to the discussions!

TFF members really enjoy discussing the pros and cons of individual species so I'm sure plenty will be along eventually to give their thoughts! Even on a site like this with experienced fishkeepers, it can be hard to interpret the results when a newbie asks about good starter fish. The experienced folks often come to the topic with so many little details about the details of any given species that it is hard for them to think whether the fish would be "easy" or not , but I'm sure they'll give it a shot.

How great to hear you say you are reading about cycling and water chem -- too many do take the opportunity to do this homework in advance and that is when the timing is optimal. I encourage you to keep at that part aggressively. Reading lots of beginner help threads here and doing searches on topics that don't seem clear to you will be a great help.

Good Luck! ~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Hi shannonader:
You are in an enviable position. Unlike most people starting out, you know somebody that has a cycled tank and would likely be willing to share some filter media to get yours started. What that means to you is that you could probably get a fully cycled tank in a week once you get ready to start. I have found that once my first tank was cycled, the rest all took less than a week because I seeded all the new ones from the older tanks. I still had to go through a full cycling process but it flew by very quickly.