# Tropical Fish



## doogle (Jul 7, 2008)

Hiya.....I am new at this and am in the process of setting up a small aquarium (27L tank)..got all the bits i need to set it up etc.....I just wondered what the best tropical fish is to have for beginners?Would apprecaite anyone that can give me any advise.


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## griffpan (Feb 2, 2008)

Hiya 

For a small tank i'd recommend a small shoal of neon tetras. They really add colour and are pretty small fish as well. I've found them very easy to look after, You might want a couple of catfish as well as bottom dwellers


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2008)

Why not go along to your local aquatic centre for advise, also perhaps consider joining a tropical fish club.

HTH


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## xXhayleyroxX (Apr 18, 2008)

get a variety 
bottom dwellers like loaches, mid-swimmers like neon tetras and guppies and maybe a plec to keep the tank reasonably clean 
xxx

have fun!


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## griffpan (Feb 2, 2008)

Only get male guppies, they look nicer and if you get females they'll breed like anything and you'll be over run with the little critters 

It's a good idea as well to work out the amount of fish you can keep in your size tank, i think its about 1cm of fish for every couple of litres. Also check what size your chosen fish will grow to. We had 2 plecs which we had to rehome as they grew to well over a foot each


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## doogle (Jul 7, 2008)

Thankyou for all the info


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## Guest (Jul 9, 2008)

All tetra's are quite easy too look after, I like to keep these in shoals though..I prefer the Phantoms 

Mollies & swordtails are also good starter fish 

As mentioned Plecks & Loaches will help keep the tank clean, as will apple snails


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## griffpan (Feb 2, 2008)

ohh i love swordtails as well, i also love gourami but whenever i've never been successful in keeping em, despite the water tests being ok they don't thrive at all 
i used to love my plecs they were called posh n becks, posh was a bit of a bully with humans but becks was a darling


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2008)

griffpan said:


> ohh i love swordtails as well, i also love gourami but whenever i've never been successful in keeping em, despite the water tests being ok they don't thrive at all
> i used to love my plecs they were called posh n becks, posh was a bit of a bully with humans but becks was a darling


We also have a few Silver Dollars - I've always been told these are hard to keep - I've had mine for years as with the Angel Fish, I don't know whether its pure luck on our part or whether its just mis-information


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## griffpan (Feb 2, 2008)

I think with me it's luck, LOL I was advised against clown loaches saying these were sensitive fish but i had 2 for 9 years up until a couple of weeks ago when i had my first ever white spot outbreak  One died but the other is ok white spot wise but i think pining for its mate. I'm not chancing another until i can be certain i've cracked the whitespot


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2008)

White Spot is a pain I had it in my tank years ago when we first set it up after talking to a friend of my mothers who breeds and keeps fish as a hobby he told us to gradually turn the tank up to 80+ degrees (I think we finally stopped at 86 degrees where it stayed for 10 days) and treated with aquarium salt. I've never had a problem with White Spot since but I know how devestating it can be to an aquarium 
He told us the best treatment for the White Spot was heat as it can't survive in the high temperatures & he must have been right as we still have fish that survived that white spot outbreak, living in our tank now


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## griffpan (Feb 2, 2008)

hopefully my tanks ok now but i don't want to tempt fate, i think i'll leave it a few more weeks and then start adding a few fish as i've plenty of room. my pride and joys are my panda catfish i love em but apart from them the loach and the neons thats all thats in there, very boring, LOL


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## chantys (Jul 26, 2008)

i think neon tetras are a good idea but they prefer being in groups of six as they are shoaling fish also make sure you wait aa while before adding your fish at least do water cycles i also reccomend that you really research your fish either online or through books before deciding to get them


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## Twichard (Feb 15, 2018)

griffpan said:


> Only get male guppies, they look nicer and if you get females they'll breed like anything and you'll be over run with the little critters
> 
> It's a good idea as well to work out the amount of fish you can keep in your size tank, i think its about 1cm of fish for every couple of litres. Also check what size your chosen fish will grow to. We had 2 plecs which we had to rehome as they grew to well over a foot each


I would advise you to get a mix of males and females I've tried keeping male guppies and the ended up harassing themselves to death and bloating with stress I also had the same experience with neon ranbow fish


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Twichard said:


> I would advise you to get a mix of males and females I've tried keeping male guppies and the ended up harassing themselves to death and bloating with stress I also had the same experience with neon ranbow fish


This thread is 10 years old. None of the original posters are around any more.


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