# Fish for a new beginer



## Miss.PuddyCat (Jul 13, 2009)

Hey

Im getting my brother some fish and i need some help. I had a big tank when i was younger some 15 odd years ago. From goldfish,angel fish,tetres, and crayfish. But i cant remeber anything.

Im getting him a 10 litre tank.

What fish would be best suited for a beginer?

How far in advance should the tank be set up before getting the fish?

What equipment is he going to need besides the tank?

Thanks for your help


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

first things first, read up on fishless cycling, if you post any Qs here you have on it then hopefully I can help

10 litres will limit the fish you can have due to its size. If your doing coldwater then white cloud mountain minnows, tropical, maybe 4 harlequin rasboras, neon tetras or 2/3 male guppies.

What you need:


guide to fishless cycling
advice!
liquid test kit
to be prepared to do water changes weekly
dechlorinator
5 litres bucket
gravel vac / syphon
net
thermometer for tropical
substrate - usually gravel
filter - undergravel is perfect for a beginner, internal also suitable but needs occassional careful cleaning
food

Also, be wary of fish shop advice, its infamous for being rubbish (but not always - 50% of my Local Fish Shops are excellent; 50% haven't got a clue!


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

Miss.PuddyCat said:


> How far in advance should the tank be set up before getting the fish?


Sorry, should have said the fishless cycle takes 2 weeks plus, my longest took 3 1/2 weeks due to an error I made.

You can get ammonia from Homebase.


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## NathanbUK (Jul 23, 2009)

What the others have said is correct but just remember that the pet shops will test your water saving you about £20 for your own test kit.


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## NathanbUK (Jul 23, 2009)

NathanbUK said:


> What the others have said is correct but just remember that the pet shops will test your water


Make sure you test it though somewhere that specializes in just selling fish. :smilewinkgrin: Wouldnt want to be told its safe when not.


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## Jekka (Aug 13, 2009)

Also make sure you inspect the fish as thoroughly as is possible before you buy them - torn fins, white spots and obvious discolouration/swellings are to be avoided at all costs. I used to keep large amounts of tropical fish and was disgusted at the number of sellers who would try to hide something like white spot from the customers just to get a sale.

Don't forget if you get guppies they breed like nobodies business so if you do get both sexes, be prepared for lots of mini guppies.


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## NathanbUK (Jul 23, 2009)

Noticed fishyfins happened to disagree with me . I go to a fish specialist where they test my water free and my fish have been fine for over a year now. Obviously it's your choice to get a kit, just when you're on budget like me it's 20 odd quid or free.


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## xXhayleyroxX (Apr 18, 2008)

everyone here has given great advice, but when buying fish, look at their statistics (usually below the tank) and look how they are going to react to the other fish. For example, if you buy a siamese fighter fish, you couldnt have guppies as it would kill them or attack them. 
Easy fish to keep in a cold tank are mountain cloud minnows and goldfish (but the goldfish would eat any babys)

tropical tank - guppies, neon tetras, choreadoras ( bottom feeders), kuli loaches (but they hide), goramis (dont know how to spell lol, but they are brightly coloured fish with tripod fins).


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## pets-life (Jul 28, 2009)

Hi there,

You might some good ideas from reading the articles listed here.

Good luck in finding what you want.

Pet Fish Articles


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## Miss.PuddyCat (Jul 13, 2009)

:thumbup: Thanks for the help guys 

I made a mistake were i said litres instead of gallons so the take would be ten gallons. Im going to let him pick which fish he wants in the tank. Im going get the tank next month but not set it up until october as his birthday is november.

I have two stores in mind were to get the fish from,they have a goodsetup and all the info is on the tanks as well not sure if they test water samples so ill have to ask.


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## Grinningcat (Aug 17, 2009)

Best advice I can give you is to do a bit of basic research on tropical fish species before adding them into your tank. A lot of folks buy without knowing, for example, that their new fish is a juvenile and will grow to be 12+ inches and aggressive as an adult. Be aware that some pet store employees will give you bad advice, usually because they know little about the fish they're selling.

For a 10 gallon tropical, stay away from most cichlids (including angelfish), "sharks", plecostomus (except clown plecos), and tiger barbs. These fish get too large or aggressive for your setup.

Some fish types I'd recommend: guppy, platy, any small tetra, dwarf or sparkling gourami, any smaller rasbora, danio, corydoras, cherry barbs.

Someone else suggested goldfish for a coldwater setup. I disagree. Goldfish grow to be huge, messy fish. An adult goldfish needs a LOT more than 10 gallons, along with powerful filtration.

Good luck!


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

Fishyfins said:


> which typically takes 4 to 6 weeks, as opposed to what is said above


I've done many fishless cycles and only once has it taken longer than 3 weeks due to my dosing ammonia to 6ppm in error and stalling the cycle. On that occassion it took 4 weeks.

the length of the cycle is dependant on a number of factors and it is incorrect to state there is a right or wrong answer for the length of time on this; however 4 to 6 weeks is unusually long for a fishless cycle; I'd be interested to hear your pwn experiences of this and your setup when fishless cycling?

the important thing in my opinion is daily testing and keeping an eye on levels - post here daily figures of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and i'm sure we can advise well


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## sockyee (Aug 23, 2009)

For beginners, it's best to go for combination of either swordtail, guppy, platy or otocatfish. There's no way to predict how long you will need to fully cycled and stabilize the tank. Usually what I would do is to let the aquarium running without fish for a week while adding some water from an established fish tank and then add a pair of swordtail with an otocatfish. From there, keep close watch on the water condition especially ammonia and nitrite levels and then followup with regular water changes.


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## Rhiannan (Jun 16, 2009)

xXhayleyroxX said:


> For example, if you buy a siamese fighter fish, you couldnt have guppies as it would kill them or attack them.


I find that interesting, the only time I have had a siamese fighter freindly tank is when I had guppies in it! And even then, if there was any bullying done it was the guppies trying to have a little nibble at the fighters fins. I've always found fighters (kept singulary of course) to be very peaceful and never cause any problems. 
It was such a colourful tank my guppy / fighter tank


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