Ok, So I'm going to set up some sort of aquarium in my apartment to add to the overall "zen" of my place. my question is for the people that have fish/have had fish what kind do you reccomend? Basically my only guidlines are it can't need too large of an aquarium, and freshwater.
No angel fish; they attack pretty much everything else in the tank. And tetras are very sensitive to everything, and therefore very easy to accidentally kill. I like wee sharks, myself. I'd love to have fish again.... very tranquil. Not keen on the maintenance side of things, though.....
I had a 20 gallon community tank for years. My favorites were the gouramis, especially the pearls. They get about 4-5 inches long and are long lived. I also liked neon or cardinal tetras. They do die fairly often, but the neons are cheap and a school of at least a dozen looks so cool. Serpae tetras get bigger and have a nice red color as well as seeming to be a little more hardy. Add some corey cats to hang out on the bottom and scavenge to help keep the tank clean. Real plants help too and look really great.
Hey, I'm big into aquariums too, my dad had a massive one. About the angelfish, they are pretty placid, ive never experienced my angels going after the other fish. The question you need to ask yourself is what type of fish do you want in your tank? You say you want freshwater so you have to choose whether you want tropical,ciclids or African ciclids. Tropical fish are generally a bit smaller and youre going to tend to want to get small schools or at least pairs. Ciclids can get HUGE and are agressive, so you have to find species that will cohabitat with each other. but they are gorgeous. African Ciclids need a bit higher alkanility in the tank, and they too are very very pretty fish, and verry very agressive but on average they will be smaller than the other ciclids. You cant really mix african ciclids with tropicals but you can mix the tropicals with the regular ciclids if your ciclid is small enough and chill enough.... Ask the guy at the pet store. If you have any other questions feel free to pm me.
Like huecotoph said, we need to know what type of fish you want, type of aquarium you want and size and size does matter bigger is better because it keeps your parameters stable. Angel fish are part of the cichlid family but are considered community but still carry the cichlid traits being they are territorial and other smaller commnity fish with them will likely become stressed or killed by the angel fish.
Ok, i'm thinking of something no bigger than a 10 gallon. Maintenence is really not a big deal because i'm willing to put in the work to keep things stable. As far as fish go, I'd like something with brighter colors with a decent degree of longevity and toughness. Also, freshwater as I had mentioned previously
A 10 gallon is kinda small if you're looking for a community tank... Unfortunately, most the fish that can survive in such a small tank are [typically] easily killable... Go to http://www.liveaquaria.com to help you on your search... They have fish pictures, descriptions, compatibilities, and care-guides to help you in selecting the fish that are most appropriate for your tank size/budget... I have a 55 gallon community cichlid (yeah, that's right, I'm just that good, LOL) tank... I have in the tank: 1 Jack Dempsy 1 Green Terror 1 Gold Severum 1 [Blue] Red Parrot 1 Firemouth 2 Pictus Cat Fish 1 Pleco 1 Blue Lobster It's a pretty fully-stocked tank (maybe a bit over-stocked), but they get along just fine, and I have adequate filtration. For your size tank, you're prolly looking at mostly Tetras/Gouramis... If you could get a 30 gallon tank, you'd have more of a selection for a community tank.
I would get some specie of cichlid. An oscar prefferably. But if this is your first fish I don't recommend it. They are hard fish to take care of but are a great joy to have if you like fish enough. I have one and it's very clever but can also very devastating to the other fish in to the tank.
Not for a 10 gallon tank... If you're looking at cichlids, you'll want a 30-50+ gallon tank (depending on species of cichlid)... Oscars need AT LEAST 50 gallons (preferrably 70).
Oh, I didn't read that he only had a 10 gallon tank. Sorry. But yeah, I have a 100 gallon tank he has grown huge since I got 3 months ago. Before that I had a 40 gallon tank and he stayed the same size until I got the 100 gallon tank.
I had an Oscar before I got the Red Parrot... He was beating up on the other fish so I had to get rid of him. The parrot is chillin though... Big chicken.
nah not in a 10 gal id recommend some a lotta different cory carfist, catfish are the pimps of the fish tank, haha mabe some brightly colored community fish..
I've been doing some research and I've decided to go with those cory catfish in a 20 gallon (fuck it, my xmas present to myself). From what i've read...they're a pretty hardy species and a good fish for a beginner (this is my first aquarium i've had since i was a kid). Plus, these guys can actually gulp air from the surface to take in oxygen Any smaller fish ya'll would reccomend i put in there as well? Pirhanas would be cool, but i've read that their food is expensive and if you don't keep them well fed...they will eat each other. not too mention, you can't really have a community tank with them.
you have inspired me, i used to have tons of fish when i was a kid, and now i want another one. im gonna have to get one. ha
nope, they're carnivorous and need meat fish are cool as fuck to watch high. My friend has a big ass 50-gallon coffee table fish tank thats lit. it's crazy to watch these guys swimming around
I'd go with pirahnas. You should really only keep one of in a tank because even if you do feed em enough one will end up eating the other just outa argression. I had one was really cool easily cared for you feed em blood worms. they grow pritty slow so you can keep em in a 10 for a good amount of time and now that you brought this up i think i might set up my tank again.
You know what's really cool? The very first time I ever had fish as a kid was 8 piranhas, and I fed them neons now and then. Just for shits. We had 3 oscars too, in another tank. The neons were for them. My piranhas were supposed to eat smelts. I couldn't just let my babies go their whole lives without getting to kill at least the occasional meal themselves. I was a fucked up kid.