Suggestions for fish for a fish tank? - Updated! Got fish, now a fish question

[photon]

If you remember my hypoallergenic cat thread, you know my son's been bugging mom and dad about pets.

So after explaining mom gets sick from smelling cats, he seems to be ok with that, and got enthusiastic with fish.

I was thinking of starting small with a bowl or a 5 gallon tank, but reading it seems the smaller the tank the harder they are to maintain, so I figured I might as well go with the basic 20 gallon tank.

So got a basic tank, filter, heater, etc.

Now I have to decide what fish to put in it.

Any suggestions as to something that will impress a preschooler but be hardy enough to withstand a beginner fish keeper (had some a loooong time ago)?

Maybe something small but a school of them? So they move together and he can watch them?

[Smyth's Skate]

Live ones?

[REDVAN]

some small guppy types will be colourful and let you have a bunch, but are pretty easy. PLus they are cheap so if they die, meh.

[cKy]

I recommend shopping @ Picses (Off Edmonton Tr/McKnight Blvd) and telling them your needs. They have awesome staff and know their fish. When buying types of Fish, keep these things in mind. Certain types either dont like to be alone or dont like to be in large groups. Some Fish hate other breeds and will fight them (total racist fish) and some fish like bigger tanks.

[KevanGuy]

Mollies are always a good choice for a beginner. Plus then tend to breed fairly easily so that can be neat for kids to see the babies grow up.

[photon]

Hm, never thought about letting them breed.

Thanks cKy, I'll check them out! Always nice to have input from more experts, I had a few suggestions from Petland and such that even I knew not to do from reading a few aquarium wikis.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by photon

If you remember my hypoallergenic cat thread, you know my son's been bugging mom and dad about pets.

So after explaining mom gets sick from smelling cats, he seems to be ok with that, and got enthusiastic with fish.

I was thinking of starting small with a bowl or a 5 gallon tank, but reading it seems the smaller the tank the harder they are to maintain, so I figured I might as well go with the basic 20 gallon tank.

So got a basic tank, filter, heater, etc.

Now I have to decide what fish to put in it.

Any suggestions as to something that will impress a preschooler but be hardy enough to withstand a beginner fish keeper (had some a loooong time ago)?

Maybe something small but a school of them? So they move together and he can watch them?

Exact same situation.

If I may add a few more questions.

Is it true you have to have the thing running for a couple weeks before you can introduce the fish (to allow bacteria to build up) or can you just dump them in?

Do you introduce them in 2s (for the same reason). i.e. add 2, then another 2 a week later and so on

Is there a max/recommended no. of fish per gallon? What happens if they have kids, are you supposed to remove some?

[prarieboy]

Originally Posted by photon

If you remember my hypoallergenic cat thread, you know my son's been bugging mom and dad about pets.

So after explaining mom gets sick from smelling cats, he seems to be ok with that, and got enthusiastic with fish.

I was thinking of starting small with a bowl or a 5 gallon tank, but reading it seems the smaller the tank the harder they are to maintain, so I figured I might as well go with the basic 20 gallon tank.

So got a basic tank, filter, heater, etc.

Now I have to decide what fish to put in it.

Any suggestions as to something that will impress a preschooler but be hardy enough to withstand a beginner fish keeper (had some a loooong time ago)?

Maybe something small but a school of them? So they move together and he can watch them?

African Cichlids are a good choice if you don't wan't to mix it up to much. You can get some very colorful varieties that will grow over time and thrive in a 20 gallon tank. The problem with fish in a 20 gallon tank is that they will pick on each other if there are too many. Buy a small number of fish and let them grow.

I also had a pair of Angel fish that breed and I was witness to the subsequent dinner party that that became.

In my opinion it is better for your little guy to see a small fish get bigger as he helps to feed it etc. than you having to explain why "flipper" isn't around for breakfast the next day.

[KevanGuy]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Exact same situation.

If I may add a few more questions.

Is it true you have to have the thing running for a couple weeks before you can introduce the fish (to allow bacteria to build up) or can you just dump them in?

Do you introduce them in 2s (for the same reason). i.e. add 2, then another 2 a week later and so on

Is there a max/recommended no. of fish per gallon? What happens if they have kids, are you supposed to remove some?

If it is your first time with a tank you should probably let the water cycle through the filter for a couple days. You can get stuff now like Cycle that helps condition the water faster. Also, be sure to use something like Aqua Plus when you are adding water to the tank, it takes the chlorine out. Like cKy said, go to Pieces and they will set you up with all that stuff. Avoid places like Petsmart and Petland.

As soon as the water is conditioned you can add the fish. Be sure to set the bag in the water to allow the fish to get used to any temperature difference. Open the bag and use the tank lid to keep it floating. Add some tank water to the bag every 5 minutes or so for about 20 minutes, then just take the top of the bag out from under the lid and let the fish find their own way out. That will reduce stress.

I believe the general rule is 1 fish per gallon, but, if you have any fish bigger than say, your pinkie I would do 1 fish for every 3 gallons or so.

You can get little boxes that attach to the side of the tank for babies to protect them. But if you only have mollies in the tank I don't think you have to worry about them being eaten, though, it has been quite a few years since I've kept them so you might want to look online. I wouldn't worry about moving them to a different tank, not until they are adults anyway. I doubt the few extra will be an issue capacity wise.

[KevanGuy]

Originally Posted by prarieboy

African Cichlids are a good choice if you don't wan't to mix it up to much. You can get some very colorful varieties that will grow over time and thrive in a 20 gallon tank. The problem with fish in a 20 gallon tank is that they will pick on each other if there are too many. Buy a small number of fish and let them grow.

I also had a pair of Angel fish that breed and I was witness to the subsequent dinner party that that became.

In my opinion it is better for your little guy to see a small fish get bigger as he helps to feed it etc. than you having to explain why "flipper" isn't around for breakfast the next day.

Yeah, I wouldn't mix Cichlids with other fish, you are asking for trouble there. But if you want Cichlids , I'd recommend a male and female cribensis. They make cool borrows in the tank and have live babies. They are good parents though and will defend their young, so, not really a community type fish.

Most types of tetras are also good starter fish. They are relatively easy to keep and don't really fight with other fish. Neon or cardinal tetras are cool, kids will like the colours. Oh, and danios are cool, extremely easy to keep, super cheap and very active. I always have danios in my tanks.

[Bagor]

Excellent KevanGuy. Thanks.

[prarieboy]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Exact same situation.

If I may add a few more questions.

Is it true you have to have the thing running for a couple weeks before you can introduce the fish (to allow bacteria to build up) or can you just dump them in?

Do you introduce them in 2s (for the same reason). i.e. add 2, then another 2 a week later and so on

Is there a max/recommended no. of fish per gallon? What happens if they have kids, are you supposed to remove some?

In my experience Fish Tanks thrive on neglect.

If I was starting a tank today I would fill it up and let it run for a week and then put a Pleco in. A few days after that I would start to put the real fish in and just increase the population like that until I had enough in the tank.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by prarieboy

In my experience Fish Tanks thrive on neglect.

If I was starting a tank today I would fill it up and let it run for a week and then put a Pleco in. A few days after that I would start to put the real fish in and just increase the population like that until I had enough in the tank.

Thanks.

What do you mean by "real fish?"

I've just looked up Pleco. I'm presuming it would be more of a cleaning fish as opposed to an ornamental?

Big old bugger too.

Photon, hope you don't mind me hijacking a bit?

[Mightyfire89]

Neons, Mollies, black skirts, Phantoms, Zebra Danios, Guppies, Dwarf Gouramis, Plateys, all good community fish that will live together with few problems. I find Neons to be a favourite of most children because of their vibrant colours. Stay away from cichlids, Angel fish and any of the other types of Gouramis-they're generally all aggressive to smaller fish. Some shark breeds can be ok-red-tailed black sharks are good bottom feeding scavengers and can be kept alone, but Iridescent sharks, for example, cannot be kept alone, they'll literally die of loneliness and Bala sharks can be aggressive towards other fish. After a couple weeks of having your tank full of fish and all set up, you can introduce a Chinese algae eater or a Plecostomus, but beware, plecostomus are one of the few fish that will grow beyond what can reasonably fit in your tank-they'll just keep growing and growing...Chinese algae eaters are better in this regard, but are (ironically), less adept at keeping your tank clean by eating algae, plus, both breeds can occasionally be aggressive towards other fish. But it's worth having one to keep the algae down (the fish couldn't care less about algae, it doesn't harm them in any way, but it makes the tank look less impressive and if left to it's own devices, will make it almost impossible to see in the tank). At the same time you introduce the algae eater, you should also get a catfish or bottom feeding shark of some type. They eat the food you put in the tank that doesn't get eaten by the rest of the fish. Corydoras are pretty much the norm for this role.

Make sure you have real plants in your tank, they help to make a more natural environment for the fish (not just appearance, they help keep the water balanced).

There's tons more info about this hobby so If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

[Sainters7]

Just wonderin. Can you throw a Siamese Fighting Fish with anything, or do they always always have to be solitary?

[KevanGuy]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Just wonderin. Can you throw a Siamese Fighting Fish with anything, or do they always always have to be solitary?

They can live with other fish but, in my experience, actually prefer smaller, solitary confines.

[LGA]

My suggestion would actually be to get a 45+ starter kit and get African cichlids. I used to breed them, they come in a variety of colours (I especially love the Lake Malawi cichlids), the water in Calgary is fantastic for them, not sure if it's still the same but Calgary water used to have a pH of around 8.0, which makes the water a little hard for quite a few species of fish.

The Lake Malawi cichlids also have a ton of very interesting habits, things like digging out nests in the substrate, their breeding habits, and just their living habits (Lake Malawi has a ton of caves and other rocky structures). Personally they are my favourite types of fish.

If you are set on a 20 Gallon tank I'd suggest getting a bunch of community fish, personally I like to pick a spot in the world and build a tank towards that environment so that you can cater the tank to the needs of the fish. You've gotta be careful though, as I said earlier Calgary water is a bit hard, so you're going to want to get a pH buffer to lower that pH to around 7.

If you've got any specific questions just go ahead and ask.

[LGA]

Originally Posted by KevanGuy

Yeah, I wouldn't mix Cichlids with other fish, you are asking for trouble there. But if you want Cichlids , I'd recommend a male and female cribensis. They make cool borrows in the tank and have live babies. They are good parents though and will defend their young, so, not really a community type fish.

Most types of tetras are also good starter fish. They are relatively easy to keep and don't really fight with other fish. Neon or cardinal tetras are cool, kids will like the colours. Oh, and danios are cool, extremely easy to keep, super cheap and very active. I always have danios in my tanks.

I'm gonna have to agree on this, if you are going to get Cichlids you can't really have any other types of fish in there (save for catfish, which are surprisingly godlike in their inability to be massacred).

I know from my experiences with Lake Malawi cichlids that just having cichlids isn't necessarily a bad thing, they come in massive variety of colours and they usually have fun habits that you can see. If you do go with Cichlids try to go all male, if there's no females their aggression is actually really low, if you decide to have females and males, I'd go with 3 females to every male, otherwise the male will chase and harass the female constantly. Also, you want to crowd cichlid tanks in most cases (save for if you are only going with one species), they're still aggressive but it's spread out amongst all of them.

As for schooling fish, which I totally forgot to really mention in my last post, I'd do some research on the Amazon River Basin fish, they include good schooling fish in cardinal and neon tetras which are those glowy little fish you often see in freshwater tanks in pet stores, other tetras are also really good, and relatively colourful. Unfortunately some of the cooler fish in the Amazon are much harder to keep, things like Discus, Piranhas, Stingrays, very cool, very hard to keep unfortunately.

The problem with fish keeping though is that it gets really addictive, a friend of mine started with fighting fish, and now he lives in Australia and has a 20, 000 gallon tank (it's ridiculous), with crazy fish like Piraracu in it.

[Stumptown]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Krack Korn

... but beware, plecostomus are one of the few fish that will grow beyond what can reasonably fit in your tank-they'll just keep growing and growing...

The common Plecostomus that you see at most pet stores are the ones that can get huge. I've got one who's about 8 inches long (55 gallon) and hides all day. If you go to an aquarium store, they should be able to point you to more social, and smaller varieties. There are some really weird and cool, and just plain bizarre looking ones out there.

Cory cats are a must in just about any tank. They really help balance the ecosystem, and they're cheap and very easy to care for.

If you have live plants (I agree with JKK there) make sure you have the right wattage light for the height of the tank. Plants at the bottom of a deep tank won't get enough light with the default flourescents that come with package setups. Like my tank, full of stunted sickly looking plants because one of my tubes went out like a month ago and I haven't had a chance to replace it. Also, there's a special kind of substrate (gravel) that you can get that will help plants root. You can mix that in with gravel you have, you wouldn't need to replace it.

Good luck and enjoy!

[LGA]

Originally Posted by Stumptown

The common Plecostomus that you see at most pet stores are the ones that can get huge. I've got one who's about 8 inches long (55 gallon) and hides all day. If you go to an aquarium store, they should be able to point you to more social, and smaller varieties. There are some really weird and cool, and just plain bizarre looking ones out there.

Cory cats are a must in just about any tank. They really help balance the ecosystem, and they're cheap and very easy to care for.

If you have live plants (I agree with JKK there) make sure you have the right wattage light for the height of the tank. Plants at the bottom of a deep tank won't get enough light with the default flourescents that come with package setups. Like my tank, full of stunted sickly looking plants because one of my tubes went out like a month ago and I haven't had a chance to replace it. Also, there's a special kind of substrate (gravel) that you can get that will help plants root. You can mix that in with gravel you have, you wouldn't need to replace it.

Good luck and enjoy!

Cory's are fantastic, they're awkward and kinda cute looking at the same time.

Clown loaches are also really good bottom feeders, unfortunately they aren't the friendliest beginner fish, they do have attitudes of their own though. I had a clown loach that would constantly play dead, he'd bait you until you almost got the net to him and suddenly he'd shoot off and go swim with his crew. They are buggers.