My First fish tank?

There are a lot of freshwater fish that stay very small.

Check out the following list:

- Sparkling Gourami (max size 1")

- Pygmy Cory Cat (max size 0.75") - like to be in a group of 6 or more, min is 3

- Celestial Pearl Danio (max size 0.75")

- Exclamation Point Rasbora (max size 0.75") - like to be in a group of 6 or more, min is 3

- Shrimp has very little bio-load

For a 12 Gallons you can do the following

- 3 sparking gourami (don't get 2, you either get 1, 3 or more, 2 will flight like crazy)

- 6 Pygmy Cory Cat

- 6 Exclamation Point Rasbora

- 3 Celestial Pearl Danio

- 1 Hillstream loach

- 3 Tiger Shrimp

- 6 Cherry Red Shrimp

- This is important, you need to make sure you have a lot of plant, some small rocks and wood. Also, shrimp like very clean water, so you need to make sure you tank is cycled, ammonia and nitrite reading is 0. A lot of plant will help to keep your water clean.

I have a 5 gallons tanks for over 1 years with the follwing fish

- 1 sparking gourami

- 6 Pygmy Cory Cat

- 3 Exclamation Point Rasbora

- 2 Celestial Pearl Danio

- 1 Hillstream loach

- 2 Tiger Shrimp

- 4 Cherry Red Shrimp

- 6 Ghost Shrimp

- a lot of plants

Except the Ghost Shrimp (it has very short life span), everything else has been in the tank since day one (kind of...took me one month to fully stock my 5 gallon tank). My Cherry Red Shrimp even breed in my 5 Gallon tanks. Bio-load of very small fish is a lot less, 2 Exclamation Point Rasbora will have less bio-load of 1 Harlequin Rasbora. That's why you can put so many of them in a small tank. You need a lot of plants so the fish will be happy.

Before you even think about getting fish you need to cycle your tank!

(http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fish...

After your tank is fully cycled you should only add one, at most two fish, for the first week. Then you can add a few more after that.

Also remember the rule of One inch of fish per one gallon of water while stocking your tank.

Some easy beginner fish for fresh water are Danios, Guppies, smaller Tetras, female betta.

Stay away from Mollies, they are a brackish fish that grow to 6 inches, many people are mislead to believe that they are "small beginner fish" while they are hardy, they need to have at least a 20 gallon tank.

Also stay away from Plecostomus, they grow to over two feet long and are not suitable for small tanks. If you decide you want an algae eater then get the small Otocinclus.

And when buying fish it's best to get them from a small local fish store, the fish will be much healthier than something purchased at Walmart or a chain (for the most part, some chain stores take good care of their fish, but in general, you should always try your small local store first. And ALWAYS stay away from Walmart fish).

And don't be tricked into wasting your money on a bacteria starter. Anything that's not refrigerated is dead and useless and will only make your tank take longer to cycle.

And using fish to cycle your tank is also a bad idea, it's unnecessary cruelness to the fish who will have to endure the ammonia spikes.

Also don't worry about doing a 100% water change if you ever need to, many, MANY people with discus tanks do this weekly. Good bacteria does not live in the water, it lives on the surfaces (the filter media, the rocks, the glass, and the decor)

Get a bacteria starter. Ask your petshop what they recommend. I use "Cycle". Add it to the water in the tank and run the tank for about a week WITHOUT fish. This starts the good bacteria growth.

There has to be good bacteria in your fishtank to break down the fish's waste otherwise your fish will die from ammonia buildup.

Start with one or two fish, keep them for a week to get the bacteria breakdown going. Id suggest test the water regularly for Ammonia and nitrates in the first month. If ammonia levels are too high do partial water changes to dilute it. NEVER change the entire volume of water as this will result in killing all your good bacteria and you will have to start the cycle all over again.

Good hardy starter fish are mollies and guppies. and they are pretty too. Guppies are known to live in coldwater aswell.

A good pump is neccesary, when you clean the floss/spounge in the pump clean it with FISHTANK water in a seperate bucket. If you clean it in tap water the chlorine will kill your good bacteria. Oh yah this reminds me get some dechlorinator for the water aswell. The PH needs to be neutral so you will need to test the water's PH and adjust the levels accordingly.

A good petstore should stock all these test kits.

Good luck

First things first. You need to go shopping. I do not know what supplies you have now, but it's better to be stocked up before you buy fish: that prevents frantic scrambles to the petstore when an emergency strikes.

In addition to you tank you'll need

-a siphon

-aquarium salt (even for freshwater fish, if you add a little bit to the water it will help prevent disease and make your fish healthier)

-water conditioner (I use NovAqua)

-a kit to test for ammonia and nitrate (being able to test for things like pH is also useful, but not nessesary)

-basic medications (maracyn I for fungus, maracyn II for bacterial infections)

-a heater (if you want tropical fish)

Once you have all of your supplies, you can set up your aquarium. Do this on a stable flat surface (water is HEAVY). Add the water (with the aquarium salt and water conditioner) and the heater. Let the tank run for about a day to make sure that everything is working OK.

Now it's time to add the fish. But there is a catch. You need to first "cycle" your aquarium. Essentially it works like this: fish secrete various waste products, most importantly ammonia. The purpose of the filter is not so much to filter out particles in the water...but to provide an environment for bacteria. The bacteria that grow in the filter will break toxic ammonia down into less harmful substances. However, for this to work the bacteria must be established.

In my experience the best way for a beginner to cycle a tank is with live fish. I highly recommend danios--they are hearty, active and come in any sorts of colors (including a genetically modified form that glows bright pink). You should get three of them. You can do this with chemicals as well, but I am not sure how comfortable you would be with this. Bacterial "boosters" are basically pointless, as the bacteria they contain are usually dead. The process of cycling with live fish works like this--the fish release waste--which feeds the bacteria. However, the fish you use for cycling need to be tough: as they will be exposed to higher levels of toxins than will be in your aquarium at other points in time.

Now that you have your fish in the aquarium, you need to monitor the chemical levels in the tank everyday. During this time the aquarium also needs to be changed more often, probably twice a week. You will notice a sudden increase and then drop in the levels of ammonia and nitrite, and an increase in the levels of nitrates (which are fairly harmless).

YOUR TANK IS FULLY CYCLED WHEN THE LEVELS OF AMMONIA and NITRITE ARE NEAR ZERO.

At this point you can slowly add a few more fish to your aquarium: try not to add more than a couple at a time, or else your tank will cycle again...possibly killing off all of your fish. A good rule of thumb is roughly an inch of fish per a gallon of water: remember that many small species are most comfortable when kept in groups.

Some good species for a beginner are

-danios (must be kept in groups)

-neon tetras (they can be sort of delicate...and tend to be prone to disease however)

-guppies

-cory cats (they also need to be kept in groups)

-female bettas (you can keep more than one together, but this can be tricky...so you'd probably be better off with just one)

-male bettas (only with species that do not nip at fins...and are not brightly colored: you could probably keep a male betta with 3-4 cory cats and not have any problems)

Hi Carol. Hearty fish...hmm...definitely NOT Angel fish. They die too easily. Unfortunately, most of the hearty fish are the least interesting. But if you establish the right ph balance, etc. then you may be able to add the interesting fish later. Have fun! And remember, many of the petstore salepeople can help you choose the right fish! :-)

what almost every one gets for starter fish are neon tetras they are easy to look after but are not the strongest of fish remember that. Then you should get a live breeder theyr a must have. I wouldn't go for a molly because they are a bit sensitive my one brought white spots into my tank. Guppies look good and are too but the best fish i have had are platies they have lived for over one year which is good for a fish and survived whit spots so i say they are a must have too. i would only get about 7-10 fish to start off with if i was you.

this is all for a tropical fish tank i hope thats what your talkinbg about.

Here are some freshwater fish that would be great for the beginner to start with:-

Bettas

Gouramis

Zebra Danios

Rasboras

Cherry Barbs

Guppies

Platies

Tetras

Loaches

You can read the following article for more information:-

www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/60

I bought four only four Guppies in July 2007 and now I have over 200 and I gave away about 50 or 60. Anybody can raise guppies they are easy to raise. I have one female guppy she had 52 babies.

If you want small, colorful and active fish, try fan tail guppies, mollies and red wag platys. White cloud may also be a good choice

there are loads of fishtanks that you can use that are what you described. You can try looking in pet shops and telling the owner what you need and if they dont have it you can ask them to stock it. good luck with the fish