# Your Ideas Beginner Fish



## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

We are often asked by newcomers what fish to start with and I am just wondering what the thoughts of others is on this topic. When I first started out everyone kept guppies or goldfish but I believe the popularity and overbreeding of these fish have left them weaker then they used to be and would not consider either as a newbie fish any longer. 
My choice would be the Harlequin Rasbora adjusts well to different parameters and inexpensive. It also has enough personality to keep interest. What do you guys think and why?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

A Betta worked for me.
I personally have had lots of problems (well actually one...they die) with guppies. I'd say just over 50-70% as a matter of fact though I'd need to ponder it
for a few to be sure of that percent. It's over the 50% though.
I dose Excel but am becoming weary of it. I can't seem to be patient/w the growth you get from a single T8, even the high tech kind. Adding a second one seems the best
option so far as I recently went the LED route on the light. NOT happy so far/w that one. Doubt very much that I'll keep it. $68 wasted on an impulse buy.
Let me say here that I do have a ten gallon so it may be too close for it to work in a satisfactory manner. A taller tank could better use them so stay away
from the LED's if you have a ten or a 20L. On the other hand if you never had an aquarium before you likely wouldn't know it not an even level all over the tank like a T8 is.
But any way the reason for the light coming up is that I'm starting to shy away from the high tech. Heard so many good things about it from my LFS and here I thought
I'd jump on that track. But for the beginner I'd say keep it simple and unless you have a tank the height of a 55 or more stay/w the T8's.
My tank that has been established is green. Plants/walls(I cover the back one for algae to have a place to hold on to)/ bottom...and so I thought a couple of guppies
would give it some different color. To date I've bought 6 and have 2 left. One had a case of the shimmies for a few days/thought it to be getting better but he died.
The temp dropped one night and did him in but the others just looked fine for a few days when I put them in there and one morning I'd wake up and find one dead
for no apparent reason. I think they've been inbreed for so long they are weaker today like you said.
I did put one Betta in there and have had none of those problems you hear about with him in there/w the guppies. I wouldn't know how it would work if he were the
first fish in the tank however. I do think they will be OK if the tank has lots of decorations/plants. If you only have some gravel and that's it...what else does he have
to do but mess/w the other fish. I'd recommend it for a beginner but not as a "first buy". Putting one into an established community worked for me.


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## nate2005 (Apr 24, 2013)

Through my trial and errors, moves, and hard water in my area I have had the best experiences with platys, mollys, and sword tails. These fish can be colorful, active, are cheap, and don't get too big. Seems like those are what most beginners r looking for and they usually have small tanks too. Not to mention the possible of fry excitement for a beginner. 

Great thread. I'm looking forward to others suggestions.


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

I am a beginner in this hobby, but I really enjoy the schooling of my neon tetras. They were really easy to acclimate to my water, and they are very vibrant. 

I would also recommend cory cats, I have 3 albinos and will be introducing another one this weekend. They are super fast and fun to watch and they were also acclimated without problems.

These two fish are great additions to a new tank (IMO).


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

neons and cory cats are good choice.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I roll with nate on this one.Livebearers offer more than color and activity to any tank.seeing new born fry and how small and lacking of beauty that the parents have,is a great primer for new keepers to come to understand how hard and rewarding raising fish can be.To "struggle" to raise swords , guppies,or mollies can only teach one to apreciate the German blue ram or discus WAY BEFORE they ever get one.
Great thread idea by the way d.Seems like a money issue lately on this site !
I've recently gotten many bitter responses to some of my post(questioning right and wrong) and I have to say there really is probly no right or wrong answer to this one,but more individual keepers experience and possibly better respones than others!I hope everyone shares their opinion as this is one thread that can benefit from all.


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

I would also suggest some of the tetras are not too difficult, like glolight and bloodfin. They are active and not very expensive and they also generally won't result in the potential for a quickly overstocked livebearer tank.

While livebearers can be fun (I started with two guppies several years ago and this family just won't stop), for me I really quickly got over the excitement of 30-40 guppies at a time!


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Haha I would have to agree that while having livebearers can be exciting and make new aquarioneers appreciate the more beautiful fish, it could be very overbearing and turn them away if all of a sudden they have 40 fry and can't care for them properly. I would suggest any livebearer (males only) or tetras, some corys, maybe even going with a shrimp tank.


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