Are My Fish Tank Choices Okay for Beginners?

[fishorama]

Back to the OP, I would go with tiny microrasboras, say 6 or 8 & call it stocked.

But shrimp can be surprisingly interesting instead of fish. With enough hiding places (plants & decor) for the shrimp you might try a betta too. He might eat a few shrimplets but still interesting.

As said, guppies & many fish are too big for a tiny tank.

 

[seangee]

It would also be useful if you could tell us the hardness of your water. The specific parameters are GH and KH. These may be available on your water company's website or you could use test strips to give an indicative value. There are several different units so we need to know which unit is used. Your local fish shop could also do the test for you.
This is important because freshwater fish have evolved to deal with specific water conditions. For example in your initial post you mention neon tetras and guppies. Guppies need hard water and will not be healthy in soft water. Neon tetras need soft water and would not be healthy in hard water. So it is important to match your fish to the water you can easily provide.
FWIW these parameters do not change over time - so don't waste your money on expensive test kits, indicitave values are fine. The numbers don't need to be exact.

 

[emeraldking]

Hey everyone,

I am new to the fishkeeping hobby & just got my first tank setup . I have been doing a bunch of YouTube and Reddit research but figured it would be better to actually ask real hobbyists here instead of getting lost in conflicting info.

I have cycled the tank & now I am thinking about stocking it. I was considering 5-6 neon tetras, a couple of guppies & maybe a small snail or shrimp. Does that sound reasonable for a beginner tank? Or am I already heading into overstocking territory?

Also, how do you know when you are feeding them the right amount? Also i have check this https/www.fishforums.net/threads/stocking-for-20-litre-5devOps-course-online-gallon-tanks.481185/ still want to know more.

Thank you.

Well, you'll always will get conflicting replies on most of your questions. For there are people who get their knowledge from books or the internet and use those rules. And there are people who speak out of their own experience. And there are people who are so convinced of themselves with their advice that you will never win a conversation with them. To a novice aquarist, this can be very confusing.

Neon tetras love soft water but my experience is that they do well in hard water overhere as well for many years. And mine will grow uop large as well. Large finned guppies don't do well in softer water but short finned guppies however will do fine in there. There are dwarf shrimps that do well in hard water but there are also dwarf shrimp species that do only best in softer water. So, it really comes down to what type of shrimp, tetras and guppies you'd like to keep together.

It's easy to call the mentioned fish beginners fish. But as long as you do your research on the desired fish and you know that you're capable of offering the right conditions, then any type of fish can be chosen. if one of these options is not present at the time, I would go for fish that are easy to maintain.