Help!

[Becca_2790]

Hi, I'm new to fish keeping and I have just received a Fluval Edge fish tank as a gift! I've decided I want to keep tropical fish, and I've purchased the heater and have it installed ready! (works a treat)
Now, I need to decide on what fish to get! Can anyone recommend tropical fish to me that will live happily together? I've been looking at guppies and betta's and also a siamese fighter, but I need a bit More guidance!

Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi Becca, welcome to the forum!

First of all, you will need to cycle your tank (that means grow a colony of helpful bacteria in your filter) to prevent your fish becoming sick, or even dying, by swiming around in their own waste.

There are two ways to cycle; fishless (where you grow the bacteria before you add any fish; this is the method we recommend, as there is no risk of harming any fish) and fish-in (where you do lots of water changes to keep the fish healthy until the bacteria grow enough; not recommended, as you can kill or cause long term health problems for the fish if it goes wrong).

Articles on both methods, and lots of other usefulthings are in our beginner's resource centre (link is in my sig), so I suggest you start by having a read of some of the info there

Bettas and Siamese fighters are the same thing; they can't be kept with guppies, as they mistake the guppy for another fighter (they're not the brainiest of fish!) and attack them. Bettas aren't the best choice for an Edge, as they need to breathe from the surface and the Edge has a very small surface area. I believe the Edge filter is too powerful for Bettas too.

Guppies would be a good choice, as long as you have only males (they breed like rabbits if you have both sexes!), but there are lots of small fish you could choose from. Plenty of time to research tha while you cycle

 

[colleen0309]

Hi Becca, welcome to the forum!

First of all, you will need to cycle your tank (that means grow a colony of helpful bacteria in your filter) to prevent your fish becoming sick, or even dying, by swiming around in their own waste.

There are two ways to cycle; fishless (where you grow the bacteria before you add any fish; this is the method we recommend, as there is no risk of harming any fish) and fish-in (where you do lots of water changes to keep the fish healthy until the bacteria grow enough; not recommended, as you can kill or cause long term health problems for the fish if it goes wrong).

Articles on both methods, and lots of other usefulthings are in our beginner's resource centre (link is in my sig), so I suggest you start by having a read of some of the info there

Bettas and Siamese fighters are the same thing; they can't be kept with guppies, as they mistake the guppy for another fighter (they're not the brainiest of fish!) and attack them. Bettas aren't the best choice for an Edge, as they need to breathe from the surface and the Edge has a very small surface area. I believe the Edge filter is too powerful for Bettas too.

Guppies would be a good choice, as long as you have only males (they breed like rabbits if you have both sexes!), but there are lots of small fish you could choose from. Plenty of time to research tha while you cycle

+1 . welcome to the forum!

 

[TropicalLad21]

Welcome to the forum... im sure if you listen to the information given you will be up & running with no problems in no time, very helpful people here.

 

[chickennuggets123]

Bettas and Siamese Fighters are the same things. Just got different names.

Try cycling your tank. If you dont know what this is- read about it in the help section.


I'd recommend starting with- Common Livebearers, because-
They're cheap
Easy to find in any petshop
Easy to care for
Easy to breed

These include-
Guppies
Endlers
Platys
Mollies

And make sure you check the gender first of the fish you are buying, as you dont want babies flying around after a few weeks (unless you actually want to go into breeding them).

 

[phishyphil]

+1 For cycling the tank first. CHECK THIS INFO OUT and it will help you get started.

Good Luck