FAQ: GOOD (AND BAD) BEGINNER FISH
> * Good First Fish:
> cymprinids, Corydorus catfish and rainbowfish.
I would add Xiphophorus livebearers (platies and swordtails) to the list
above, for reasons described below:
> LIVEBEARERS
>
> [discussing why they have been left off the "first fish" list.]
> For one thing, many
> livebearers need high level of salt in their water to be healthy -
> making them incompatible with many other aquarium fish.
Although mollies do require high levels of salt to be happy, other livebearers
do not.
> Many common livebearers also are overbred, resulting in fish not
> nearly as healthy as those kept by aquarists of previous generations
> (or by the authors of most books).
I've found livebearers to be quite hardy. Even "store bought" ones, although
I have less experiance with them.
> Some are not even able to reproduce without human intervention.
This is not true of typical fish bought in stores, the fish novices are
likely to buy. All such fish can reproduce without human intervention.
>
> The well-known Guppy ....
In my experiance guppies often breed themselves to death, by filling a
tank with fish until the biological filter breaks down and the nitrate
or nitrite kills the fish. This is a good reason for NOT keeping guppies,
and I would add it to the FAQ. The "requirement" for salt is not a good
reason; guppies can live very happily in many different tape waters, and
require no salt at all.
> Closely related, Swordtails - Xiphophorus helleri and Platies -
> Xiphophorus maculatus are also popular fish. A number of color and
> finnage varieties are available of each with some of the Platies also
> referred to as ``Moons''. These fish need at least a teaspoon of salt
> per 5 gallons of water to be healthy.
This is just untrue. I have kept lots of Xiphophorus fish without adding
any salt (or having especially hard water). When travelling in Belize I
collected X. helleri from streams which had no salt in them, and quite
soft waters.
One thing to be careful of, is that some swordtails jump.
I think that platies make ideal starter fish, and swordtails make good
starter fish. A trio of swords or two trios of platies (or a trio of
platies and 2 or 3 corys) make a great 10 gallon "starter pack".
and i find paradise fish to be my fave fish on the list since thay are very peaceful and pretty.
here's a link with picture of a paradise fish
<a href="http
/"http/www.petpig.com/fish/Paradise_Fish.aspx"" target="_blank"><a href="http/www.petpig.com/fish/Paradise_Fish.aspx" target="_blank">http/www.petpig.com/fish/Paradise_Fish.aspx</a></a>
You cannot mix Oscars with many other fish, as they can eat small fish and beat-up many fish that are larger than them when the get moderately close to maturity.... To give an idea of size, a 75g tank would be 4ft long and about 18" in the other directions..._edit.jpg/800px-Macropodus_opercularis_-_side_(aka)_edit.jpg "/ :/")
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15 would be sencible in a 30g for the first few months, then if the filters are coping and the tank has had a chance to mature out, you could add a few more to it 
