My Son Wants Some Fish!

[Sheve]

Some recommended, hardy fish:

Danios, guppies, platys, mollies and for bottom feeders, cory cats are pretty hardy in my experience. The middle three are livebearers, so stick to the 2-3 or 1-2 male to female ratio, especially for mollies as the boys can get very aggressive without having enough women around.

I would also study up on the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle as soon as possible as it'll save you a lot of money in the long run!

 

[highfire]

Definately make allowances for the hobby to grow! I have recently upgraded to a bigger tank, which is coldwater, and now I want a tropical tank too.
Good luck in whatever you choose. I'm sure your son will love it.

 

[sparklefuzz]

10 gallons is basically around about 20" x 12" x 12" well, thats the size of mine

My 20 gallon, is just shy of 36" x 12" x 14".

To give you an idea of size.

 

[rob newland]

Mollies are very hardy I agree - but they need a big tank as they grow bigger than other live bearers and you are also best off to add a small amount of marine salt to the tank, which although not mandatory and the level not crucial (although it doesn't need to be too high, but mollies can live in marine tanks - i have heard of marine tank owners using black mollies to mature their tank) will prevent them from getting things like shimmies. I would stay away from mollies unless you want to get a bigger tank and are prepared to add salt.

 

[no_fin_nipping]

I have a preference for Danios as an easy beginner's fish. Zebra Danios (Danio rerio) are the most common, and come in spotted, albino and long finned morphs. I have a prefer Blue Danios (Danio kerri) and Pearl Danios (Danio albolineatus) the most. They are great in cool to warm water 70-78° is fine. Some say even 66° or more is fine. They are very hardy. They are very active and fun to watch. They live longer than livebearers like Guppies, Moollies, Platties, Swords, etc. They have fewer surviving fry, liverbearers even with minimally planted tanks tend to get overgrown fast. They are more forgiving of poor water conditions. They will spawn, you may get babies, but not as likely as livebearers. They should cost no more than $1.50. My LFS sells short-finned zebras for 89¢ or 3 for $2.49. The others are 99¢ each. You'll pay more in the chain stores or Wal-Mart for lesser quality fish.
The best tank for these fish? At least 30" long, like a 20 long or a 29. They do best in schools of 6-8.
Good luck.

 

[madblonde]

Hello my name is Dave, i live in St.Helens, Merseyside. my son aged 4 wants some fish, can someone HELP me as i no absolutly nothing about fish.
i have got a book about Tropical fish and how to keep them, but yes its just a book. i thought by joining this forum that you all could help me. i need 3 fish( 1 for me 1 for mum and 1 for my son!)
so has anybody any ideas as to what size tank and what fish are easy to look after, also anyother advice would be of great help...
Thank you and i hope to hear from you all soon.. D@ve...

hi dave i live in parr st helens if i can help you in anyway just let me no

 

[D@ve4Wig@n]

OK thanks for all your info, i am off to Lanzarote for 1 week then i will go look for a tank to buy and get started. i will most definatley write back here for more advice you can bet. but thanks all for your advice anyhow,
Dave.

 

[Brenna101]

well i reccomend Guppies they are very hardy fish .And Guppies would give your son (if you get a male and a few females ) the expirence of raising something from a baby . Plus they a fairly easy to take care of.

 

[English Lion]

Do YOU want to keep fish? As your son is 4, you'll no doubt have to do a lot of the keeping for him and young children often loose interest quickly. My nephew wanted fish so I gave him my old 18" tropical tank and 5 months later they're 'mum's fish'!!

If you do decide to go ahead, you'll get good advice here. One thing I'd add is to get fish that match your tap water type (Hard/Soft, acidic/alkaline etc). Your local fish shop (LFS) should be able to test a fresh sample of water for you at minimal cost - get the right fish for your water and your lifes much easier, as is theirs!!

Tetras for soft and swordtails for hard water is good, but there are many other good options - get them from a good thriving fish dedicated store if you can. Although you may find swordtails like it so much they breed!

 

[funnibunni80]

Hi there! I feel your pain! I'm getting badgered every day! When can we gut more fish? When when when? LOL. We are waiting for our tank to cycle. Welcome to the addicting world of fish! i warn you, this is a bad habit that han be painful to your wallet! But it sure is fun!!! I started when my daughter was 3, have been at it nearly a year now. We went the Goldfish route... Lil guys get BIG! Who woulda thought???

waita get infor first, instead of dropping $10 on a bowl, and scratch your head when they die... wish I woulda thought of that.

I saw some good advice here, so I want to echo it. Go to your local fish store. NOT Wal-Mart! (evil evil evil to fish ) and just hand back and watch the fishys. I suggest you leave your son at home, lol. We had the three fish thing going on here too (that didn't last long, BTW) and I really liked having fish that LOOKED different. So this one is yours, and this one is mine, ect. I think it makes it more personal, and brings more ownership into it. My daughter is SUPER attached to Nemo, her little carnival fish, lol. We all have goldies, but all different varities... plus a ??? for my mystery fry. (Long story.)

Anyways, once you know what you want, and who gets along with who, then you can figure out how much room so and so needs, and use that to pick out a good tank. As far as filters and heaters, and all that other good stuff.... ask someone else, somwhat of a novice here, lol.

BTW... I think sharks are cool. My son thinks he's hot stuff, because he's the only kid he knows with a real live shark for a pet, lol. Our shark doesn't get very big tho, unlike others who can be HUGE... and also, cannot tolerate others of his same kind. So we can only have one. BUMMER! But I still think it's cool! (FYI... it's not REALLY a shark... but it's name has "shark" in it because of the shark like dorsal fin... but it's still cool! He likes shrimp, not fish. )

Anyways...