Recommendations For First Family Fish

[Smitho32]

Evening all,

It's my son's birthday in just over a week, and he has been nagging me for quite some time to get him some fish. My plan is to have a relatively small 'starter' tank which will live in the breakfast room on the counter-top. What I would really love to get is something that looks good, is quite compact and won't break the bank. Additionally I would like to keep tropical fish rather than cold water.

Could anyone recommend a good starting point in terms of tanks and a variety/quantity of tropical fish that would live happily in that environment? I know nothing about fish and so am completely at your mercy.

 

[Aqua Tom]

First thing is you need to read up on cycling.

There is a link in my sig to the begginrers resource centre. Take your time & read it thouroghly. It may seem daunting but it is needed.


Tom

 

[Smitho32]

Many thanks *off to read*...

 

[JanJan]

Hi there, I bought my 8yr old son a small starter tank in September, in hindsight I really wish I had gone a bit bigger! It was a 26 litre which is fine and he loves it.
But I realised after I got it that the choice of fish is really restricted. Also it is much harder to keep the water quality stable as in a small tank any water issues can be exacerbated much quicker, so weekly partial water changes are are essential I have found. Apart from that it's been great!

 

[OldMan47]

If you are willing to do the water changes, you could get a few guppy males and do a fish-in cycle. It is a lot of work on the water changes but would give you something besides an empty tank to look at. Guppies are pretty tough little guys and can readily live through a fish-in cycle if you do the needed testing and water changes. A 10 gallon, 35 litre tank would be plenty for a small number of guppies.

My mature and overpopulated guppy tank

I sell all the adult guppies out of this tank every few months so most of the time the population is much less.