Pet fish recommendation please!

M

mini-natty

Cathlete
Hi everyone!

I just purchased a lovely 15 gal fish tank for my little girl (ok, maybe it's more for me :eek:). Right now the tank is all ready to go (filter, decor, conditioned) awaiting for the arrival of the little guys set to make a debut this Saturday. I have absolutely no experience with pet fish. Here is some background info on what we are looking to get:

- docile tropical fish
- Approx 8 to 10 to start out with
- algae eaters
- fully aquatic frog

1st question- which tropical fish (or any type of fish) would you recommend? I am looking for something a bit hardier, but not goldfish. I was told semi-aggressive have more personality and live longer but require more work.

2nd- what decor would you recommend to keep the little guys happy? Do they like lots of plants/rocks?

3rd - what can I do to insure they live as long as possible?

Any tips/suggestions/recommendations are much appreciated!


Natasha
 
I have no idea on what fish need. My husband and I had a goldfish for 11 years....now that he/she is gone...no more fish for us.

I would love to have a big fish tank but, my little boy (boots/cat) is so curious, I am afraid he will go nuts over fish!!! So I am staying away.

Good Luck...maybe go to a nice pet store as they may have info on fish that may help???? Have fun!!! :)
 
I second Missyt's suggestion. Go to an aquarium/fish store vs. a generic pet store and discuss what you're looking for with them. They will have the expertise to help you set up an aquarium that meets your criteria, plus they will have the supplies to guide you through any fish "illnesses" and water problems. They'll be able to spend time with you on keeping the whole aquatic system running smoothly. The initial cost will be more, but once you know what you'll need to do, you can pick up supplies at a big box store or online. I would get my fish at the aquarium center, though. Chances are they will be healthier.
 
I had fish forever when I was living the single life. Fast forward, I also bought my daughter an aquarium (ok, It was really for me) a few years ago. Here's my 2 cents on my experience with fish.

8-10 may be too many for a 15 gallon tank. Each type of fish requires X amount of space. The store is always a great place to get started here. Little neon tetras are very cool and require very little space, yet an angel fish (one of my favs) require quite a bit. We started with a 10 gallon and upgraded to a 30 a year later.

Pet stores usually label the fish; Community, aggressive, etc. If you want several, I would start with Community fish. Even these can beat up on the little ones that are passive. My advice is to start with 2, see how they do, and then add 2 more. I have always purchased in pairs. You don't have to, but I like to keep it balanced.

Once the aquarium is established with a few fish, has a good filter, and you clean it periodically, you should have healthy fish that last a good long time. Most stores offer a replacement policy on fish that meet their end within 48 hours. Great concept, but bagging, icing, and transporting a dead fish for trade has never worked out for me.

Mollies, swordtails, angel fish, tetras, gouramis (sp?)are all pretty hardy and relatively inexpensive. I have found that the more exotic are much harder to keep.

Decorate as you please. Give the fish a place to hide in plants and rocks, but you don't have to go nuts. I like to have an airstone as well. But, franky, those bubbles may be more for me than the fish.

Good luck!!!:)
 
Thanks Bonnie, Missy for your feedback :). Much appreciated.

Melissa
Oh wow, thank you so very much! Your advice was extremely helpful :).
 
Hi Natasha!

I am definitely not a fish expert (my kids have only had beta fish in a bowl!) but I saw your post and I wondered if you had ever been to Big Al's fish store? There are about a dozen locations in and around Toronto (Barrie, Brampton, Mississauga, Newmarket, etc.) I have only been to the Newmarket store and it's pretty cool! They have a huge showroom of a gazillion types of fish. They even have a tank with a shark which they feed for all to see! My kids love to go into the store just to walk around and look. Not only do they have fish but anything else you would need (tanks, food, plants, rocks, etc) The staff seems to really know their stuff and have been very helpful in the past.

Their website is Big Al's Canada - The Pond and Aquarium Hobby Specialists

Hope this helps!

Kelly:)
 
Hi Natasha,
I'm a little late seeing this thread and you may have already gotten your daughter's fish but wanted to offer my advice. We bought a 20 gallon tank for our son for his 4th birthday. He's 13 now. We started w/ Tiger Barbs, Bala Sharks and Silver Dollars. We also got one Plecostomus (algae eater). If you get one of those, be aware they can get huge! Ours is now around 9 years old and is probably 10" long at least. It got way too big for the tank so I asked the pet store if they could adopt it back (this was back when it was 5-6"). They said "no" and told me we should have made sure to get the variety that doesn't grow that much. She said that they don't always know what variety they've gotten though.

When we started w/ the combination I mentioned above, they were beautiful but they began to die. We took the dead ones back and always replaced it w/ the same kind of fish. Finally after the 3 round of fish dying out and when we were down to only one surviving Silver Dollar, she suggested we get two more Silver Dollars to have only one kind of fish in the tank. That was the magic formula. Our 3 Silver Dollars are thriving and are also around 9 years old. The Plecostomus is mean to them though. It's gotten fat and lazy, won't clean the algae anymore, chases the fish and eats their food. Unfortunately I can't find anyone who will take him and he's still a pet so we won't "dispose" of him. Honestly, I walk into DS's room all the time hoping I'll find a dead Plecostomus :eek:

Whatever you decide, I know you and your DD will love them. They are fun to watch. Like the PPs said, I would suggest starting out w/ just a few so they have plenty of room and get some plants, etc. so they have places to hide.

We also had two aquatic frogs but kept them in a smaller, separate tank. They fought w/ each other so I'm not sure how they would go w/ fish. The people at the pet store could tell you. They only last just under a year :(

Good luck and enjoy!
 
DixieGirl
Thank you SO much for the extremely helpful info! You're response was perfect. I will be sure to ask for a smaller algae eater ;). Your story gave me a nice little giggle. Thanks again :).

Kelly
Yes, we are going to Big Al's tomorrow! I live 10min away from Newmarket so that will be perfect! I almost forgot about Big Al's until you mentioned it. Thanks so very much :).

Again, thanks everyone! You guys rock :cool:
 
I know you've gotten many good answers but I just wanted to add that when I had my own little aquarium, I found the mollies to be too aggressive with the more docile fish to the point that the quieter fish hid out in the greenery most of the time. I rarely saw them swimming out in the open.

I finally got fed up when ((Warning!! Gruesomeness ahead!) I watched one of the mollies eat their own young ( I had no idea any of them were pregnant and I saw the last two babies polished off as I awoke that morning).

Enough! To the neighbors they went where they met a gristly end in the Oscar tank next door. Yes, I know that sounds cruel, but I was afraid they would eventually start in on the other fish.

Less than an hour later all the other fish had come out, swimming peacefully amongst the plastic pirate ship and the deep sea diver with the bubbles coming out of his mask.

Perhaps I had two particularly aggressive mollies. Could be. Black mollies are absolutely gorgeous, but I would only trust the with other mollies. I think they look a lot like beta fish, which I know can be very aggressive, especially with other betas.

Anyway, that's my nickel's worth of experience. :)
 
Just a little funny.

We got a gold fish for my son who was about 4 years old at the time (now 18yrs old). We put the gold fish in his room in a gold fish bowl. My son had one of those Little Tyke ride on cars with a small trunk. I found him in his room riding the car with the fish in the trunk (out of the fish bowl). He said he was giving his fish a ride. The fish survived and got a new home in the living room where I could keep an eye on it.:)
 
Fish Update:

Saturday we went to a local Aquarium Store (thanks everyone for the tip ;)) where we sought some "expert" advice. The employee told us to start out with Danio Tropical Fish, as they tend to be very inexpensive, hardy, and ideal for cycling a new tank, which essentially has no bacteria. We got 2 Zebra's and 1 leopard Danio. Unfortunately, our one leopard seemed a bit "off" from the get-go, swimming at the top and not really interacting with the other two zebra's. The next day he passed on :(. Having only 2 Danio's left in the tank caused some fierce aggression. Apparently, Danio's need to be kept in a school of 4 or more to be happy, stress-free, and docile. I could not let the two little guys (which are actually female :D) fight to the death, so I went out and bought 3 more. They are all happily swimming now :D.

In a few more weeks, as bacteria builds up in the tank, we can introduce some of the ones that were mentioned here: Tetra, Gourami, Mollies (but maybe not since eminenz2 mentioned they were a bit aggressive).

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful advice! Much appreciated!

Natasha
 
That's awesome Natasha, congrats on getting your tank up and running! Sorry about losing your one fish but that's pretty normal when just getting set up.

I actually did some research on my poor little (big) pleco. Found out once they get that big it's pretty torturous for them to be in a tank that is too small. I read some options about fish euthanasia but can't bring myself to "humanely" put it down. None of the options suggested sounded very humane and DH & DS want him left alone. So now I'm stuck w/ knowing that Mr. Pleco is pretty miserable and there's nothing I can do but let nature take it's course. Did you decide if you are going to look for an algae eater? If so, you can Google them and find some varieties that stay small so you know exactly what you're looking for :)

Tracy

mini-natty said:
Fish Update:

Saturday we went to a local Aquarium Store (thanks everyone for the tip ;)) where we sought some "expert" advice. The employee told us to start out with Danio Tropical Fish, as they tend to be very inexpensive, hardy, and ideal for cycling a new tank, which essentially has no bacteria. We got 2 Zebra's and 1 leopard Danio. Unfortunately, our one leopard seemed a bit "off" from the get-go, swimming at the top and not really interacting with the other two zebra's. The next day he passed on :(. Having only 2 Danio's left in the tank caused some fierce aggression. Apparently, Danio's need to be kept in a school of 4 or more to be happy, stress-free, and docile. I could not let the two little guys (which are actually female :D) fight to the death, so I went out and bought 3 more. They are all happily swimming now :D.

In a few more weeks, as bacteria builds up in the tank, we can introduce some of the ones that were mentioned here: Tetra, Gourami, Mollies (but maybe not since eminenz2 mentioned they were a bit aggressive).

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful advice! Much appreciated!

Natasha
Click to expand...
 
DixieGirl said:
I actually did some research on my poor little (big) pleco. Found out once they get that big it's pretty torturous for them to be in a tank that is too small. I read some options about fish euthanasia but can't bring myself to "humanely" put it down. None of the options suggested sounded very humane and DH & DS want him left alone. So now I'm stuck w/ knowing that Mr. Pleco is pretty miserable and there's nothing I can do but let nature take it's course. Did you decide if you are going to look for an algae eater? If so, you can Google them and find some varieties that stay small so you know exactly what you're looking for :)

Tracy
Click to expand...

Tracy,

I'm sorry to hear about Mr.Pleco :(:(. Poor thing :(. What a hard predicament you are in. Is there no pet store/aquatic store that will take him? I know this might sound a bit silly, but perhaps you could put an ad out on ebay or something similar. You never know, perhaps someone with a bigger tank might want to add a big & beautiful Pleco to their aquatic collection.

And yes, I will add an algae eater to my tank in 1-2 months once the bacteria levels in the tank increase. Thank you for the tip! I will make sure to get one that stays relatively small.

Take care,

Natasha
 
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