# whats the best kind of fish to get for a beginer



## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

Closed thank you everyone for the help


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## Andrew M. (Aug 28, 2012)

For a 55 gallon, a large school of rummynose tetras would look good maybe 10-15. Angelfish can be bit aggressive and nippy so if you plan to get those don't keep small fish unless you keep them in a sizeable group, neons especially. Any tetras that catch your fancy should work but if you want a peaceful community tank, I would stay away from certain wide-bodied tetras as they can get nippy. Also you don't really need a CO2 system for easier plants like vals, anubias, and certain rotalas (the plants which I see in your tank). They grow fine with good substrate, medium light, and fertilizers. Also as a tip, plant bunched plants as individual stems or else the bottom leaves will die.


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

thank you andrew M i will seperat the plants i have in the tank i planted them as how i bought them in a group i id not know i needed to seprat them for them to grow better  will also do more reserch on the rummy nose tetras & other breeds before i buy i do know i want a angel as there one of my fave fish just dont know what i can put with them in my tank


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Cardinal, otocinclus, blue rams or apistogramma , corys, hatchet if you have a lid.


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

ty charles for the fish options i looked them up the 3 i like best are blue rams , apistogramma , corys now just to find out who has them up for sale  & to find out prices on them


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## cowchanplanted (Jun 16, 2014)

Charles probably has those in stock.

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## cowchanplanted (Jun 16, 2014)

Go to Canadian aquatics and look in livestock section.


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## Andrew M. (Aug 28, 2012)

charles said:


> blue rams or apistogramma


Since your tank has only been running for 3 months, I would stay away from south american dwarf cichlids because these are not beginner fish. They look absolutely stunning but they have specific parameters that need to be met, and providing them with those parameters comes with experience. However, a good substitute for these would be bolivian rams which are much hardier and more forgiving than the others. Cardinals and ottocinclus would be good, ottos especially to deal with algae control.


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

ok ty Andrew M. i will reserch bolivian rams & ottocinclus but i did look both of them up to see pics & they both lovely looking fish


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## inuudo (Sep 23, 2012)

Are you not planning to breed guppies any longer?

How are the assassin snails working out? Like I said when we met, I would get a big school of neons or cardinals for that tank.


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

+1 on what andrew said. Bolivian Rams may not look as flashy as GBRs or apistos but very hardy.. I started my 90G with bolivians( for 1 yr now). I still have them and they have tons of characters. they are like puppies in the water.  

once you get hang of fish-keeping, i highly recommend getting apistos (apistogrammas). apisto agassizii or cactuoides are beginners apisto. then of course, Charles ( canadian aquatics) has beautiful panduros.. lol


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

55g is a nice size you have so many options, you could easily do add a bristle nose or two if you like em
if you go the oto route, i definatly suggest getting a dozen i think canadian aquatics has a volume discount around that area


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't think rams and apisto. are that difficult to keep. Just like other fish, as long as your tank is stable with good water, there is nothing hard about them.

Take a look at the link below. One of my customer bought them about 2 weeks ago and already spawned in her tank.

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/breeding-spawning-section-15/rams-breeding-106737/#post770257


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## am3ience (Jul 21, 2014)

danios, they can survive nukes. If you have danios dying in your tank, something is definitely wrong.


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

@inuudo im still keeping my 3 male guppys i just dont want to breed them so im looking to home all 11 of the females i have the 3 males right now in my shrimp tank & there all happy togeather  

& ty everyone for all the helpful info also I am resurching rams & apisto & corry cats right now danios are not one of my fave fish but the one fish i would love own one day is a lion fish but i know they are not a begginer fish  but i can dream of one day owning one of theys lovely fish


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Lion fish are saltwater =P Something that's completely different from freshwater for sure! I hear they're actually not that hard to keep, just that you can't really keep them with many tank mates.


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

@Steve ya there salt water fish but i still love them & i will one day try a salt tank but for now its all freshwater for me  there are still a lot of lovely freshwater fish out there


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

You said the tank has been up.and running for 3 months with no fish? If so the tank isnt Cycled so before you go spend a bunch of money on fish. I recommend learning about cycling a fish tank. Google it and read it lots. You are new and this is the biggest mistake newbies over look. It's the most important thing for a long term successful tank.

As for fish. Congo tetras are nice for mid swimmers. The best way to stock a tank is with fish that swim at all levels. Rummy nose tetras are a personal favorite and tend to occupy the bottom half of the tank. Bottom feeders and algae eaters are always needed for clean up. I could list many different fish but since you are new keep it too fish that are easy to care for and cheap. You are going to have fish loss it's all part of the process. I always start tanks off with white cloud minnows. They are dirt cheap, hardy and active. They grow into neat little fish so don't let their appearance when they are small fool you. Id start with 20 in a 55g They don't create a big bio load so adding a few fish a few weeks later won't crash the system.

Good luck with the tank.


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

@jbyoung00008 the tank has had guppys in it from the start to do a fish cycle as that what i read was the easyest & fastest way to cycle a tank i also did recurched on how to cycle a tank a month before i set up my tank to make sure i rilly wanted it & all the work it comes with & to take care & maintaning a tank with live fish in it


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

corrie said:


> @jbyoung00008 the tank has had guppys in it from the start to do a fish cycle as that what i read was the easyest & fastest way to cycle a tank i also did recurched on how to cycle a tank a month before i set up my tank to make sure i rilly wanted it & all the work it comes with & to take care & maintaning a tank with live fish in it


Okay I just wanted to make sure you were on the right track. How long has it been since there was fish in the tank? What are you using for bio media?


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## Skimboarder (May 26, 2011)

why not a couple of pearl gouramis, pretty hearty fish and can be stunners but also not aggressive, if you want to go for a more colourful dwarf cichlid you could try kribensis however when they breed which they will they can get aggressive but rarely kill anything


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

@jbyoung00008 i still have the guppys in the tank tell i can find them a home  as for my bio i bought a topfin power filter 75 that came with 2 bio frames with foam i have not changed the foam as i was told it was bad to do


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## Mr. Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

hello corrie. something you might want to keep in mind is that there are three kinds of fish. lower bottom dwellers (like catfish, pleco's, loaches etc) and then there are mid-level and upper-level fish. you should dabble in a bit of both, so you have a very active and attractive tank. 

when I had my 20 gallon running, I had a small school of neon tetra's for the mid to upper level and two Bolivian rams and two Otocinclus for the bottom. the ram's sometimes went up to the middle, but not really.


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