Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

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belueberry (E I)
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24 Oct 2012 21:29 #1 by belueberry (E I)

Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions? was created by belueberry (E I)

Hello all, this newbie needs more advice!

We have a cycled 22L tank ready and waiting to be inhabited. We've never dealt with tropical fish before and are looking for something colourful, interesting to look at, straightforward to take care of and inexpensive to maintain. We want freshwater, and something that doesn't require messing around with pH etc (our tap water sits firmly at 7.5ish). We're not all that interested in guppies or shrimps, and although we like bettas we kind of find it a pity just to have one fish in the whole tank. Having said that, we would like to avoid fish that tend to eat or take chunks out of each other!

We are going to take a trip down to Seahorse tomorrow and ask their opinion. We were sort of interested in those little albino frogs they had recently but not sure if they'll do well in the small tank we have? We'd definitely be open to mixing fish and invertebrates as well as long as it was a safe combination.

Anyway if anyone has any suggestions as to what kind of thing (or combination) might meet our needs, we'd love to hear your advice.

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serratus (Drew Latimer)
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24 Oct 2012 21:54 - 24 Oct 2012 21:57 #2 by serratus (Drew Latimer)

Replied by serratus (Drew Latimer) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

Hi some of the small rainbowfish ..pseudomugil species would suit your tank and you could go with the small neocardina shrimps too...would look well in a well planted tank

Oh n those "little" albino frogs get 4-5" odd and will eat anything they can fit into their mouths... we have loads of them and they dont stay small for long.. even the true dwarf clawed frogs will eat small fish if they can fit them into their mouths :-(

(

Last edit: 24 Oct 2012 21:57 by serratus (Drew Latimer).

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maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn)
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24 Oct 2012 22:22 #3 by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn)

Replied by maggy88 (Wayne Mc Glynn) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

you could look at some of the badis species - scarlet badis(dario dario) etc.
maybe a peacock goby(Tateurndina ocellicauda), spotted blue-eye(Pseudomugil gertrudae). some of the smaller tetras, rasboras, otocinclus. there's loads of smaller species out there.

wayne

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24 Oct 2012 22:27 #4 by igmillichip (ian millichip)

Replied by igmillichip (ian millichip) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

Although there are many fish to avoid because of the criteria you want, there are still loads and loads of very good fish out there.

The main thing that I usually recommend is to look at what you like the look of, then decide if they are suitable, and not to get fish that will corner future purchases.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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JohnH (John)
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24 Oct 2012 22:39 #5 by JohnH (John)

Replied by JohnH (John) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

You really are limited with your choice when you look at your tank size.

Although not especially colourful a shoal of Habrosus Corys would be great in your sized tank and perhaps a shoal of what used to be known as Microrasbora Galaxy, lovely looking small fish - although I don't think I have seen the Corys anywhere for a while.

Just a couple of suggestions to ponder.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.

ITFS member.

It's a long way to Tipperary.

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jeff (Jeff Scully)
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24 Oct 2012 22:59 #6 by jeff (Jeff Scully)

Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

what about a few freshwater pea size puffers (dwarf puffers) cool little fish very entertaining and for some added colour what about some male endlers and some otos

that be my choice in a tank that size if ur not into shrimp

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.

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belueberry (E I)
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24 Oct 2012 23:05 #7 by belueberry (E I)

Replied by belueberry (E I) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

jeff wrote:
what about a few freshwater pea size puffers (dwarf puffers) cool little fish very entertaining

Yes, they are really cute. And really microscopic! We saw them today, nearly needed a magnifying glass to see them at all! That's the same reason we changed our minds about the shrimp.

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jeff (Jeff Scully)
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24 Oct 2012 23:44 #8 by jeff (Jeff Scully)

Replied by jeff (Jeff Scully) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

Unfortunately for a tank that size you are going to have go for small fish if you want more than 1 and with the pea size puffer reaching nearly 1" when adult that is more than enough in size for a tank that size

sure even the beautiful neon tetra only gets that size and to the endlers and i can go on and on about 1" fish

one other thing, myself i would not buy these small fish at their 1" size its best to buy small and watch them grow (and get ur moneys worth)

but your choice im only trying to help maybe someone else can shine a light on this

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.

A life making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.

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belueberry (E I)
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25 Oct 2012 01:54 #9 by belueberry (E I)

Replied by belueberry (E I) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

Oh no please don't misunderstand. I thought those pufferfish were very interesting but they really are very very tiny and it took me a while to realise what they actually were. I fully appreciate that many people like to buy the fish as not much more than a fry and watch them grow but I'm not really one of those people. I'd prefer to have an adult fish in all its colourful glory for a shorter time. It isn't about value for money. They are not expensive - well unless I wanted to start getting into top grade show specimens or whatever.

Tiny fish are fine if they are in a group - I never imagined I'd be dealing in anything larger than 1" per fish. I'm definitely reconsidering the whole idea of guppies/livebearers etc in light of what's being advised here too. But I'd just so much rather look at a single long-finned dramatic betta than have to squint and look for pea-sized semi-transparent fish or shrimp. I really am quite short-sighted!

Thank you all for your suggestions. You have definitely given me lots of ideas. We're going shopping tomorrow so I'll let you know what we come home with!

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Helen P (Helen Prout)
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25 Oct 2012 05:36 #10 by Helen P (Helen Prout)

Replied by Helen P (Helen Prout) on topic Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?

Hi,

I'd buy some of the Pygmaeus Corydoras - they don't look anything when you see them all in the shop - but when you take them home & they begin to feel secure, they literally swim all around the tank. Unlike other corys, they stay in the top half of the tank, so you get to see a lot more of them.

My lot like actually like to sit on the inside of my magnetic glass cleaner, which is so cute

(note: you can pick them up for just €2 each at Petco on the long-mile road).

Otherwise, my money would be with some:
Male endlers;
Dario Dario Scarlet badis;
Micro-rasbora;
Rasboras Brigittae;

Also, if you are getting some micro-fish, its a pity not to pair them up with some shrimp (even if you never see them

) - as shrimp do an amazing job keeping the tank sparkling clean.

Helen

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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Beginner-friendly tropical fish suggestions?