I want to get fish as pets, can you help me decide?

Question

I want to get some tropical fish for my kids as pets, I have no idea how to choose a tank, what fish are easier to care for than others, what ones can live together. I also would like a filtration system where I wont have to clean the tank often at all. Can anyone help me decide before I go fish shopping?

Answer 1

easy !!??!?!

get a 10g tank

and for fish

goldfish,tetras,guppies,1 betta

and for your kids ..

make sure they dont put there hands in the

tank and make sure nothing goes in there

bu rocks plants food decoration and food

i would never get my kids fish unless there like over 10

then you know there good then you can get them a hamster :D

Answer 2

well it all depends you could go for something simple  like the classic goldfish. Maybe throw in some of those sucker fish ( those black ones that pretty much suction  their mouths to the bowl)  That's simple. Or you could go all out and get better fish big, pretty  ones . But you said tropical so you could   get a salt water tank and get something like clown fish. they are so pretty and one of the easiest tropical fig to care for!. You could even get a little shark( don't mix them tho) The mini ones of course, Ha-ha.  OH, and don't go to wall-mart for fish, they are sick, most of them. They usually die within a week. I suggest going to a pet store.  But supplies for them you prolly should go to wall-mart they have cheap tanks but they have a lot of good ones.

Here's some web sites  on tropical fish if you need more help.

*http://badmanstropicalfish.com/

*http://www.fishlore.com/    <- this one is best

Hope this helped

Answer 3

I would totally say a beta I've had 2 others and I have one now and I'd say they're really cool looking but they don't do much.  But then again most fish don't do too much.

Answer 4

Well try tetras you can get a 10 gallon tank for 6 neon tetras and 6 red minor tetras and you could get all this stuff at walmart for a cheap price also if you use tap water you have to buy Aqua Safe to make it safe for the fishes

Answer 5

okay, first of all if you truly want it easy you should buy a betta. On the otherhand they are boring and rather blah to me so I'm going to give a little bit different advice. If you want an easy to take care of tank with hardy fish that don't die and live long you should choose cichlids. There are hundreds of kinds of cichlids out there and you should be aware that you should not mix cichlids from different regions. Lake malawi cichlids are best and are simply perfect together. Okay, that being said you should also not keep any other fish in this tank, but cichlids. They are a tad bit aggressive against other fish. A few fun facts: cichlids are clean fish, and do not dirty water quickly like platies and goldfish do which will lessen the amount of water changes needed. They are Very animated: swirling in circles, chasing each other, and folllowing your finger are common. They hardly ever die if taken care of and can live about ten years. They do need a few things: 20 gallon tank minimum, a running filter, and a heater for winter as well as caves...I use clay 4 inch flower pots buried a little bit in the gravel. They'll only cost you about 50 cents a piece so it's super cheap. If you do choose cichlids you should research them a bit and buy them at a pet store not walmart. They are certainly worth every cent.

Answer 6

starting off, with any tropical fish

you are going to need filtration, heater, and air.

Also, you are going to want some fish toys, and plants.

   (make sure to have this set up

about 24 hours before getting the fish)

Make sure you do not over-crowd the tank.

I have heard the one fish, per inch. So you can sort of go by that, but double check with a pet store employee first.

the pet stores will have the fishes aggression labeled.

you can ask the employee which fish can be together.

but for the most part fish with the same aggression level can be together.

also, i would suggest getting plecostomous,

or a snail which can also help keep your tank cleaner.

good luck :)

Answer 7

Ok, first of all, don't listen to most of the people who've answered this.  You don't want a goldfish.  They are the dirtiest fish there are, so right away you've blown your request for not having to clean the tank very often.  Not to mention, they get too big - one would need 20 gallons just by itself.  Besides which, they aren't even tropical fish, they're coldwater fish.  

Livebearers are a good choice as they are bright, peaceful community fish that all get along with each other and they are relatively hardy and easy to care for.  These include guppies, mollies, platys and swordtails.  However, unless you want to deal with a population explosion in a very short amount of time, I strongly suggest you get males only!  They are the most colorful anyways.  For a clean up crew you could add a mystery or apple snail or a trio of cory catfish to your tank as well.  Cories are active, peaceful, social little fish best kept in groups of 3 or more that get along with almost any other fish.

Getting a tank kit that comes with the whole set up is a pretty good way to go, but keep this in mind, the bigger the tank, the less maintenance is required in the long run.  So, even though there are lots of 3-10 gallon set ups that look good, you'll actually end up doing a lot less cleaning and water changes  in the long run if you get a 20, 29 gallon or larger tank.  Make sure you get a good HOB (hang on back), biowheel, sponge or canister filter.  It really doesn't matter what kind you get, just make sure it's rated for about twice as many gallons as the tank you're getting.  That's how you keep from cleaning your tank too often.  Overfiltering is always better than underfiltering.  Undergravel filters are not very good as a sole filtration method as they can be difficult to clean.  

You want a heater for tropical fish and you'll need about a 25 watt heater for a 10 gallon tank or a 50 watt heater for a 20 gallon or a 200 watt heater for a 40-50 gallon.  Most tropical fish like a temperature of about 76-80 degrees F.  The kind of gravel and decorations you put in really doesn't matter, but having some kind of gravel and decor helps give the fish a place to hide and they like a darker bottom to a tank.  The shiny glare of the glass can stress them out if it's just plain.  

Live plants are always good as they help to absorb some of the fish waste and excess food as fertilizer and help to keep the tank cleaner and make the fish more comfortable by adding hiding places and a more natural environment.  The most maintenance free tanks are generally big, well-planted tanks with few fish.

Answer 8

Well if you want a community fish;

Danions and Corydoras together are great fish, and they get along with female bettas

Danions are school fish and require at least 5 companions

Corydoras are bottom feeders which will help maintain the aquarium clean. They are good starter fish too. I suggest keeping them in groups of 2-3

Bettas are often solitary, but females, depending on their personality they can keep in peace with 4-6

There's also an algae eater that can help clean the aquarium, the abbriviation for his name is PC, oh his name is pleco, they are very small when they are babies, do well with most fish and they grow to about 20'.

However, bettas, danions and corydoras(corys look like catfish, very adorable and fun to watch)) they need a temperature of 70-78F

Or you can forget about the bettas and danions and corys and go for the goldfish. There are different types of goldsfish and their tank mates are mollies, butterfly fish and the PC. However goldfish likes cooler temperature, around 74F and a little less. However you can't just put different kind of goldfish together, they tend to not work well.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2090230_buy-gold... <--that's a very good site on goldfish ^_^

Answer 9

The biggest tank you can have is the best. I would suggest looking on craigslist.org you can get big tanks for great prices.  

Answer 10

It's good to start small children out with a simple set up.  Usually a 5-10 gallon aquarium is large enough and for First fish, I would suggest Gold fish.  Gold fish come in many colors and different varietys and are very hearty fish.  If you get 3-4 healthy fish for that sized tank it would make a great learning experience for your children.  Then as they get a little older, you can add more fish and a larger aquarium.

Also you should pick up some books, either from the pet store or your local library and read about fish to your children. this will also help them to learn about the fish and what they are all about.

Have Fun!  

Answer 11

If this is your first tank, you should get at least a 10 gallon tank starter kit which has the filter, the heater and the lid with lights installed already included

once you have it, you need to cycle it

read up on the how doe's here

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/...

once the tank is cycled you can add fish

i will give you here some options on stockings

1 male or female betta

3 platies

6 cardinal tetras

4 cory cats

or

1 dwarf gourami

3 mollies

6 rummy nose tetras

5 otocinclus

or

3 guppies

3 platies

6 rasboras

4 cory cats

Edit*

definitely no goldfish

Answer 12

okay i can help you with this one. i work @ walmart in the pets departmen and the best thing to do is  to get what they call a starter kit. they have them from 1gallon up to 30gallons. the kit comes with everything u need except decorations and they run from $20-35 depends on the size. Now to the fish, the best one's i think would be good for your kids are goldfish,mollies,platies,kissing fish, or the neon tetras u decide but they all are good fish to start with....................................... hope i helped!!!!GOOD LUCK

Answer 13

i would get a

30 gallon tank

and

a hang on filter and heater

and then cycle that tank and condition the water

as for fish i would get

5 male guppies

1 female betta

5 neon tetras

5 zebra danios

5 corydoras

Answer 14

Hi,

I would recommend you getting a community tank, things such as guppies, mollies etc.

I would recommend a community tank especially if you want it for your children as the fish are colourful, the fish are easy to breed so your children can watch the fry grow etc, and with a community tank then all of them ornaments etc which you see in pet shops look nice and suite the tank.

As well community fish are easy to look after especially for the novice.