*smiles quite happily*

YAY! haha.

I'm just pointing out that most begginers would just ask a pet store employee, and most of that would actually lead to a pretty bad set up for the betta


Speaking of two males... my one just managed to somehow jump 5 inches into the others tank and get his butt kicked... Bad time for him to take up jumping... So hospital tank for him *sigh*

The point of the article is for people to research fish before buying so hopefully that wouldn't happen! Trusting a pet store employee when it comes to ANY fish is usually not a good idea, sadly . There are some good ones out there, though.

I'm sorry to hear about your betta, hopefully he has a speedy recovery!

eh I'm sure he will, he's a spunky lil guy. just freaked out and missing a little chunk of his bottom fin spikes... lol.

its not nearly as bad as it sounds when I say he got his butt kicked. Just a little fin damage, and not even propelling fin damage. no body damage.

He's just the littlest of my males, so... mama's boy. lol

Wow that sounds like a massive jump! I guess on the one hand I am happy he landed in more water and not on the counter, but on the other... shitty tank to land in. =P

I would avoid Chinese Algae Eaters I got three of them from WM a couple weeks back. They were great at fighting but defnitley not much of a friendly fish. Something that is non aggressive is lil ghost shrimp.

Gods...I could type out another 40-50 species commonly stocked by pet-shops to add to this list...

Nothing annoys me more than seeing a PetsMart or Petland stocking pacu, arowana, shovelnose catfish, etc....sadly, 90%+ die before long in the purchasers' aquaria, and they rest end up terribly large and unwanted, often offered up on kijiji/craigslist/etc or dumped on pet-stores.

Yeah, there are a lot more and it was hard to narrow it down (no one would read a thread if I listed 50+ species, ha). So I went by the fish I was commonly seeing offered in local stores (although this was in 2008 so things have changed).

I actually have three Colombian Sharks myself and it's very depressing to see them offered for sale. I have heard a pet store employee tell someone they are freshwater, can be kept alone, and are "great community fish". There was recently one on craigslist but unfortunately I don't have the room to take on another . I hope it found a good home but I doubt it.

I think most cichlids should be added to the list as well, particularly the Jack Dempsey and Oscars. They are ok alone, but add the wrong fish (and the list of incompatible fish is huge) and you will have a bloodbath in your tank. Cichlids aren't always good in a species only tank either. Mated pairs have even been known to kill their mate. They are just bad news for a beginner.

I think a good introductory cichlid would be the Angelfish - but I still would not recommend an angelfish to a beginner who does not know how to keep a stable 40 gallon or more tank.

I'm not really sure what would be a good beginner fish, though. I had the mollies and tetras as a beginner and still had huge losses because I didn't understand how to keep my tank clean and safe. I don't know what fish would be hardy enough for a true beginner to fumble with. I kind of think no matter what the beginner gets, there will be losses. So I guess get cheap fish that are hardier, eat flakes, and don't get big. Once you can keep a fish living for a year with very clean water, I'd recommend Angelfish - because they are hardy as long as the water is clean (and they are clean fish), very friendly, easy to feed, and once your tank is really established, they require very little maintenance.

Oh and to add! I know a goldfish was mentioned, but I'll mention it again and here is why. Keeping a goldfish because they are extremely hardy and easy to take care of does not teach you to keep a stable clean tank! They are dirty fish that will make it even harder for you. Don't get dirty fish. You will be making it that much harder on yourself to learn the hobby and move on to more advanced fish.

Starting out with a betta isn't such a bad choice.

Oh, believe me, there are tons of fish that could be added...I just didn't want the list to be hundreds of pages long . That's what prevented me from doing a marine version .

At least they can read in the tank about fish other members suggest they avoid that way it can be a hundred pages if there is that much interest lol

Actually a simple marine one would be nice. I'm a marine beginner actually - and I am so confused with all of the new plant life, macro-algae, and corals that my head is spinning. I don't know what stings or is hard to keep.

The problem with a marine one is that pretty much everything is terrible for beginners if they haven't researched and there is more of a diversity--for example, coral are a different ballgame than fish.

I've considered doing one focusing instead on species that are good for new marine aquarium owners but even that is daunting with the various types of set-ups...FO, FOWLR, reef, etc. I may go for it if there's interest but there aren't many marine folks on here.

I will say this as general advice to you, though...I'd be cautious keeping coral with your dwarf seahorses (assuming that was the plan). Even if you keep coral that don't sting (keeping in mind that most of them do, they just can't all sting humans), many can release toxins that build up in smaller volumes (unfortunately, coral that can't sting are likely to have this defense for obvious reasons...they need SOME form of defense). And if you get a coral that really is "peaceful", it may be irritated by the seahorses hanging on all the time. Honestly, dwarf seahorses really aren't really reef dwellers in the wild. As far as I know (I'm no seahorse expert, though, haha), they live in macroalgae closer to shore.

That being said, there are certainly other invertebrates you could keep . And macroalgae could work, too, do you have any currently? I had a lot of fun keeping sea lettuce when I was a beginner--not only was it pretty hardy but it grows fast and probably wouldn't be damaged by the seahorses. It's also edible . Let me know if you need recommendations and keep in mind that you'll need pretty strong lighting to keep most species.

Actually macro-algae was going to be the plan. I've ordered some Turtle Grass and Caulerpa - and right now there is some kind of macro-algea but I don't know what it is lol

Thanks for the advice about the corals!

Good luck with the turtle grass, I hope you have very strong lighting and deep substrate! It's not the easiest species to keep but I know some have had great success .

Hmm, I'm not a fan of Caulerpa at all and would caution you when using it in such a small volume. Not only does it sometimes literally "take over" a tank but it can suddenly reproduce sexually, resulting in a huge crash. The sudden death of the macroalgae can result in very poor water quality, toxic in a nano-sized aquarium. Google it...a lot of people have had serious issues and the species has fallen out of favor of reef aquarists.

Ooh thank you! I am only adding it to the display tank (which is empty right now) so if I notice it start to get out of control, I'll reign it in before I add the dwarfs I have 6 months of close watch prescribed for this tank anyway lol