TROPICAL FISH

**angeldelight** · 23-08-2010, 06:00 PM

Do any of you have any tropical fish ?

My dad is the expert but when I call them in Spain I do not want to be asking about fish all the time

What are the best fish to keep - and keep together for example

Any hints or tips anyone could give ?

Thank you

Angel xxx

**sweets** · 23-08-2010, 06:14 PM

i used to have them but found them a bit hard work and also they kept dying on me even tho i was very careful and was always testing their water etc. When i moved house i debated for ages how to actually move them, and in the end i rang my local shop up who had supplied most of them and asked them if they knew anyone who was starting up and would like a load of free fish, they offered to take the lot and re-home them so off in a bucket they went! lol. my favourite was a catfish who had grown so big in the time i had him, they are supposed to be bottom feeders but mine always came to the top and sort of flipped himself over to get the food! lol.

i would def avoid siamese fighters, they are so pretty when you see them in the shop esp the bright red ones but they only last a couple of weeks! well mine did anyway

nasty little critters too as they chased everything else in the tank!

sometimes i think it would be nice to have them again and i partitcularly like the orb tanks you can get but i have visions of the children knocking them over

LOOPYLISA · 23-08-2010, 06:19 PM

We used to have tropical fish....................hard work, hence we don't have them anymore

**estrelas** · 23-08-2010, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by LOOPYLISA

We used to have tropical fish....................hard work, hence we don't have them anymore

Same here, mine just kept on dying, i'd get more, look after them well and they'd pop off again. i gave up in the end

**Tribe_mummy** · 23-08-2010, 06:41 PM

We have tropical fish and LOVE THEM! My partner is the expert to be honest but we are both self taught from a tropical fish forum. I would agree about the siamese fighter fish they are evil, the male ones especially! And they don't last very long, so def not a fish to get attached to! If starting out I would suggest some Neon tetras or mollies and then take it from there, these fish are easy to keep alive! However it does take alot of effort for the first few months setting up, testing water levels etc. If you want the name of the forum we use pm me as not sure if i am allowed to put it on here. Good luck with everything

**angeldelight** · 23-08-2010, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Tribe_mummy

We have tropical fish and LOVE THEM! My partner is the expert to be honest but we are both self taught from a tropical fish forum. I would agree about the siamese fighter fish they are evil, the male ones especially! And they don't last very long, so def not a fish to get attached to! If starting out I would suggest some Neon tetras or mollies and then take it from there, these fish are easy to keep alive! However it does take alot of effort for the first few months setting up, testing water levels etc. If you want the name of the forum we use pm me as not sure if i am allowed to put it on here. Good luck with everything

Yes we have some neons and mollies

We know all about the water etc etc from my dad

Just wanted ideas and to know if there is any more fish we can keep with the above that I mention

I will message you later thanks

xxx

**Tribe_mummy** · 23-08-2010, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by angeldelight

Yes we have some neons and mollies

We know all about the water etc etc from my dad

Just wanted ideas and to know if there is any more fish we can keep with the above that I mention

I will message you later thanks

xxx

Sorry hun I read your message too quick!! We have mollies and neon tetras alongside a red fin black shark, 3 tetras, 2 mail swordtails, cherry barbs, 2 varieties of guppies, 2 hong kong plecos, rainbow platties and a Plecostomus Catfish, we also keep an armoured shrimp, normal shrimp x 3 and general cleaning snails and fish, hope that helps a little, and apologies for rush reading x

**littlesprogs** · 23-08-2010, 07:00 PM

I have tropical fish have had them for around 2 years now.

I also have a siamese fighter and have had no problems with him whatsoever you cant put them with anything else with long flowy fins though for eg male guppies because they attack each others fins.

We have 2 plecs that we got to keep ontop of the algae in the tank (they suck the sides of the tank and eat the algae) they are also very funny to watch and very pretty.

we also have loaches, shrimp, catfish, sharks, mollies, snails, clams.
Our tank is abit low stocked at the minute because were moving house in a few weeks so havent restocked it during the last year but i cant wait for it to be full again in a few weeks time

Hardy fish to start with would be mollies, tetras, minnows things like that.

I dont find them hard work at all if anything they are the easiest of our animals to look after and we have a few lol

**Tribe_mummy** · 23-08-2010, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by littlesprogs

I have tropical fish have had them for around 2 years now.

wow we have tried so hard to keep male ones but they just won't have it, we have had the female for a year and she is still going strong

I dont find them hard work at all if anything they are the easiest of our animals to look after and we have a few lol

I have to agree with you here after the inital month getting water levels sorted etc they are a breeze to look after

TheBTeam · 23-08-2010, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by angeldelight

Yes we have some neons and mollies

We know all about the water etc etc from my dad

Just wanted ideas and to know if there is any more fish we can keep with the above that I mention

I will message you later thanks

xxx

Look in the aquatic shops, most of them will have signs indicating what sort of fish can be kept together, neons are part of the community variety, but as they are quite small i would look for other fish that say 'Community' and avoid those that say community but not with small fish. Guppies, gouramies, platties, silver shark, danios, any other tetras and swordtails, red tail black sharks, are good.

Dont get things like barbs as they are nippers.

My husband has kept tropical fish for 30 years and we have always had a tank of fish, we currently have a 4ft tank, was full of expensive cichlids but they died while we were holiday (faulty feeding machine), so we are just acclimatising our water again before we go shopping again.

Any good fish shop will also be happy to offer advice. Dont introduce too many new fish in one go, the filter needs to acclimatise to new fish being added.

**PRINCESSDAISYFLOWER** · 23-08-2010, 07:58 PM

Live breeders are always good

i started with 4 Platties now i have over 150

!

**angeldelight** · 24-08-2010, 06:57 AM

Thanks everyone for your help this is great

Angel xx

**angeldelight** · 24-08-2010, 06:57 AM

Originally Posted by PRINCESSDAISYFLOWER

Live breeders are always good

i started with 4 Platties now i have over 150

!

Ha ha ha that made me laugh

Angel xx

**angeldelight** · 24-08-2010, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by Tribe_mummy

Sorry hun I read your message too quick!! We have mollies and neon tetras alongside a red fin black shark, 3 tetras, 2 mail swordtails, cherry barbs, 2 varieties of guppies, 2 hong kong plecos, rainbow platties and a Plecostomus Catfish, we also keep an armoured shrimp, normal shrimp x 3 and general cleaning snails and fish, hope that helps a little, and apologies for rush reading x

Thats great and was just what I was looking for

Thank you

Angel xxx