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Getting started with keeping tropical fish can be a very exciting time indeed but it can be easy either to struggle to select appropriate fish from an ever-growing list of species available, or to overstretch yourself and unknowingly take on some of the slightly more difficult species.
The aim of this article then is to provide some guidance on great “starter” fish for the tropical community tank which are typically easy to keep, will live together happily and are also reasonably priced. This list certainly isn’t exhaustive so just because a fish isn’t on the list doesn’t necessarily mean it makes a bad starter fish.
I just wanted to select a range of reasonably-priced and commonly-found fish which most fish keepers should be able to find without problems at their local aquarium shop. So without further ado, let’s jump into the species list.
Neon Tetras
These small, brightly-colored fish instantly grab the eye in an aquarium environment and the fact that they “shoal” loosely means that investing in a number of these fish can really help to provide movement and color in your fish tank.
Guppies
Guppies are the classic tropical fish. Being brightly colored with a huge, showy tail these fish are available in an almost unlimited variety of colors and patterns meaning each one is almost unique so a decent number of these fish provides lots of opportunities for kids to have a “favorite”. Be aware how freely these fish will breed as some aquarium keepers have found themselves overrun by babies in the past!
Platy
The platy may not be the most exciting-looking fish here perhaps packing some of the impact of some other species mentioned here but will grow rather larger than, for example, the guppies and neons. Again, these fish are available in a variety of colors such as a golden yellow and even a black form so once again enabling you to add a variety of color to your fish tank.
Sword Tails
Sword tails superficially resemble the platies except that they male has a long “sword-like” projection from the tail which makes sexing these fish very easy indeed and like guppies they will often breed freely in a tropical community aquarium.
Corydoras Catfish
These ground-dwelling fish are peaceful if a little shy and should have some cover behind which they can hide from time to time. These fish may not be the most colorful available but provide a useful service filtering up leftover fish food from the bottom of the tank thus helping to keep it cleaner.
Danios
These little zebra-striped fish are once again hardy and easy to look after and some fish keepers have even had success keeping them as coldwater fish as a novel alternative (or addition) to standard goldfish.
Red Tailed Shark
Whilst the shark can attain a larger size than most of the fish here, the dark black body with red tail makes him a very attractive occupant and they really can look very shark-like in profile.
Plecos
These “sucker-mouths” look almost prehistoric and really add something to a tank. Just one or two of these fish will slowly work their way around your tank, feeding on any wood you have in your aquarium and also removing green algae from the glass walls of your aquarium. Like the cory catfish then these fish not only look interesting but also provide a useful practical service to you in helping your tank to look as good as possible.
