low maintenance fish

DeesBalls · 09-14-13, 08:27 PM

What's are some fish that are very low maintenance and easy to care for. Can live in a small group like maybe 3... In a 10 gallon? They are for my daughters 1 St birthday so something easy. Thanks!!!!

smy_749 · 09-14-13, 08:33 PM

Mollies , platties, cory cats, neons, guppies, danios...

I know those are easy because I don't have any experience and have kept all of those without issue.

Mollys and platys aren't my favorites, especially when they swim around with a long trail of crap attached to their rear. Its very bothersome lol

Mikoh4792 · 09-14-13, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smy_749

Mollies , platties, cory cats, neons, guppies, danios...

I know those are easy because I don't have any experience and have kept all of those without issue.

Mollys and platys aren't my favorites, especially when they swim around with a long trail of crap attached to their rear. Its very bothersome lol

I think it adds to the aesthetics.

**Aaron_S** · 09-14-13, 08:48 PM

Guppies. Best fish ever.

So basic but very colourful and active.

I got my daughter a fish tank a few years ago and went through a number of species before I settled on guppies. We stocked a few females and a male or two and now we've got a lot of them. I kind of want to do selective breeding BUT I don't have space for extra tanks to keep pairs in or males out of the main tank so meh.

DeesBalls · 09-14-13, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smy_749

Mollies , platties, cory cats, neons, guppies, danios...

I know those are easy because I don't have any experience and have kept all of those without issue.

Mollys and platys aren't my favorites, especially when they swim around with a long trail of crap attached to their rear. Its very bothersome lol

Thanks! like i said, its going in my daughters room, so something she can watch at night, and look at when she is a little older, can those live together? or what, im wanting like 2-4 fish in a 10 gal tank if possible.

**Aaron_S** · 09-14-13, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeesBalls

Thanks! like i said, its going in my daughters room, so something she can watch at night, and look at when she is a little older, can those live together? or what, im wanting like 2-4 fish in a 10 gal tank if possible.

I'd skip the neons. Tend to be a little tempermental but do really well in large groups as they are a schooling fish.

Cory cats stay at the bottom and again are a schooling fish. Need 3 - 7 to make them feel comfortable.

Mollies tend to get ick ( a fisk sickness) a lot and get kind of big but are colourful. Along with platties. They also breed as easy as guppies.

Danios are also a good choice. A little more bland than the mollies, platties and guppies but do well in smaller tanks.

For the amount of fish it depends on the size of fish and the bio load. I currently keep dozens of guppies in a simple 20 gallon tank. If the tank had live plants I could probably keep another dozen or so easily.

For platties, guppies and smaller danios you could do half a dozen or so. For mollies and larger danios, probably a few less.

You will start with only a couple though no matter what so you can cycle the tank.

DeesBalls · 09-14-13, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Guppies. Best fish ever.

So basic but very colourful and active.

I got my daughter a fish tank a few years ago and went through a number of species before I settled on guppies. We stocked a few females and a male or two and now we've got a lot of them. I kind of want to do selective breeding BUT I don't have space for extra tanks to keep pairs in or males out of the main tank so meh.

cool man, thanks for the help as well, i will for sure look into these 1st for her then

DeesBalls · 09-14-13, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I'd skip the neons. Tend to be a little tempermental but do really well in large groups as they are a schooling fish.

Cory cats stay at the bottom and again are a schooling fish. Need 3 - 7 to make them feel comfortable.

Mollies tend to get ick ( a fisk sickness) a lot and get kind of big but are colourful. Along with platties. They also breed as easy as guppies.

Danios are also a good choice. A little more bland than the mollies, platties and guppies but do well in smaller tanks.

For the amount of fish it depends on the size of fish and the bio load. I currently keep dozens of guppies in a simple 20 gallon tank. If the tank had live plants I could probably keep another dozen or so easily.

For platties, guppies and smaller danios you could do half a dozen or so. For mollies and larger danios, probably a few less.

You will start with only a couple though no matter what so you can cycle the tank.

thanks, i will be going with guppies, in a 10 gallon. so any info you want to trhow at me on guppies, that would be awesome!

smy_749 · 09-14-13, 09:52 PM

I also noticed the ick problem when I was keeping mollies/platties, and some occasional bullying of other species. Out of the group I listed, the two species I enjoy most would be danios and neon tetras. I really like planted aquariums with a group of only one schooling species. If your going to do plants as well, I'd get an otocinclus as well.

Hannibalcanibal · 09-15-13, 04:56 AM

One male guppy, three female guppies. Teaching about the "miracle of life"... In a good way

DeesBalls · 09-15-13, 08:06 AM

^^haha i like that. no birds and bee talk for me, it will be the fish and.... well fish talk :P

now i read 1:3? and 1 gallon of water per guppie, so i plan on 9 guppies in a 10 gallon tank, i would also like maybe a snail or somthing along those lines, im going to petco right now to look and see what they have. Thanks again for all the help guys.

**Aaron_S** · 09-15-13, 09:30 AM

If you want a pleco look for a bristlenose pleco. They stay small, roughly 6 inches or less. The males are ugly but the small size is what you want. They will keep all algae down. They are THE best fish for it in my opinion. Thing about them is you need driftwood in the tank for them to munch on. It aids in their digestion.

Snails work as well. Get I believe zebra snails as they don't reproduce in captivity (for whatever reason) and do a great job of algae. If you go with others that do reproduce you can buy assassin snails to keep that population down (snails eating snails!)

Don't worry about how many fish per gallon. As I said, it's about the bioload. Sometimes my fish population explodes, other times its down. They control themselves.

Sammy, I found ick to be a concern with mollies because they come from a brackish area I believe and the increase of salt in the water keeps ick away.

Lastly, don't buy any "balloon" or other man made genetic defect fish.

**Aaron_S** · 09-15-13, 09:30 AM

If you want a pleco look for a bristlenose pleco. They stay small, roughly 6 inches or less. The males are ugly but the small size is what you want. They will keep all algae down. They are THE best fish for it in my opinion. Thing about them is you need driftwood in the tank for them to munch on. It aids in their digestion.

Snails work as well. Get I believe zebra snails as they don't reproduce in captivity (for whatever reason) and do a great job of algae. If you go with others that do reproduce you can buy assassin snails to keep that population down (snails eating snails!)

Don't worry about how many fish per gallon. As I said, it's about the bioload. Sometimes my fish population explodes, other times its down. They control themselves.

Sammy, I found ick to be a concern with mollies because they come from a brackish area I believe and the increase of salt in the water keeps ick away.

Lastly, don't buy any "balloon" or other man made genetic defect fish.

Hannibalcanibal · 09-15-13, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

If you want a pleco look for a bristlenose pleco. They stay small, roughly 6 inches or less. The males are ugly but the small size is what you want. They will keep all algae down. They are THE best fish for it in my opinion. Thing about them is you need driftwood in the tank for them to munch on. It aids in their digestion.

Snails work as well. Get I believe zebra snails as they don't reproduce in captivity (for whatever reason) and do a great job of algae. If you go with others that do reproduce you can buy assassin snails to keep that population down (snails eating snails!)

Don't worry about how many fish per gallon. As I said, it's about the bioload. Sometimes my fish population explodes, other times its down. They control themselves.

Sammy, I found ick to be a concern with mollies because they come from a brackish area I believe and the increase of salt in the water keeps ick away.

Lastly, don't buy any "balloon" or other man made genetic defect fish.

Yeah, don't get anything with a defect... just not fair to the animal to breed them like that.

DarkestCloud · 09-15-13, 12:57 PM

Don't put any sort of pleco in there. A single bristlenose needs at least 30 gallons, just because the bioload is so huge. Also, you could keep six or seven white cloud minnows in a ten gallon, and you wouldn't need a heater. Really cute fish, and easy to keep. Make sure you do some research on cycling, or you'll end up with dead or sick fish.