Hello all

I've got a spare 57l (15gall) aquarium lying around and hubby and I are debating whether or not to get our first tropical set-up. The only equipment I think we need is a heater, we already have all the other gear and we are fairly experienced at keeping coldwater fish.

Is keeping tropical fish a lot harder or the same? I don't want the fish to suffer from my lack of ability!

Mainly I was wondering what sort of fish we could keep. Obviously it would have to be something small like neons or corys. I'm not fussed about having different kinds of fish, my main concern is overstocking and compatability if we did have different kinds.

Thanks in advance for your ideas! F-F :)

Hi guys,

I only started keeping tropical fish about 8 months ago and beleive Im now doing pretty good...havent had a death in quite some time. I would say avoid anything like Neon tetras until your tank is well cycled as they tend to die very easily. Ive found the likes of plecos and corys to be very hardy fish, theirs also the guppies but ensure unless you want to breed them that you dont get a mix of male and female. I have 4 male guppies who can be very entertaining playing about with the powerfilter output. The corys (I have both Peppered and Albino) are great as a starter fish since they are very good community fish and keep the tank clean. Another good fish are clown loaches I found them to be very easy to keep and do eat alot. Have a look at www.trimar.co.uk for fish they will deliver by courier and Ive bought my last 5 fish from them.

On a subnote I might say that keeping tropical fish could be a bit harder (Goldy could comment more) since problems with temperature in the summer and a huge array of infections to deal with. I have to say though I do find the effort to be worth it.

Hope this helps.

edit:- on another note www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk has a stock checker so you can find out how many fish you can keep safely in one tank.

This months PK mag has a pull out section about keeping tropicals.

Tim

Thanks very much for both your replies! I'll check out that PFK pull-out.

Thanks for all the info darkestangel. I have got a couple of corys in my other tank and they are fab. I would love to get some more (hubby had to drag me away from a tank of panda corys at my LFS the other day ) What is the general rule for tropical fish stocking, round about 2" per gallon?

Thanks so much for all your help

To be honest apart from needing a heater I would say tropical fish are easier to keep than goldfish as they are generaly not as messy although guess that depends on which you go for