Beginner Fish
- Thread starter jsteph24
- Start date
myrtle beach
Member
false clowns, chromis, firefish
sfoister
Member
If by beginner fish you mean "something that will live through absolute hell" you need blue damsels.
If by beginner you mean "I have already cycled and I just want a low maintenance fish" you can get damsels of any variety, false percs, foxface, bangai cardinal, and even niger triggers if you have a very large tank and you want to keep mostly larger aggressive fish. There are a lot of really hardy fish you can get but those are my favorites.
If by beginner you mean "I have already cycled and I just want a low maintenance fish" you can get damsels of any variety, false percs, foxface, bangai cardinal, and even niger triggers if you have a very large tank and you want to keep mostly larger aggressive fish. There are a lot of really hardy fish you can get but those are my favorites.
jsteph24
Member
I have a 55 gallon tank that has 60 lbs of live rock and 60 lbs of live sand in it right now. It has been cycling for a couple weeks and I am just wondering about what might be some good fish to start out with. Low-maintenence might be good to start with. I was thinking 2 clowns. Are some fish picky eaters? what makes some more difficult than others?
larryndana
Active Member
i disagree with getting any damsels for a new tank. they are the last thing you want to put into your tank, they are territorial. and i don't even want to discuss cycling with them, which is a terrible thing to do.
larryndana
Active Member
you may want to invest in a good book. most beginner books will give ideas on fish and also give info on different species. one good one is The New Marine Aquarium....it goes through setup and gives a stocking guide.
sfoister
Member
Not all damsels are unruly evil-doers. Stay away from dominos and yellow tails. Instead look for blue-green chromis, which are excellent little fish that are not picky, do well in groups of 3 or more, have great color and are hardy. I hear a lot of complaints about them being territorial but I have not had any issues with mine. I have 4 of them, they were my first and I don't have any regrets.
mcbdz
Active Member
Why don't you go through all the fish pics on this site and decide the one fish you really really want that can go in your size tank. :thinking: then build around it.( what gets along with, and what order you want to put them in) then come back here or the fish forum and ask more about what you like and see what people that have that kind of fish say.
There are so many fish that it helps to see the pics. At least that is what I did. :happyfish
myrtle beach
Member
Test your water, bring it to the LFS also. Double check to make sure your tank is done cycling. I would start with clowns, they are tough, I had four damsels and they were tough to catch, if everything is ok, and you want clowns to stay for good, then they would be the first to go in. I have a firefish and a klein's butterfly too. Butterflys are tougher, wait on the fish thay are listed as medium difficulty, stick to easy ones. I added a couple of species a week, until I was satisfied. Don't overload things at first, read up.
rbaldino
Active Member
Damsels of any kind will survive most anything. Clowns are pretty hardy. Chromis are kind of hit or miss; greens seem to do much better than blues. Gobies/dartfish are generally considered hardy, but I've found them to be hit or miss, which mostly seems to depend on what kind of fish they're kept with. Psuedochromis/dottybacks are also very hardy. A bit aggressive, but also very interesting fish with personality.
I've had three fish that all lived for 10+ years. A false perc clown, a tomato clown, and a four-stripe damsel, all of whom grew up together. Only recently lost the perc and four-stripe in a prolonged power outage. The tomato is still going strong.
I've had three fish that all lived for 10+ years. A false perc clown, a tomato clown, and a four-stripe damsel, all of whom grew up together. Only recently lost the perc and four-stripe in a prolonged power outage. The tomato is still going strong.
sfoister
Member
Originally Posted by jsteph24
I was looking at the anglefish and was really interested in the coral beauty. The care level says easy, but is this a fish I should get down the road? and is it safe for invertabraes? Does anyone have any insight on the pajama cardinal?
Pajama cardinal is a great looking fish and pretty much follows the same rules as bangai, good fish to have on your list. They can be a bit aggressive toward eachother so don't keep more than one. The coral beauty is my absolute favorite of the dwarf angels but they are not reef safe 80% of the time. Unless you get them super super young and train them to eat what you provide which even still may not work. But it's worth a try IMO because they really grab the attention of passerbys.
I was looking at the anglefish and was really interested in the coral beauty. The care level says easy, but is this a fish I should get down the road? and is it safe for invertabraes? Does anyone have any insight on the pajama cardinal?
Pajama cardinal is a great looking fish and pretty much follows the same rules as bangai, good fish to have on your list. They can be a bit aggressive toward eachother so don't keep more than one. The coral beauty is my absolute favorite of the dwarf angels but they are not reef safe 80% of the time. Unless you get them super super young and train them to eat what you provide which even still may not work. But it's worth a try IMO because they really grab the attention of passerbys.
larryndana
Active Member
Originally Posted by sfoister
Not all damsels are unruly evil-doers. Stay away from dominos and yellow tails. Instead look for blue-green chromis, which are excellent little fish that are not picky, do well in groups of 3 or more, have great color and are hardy. I hear a lot of complaints about them being territorial but I have not had any issues with mine. I have 4 of them, they were my first and I don't have any regrets.
when people say damsels i don't even think about chromis
of course most to realize clowns are damsels.
Not all damsels are unruly evil-doers. Stay away from dominos and yellow tails. Instead look for blue-green chromis, which are excellent little fish that are not picky, do well in groups of 3 or more, have great color and are hardy. I hear a lot of complaints about them being territorial but I have not had any issues with mine. I have 4 of them, they were my first and I don't have any regrets.
when people say damsels i don't even think about chromis
of course most to realize clowns are damsels.
larryndana
Active Member
pj cardinals actually do better in groups of two or more, from what i remember.
saltn00b
Active Member
dont know if anyone mentioned anything about the sweetlips, but stay away from them, they dont do well in the home aquarium and as they grow they dont look like the juveniles you see in the pet store.
see this thread as a guide:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...0&page=1&pp=40
see this thread as a guide:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...0&page=1&pp=40