Brighten up Your Tank with These Beauties
Keeping tropical fish is not just a hobby, but an exciting adventure that involves discovering many interesting types of fish. If you are ready to begin populating your first tropical tank, start with some fish that are generally peaceful, hardy, and undemanding. You will soon get used to making sure the environment is conducive to healthy and happy fish. Once you are comfortable with the basics, you can begin to expand your collection to include more challenging breeds. Here are five excellent tropical fish any beginner can start with:
Clownfish (Nemo)
These cute and colorful little fish will give you hours of joy, especially if you have kids who have seen Finding Nemo. Although they usually last around five years, clownfish can live much longer. Some can even live for over 10 years! Clownfish are reef fish so they don’t need a lot of space in a tank. They tend to stay close to tank décor like rocks and plants. Later on, when you become more adventurous with your tank, you can start keeping anemones since clownfish love them.
Damselfish (Dory)
Another very popular and beautiful fish is the damselfish (T-9), also known as Dory in Finding Nemo. Damselfish are related to clownfish and are happy to live in the same kind of environment. Just don’t put too many of them in the tank because they can get territorial and are a bit more aggressive than the clownfish. Damselfish are not just blue like Dory. There are a variety different types, with some being black and white such as the domino, the four stripe, and the tuxedo.
The Molly
These friendly little fish are so hardy they can happily survive in both freshwater and in saltwater. Mollies come in a range of colors, and some have fancy tails. Because they are not aggressive, make sure you have enough décor in your tank that they can hide from bullies when necessary. They are livebearers, which means they keep the eggs inside their bodies and give birth to free-swimming little fish. This is very interesting to watch. Just don’t be alarmed when you notice that not many of the little fish survive since mollies eat their young.
Cardinalfish
With its unusual shape and interesting colors, the cardinalfish is captivating to watch and relatively simple to keep. Go for the pajama cardinalfish since they are the most peaceful of this type of fish. To keep them happy, make sure they have lots of hiding space in the tank.
Blennies
Blennies are super cute and spend most of their time at the bottom of the tank or hanging out in rocks. They have a lot of personality and come in a variety of colors. Even though some people consider them to be a sort of utility fish because they help control algae, blennies are some of the most fascinating tropical fish to watch yet are also simple to keep.