Fish for beginners

[LittleParr]

I am setting up my tank, and have selected the following fish as a group from which to choose. Can anyone give me any advice on how (or what ones) to pick?
Clowns
Damsels
Cardinals
Tangs
Blennies
Gobies
Butterflies

 

[lando]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com!!!
The first step in starting up a new tank to decide what type of tank yo wish to have, FO, FOWLR, reef, community or agressive. What size is the tank? This will help narrow down fish selection as well.

Clowns

Very easy to keep and a hardy fish. This is a good one to start with.

Damsels

These fish are very hardy as well. They are also very aggressvie and will likely kill any other smaller fish in the tank. I would stay away form these.

Cardinals

Do best in groups. Also hardy.

Tangs

Most tangs need large tanks (55gal is the bare minimum, 75gal is better). Aggressive towards their own species. They are suseptable to parasitic infections but once acclimated and free form disease they are prety hardy.

Blennies

Wide range from easy to hard to keep. Some are also venimous.

Gobies

Most are pretty hardy and easy to keep. I am a fan of the various types of shrimp gobies.

Butterflies

Not for the beginer, these fish are difficult to keep. Feeding is ussually the problem and many starve to death. Hold off on these.
When selecting any fish it is very important to research the species and not the family. I also suggest you pick up a good bookon SW tanks. I like "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner.

 

[RLG2182]

I put damsels in my first SW setup... vicious little buggers. I have two O. Clowns right now and a firefish goby... nice pairing!

Make sure to read up on the fish... some like the scooter blenny will eat pods, and require an established tank with plenty of LR. Check out http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm for a quick chart to verify if certain fish can go with each other. HTH

 

[malkore]

Yeah, the only thing I'd add to Lando's reply is that damsels are often very aggressive, and will bully the other fish. They are also VERY active swimmers, and do better in small schools, so they really aren't ideal for tanks under 55gallons.

 

[oyf709]

just a little something add on wat lando said
Clowns
Damsels
---both of them are very territorial,only have more then 1 pair in it unless uhave a big tank and u like a busy tank

Cardinals
---they like to be school, but not too big , 4-5 is a ok number , they can be very agressive against same type of fish

Tangs
---- agressive towards same body shape or same type of fish, and can be quite large sometimes, choose wisely and only keep more than 1 if u have a huge tank and remember introduce them at the same time.

Blennies
Gobies
---would be best for beginers however again keep only 1 if ur tank isn't big they are also terrirotial against same body shape unless u are having small type gobie or blenny

Butterflies
------no exp on it so can't add on it

 

[SeriousDude5]

I would start with a clown they are hardy and not agressive to anything but other clowns usually. OR even a chromis part of demsil family but not agressive kind cheap and colorful.

 

[alaher2]

My personal favorite beginner fish is any clownfish and the chromis, they are active, peaceful, exciting fish to watch and very hardy. The PJ's are also very hardy but they are very inactive and spend much of their time in the same spot all day, IMO they are somewhat boring.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that we need to know your plans for your tank and what size. This will help in deciding.