So I just went to the fish stores

[CaptainMako]

AND I WANT TO SCREAM

One of them screwed their hours so they were closed.
Another one had a decent selection but all the fish had filthy tanks, mismatched names and rot.
The other one pulled a Walmart.
In none of these did I find ammonia, but I found those API test kits you guys love so much.
It's looking like the only choice I have is Petco.
But I'm not going to give up there.
I'm now looking for a 30 gallon freshwater tank, and a single school of non-agressive livebearers. Here's a list of the ones I saw and liked, they may not even be the right ones as one store had the wrong names. I'm not thinking of mixing these, just getting one species for now. Tell me what you guys think, rule out any that don't fit those parameters or are not good for a starter so I can narrow my list down.
Guppies
Silvertip tetra
Platys
Black ghost knife
Kingdom danio
Albino convict
Albino Peacock
Blueberry oscar
Texas cichlid
Venustus
Bala shark
Humahuma trigger
Swordtails
Gouramis
Gold pristella
Albino bristle nose platy
Mickey Mouse platy
Veil Angelfish
Bleeding heart tetras
Sunset fire wag platy
gold twinbar platy
long finned zebra danios
neon blue dwarf gourami
flame dwarf gourami
gold dust molly
sunset fire platy
glo-light tetra

Thanks

 

[dkpate]

No black ghost, they get between 18-20 inches. Bala also, IMO, gets too big for 30G's.

 

[CaptainMako]

I figured they got the name wrong on the ghosts.
Also, aquarium solutions was the one that changed their hours up. I wait around for awhile when they were supposed to be open but nobody showed.

No black ghost, they get between 18-20 inches. Bala also, IMO, gets too big for 30G's.

 

[dkpate]

Yeah, I would e-mail her, and tell her you drove all the way from CDA, and no one opened the place up.
You will know a BGK when you see one. I have a pic of the one I had in my albums on here.

 

[CaptainMako]

I hit that place, Evergreen pets and another Petco down in that area. Figured I've give solutions some time though, at least until I had a better idea on what I wanted.

 

[dkpate]

I do not like Petco. LOL. I have never been to Evergreen pets though.

 

[CaptainMako]

Almost starting to look like my only choice. The tanks and fish look okay, but I'll do my research.
Evergreen is an older place, fish aren't they're only thing they sell but they definately have a lot there.
Other than the condition of the tanks, the names were written on the glass with sharpie.
And for whatever reason they have gigantic tortoises in the same room.

 

[mommytron]

if you want live bearers go with guppies, mollies, platys, or swordtails. fish like tetras are tough to breed in an aquarium. angelfish, oscars, and other cichlids are aggressive, especially during mating. one cichlid you could do if you want a lot of fry is convicts. i've heard they breed like mad. i also agree with dkpate about the black ghost knife and bala sharks being too big for a 30g.

if you want schoolers and don't care about babies, go with tetras or danios.

gouramis are nice as a centerpiece fish. they can get aggressive towards eachother, considering the majority of the dwarf varieties you find will be males.

my preference of livebearers would be black mollies, tequila sunrise guppies, swordtails are pretty cool, as well as endler's livebearers.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Well you definitely have alot of livebearer options there!

If you are going to setup a 30g, I would avoid these from your list:

Black ghost knife
Albino convict
Albino Peacock
Blueberry oscar
Texas cichlid
Venustus
Bala shark
Humahuma trigger (saltwater)

The reason for avoiding them would be mainly for size/aggression issues. A pair of convicts would be fine, but like mommytron said, they will breed and breed and breed and its hard to get rid of the fry. A single Angelfish with some other fish or a pair of Angels would be fine...just hope the pair likes each other.

 

[KewtyPatootie]

Another good choice is keeping a group of female bettas. They are usually non-aggressive and many of them have long colorful fins. I find them very pretty!