Hi

[Whitetigergirl]

Hello, I'm somewhat new to this. I have always had goldfish which are completely different from tropicals. I have a 50 gallon tank that I would like to build up with some pretty colorful fish and maybe some coral it is a tall tank with not terribly much horizontal swim space. I am looking for some advice as to the type of fish I should get, I also don't have a ton of time to dedicate to maintenance so I'm hoping for something fairly easy to start with. I saw some albino paradise fish that were cute... Any suggestions?


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[bribo12]

Hi welcome to the forum! I'm assuming this will be a fw tank and as such no coral can go in it unfortunately. I'm more a saltwater guy but there are lots of fw folks who I'm sure will see this post in no time . Good luck


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[icydeath]

Good for you not stocking fish and asking questions first! XD

Hmm... Cherry barbs are nice fish. Assuming you want to keep it simple and low maintenance you will also want to keep the stocking rather low along with a small clean-up crew.

so for a 50...

12 Cherry Barbs (3 m : 9 f or 2 m : 10 f)
3 Platies (1 m : 2 f or 3 m or 3 f)
15 Amano Shrimp
5 Nerite Snails

So this is how I would stock it

Also, you change about 7.5 gallons of water (10 to be safe. ).

Don't forget to gravel vacuum and cycle! Also introduce the fish slowly. Platies first, then in a week 4 cherry barbs, then in another week 4 more cherry barbs, then in another week 4 more cherry barbs, then the amano shrimps and nerites the next week.

Use StressZyme when you are introducing them and StressCoat as well.

Get Tetra SafeStart while you are cycling as it will help jumpstart the speed. I recommend going fishless but it is your tank. If you do go fish in cycle, don't put any fish but the platies in until it is done cycling.

Best of luck! - Raymond

 

[Whitetigergirl]

Should I go saltwater or freshwater?


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[icydeath]

Definitely freshwater first. When you are first getting into it, freshwater is cheaper (less stuff needed), easier to maintain, and simpler.

Through learning freshwater and moving into more delicate species or brackish are the stepping stones into salt.

So go freshwater. You will enjoy it more as you are learning and freshwater is more forgiving. You'll learn tricks and other stuff that will help a lot if you later choose to go saltwater. I would advice doing freshwater, then brackish (they arent as picky as freshwater or saltwater and tolerate salinity fluctuation), then saltwater once you have learned the skills you need in freshwater and brackish water.

If you really want to you can start with saltwater although it will require a lot of work and it will be a little tricky at first. I would start basic and move up.

Which ever you choose if you dedicate and research, you will do fine. - Raymond