Fish 101

[Tondi G]

I would suggest getting 5 or 6 of these little guys. http://www.petco.com/product/101091/Neon-Tetra.aspx They are not expensive and easy to replace if they go belly up ... and they are pretty.

We ended up going down the fishtank route when my DS's won goldfish at a carnival. They were doing alright until we tried to do a good cleaning ... then one by one they went belly up until they were gone. We gave up and the tank is now sitting in the garage. We are thinking we'll go with a beta if we decide to get the tank going again. I made my DH deal with the cleaning ... but I was the one who ended up feeding the fish every night after a few weeks.

[egoldber]

I love Neon Tetra. They are my favorites of the fish we have.

[niccig]

I love Neon Tetra. They are my favorites of the fish we have.

OK, so our water is too alkaline for those at the moment. DS tested it this afternoon and the pH is 7.8. We're not getting fish until later in week, so not sure if this will come down or not. I know you can add chemicals to water to get the pH down but I was reading about not messing with that - might be easier to get fish that can handle our water...

[o_mom]

No help here... Opened this thinking it was a cooking thread!

[bluestar2]

Maintenance for freshwater fish is not very hard. I'd get a new 5 gallon plastic bucket (the kind from the hardware store) to be used only for the fish tank, a gravel vacuum, a dobie type pad to scrub inside of the the glass, and a bottle of water chlorine remover/conditioner. You don't need to change the filter pad very often because they are expensive and it isn't necessary. After vacuuming out the water during a water change, just pull the pad out and scrub the gunk off in the bucket water then put it back. One can last months and can be used until the floss starts falling apart. For 4-5 1.5 in fish, changing out 20% of the water every other week should be fine. It takes me about 20 mins.
I'd say the most important things are not overstocking, not overfeeding and regular water changes. Don't put the tank in direct sunlight or leave the lights on too long to avoid algae growth. Choosing hardy fish helps a lot too. This site gives a good description of different kinds of fish and their requirements:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/a...cfm?c=830+2855

Be careful when you buy fish that there aren't any diseased or dead fish in the store's tanks and that they are well maintained. Yes, goldfish are messier so I wouldn't put more than 1 "fancy" one in a 10 gal. I'd stick with the tropical fish. Neons are pretty but you want at least a few of them since they are schooling fish. Good luck! Let me know if you'd like any more info.