acmoseley

I recently bought an Eclipse System 12 along with a heater, a few fake plants, gravel, and tap water conditioner. It will arrive this afternoon and I am going to make sure the water conditions are perfect before adding any fish; which is where my question comes in.

What are some good beginner fish for this type of freshwater tank?

I've looked around and done some research on some fish, but I'd like a few other opinions as well. I'd like to get some hearty fish that are fairly stable, as well as a few shrimp or sucker fish to help clean the tank.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated, and I thank you in advance.

Thanks,
acmoseley

KonaBoy

Well, after your tank is cycled (I'm sure someone will post the link to the nitrogen cycle), I would reccomend a school of Zebra Danio's. They're a hardy species that add a lot of movement to your tank, however, there's not a lot of colour to them.

sirdarksol

In no particular order:
I would not suggest any sort of sucker fish for this tank. The only such fish that would fit in a 12g would be otos, but they need really, really stable water conditions, which are difficult for even a veteran aquarist to provide in such a small tank.
Amano shrimp can help with algae, but you still need to keep the water clean (excess nitrates will cause an algae bloom).
Zebra danios and White Cloud minnows are two types of fish that can survive a lot of beginner mistakes.
A less hardy, but still viable option for a tank that small, would be neon tetras. They're really colorful, and since they're so small, you could keep a decent number of them (I would say around 8-9) in the tank.
A single betta or Odessa barb would do well in a 12g. I must admit that I know very little about the Odessa barb, but barbs are pretty hardy, and Fishlore says that this one can actually live with only one in the tank. Many barbs like being in schools.

Lastly, if you don't already know about the Nitrogen Cycle, you should read up on it. http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
It is imperative that you cycle your tank before adding fish. It takes time and patience, but not doing so will cause you and your fish much grief.

travie

I wouldn't go with danios in that small of a tank. They won't have a lot of room to swim around. They hardy, but lack of room won't be good for them

After you cycle your tank, a Betta and possibly either shrimp, oto's, or a species of cory that stay small could work.

sirdarksol

I disagree with the first part. Everything that I've seen says that zebra danios would be fine in a 10+g tank.
As I said, otos probably aren't a good idea for a beginner, but I hadn't thought about cories. If you've only got one other fish in the tank (like a betta or Odessa barb), you could have a few dwarf cories in there. Then you'd have a fish on the top level of the tank and the bottom level.

acmoseley

Thanks a ton guys. I have heard that neon tetras and bettas are good to start out with, so I might go with that.

Any suggestions on the Nitrogen Cycle? I've read that article a few times, but I'm still trying to decide the best way to go about it (without fish of course). The Bio-Spira sounds great, but I don't know if I'll be able to find any here in Savannah and I'd rather start the cycle this weekend than order the Bio-Spira and waiting another week.

sirdarksol

Even if you had to wait a week for the BioSpira, your cycle would be done sooner. It takes a few weeks to cycle a tank...
Unless you can get your hands on some freshly used filter media. If you've got a friend with a tank, ask if you can get a swatch of sponge from their tank. Store it in a plastic bag with some water from the tank until you can get it home. Then make sure that you "feed" the tank (drop some flakes in) until you get fish.
Otherwise, I would suggest the pure ammonia method, as this is the least messy (it doesn't give the tank anything but ammonia, while most flakes have small amounts of phosphorous and other undesirable stuff).

I would say a betta or some neons. It's possible that you could keep the two together, but the betta is likely to attack the neons. They're very territorial little buggers.

primerowan

I have to concur with sirdarksol on the Bio-Spira - I'm definitely a fish newbie but after reading a lot about the nitrogen cycle, I (and my fish!) are thrilled with the results that I've gotten from Bio-Spira. Like he said - even if you have to wait a week for Bio-Spira - it's still faster!

Blub

Lucy

Either or, not both. I have a betta in a 5g and neons in a 10g. They are little beauties.

ba-dabing

I started out with a 10 gallon and 6 Red Tail Platys.

My son is a Phoenix Suns fan so I bought him the 6 Platys (which are orange) and then I did the tank in purple gravel and a big, purple sea anemonea (a fake one) in the middle with some smaller purple and orange artificial plants.

We've managed to keep the platys for 3 years now. They are hardy little fish and the flashes of orange zipping around the tank are nice.

FL CommunityFans

Bio-spira is 1 day shipping. Order it Tuesday night and receive it by Thursday at the latest.