Freshwater Aquarium/Beginner Fish

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Expert: Richard Hight - 11/6/2009


Question
Hi
What types of fish make good cycle fish and how many should I use?

Answer
Hi Tyler

It greatly depends on what type of tank you want to keep. For a peaceful community tank, Zebra Danios and Whiteclouds make great starter fish. Tiger Barbs make good starters for a semi-aggressive tank. A good rule that I've always used for cycle fish is one inch of fish per 10 gallons of water. Of course when your tank has completed its cycle, it would be one inch of fish per gallon of water to fill it to capacity.

If you want to keep aggressive Cichlids, you should use a bacteria supplement such as Tetra SafeStart and add all of the fish at once. This will minimize aggression between them. Most who keep aggressive Cichlids, prefer a fishless cycle since all of these fish need to added to the tank at the same time.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard

Freshwater Aquarium

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Richard Hight

Expertise

I own and maintain several freshwater aquariums from 2 to 180 gallon. I can answer most questions about freshwater aquariums, including setup, cycling, maintenance, compatible tank mates, feeding. Moving? I've moved fish both across town and across the country and can help you get your little aquatic friends to their new home safely. I know and have experience with most freshwater community fish, South American Cichlids and African Cichlids. If I don't know the answer to your question, I'll do research to find the best answer for you. I don't answer questions about Goldfish or keeping Goldfish with Tropical Fish. I also don't answer questions about keeping crustaceans (shrimp, snails, crabs etc) with Tropical Fish, nor questions about saltwater fish or aquariums. I'm not available to answer questions on weekends, this is when I do maintenance on my own tanks.

Experience

Many years of personal experience with community tank fish, semi-aggressive fish (Barbs, Tetras, etc), Angels, South American Cichlids and African Cichlids.

Education/Credentials
HSG 2010-2011 prof

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