We’re going to discuss the best and the easiest fish aquarium fish for beginners. I’ll try to give the facts and other information based on the experience we had on these fish so that you’ll have a kick-start getting a success out of your first aquarium. This is going to be a little detailed list and I am aiming jam-pack this blog post with a ton of information. If you’re new to the hobby, never kept fish before welcome to the ultimate source for the top 8 easy fish for beginners. Here we go.
1. Endler’s Livebearer
Endler’s Guppy / Endler’s Livebearer is our #1 because they stay small and they are hardy fish. That’s why they make one of the best aquarium fish for beginners. As someone who is going to start the hobby, we don’t think that you’ll spend a whole fortune on an aquariums, filters and lights. Since Endler’s Guppies stay so small, they can be a perfect fit for your starter aquarium. Males will have amazing colors showing up, females will be pale or gray and they will breed every 22 to 30 days. Since the fish is so small, they can’t fit their fry in their mouth so that you’ll have a ton of success in breeding them. We recommend that you keep 2 females for every male (1:2 ratio) and you’ll have a colony of Endler’s Guppy in no time.
2. Neon Tetra or Cardinal Tetra
Tetras are schooling fish. As a beginner hobbyist, there’s nothing more exciting than a school of fish moving around the aquarium and displaying their colors, their characteristics. Tetras like Paracheirodon Innesi (Neon Tetra) or Paracheirodon Axelrodi (Cardinal Neon Tetra) displays brights red and blue colors when they feel comfortable. They live around 2 to 3 years, which is not too short (nor too long) but you’ll get a lot experience as you’re keeping them. They are not as hardy fish as guppies but hey! you’ll have different sorts of experience as you’re keeping them. Tetras are hard to beed compared to guppies, if you’re interested in breeding you might as well consider different species.
3. Corydoras
Corydoras are awesome fish they like to school as well, just like tetras. They are catfish, they like to hangout at the bottom of the tank thus they are considered as bottom-dwelling and bottom feeding fish. They are also considered as a “clean-up crew” member because they sift through the sand at the bottom of the tank and eat any left over food and prevents your water from spoiling faster. One important note is that, if you’re going to house them in your aquariums, you’ll need a fine gravel or sand so that they don’t hurt themselves as they are looking for food. They are schooling fish, recommended that you keep them in groups that are 6 or more. If you’re keeping a group, you might need swimming surface for them, recommended tank sizes for them are about 20 gallons or above.
4. Angelfish
Angelfish is probably the first and last cichlids that would make to this list. They are peaceful, can live in a community setup but they do get big. Since they get big, you’ll need a bigger aquarium at some point. They are easy to breed and are the perfect eaters. Angelfish don’t have any preference over feed, even if you go near the aquarium, they will get excited thinking that you’ll feed them. They have different color variations and you can find them in almost every store. The best advice that we can give for the beginner fish keepers is that buy a pair of angelfish, put them in a 40 gallons tank and enjoy your masterpiece.
5. Cherry Barb
There are a lot of barbs you can choose from but they are semi-aggressive. In general, they get about 3 inches long but there are smaller species of barbs you might consider. They are schooling fish and we recommend that you keep them in groups of 6 or more. The more fish in the group, the active they get. They can do well in community setup but their tank mates should handle their activity levels. They will nip and chase around things in the aquarium.
6. Bettas
Some people might not agree with this but we think that bettas are one of the easiest aquarium fish for beginners. You don’t need to go crazy about the size of the aquarium – just buy a 10 gallon aquarium, buy a slow running filter and that’s it! You can also keep them in a community setup as long as you don’t keep them with other betta fish. Since they are part of the Labyrinths, they can actually breathe air from the surface of the aquarium. As long as you feed them and do the minimal maintenance, bettas will find a way to thrive and display their amazing colors.
7. Common Goldfish
Common goldfish is not our personal favorite but it’s a fact that they are one of the easiest aquarium fish for beginners as long as you don’t put them in vase. One of the downsides of keeping goldfish is that they get big. It’s recommended that you have 20 or 30 gallons of water for every goldfish you keep in the aquarium. Good thing is though, when they get big, just throw them in an outside pond and watch them thrive.
8. Zebrafish
Zebra fish is a hardy fish which makes them to the list of aquarium fish for beginners. They can tolerate different water temperatures, ph and hardiness. Zebrafish don’t go big, they will reach up to 2 inches at most that’s why you don’t need to big when selecting the aquarium for zebrafish. They are not picky eaters. They like to school. It’s recommended that you keep them in groups. It’s relatively easy to breed. There are a ton of different varieties and colors of zebrafish due to inbreeding but be careful when selecting the fish. Inbreeding is also the root cause of health problems that you might see in your zebrafish.