Starting Your Home Aquarium: The 5 Best Fish for Beginners

Over 1 billion aquarium fish are sold each year.

Though more research needs to be conducted, there is some evidence that shows that owning a private aquarium can help you relax, soothe anxiety, and improve your overall wellbeing.

If you’re thinking of starting your own freshwater aquarium for the first time, there’s a huge selection of fish for beginners such as yourself to choose from.

5 Top Fish for Beginners

There’s a lot to learn when it comes to taking care of fish. Fish need a balanced environment to thrive.

For example, the mandarin fish requires a special diet. A person new to raising fish may find it difficult to cope with the picky mandarin fish, who prefers to eat tiny copepod. The mandarin fish must be specially trained to consume other types of food.

Here are five of the best fish for people new to aquariums:

1. Betta Fish

The betta fish is one of the prettier fish species to start with. They range in a wide variety of bright colors, but it’s their huge, billowing fins that set them apart from other species.

You can get a small 5-gallon tank for a single betta fish, or go with a larger 10-gallon tank for a community of fish. However, if you choose a betta fish, you can’t have more than one in the tank. Betta fish are also called “fighting fish” because they don’t get along with others of their own kind.

2. Angelfish

The angelfish has a distinctive triangular shape with long, wispy fins and distinctive striping. An angelfish can grow quite large, so if you get one, be aware you may need to upgrade to a 55-gallon tank in the future.

This species of fish is territorial, so it’s best to keep only one to avoid any fighting.

3. White Cloud Minnow

The White Cloud Minnow is a shoaling fish, meaning you’ll need to buy a small group of around 6 for the fish to feel comfortable and safe.

This fish has a somewhat silver-white sheen to its body, and its tail has crimson coloring to it. They often have a single blue line that runs the length of the middle of their body.

They are small enough that you can use a small 10-gallon tank to hold the fish.

4. Black Skirt Tetra

For the goth lover, there is the Black Skirt Tetra fish. It has a black, triangular body shape reminiscent of the angelfish, but its fins are wider and billow out in a similar fashion to the betta fish.

This is another type of shoaling fish that does best in a school of six.

5. Kribensis Cichlid

The kribensis fish tends to flaunt colors of silver, lime green, yellow, lavender, and pink. On its fins, it sports tiny, black dots.

This fish grows up to about four inches in length, so you’ll need at least a 29-gallon tank to hold. This fish is territorial, so you’ll have to be careful of what types of fish you house with it.

Choose a Fish Right for You

Having an aquarium at home can be great if you spend a lot of time at your home office doing things like programming, being a virtual assistant, secure mobile casino app development or more.  It can be enjoyable and soothing.  We hope this guide gave you some useful ideas for fish for beginners. There are many more starter fish out there beyond what’s listed here. Do your research and choose a fish that’ll suit the tank you have and the care routine you’re most comfortable with.

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