......I'm going through that gateway currently. 😅 Pet sat for a family friend and ended up with their betta... month later I'm getting another one and some clean up crew 🙌
The mystery snail made me comment. I cannot recommend them enough. They are SOOOO much more fun than you may think. My wife and kids constantly go "omg look at what this snail is doing". It's hard to describe it without seeing it. You'll be like "what are you doing silly snail?"
I like to call mine the little gardener - not that he is little by the way! But he prunes all my plants that need pruning and he has a very great sense of smell, he is much more efficient and consistent in cleaning up sunken food than my hillstream loaches or my shy kuhlies.
I love how you called Betta fish a gateway drug 🤣 my first fish was a Betta and I made so many unfortunate mistakes at first ..BUT have learned SO much since then to give my Betta and future fish and shrimp a better life 🙂
My cherry shrimp and mystery snails are literally so funny and quirky. They have SO much personality and I love watching them go about their day. I have thought about having a tank just for my shrimp because they steal the show so often! Oh they also love to ride the snails around lol!
Corys are great for first-time fish keepers! Definitely recommend them. Just stay away from the more sensitive ones and look at getting either bronze or peppered corys - they'll tolerate any mistakes better and look awesome (plus they're very fun to watch). Obviously, do research as corys can be a bit on the sensitive side compared to something like guppies or goldfish but they're still pretty hardy. One thing I also didn't know when I first got mine is that they're scaleless fish and sometimes can't handle treatments that other fish can. I personally have peppered corys that spawn all the time but I've only let a few batches hatch since I already have a few too many. I was also lucky enough last year to get two albinos from my 'normal group' and I also got one this year. It's such a nice surprise. It's like getting a shiny pokemon XD
FYI it’s true what they say about Corys being sensitive to salt!! I added some aquarium salt to my tank to treat for ich and they basically went catatonic until I did a big water change 😓
You don't strike me as a Unicron/Sunstreaker kinda person but your information has helped me TRANSFORM from an absolute movie to a better prepared absolute novice
My first attempt at keeping an aquarium was a complete failure. I set everything up in one night a 10 gallon dumped about 8 different fish in and within a couple of week's all were dead. Except 1 Paradise fish he ended up in a fish bowl for about a year until I tried again. This time I had learned the correct way to set up a tank. He made it back to a ten gallon and even made the move to a new home a year later. That was back in 1979. The reason I bring this up is Paradise fish are very hardy. The are in the same family as bettas and can also take a gulp of air they also have a high tolerance to extreme different water temps. I read a story yrs ago of them being taken from ponds that were frozen and revived. . I think they would make good first fish though they can be quite combative at time's mainly with their own. I haven't seen any in the store's I shop in anywhere for yrs. They're rather pretty also.
Betta fish for sure!!! So much personality and it’s so rewarding to bring them home and get them out of those awful little cups. Can’t wait to have a community tank one day though!
I can definitely agree with Betta, Amano Shrimp, Molly, Endler, Gourami and Mystery Snails. They are all really hardy and easy to keep. But Neons are often wild caught and come with diseases, and additionally they have problems with hard water. Albino Corys are extensively bred to look the way they do, so they are way less hardy than other Corys, but it really depends on the bloodline. Cherry shrimp are really not as hard to keep as everybody thinks, but you definitely need a well established tank to put them in. But still, great video, keep being awesome :)
Same thoughts with the Mystery Snails! They are so weird and dorky in an entertaining way. I love giving it my DIY sinking wafer and do a Timelapse of it eating.
Guppies were the first fish I ever had. They were also the first fish I got as an adult getting back into the hobby. I did get away from them for a couple years because they're messy, but now have a large amount of them thanks to developing an interest in fish breeding. :-)
I recently got back into getting an aquarium after 30 years. I got my 10 gallon back in October. I know I'm a bit overstocked but am saving up for a 20 or 30 gallon that I will be getting soon. I have neon tetras, black skirt tetras, albino corys, a mystery snail and nerite snails, all bought from both Petco and PetSmart. You're right about the neons, they tend to stay towards the bottom, I love their color so much. The corys are so much fun to watch as they go around looking for food. The black skirts are complete food hogs! I named my mystery snail Speedy because he really is fast for a snail. I think it's hilarious the way he "hangs" onto the leaves of my fake plants, lol. I had black and dalmatian mollies to start with, but they all died. Now that you mentioned the water hardness/softness I can see why mine died. I loved them though, they all had the cutest personalities!
My wife and I both love our Mystery snails. We were quite fortunate to have gotten a Giant (over 3 inches) female that we named " Peach". She became our matriarch and we are now on the 5th- 6th generation of her progeny. Our LFS is ( I think) getting a little tired of us bringing them 50-100 juvenile snails every few weeks. We average about 6-8 klutches of eggs a week and have taken to floating them on a corkboard in one of our 40 breeder tanks.
I’m shocked you recommended mystery snails over nerites. I think it’s important to know to not get two mystery snails because of the high likelihood that they’ll breed. Nerites (while they do lay eggs everywhere) can only lay eggs but they never hatch unless in brackish water. Great video as always, Irene!
Hi Irene! Adore your videos and helpful candor about the hobby. I am also in Colorado! How do I get connected with the aquarium "club" you've mentioned???
The biggest bulletproof fish I’ve ever had, I was never interested in until my daughter gave me hers. Black skirt tetras. They eat anything, live in any water conditions and practically live for ever. Sometimes I think they’ve died but they were just hiding in the thick plants.
Chili rasboras help keep down the amount of copeopods and flatworms in my cherry shrimp breeding tank. I keep 4 in a 10 gallon and it is a huge difference with no noticeable decrease in baby shrimp production. Highly recommend. I almost never directly feed my chili rasboras either. I just feed the shrimp and they do fine.
I added ember tetras to my 5 gal shrimp tank and they didn't touch the copepods, so i moved them out to my 20L. Now the shrimp tank is overrun with copepods and I have no idea how to control them.
I have a 25-30 gallon tank (can’t remember) but I currently have 3 black neon tetras, 2 gold dust mollys, and 1 Dalmatian Molly. I used to have 2 but one passed. I also had one male beta who did very well with the others, who also sadly passed. (The filters aren’t my betas friends) they have plenty of hides and plants.
Without a doubt, my favorite fish is Frank the powder blue (and aggressive) dwarf gourami from petco. I also got ember tetras and platys from them. They will take back fish for donation, thankfully, as I had to get rid of all but 2 juvenile female platys due to fear of overpopulation. None were diseased or needed medication. Ember tetras are a good match for a feisty dwarf gourami as they're fast, too small to bother with, and mostly stay near the bottom. The platys get the brunt of his aggression.
Another vote for ember tetras. They are hardy, fast, and amazing eaters. As soon as any food enters my tank, they dive-bomb it. I have them in with a betta in a 10 gallon tank. I feed the betta mainly betta pellets. If the betta doesn't get the pellet in a second, an ember will run off with it. Unfortunate because the pellets are too big for the embers to eat, so it ends up on the bottom of the tank.
I work for Petco and i can say it really depends on the store you go to like my store we dont use petcos rules when it comes to our fish we all for the most part are in the hobbie so we all work togather to keep our tanks nice and healthy
something my mystery snail does that i find really interesting is they will go up to the top, and grab ahold of a piece of my dwarf water lettuce and pull it down to mid tank level and just float around on it like it's a ride at a park.. it's really interesting to think of a snail "doing something for fun" (not saying that is what they are doing but it sure seems/feels like it haha)
I just bought guppies at Petsmart. I didn’t have any luck. My mom used to raise fish and these are some of the ones we always had. Mine kept dying. I only have 4 out of 7 living now. She said they’ve been having problems with their breeder. I really like guppies because they like to play and they are so pretty.
I love dwarf gouramis. I have two tanks, each has one dwarf gourami as the centre feature. They may have similar personalities as bettas too! My powder blue gourami is curious, and will coexist with some bettas (my betta is also the curious type, but he is a little shy with that gourami around). Before he came to my tank, he was in another tank at my dads, with some angelfish, and they coexisted peacefully. My rainbow dwarf gourami on the other hand can be a little cranky with new arrivals, but is generally peaceful. I added a few juvenile platies earlier today, and they are looking good so far. They are kinda like the labyrinth version of a discus fish, and much easier to care for, not to mention much more affordable. Would recommend to anyone looking for a nice colourful centrepiece for a new community tank.
For me, I had the best luck with Neon Tetrad from Petsmart. I have had 20 Neon Tetras from Petsmart, all are still alive and healthy. But the worst is by far Cory catfish. At Petsmart, there were 3 dead in the tank. And only 5 alive, so I got those 5, and was going to come back when they re-stocked for more. But the next day, 2 of the catfish I got died, and the other 3 were not very health, so I let them heal, and a month later, they are health, and I even got 6 more. Then I have had amazing luck with shrimp from Petco or Petsmart.
For some reason, bettas never worked for me. Not matter how much I tried, they'd die within a month. On the other hand, when I was starting off, I unknowingly put 3 guppies and 3 platies together in a 5 gallon uncycled tank and they survived the whole cycle, no problem and lived for almost 3 years. Moreover, I also had white skirt tetras as an absolute beginner and they did very well as well. 😅 Now after years, I'm again gonna try Bettas despite the bad history and trauma associated with them. Maybe this time it might work out. Wish me luck 🤞
Love my nerite snail! He’s so fun to watch and he doesn’t make 100s of baby snails all over the place. I am very fond of the bettas; my first pet store betta was not an easy keeper but I loved him anyway. With new knowledge and a tank upgrade I will be adding another one soon :)
I wish my local Petsmart or Petco had Endlers but they're just a little more difficult to come by in my area unfortunately. I have seen them at dedicated aquarium stores, though. I agree definitely a good alternative to guppies if you want something a little different. Another suggestion for a top 10 Petsmart or Petco fish would be platies. Super peaceful, livebearer, and won't mess with anything in your tank.
Haha! I didn't start with Betta fish. I'm not sure what I started with, my mum just called them goldfish because they had the same colours but from pictures they didn't seem like goldfish at all. Either, I made many mistakes with them LOL. I'm excited to get more into the hobby as I get more money. :)
I was just given a tank which has a lot of the fish on this list. I’m looking forward to learning more about them as I’ve never had any of these before!
8:42 Since you seem to have an interest in science fiction names, you should get a tiny sticker and glue it to the shell of your snail? Like an Autobot or Umbrella logo.
So far my balloon mollies have been doing good except, they came with ick and babies. Almost done with the ick problem though so I might keep them and they haven't killed my other fish YET.
Unfortunately i can't buy all the fancy tanks and filters. I just have 3 guppy ponds made out of tarpaulin sheets and some fridge box tanks and plastic tubs. Currently have around 2000 guppies, 200 balloon platys, 2 bettas, and a silver carp❤️
Hardy beginner species (in my experience) = Giant Danios (larger tanks), White Clouds, Black Neon Tetras, Black Skirt Tetras, Serpae Tetras, Bronze Corydoras, Ancistrus (Bristlenose) and Nerite Snails.
I got two blue dwarf Gouramis because they were labeled as community fish and I thought they would be awesome in my community tank but one harasses the other fish in that tank.
Hi I found your most recent video to ask you a question!!! Is Aquarium grass okay for bettas?? I want to do a planted tank but I don’t want to overdue it since I’m new to planted tanks.
Listen, petco seems to be really inconsistant with their fish health. I've bought over 5 albino corydoras, and they either fail in the first week or so, or absolutely thrive and get enourmous. its about a 70% chance that they will NOT be healthy, thats why its super important to get a quarentine tank. If you have a local dedicated fish store rather than a big pet in general chain store, always choose the dedicated store as they will most likely have the healthier specimens. But if your only option is petco, go for it, you might have to spend a little extra money on dead fish though.
Okay I have a question you had mention that you have soft water. This might be a duh question but a lot of beginners may not know. How can you test your water for type of water you (soft , hard so on)? I think this will to understand your water conditions and what you will need to do.
Yep, I just use water test strips to find out. Didn't realize how important my tap water's chemistry was until fish and plants started dying. I have a whole video on pH, GH, and KH that you can check out. 👍
@@GirlTalksFish thank i have gone to EWG site and I was able to the water quality and the levels there. I guess i had missed that video. I will watch it. Thanks 😊
I saw shrimps in jari on Instagram. The page said they do not need to be fed and no maintanence was needed. Just topup the water. I got interested and started researching. A month later, I started buying stuff and I spent over 500 dollars............ yeah.... its addicting
I’m going to have to watch your video on raising Cory catfish to get some pointers! My guys have been laying eggs, but by the time I notice the eggs, they’re already racing madly around the tank, eating them 😕.
I named my mystery snail "Indiana Jones" because I would always see it doing crazy stunts and get wedged in weird spots and do some interesting move to get unstuck
every fish store around me wont take any fish for even store credit. they just say we dont pay people for fish sorry. everything in a 50 mile radius. its a struggle to get rid of fry and shrimp babies
THAT FRICKIN PINEAPPLE - it's okay, we all did dumb things with our first betta x_X I have a whole tank of emerald corys (Brochis splendens) and they're the cutest little beasties.
I'm about ready to quit honestly, despite all the research I've done over the past couple years, I just can't keep most of my stuff alive for more than a few months. Some mistakes are more obvious, sometimes I get bad or contradictory information, sometimes I just get seemingly bad fish that have one foot in the grave without realizing it. I'll tell you one thing though; I've really come to appreciate tetras. Because I have hard water, I tried sticking with more hard water fish like livebearers; They died faster than anything though, but my various tetras have always done really well.
All the way back as a kid in the 80's till present the family and now myself always had albino cory cats in every tropical community tank. I love them.
My very first tank was a 10g with swordtails, a pair of dwarf gouramis, and emerald cories. Then I moved up to a 55g and got my first angels. I think I'd been in the hobby for a couple of years before I finally got a betta. Wasn't really a fan. I've found bettas are too sickly. I have no trouble with other fish I've kept over the years, but bettas? Don't live long. In fact, friends who give them the worst care seem to have the longest lived ones. LOL
My mystery snail liked to climb to the top of my pothos, let go and bounce off all the leaves on the way down. Unfortunately, I never caught it on video
Partner and I setup our first tank as a planted community. Your videos have helped a ton. One of our first fish was our centerpiece fish, a flame dwarf gourami. Our last addition were 10 blue dream shrimp. Big mistake. In one night Florence (the gourami) had the most expensive meal I believe any gourami has ever had. Our panda corys are probably our favorite. We also have 10 black phantom tetras and 10 serpaes.
Im just getting back into the hobby after 10 years or so out of the hobby.... getting back into the hobby because of my kids. First attempt at dragging out the tank: 15 gallon spung a leak. Emergency replacement: 25 gallon (shhhhhh partner doesn't realise I used the leak as an excuse to upgrade by size).......now I'm starting to think about "what fish" I need to influence the 4 year old towards (he wants ALL the fish lol)
I love corydora catfish, but for some reason I have the worst luck with them. They always seem to only last a few months in my tank before suddenly dying without showing any signs of sickness. My longest living one lasted five months. The tank is ten gallons with a small bristle-nosed pleco and one male platy. Any reason why the catfish suddenly die?
@@darina238 i see. really sorry about your fish. i would say at least 20 gallons for your corys. at least 4 of the same species. 25-35 gallons would be even better. i am trying corys again with 20 gallon tank
Hello, I don’t know if you’ve already made a video about this but how to deal with algae? Its taking over my plants I’m so disappointed. First time having a planted aquarium but now I’m thinking of tearing it all.
There are tons of videos out there. Don't give up yet. Algae is part of the process. Watch a ton of videos and then start tweaking your amounts of light and food.
Support smaller Fish shops,that solely sell fish.Pets at home dont sell the best fish and their staff are limited in knowledge,after all they are expected to know about rabbits,hamsters and everything else...... Dedicated fish stores will hopefully sell you hardy fish like Neon Tetras or Zebras and Cory's.Maybe Ottos to help eat algae,(not plecs as they are too lazy)and take your time with the start up of your tank and plenty regular water changes once running,Ive seen too many come to the hobby and not given proper help,only to be put off...
*What's your favorite beginner fish from Petco, PetSmart, or other major pet store chain?*
Corys
Probably Corydoras or bettas.
Unironically, a beta fish was good for teenage me :)
The easiest fish for me are guppies!! They're hardy, so perfect for beginners.
I've found that zebra fish are quite sensitive and not so hardy.
The betta really is the “gateway drug” of fish keeping🤣 I started with a betta fish…..15 tanks later….
15 tanks u mad bro
☺️😁
That's how it all started for me more than 3 years ago. Lol
Saaaaaaame
......I'm going through that gateway currently. 😅 Pet sat for a family friend and ended up with their betta... month later I'm getting another one and some clean up crew 🙌
The mystery snail made me comment. I cannot recommend them enough. They are SOOOO much more fun than you may think. My wife and kids constantly go "omg look at what this snail is doing". It's hard to describe it without seeing it. You'll be like "what are you doing silly snail?"
Mystery snails, nerites and rabbit snails...all have quite their entertaining moments!!
Mine mystery snail always dug up the substrate so i had to move it but they are entertaining to watch
I like to call mine the little gardener - not that he is little by the way! But he prunes all my plants that need pruning and he has a very great sense of smell, he is much more efficient and consistent in cleaning up sunken food than my hillstream loaches or my shy kuhlies.
My mystery snails keep reproducing WAY too much. Every month I have eggs sitting on the side of my tank
I love how you called Betta fish a gateway drug 🤣 my first fish was a Betta and I made so many unfortunate mistakes at first ..BUT have learned SO much since then to give my Betta and future fish and shrimp a better life 🙂
My cherry shrimp and mystery snails are literally so funny and quirky. They have SO much personality and I love watching them go about their day. I have thought about having a tank just for my shrimp because they steal the show so often! Oh they also love to ride the snails around lol!
Corys are great for first-time fish keepers! Definitely recommend them. Just stay away from the more sensitive ones and look at getting either bronze or peppered corys - they'll tolerate any mistakes better and look awesome (plus they're very fun to watch).
Obviously, do research as corys can be a bit on the sensitive side compared to something like guppies or goldfish but they're still pretty hardy. One thing I also didn't know when I first got mine is that they're scaleless fish and sometimes can't handle treatments that other fish can.
I personally have peppered corys that spawn all the time but I've only let a few batches hatch since I already have a few too many. I was also lucky enough last year to get two albinos from my 'normal group' and I also got one this year. It's such a nice surprise. It's like getting a shiny pokemon XD
FYI it’s true what they say about Corys being sensitive to salt!! I added some aquarium salt to my tank to treat for ich and they basically went catatonic until I did a big water change 😓
You don't strike me as a Unicron/Sunstreaker kinda person but your information has helped me TRANSFORM from an absolute movie to a better prepared absolute novice
My first attempt at keeping an aquarium was a complete failure. I set everything up in one night a 10 gallon dumped about 8 different fish in and within a couple of week's all were dead. Except 1 Paradise fish he ended up in a fish bowl for about a year until I tried again. This time I had learned the correct way to set up a tank. He made it back to a ten gallon and even made the move to a new home a year later. That was back in 1979. The reason I bring this up is Paradise fish are very hardy. The are in the same family as bettas and can also take a gulp of air they also have a high tolerance to extreme different water temps. I read a story yrs ago of them being taken from ponds that were frozen and revived. . I think they would make good first fish though they can be quite combative at time's mainly with their own. I haven't seen any in the store's I shop in anywhere for yrs. They're rather pretty also.
Betta fish for sure!!! So much personality and it’s so rewarding to bring them home and get them out of those awful little cups. Can’t wait to have a community tank one day though!
I can definitely agree with Betta, Amano Shrimp, Molly, Endler, Gourami and Mystery Snails. They are all really hardy and easy to keep.
But Neons are often wild caught and come with diseases, and additionally they have problems with hard water.
Albino Corys are extensively bred to look the way they do, so they are way less hardy than other Corys, but it really depends on the bloodline.
Cherry shrimp are really not as hard to keep as everybody thinks, but you definitely need a well established tank to put them in.
But still, great video, keep being awesome :)
Same thoughts with the Mystery Snails! They are so weird and dorky in an entertaining way. I love giving it my DIY sinking wafer and do a Timelapse of it eating.
Guppies were the first fish I ever had. They were also the first fish I got as an adult getting back into the hobby. I did get away from them for a couple years because they're messy, but now have a large amount of them thanks to developing an interest in fish breeding. :-)
I recently got back into getting an aquarium after 30 years. I got my 10 gallon back in October. I know I'm a bit overstocked but am saving up for a 20 or 30 gallon that I will be getting soon. I have neon tetras, black skirt tetras, albino corys, a mystery snail and nerite snails, all bought from both Petco and PetSmart. You're right about the neons, they tend to stay towards the bottom, I love their color so much. The corys are so much fun to watch as they go around looking for food. The black skirts are complete food hogs! I named my mystery snail Speedy because he really is fast for a snail. I think it's hilarious the way he "hangs" onto the leaves of my fake plants, lol. I had black and dalmatian mollies to start with, but they all died. Now that you mentioned the water hardness/softness I can see why mine died. I loved them though, they all had the cutest personalities!
My wife and I both love our Mystery snails. We were quite fortunate to have gotten a Giant (over 3 inches) female that we named " Peach". She became our matriarch and we are now on the 5th- 6th generation of her progeny. Our LFS is ( I think) getting a little tired of us bringing them 50-100 juvenile snails every few weeks. We average about 6-8 klutches of eggs a week and have taken to floating them on a corkboard in one of our 40 breeder tanks.
Even after breading thousands of guppies and bettas for years they are my favourite ❤️. Great video by the way
I’m shocked you recommended mystery snails over nerites. I think it’s important to know to not get two mystery snails because of the high likelihood that they’ll breed. Nerites (while they do lay eggs everywhere) can only lay eggs but they never hatch unless in brackish water. Great video as always, Irene!
Hi Irene! Adore your videos and helpful candor about the hobby. I am also in Colorado! How do I get connected with the aquarium "club" you've mentioned???
The biggest bulletproof fish I’ve ever had, I was never interested in until my daughter gave me hers. Black skirt tetras. They eat anything, live in any water conditions and practically live for ever. Sometimes I think they’ve died but they were just hiding in the thick plants.
Chili rasboras help keep down the amount of copeopods and flatworms in my cherry shrimp breeding tank. I keep 4 in a 10 gallon and it is a huge difference with no noticeable decrease in baby shrimp production. Highly recommend. I almost never directly feed my chili rasboras either. I just feed the shrimp and they do fine.
I added ember tetras to my 5 gal shrimp tank and they didn't touch the copepods, so i moved them out to my 20L. Now the shrimp tank is overrun with copepods and I have no idea how to control them.
I have a 25-30 gallon tank (can’t remember) but I currently have 3 black neon tetras, 2 gold dust mollys, and 1 Dalmatian Molly. I used to have 2 but one passed. I also had one male beta who did very well with the others, who also sadly passed. (The filters aren’t my betas friends) they have plenty of hides and plants.
Without a doubt, my favorite fish is Frank the powder blue (and aggressive) dwarf gourami from petco. I also got ember tetras and platys from them. They will take back fish for donation, thankfully, as I had to get rid of all but 2 juvenile female platys due to fear of overpopulation. None were diseased or needed medication. Ember tetras are a good match for a feisty dwarf gourami as they're fast, too small to bother with, and mostly stay near the bottom. The platys get the brunt of his aggression.
Another vote for ember tetras. They are hardy, fast, and amazing eaters. As soon as any food enters my tank, they dive-bomb it. I have them in with a betta in a 10 gallon tank. I feed the betta mainly betta pellets. If the betta doesn't get the pellet in a second, an ember will run off with it. Unfortunate because the pellets are too big for the embers to eat, so it ends up on the bottom of the tank.
I work for Petco and i can say it really depends on the store you go to like my store we dont use petcos rules when it comes to our fish we all for the most part are in the hobbie so we all work togather to keep our tanks nice and healthy
something my mystery snail does that i find really interesting is they will go up to the top, and grab ahold of a piece of my dwarf water lettuce and pull it down to mid tank level and just float around on it like it's a ride at a park.. it's really interesting to think of a snail "doing something for fun" (not saying that is what they are doing but it sure seems/feels like it haha)
awesome video. my favourite beginner fish is the bristlenose pleco. i have three and im currently raising a huge amount of fry too
I just bought guppies at Petsmart. I didn’t have any luck. My mom used to raise fish and these are some of the ones we always had. Mine kept dying. I only have 4 out of 7 living now. She said they’ve been having problems with their breeder. I really like guppies because they like to play and they are so pretty.
I love dwarf gouramis. I have two tanks, each has one dwarf gourami as the centre feature. They may have similar personalities as bettas too! My powder blue gourami is curious, and will coexist with some bettas (my betta is also the curious type, but he is a little shy with that gourami around). Before he came to my tank, he was in another tank at my dads, with some angelfish, and they coexisted peacefully. My rainbow dwarf gourami on the other hand can be a little cranky with new arrivals, but is generally peaceful. I added a few juvenile platies earlier today, and they are looking good so far.
They are kinda like the labyrinth version of a discus fish, and much easier to care for, not to mention much more affordable. Would recommend to anyone looking for a nice colourful centrepiece for a new community tank.
For me, I had the best luck with Neon Tetrad from Petsmart. I have had 20 Neon Tetras from Petsmart, all are still alive and healthy. But the worst is by far Cory catfish. At Petsmart, there were 3 dead in the tank. And only 5 alive, so I got those 5, and was going to come back when they re-stocked for more. But the next day, 2 of the catfish I got died, and the other 3 were not very health, so I let them heal, and a month later, they are health, and I even got 6 more. Then I have had amazing luck with shrimp from Petco or Petsmart.
For some reason, bettas never worked for me. Not matter how much I tried, they'd die within a month. On the other hand, when I was starting off, I unknowingly put 3 guppies and 3 platies together in a 5 gallon uncycled tank and they survived the whole cycle, no problem and lived for almost 3 years. Moreover, I also had white skirt tetras as an absolute beginner and they did very well as well. 😅 Now after years, I'm again gonna try Bettas despite the bad history and trauma associated with them. Maybe this time it might work out. Wish me luck 🤞
I don't know how the "fish are easy" myth started, but it couldn't be farther from the truth.
Love my nerite snail! He’s so fun to watch and he doesn’t make 100s of baby snails all over the place. I am very fond of the bettas; my first pet store betta was not an easy keeper but I loved him anyway. With new knowledge and a tank upgrade I will be adding another one soon :)
I love all the cool names you have for your fish. Sunstreaker is a fantastic name for a snail! Hee hee!!!
Yes, I love it when people recognize my geek references! 🤓
I wish my local Petsmart or Petco had Endlers but they're just a little more difficult to come by in my area unfortunately. I have seen them at dedicated aquarium stores, though. I agree definitely a good alternative to guppies if you want something a little different. Another suggestion for a top 10 Petsmart or Petco fish would be platies. Super peaceful, livebearer, and won't mess with anything in your tank.
Haha! I didn't start with Betta fish. I'm not sure what I started with, my mum just called them goldfish because they had the same colours but from pictures they didn't seem like goldfish at all. Either, I made many mistakes with them LOL. I'm excited to get more into the hobby as I get more money. :)
thanks to u suggesting the albino corys I got 6. Their pink shows nicely with my pink male rosetail betta.
I was just given a tank which has a lot of the fish on this list. I’m looking forward to learning more about them as I’ve never had any of these before!
8:42 Since you seem to have an interest in science fiction names, you should get a tiny sticker and glue it to the shell of your snail? Like an Autobot or Umbrella logo.
I breed Mollys, Platys and Guppies and sell them to 2 local family owned aquarium stores, they prefer them to wholesalers
Great advice today! I also love Neon Tetras, Cherry shrimp and Mystery snails!
Amano shrimp at petco or petsmart?
So far my balloon mollies have been doing good except, they came with ick and babies. Almost done with the ick problem though so I might keep them and they haven't killed my other fish YET.
Unfortunately i can't buy all the fancy tanks and filters. I just have 3 guppy ponds made out of tarpaulin sheets and some fridge box tanks and plastic tubs. Currently have around 2000 guppies, 200 balloon platys, 2 bettas, and a silver carp❤️
Hardy beginner species (in my experience) = Giant Danios (larger tanks), White Clouds, Black Neon Tetras, Black Skirt Tetras, Serpae Tetras, Bronze Corydoras, Ancistrus (Bristlenose) and Nerite Snails.
My mystery snail is so cute 🥺 I named him Jumbo because he’s huge and he loves canned green beans of all things
I like how you laugh when you said they start dying
Golden barbs are great, very hardy, accept a wide range of temperatures and look nice. Minimum 6 in a group.
good video. i had a betta fish named keith. the mystery snail was very funny, i hope he gets up to more adventures
I got two blue dwarf Gouramis because they were labeled as community fish and I thought they would be awesome in my community tank but one harasses the other fish in that tank.
I was just wanting to see a video done on slower moving fish for nano tanks like 10 gallon
I love glofish tetras they were the third type of fish I ever had and I have been buying them ever since
Hi I found your most recent video to ask you a question!!! Is Aquarium grass okay for bettas?? I want to do a planted tank but I don’t want to overdue it since I’m new to planted tanks.
Also can the grass even grow in Sand??
Listen, petco seems to be really inconsistant with their fish health. I've bought over 5 albino corydoras, and they either fail in the first week or so, or absolutely thrive and get enourmous. its about a 70% chance that they will NOT be healthy, thats why its super important to get a quarentine tank. If you have a local dedicated fish store rather than a big pet in general chain store, always choose the dedicated store as they will most likely have the healthier specimens. But if your only option is petco, go for it, you might have to spend a little extra money on dead fish though.
Albino cories are the only fish outside of live breeders that I've ever had surviving eggs with. They are cool.
Okay I have a question you had mention that you have soft water. This might be a duh question but a lot of beginners may not know. How can you test your water for type of water you (soft , hard so on)? I think this will to understand your water conditions and what you will need to do.
a gh and kh test but you can also look up ur city’s water hardness report online
Yep, I just use water test strips to find out. Didn't realize how important my tap water's chemistry was until fish and plants started dying. I have a whole video on pH, GH, and KH that you can check out. 👍
@@GirlTalksFish thank i have gone to EWG site and I was able to the water quality and the levels there. I guess i had missed that video. I will watch it. Thanks 😊
At 6:44 What are the plants you have in the tank going from left to right? What ones do you suggest for bettas and other fish like guppies/mollies?
Yes mystery snails are cool I have 6 in my 29 gallon.
I love all the transformer names XD
I saw shrimps in jari on Instagram. The page said they do not need to be fed and no maintanence was needed. Just topup the water. I got interested and started researching. A month later, I started buying stuff and I spent over 500 dollars............ yeah.... its addicting
amazing and beautiful, that we should rare them to make our home places more comfortable
I’m going to have to watch your video on raising Cory catfish to get some pointers! My guys have been laying eggs, but by the time I notice the eggs, they’re already racing madly around the tank, eating them 😕.
My beta was missing for the longest time, cleaned out the filter she was just living it up in there
I’m so dead laughing right now because of the shrimp 🍤 escaping then being found in the sink. Sad, but slightly humorous. Lol 🤪😭😅
thank you for your betta care, greeting from Argentina im suscripto new
You’re so right about neons not having much personality lol. They’re lucky they’re pretty
Love the transformer themed names for your fish! Great vid.
I named my mystery snail "Indiana Jones" because I would always see it doing crazy stunts and get wedged in weird spots and do some interesting move to get unstuck
every fish store around me wont take any fish for even store credit. they just say we dont pay people for fish sorry. everything in a 50 mile radius. its a struggle to get rid of fry and shrimp babies
Oh man, that really stinks. If I lived in an area like that, I probably wouldn't be keeping things like livebearers.
You have a unique voice😊 I like you! Do what you're doing❤
I love her hair
THAT FRICKIN PINEAPPLE - it's okay, we all did dumb things with our first betta x_X
I have a whole tank of emerald corys (Brochis splendens) and they're the cutest little beasties.
I'm about ready to quit honestly, despite all the research I've done over the past couple years, I just can't keep most of my stuff alive for more than a few months. Some mistakes are more obvious, sometimes I get bad or contradictory information, sometimes I just get seemingly bad fish that have one foot in the grave without realizing it. I'll tell you one thing though; I've really come to appreciate tetras. Because I have hard water, I tried sticking with more hard water fish like livebearers; They died faster than anything though, but my various tetras have always done really well.
3:13 what is the name of those black fish with a blue stripe?
Albino Corys are my favorite!
All the way back as a kid in the 80's till present the family and now myself always had albino cory cats in every tropical community tank. I love them.
Please advise can I use river water as live water in a new aquarium start up
My very first tank was a 10g with swordtails, a pair of dwarf gouramis, and emerald cories. Then I moved up to a 55g and got my first angels. I think I'd been in the hobby for a couple of years before I finally got a betta. Wasn't really a fan. I've found bettas are too sickly. I have no trouble with other fish I've kept over the years, but bettas? Don't live long. In fact, friends who give them the worst care seem to have the longest lived ones. LOL
My mystery snail liked to climb to the top of my pothos, let go and bounce off all the leaves on the way down. Unfortunately, I never caught it on video
I can't understand why so many aqua scape ppl keep the lid less tanks w amano shrimp. It's just asking for dead shrimpers.
Partner and I setup our first tank as a planted community. Your videos have helped a ton. One of our first fish was our centerpiece fish, a flame dwarf gourami. Our last addition were 10 blue dream shrimp. Big mistake. In one night Florence (the gourami) had the most expensive meal I believe any gourami has ever had. Our panda corys are probably our favorite. We also have 10 black phantom tetras and 10 serpaes.
Im just getting back into the hobby after 10 years or so out of the hobby.... getting back into the hobby because of my kids.
First attempt at dragging out the tank: 15 gallon spung a leak.
Emergency replacement: 25 gallon (shhhhhh partner doesn't realise I used the leak as an excuse to upgrade by size).......now I'm starting to think about "what fish" I need to influence the 4 year old towards (he wants ALL the fish lol)
I had a mystery snail that would let me feed it from tongs. It was a cutie.
you named your fish Unicron? The snail is Sunstreaker? Ha,.. that's awesome.
I love Betta fish and albino Cory cats and I would like some more cory cats when I have my own place and a big tank
Just finished cycling a 7 gal for some shrimp and found a mystery snail. I took that as sign my tank was ready lol
My snail is turbo it is so fast it will go all over my plants and some decor i have in my tank
Can you use the anti-parasitic meds with snails in the tank? (PS- I always enjoy your videos. Your presentation style is the best!)
I discovered recently I live in the only state that has banned aquarium snails (Maine). Invasive species stuff. That's disappointing.
I don't think Bettas are forgiving for one of the biggest beginner mistakes, over feeding.
I love gourami’s but my dwarf flame didn’t last long at all.
Is it just me or is that I’ve been just watching Irene for like two hours straight
My first fish tank was a Noah's arc of fish and my glofish tetras kept eating the other fishs fins😭😭 except the glofish danios tho
What is a good fish for a 2.5 gal?
I love corydora catfish, but for some reason I have the worst luck with them. They always seem to only last a few months in my tank before suddenly dying without showing any signs of sickness. My longest living one lasted five months. The tank is ten gallons with a small bristle-nosed pleco and one male platy. Any reason why the catfish suddenly die?
ive had them dying too. what species of cory?
@@joycezhang3612 they were emerald green, as well as some albino cory catfish.
@@darina238 i see. 10 gallon is small for those corys. since you had a group i assume?
@@joycezhang3612 I kept them in pairs, and got the albino ones after the green ones passed away.
@@darina238 i see. really sorry about your fish. i would say at least 20 gallons for your corys. at least 4 of the same species. 25-35 gallons would be even better. i am trying corys again with 20 gallon tank
you have to see the Caridina sp. Blue Bolt shrimp
Could you please please pleeeaaase do a video on HOW TO GROW ALGAE?! I need some but not a bit will grow
4:47 Is that a small shark down there?
Video idea - plants that grow out of your aquarium
Great content as per 😍😍😍😍
Hello, I don’t know if you’ve already made a video about this but how to deal with algae? Its taking over my plants
I’m so disappointed.
First time having a planted aquarium but now I’m thinking of tearing it all.
There are tons of videos out there. Don't give up yet. Algae is part of the process. Watch a ton of videos and then start tweaking your amounts of light and food.
I can’t keep a betta alive past 12 hours…. Any other fish? No problem keeping them. It’s discouraging and I feel like a terrible person…
1:16, did anyone else see that?? Huge jumpscare
Support smaller Fish shops,that solely sell fish.Pets at home dont sell the best fish and their staff are limited in knowledge,after all they are expected to know about rabbits,hamsters and everything else......
Dedicated fish stores will hopefully sell you hardy fish like Neon Tetras or Zebras and Cory's.Maybe Ottos to help eat algae,(not plecs as they are too lazy)and take your time with the start up of your tank and plenty regular water changes once running,Ive seen too many come to the hobby and not given proper help,only to be put off...
love the fish care but what’s your skin care wow so beautiful