*What are your top 5 fish that you can't live without?* If you're curious what the top 20 bestsellers at Aquarium Co-Op are, check it out: th-cam.com/video/d7FOJW99ESw/w-d-xo.html
Can't live without having some sort of Rainbowfish now. Have a school of Bosmani and Kamaka rainbows in my 75 gal. Neon dwarfs are great in smaller tanks. They're super curious and come out to say hello anytime I'm near the tank.
I haven't kept as many varieties as a lot of people probably being limited to 25 gal so far but my top 5 are: 5. Pygmy corydora 4. Neocaridina shrimp 3. Green neon tetra 2. Either of the phantom tetras 1. Rummynose tetra Top on my someday wishlist is rainbow shiners.
I listen to Cory as I am sleeping. A year ago I thought I was dying. My kidneys were looking at stage 4 failure. It became a pretty awful time. I was stuck in bed for many weeks and the only thing I had was TV and phone. My poor wife was so worn out from my illness, that I could no longer move about. I listened to Fish Content and I slowly one breath at a time, began to pull myself out of my illness. I came to realize that fish were giving me hope. It became a tonic and I slowly gained my strength as well as my appetite. Right now I am 110 lbs lighter. I found out about Ladybird and Murphy. I remember when He lost his Puffer "Hank," I think his name was and I felt Cory's loss as he cried in the presence of his friends. Cory, I love what you have taught me. I love the fish before I see them. Keep it going my brother!
I like that your Top 6 are all species that are generally available from most retailers, generally seen as ‘beginner fish’. I hate the way some people interpret ‘beginner fish’ to mean inferior, or something you need to progress from.
Several years ago I heard Cory talk about enjoying guppies and I was surprised that this guy who could have pretty much any fish he wanted would choose a 'beginner' fish as one of his favorites. It just goes to show that even the most common fish deserve appreciation regardless of experience.
@@drewzero1 I agree and the more I listen to Cory the more I respect him as a face for the hobby. Fish keeping shouldn’t be seen as competitive, or having stages that one is expected to graduate through. But some people have a competitive nature and that’s just the way of the world.
Honestly I prefer “beginner” fish simply because that’s the kind of guy I am. I like hardy, low maintenance, easy to care for, readily available, stress free, etc. Plus the fact they’re so common and popular makes it easy (and fun) for me to research and learn as much as I can about them
For me I like some beginner fish especially schooling fish like cardinals, black phantoms or lambchop rasbora. I would even argue that my bichirs are beginner level. They do grow big but besides that they are verry easy to care for. It's just livebearers that aren't my thing. I think it's a combo off their hyper behavior and the unnatural colors. I also have soft water so not ideal for them anyway.
I really enjoy how down to earth you are. Sometimes aquarium keeping comes off like a competitive sport. Who has the biggest, meanest, or most delicate fish. But the lovely thing about aquarium keeping is there really is something for everyone...with no apologies or explanations. Enjoy what you enjoy! I've been doing this for over 50 years and I have my favorites that I keep coming back to, as well as still getting surprised by new fishy friends.
Hi, five years behind you. Can keep some great, easily available fish such as bushy noses, small danios and tetras, and Bolivian rams. Life enrichment is priceless.
Wait wait wait 🫷🏼 I knew about Murphy but Ladybird is gone ? 😢 If so I'm sorry man, I know Murphy was a huge loss. I cut Murphy out of the sponge filter box and hung it on my wall in the fishroom to show some more love to the fella.
@@whitneyr4296 yeah this really sucks. I know how much he loved those fish and how all of us fans loved them and enjoyed seeing them in videos and the Murphy camera.
I stopped in at Aquarium Coop on my way home to Vancouver Island from the US and was looking forward to seeing Murphy again. Only to find that he was gone. Sad, but that’s the thing about most pets - you have to say goodbye too soon.
I've been keeping tanks for 20 years also and I keep getting drawn back to Platies as well. They're just such a treat, easy size to keep, easy to breed, rainbow of colors, they're the perfect beginner fish imho. And they look just as nice in a beautiful, high tech planted tank as they do in a 10 gallon Aqueon kit.
I was a Cichlid man for 40 years but recently, against all odds, became a Guppy lover. So much less stress....and no more killing. (Now I rescue the Goldfish feeders & stick 'em in my koi pond). God Bless A.C.O!
This is GOATED wisdom Cory!!1 thanks for all this years of fishkeeping! in 5 years having fish, I´ve tried a lot and failed! This is a must watch video!
Here is my preferred fish that few seem to mention… but black neon tetra are my absolute favorite. A school of them are a blast to keep. They are super hardy, have tons of movement and their schooling behavior is a blast to watch. A close second for me a pack of albino corys. Could watch them all day cruising around the bottom.
I loved this. I live in Singapore where tropical fish are sold really cheap so I've literally kept and bred nearly everything! Now I'm back to long fin cherry barbs! Love them!
I'm surprised to hear that you fairly regularly re-home fish. I always feel supremely guilty if I have to re-home any of my fish for whatever reason, so this perspective is super refreshing!
I most likely have to do that with a humphead glassfish that we recently bought. I hate to do it but he or she is such a jerk to the rest of the fish in the tank that was so peaceful before. We had to rehome a killifish once that kept eating the smaller fish and our African dwarf frogs, that sucked cause that fish was so cool.
I got one as a gift someone won at a fair and gave it to me, after 7 months of me not knowing what I’m doing with the comet goldfish I decided to learn more about them and that how I got into the hobby of fish I love my comet
If you get peapuffers, have tons of plants double whatever size you were told to keep them in. Also, before getting them, set up a 5 or 10 gallon separate aquarium as a bladder or pond snail farm. They are super picky eaters it took me 8 months before they would even attempt to eat any pellets or frozen food
My favorite fish are guppies, Bettas, Pea Puffers, Comet/Shubunkin Goldfish and Bristlenose Plecos. I also like Ramshorn snails and lots of live healthy plants.
The newbie fish are popular for a reason and probably brought many of us into the hobby. At this point I prefer a new guppy variety to a new species, and while I sometimes come close to talking myself into some sort of amphibian, I then realize watching a goldfish is just as enjoyable to me and much easier
This was a great list! You can hear the love in your voice especially with the clown loaches and thank you for mentioning the more difficult elements of their care! My favourite aquarium is my little kitchen planted aquarium with nerites and I'm about to add some cherry shrimp. It's like a little game of Where's Waldo everytime look at it 🤣🔥
Great video! Some of my favorites that really got me hooked on the hobby at a young age and I still keep and breed are swordtails,guppies and mollies. Some of my bucket list ones I still want to try again are discus and German blue rams.
I just got some blue eyed fork tail rainbowfish that are so fun. Every time I approach the tank, they rush to the frunt to say hi. I've never seen a tiny fish do that before. I also really love watching kuhli loaches when they get the zoomies at night. Snails are also alot of fun.
I love my group of 6 pea puffers - half male but they have established a hierarchy in a heavily planted tank. They are afraid of adult cherry shimp, and the shrimp are very happy to clean out old bladder snail shells
It’ll always be Kribensis for me. They’re just one of the most striking smaller fish with huge personalities. Watching them pair up, breed, and tend their young is just so interesting. I still have great memories of my first pair that I got 35 years ago! And of course, Variatus Platies!
Loved this video, it's important to think about what we actually enjoy and prioritize that, it is a hobby for most of us after all. My list is smaller and shorter, since I live in an apartment and can only keep 2-3 tanks plus a few outdoor patio ponds in the summer. It goes like this medaka, platies, snails shrimp and corys (lots of overlap with yours). I like smaller tanks and t have them all planted.
Some off my can't live without fish: Bristlenose pleco's and blue phantom pleco's, they are the best pleco's in my opinion as they are decent algae eaters that stay small compared to some other pleco's. Cardinal tetra's and black phantom tetra's, the combo off those also looks verry good. Appistogramma's especially the high bodied ones like for example macmasteri. Their shape resembles more boisterous cichlids like oscars but they stay a manageable size, are calmer and can live in a planted tank. Also their are so many species all with diffrent colors and paterns. I also ordered some angelfish and if that goes well they might also make the list. Working in a LFS I really learned to appreciate angelfish, they are calm but still personable.
I'm going to be setting up a large tank in my kitchen/dinning room next year after it's remodeled. There's no window and no possibility of putting one in so the tank will be the "wndow." You've given me some great ideas on what to try!
Very fun list! I would love to see one high PH and low PH. My water is very difficult to keep above 7.2 (or even 7.0) and I tend to stick to fish that fit that lower range. On the other side of the spectrum you have the 7.0-8.0+ fish that are commonly available. My personal top fish everyone should keep would be: 1. Amano Shrimp 2. White Cloud Mountain Minnows 3. Otocinclus (so special!) 4. Corydoras 5. Some type of barb, preferably tigers 6. Ricefish or livebearer of some kind 7. Panaque Pleco + Wood 8. Some type of Ram
I'm a huge fan of goldfish and I love Shubunkin!! I wish more breaders in the U.S. would start to breed the Bristol Shubunkin. IMO they are the most beautiful with that big heart shaped tail that is sturdy but not too long or veiled. Please get some Bristols, Cory!!! : )
Loved this video, and that you put in so much information about their behavior. Normally people just talk about how the fish looks, how big they get and what size of aquarium they need. I haven't kept fish nearly as long as you have, but I don't agree on your list :D For example I can't see myself ever having clown loaches, or pea puffers. Totally agree on shrimps, snails and guppies though! The way you described how you look at shrimps, when it's just interesting watching them and see what they're up to now, that's how I want my aquariums. I love shrimps. I also do love rainbowfish, especially the smaller ones, like the Pseudomugils. Yes, they're a bit expensive, especially since they don't breed easily and don't live that long. But they're fantastic. I also would say to people that they should try the threadfin rainbow (Iriatherina werneri). They're pretty new to me, but I really enjoy just sit and look at what they're up to. Just like the shrimps. Otherwise my list of "Fish I have to try" is way longer than "Fish I believe everyone should try" 😅 Next time I'm buying fish, it will be gouramis. Haven't tried that yet.
I've been keeping fish for decades at this point and the favourite fish I've ever kept is a shubunkin! I posted a short of him on my channel, I've had him for 12 years or so
@@AquariumCoop thanks for the reply Cory, absolutely agree! I was breeding ranchus out of a 5ft aquarium and had a pretty catastrophic weekend as I lost them all one by one. I was ready to completely give up on the hobby, stripped the tank down ready to sell on. It was towards the end of the pond season and decided to bring the big guy in for the winter. I went really simple, undergravel filter using pvc pipe, running on a power head. The enjoyment I got from him over the winter kept me going in the hobby. I'm down to one set of shelves with planted nanos, but thoroughly enjoying the hobby again
I’m not sure if it’s my luck, but I’ve kept both platys and mollys in the same tank and I kept having to rehome platys because of behavioral issues (I kept a really generous male to female ratio, and regardless, one of the fish I had to rehome was a female), but have never had those issues with the mollys. Now I just have one female platy, a few of her fry, and the rest are mollys. She’s living her best life now that she isn’t being harassed by the one female. Even though Mollys are “beginner” fish, I’ve really enjoyed keeping them. I’ve found that I enjoy raising fry, even though I don’t specifically try to breed them (I only have 2 males vs 10 females to keep the peace). They definitely have their own personalities if you watch for long enough.
My favorite fish are: (1) Moonlight gourami - mine is like a friendly puppy dog who eats out of my hand. Love the platinum silver color! (2) Filament Barb - my filament barbs are beautiful irridescent green and very friendly. They always come to the front of the tank and greet me. They also have four babies who are growing very quickly. (3) Roseline shark (barb) - I prefer to call them roseline barbs because they are not closely related to sharks. They are so beautiful and serene. (4) Threadfin rainbowfish - These lovely fish look like they are from an alien planet--just strange with their pointed mouths and long slim physique. They are incredibly peaceful and the males put on stunning displays when they puff out their fins. (5) Angelicus loach - These loaches are peaceful and each one has a unique pattern of spot and line on its body. Sometimes they forget that they are bottom feeders and the swim up to eat with the other fish.
Pea puffers are the one fish I really really want to try but haven’t yet. Will dedicate a small aquarium to them maybe this winter when I’m stuck inside (live in the northeast USA) Thanks for the list
At the moment all I have is some Bronze Corydoras 1 lemon blue eye bristlenose pleco and 3 Blood parrots. And I've been really thinking of filling up the old 40 gallon with some Guppies.
I have a spotted puffer fish. When guests come, I always pick up some snails from other tanks and let my guests watch how it cracks the shell to eat the snail inside. Everyone finds it funny.
I've had a few fish in my time but Endlers (males only, don't want a ton), Angel fish (single in a tank at a time), a Pleco (had a Sailfin that was a real character, besides striking and active), Bettas (also like puppies with so much personality), Long-finned Rosey Barbs (resemble goldfish but much smaller and less mess), Gourami (love their long feeler fins that they use to reinforce their "boundaries"), Cherry Shrimp, Amono Shrimp (surprising amount of personality in one of my first [very dramatic]) and, begrudgingly, Silver Dollars (adopted a huge one that was like a pet [High-ho] plus the nutty ones in our work tank ["second generation " of Nickle and Dime - there always seems to be a "dime" in the pair]). I agree that the label, beginner, can negatively affect our perception of fish that we should all really try and experience even if we are more experienced aquarist. I have come to appreciate the ease and hardiness of these and enjoy my tanks much more. I'm planning on trying some long-finned Zebra Danios, who I have always thought were very pretty but, in the the past, looked down on because of the above label.
I plan on getting a small group of male platies in my 20 long and I think they’ll with how active and colorful they are they’d be just perfect for me Bettas, goldfish, angelfish and maybe even oscars are also kind of like dream fish of mine because I love their looks and personality and think they’d make great little wet pets if I had a suitable tank for them
As I was getting ready to move, I thought about this a lot. All my fish are in tubs outside now. I only have one nano tank inside and I’m currently growing out my betta spawn in it. I am planning to keep a large 6x2x2 of rainbows. I have a 100 gallon tub for my laprolofus multifasciatis with plans to add a rock dwelling lake tanganican fish later. Another 100 gallon is for my two Oscars that I grew up from around 1.5-2 inches. I plan to put some Kribs in the 50 gallon pond. I have one more 100 gallon that I want to be a huge community tank. I have one 40 gallon tank that I may turn into pea puffer land. Other than my Oscars, I prefer smaller community fish.
Hey Cory! What do you think about Celestial danios, clown killifish, and pygmy cories for a new to the hobby person in a 75 gallon tank with live plants? Throw in some nerite snails and amano shrimp too :)
Love the video Cory! I have never kept guppies the thought has been there but I always end up going a different route. One question can guppies live with flow like a hob or is sponge filter only a better set up for them?
I had thought my pea Puffer could see me better than the tiny chili rasbora's in the same tank, good to know they have great vision. Mine seems to be happy, seeing the same ones he came from at Piccaso aquatics and mine is twice as big as they are now.
I’m getting a new 75g tank soon. I want it mainly for for AngelFish but I do want to add a few more fish. I absolutely love Clown loaches. Would they work with them? Also what do you guys feed them? I’ve never really done anything other than flake, algae pellets and frozen shrimp/blood worms. Also do they do well with yo-yo loaches? Thanks!
Love my shubunkins but i just lost my 8 year old one so im down to one in my 75, lost others in the last few years. Definitely seems like i cant do more than 3 adults in a 75 otherwise i start to encounter problems at somepoint within a year. Would love to see them in an 800 gallon tank. Wish i had the space for a 125 gallon so that i could have 4-5 of them as the centerpiece of my living room.
*What are your top 5 fish that you can't live without?* If you're curious what the top 20 bestsellers at Aquarium Co-Op are, check it out: th-cam.com/video/d7FOJW99ESw/w-d-xo.html
Green laser Cory, pearl gourami, Odessa barb, cardinal tetra, galaxy betta
I'll put favorites, because I don't have them all right now. I love angels, albino corys, goldies, cardinals and red-tailed sharks.
Can't live without having some sort of Rainbowfish now. Have a school of Bosmani and Kamaka rainbows in my 75 gal. Neon dwarfs are great in smaller tanks. They're super curious and come out to say hello anytime I'm near the tank.
I haven't kept as many varieties as a lot of people probably being limited to 25 gal so far but my top 5 are:
5. Pygmy corydora
4. Neocaridina shrimp
3. Green neon tetra
2. Either of the phantom tetras
1. Rummynose tetra
Top on my someday wishlist is rainbow shiners.
Medaka ricefish and betta fish
Listening to Cory talk lowers my anxiety, he’s so calm and cool. You look good Cory keep it up brother
i watch at 1.5x speed because i need constant stimulation
I listen to Cory as I am sleeping. A year ago I thought I was dying. My kidneys were looking at stage 4 failure. It became a pretty awful time. I was stuck in bed for many weeks and the only thing I had was TV and phone. My poor wife was so worn out from my illness, that I could no longer move about. I listened to Fish Content and I slowly one breath at a time, began to pull myself out of my illness. I came to realize that fish were giving me hope. It became a tonic and I slowly gained my strength as well as my appetite. Right now I am 110 lbs lighter. I found out about Ladybird and Murphy. I remember when He lost his Puffer "Hank," I think his name was and I felt Cory's loss as he cried in the presence of his friends. Cory, I love what you have taught me. I love the fish before I see them. Keep it going my brother!
I like that your Top 6 are all species that are generally available from most retailers, generally seen as ‘beginner fish’. I hate the way some people interpret ‘beginner fish’ to mean inferior, or something you need to progress from.
Several years ago I heard Cory talk about enjoying guppies and I was surprised that this guy who could have pretty much any fish he wanted would choose a 'beginner' fish as one of his favorites. It just goes to show that even the most common fish deserve appreciation regardless of experience.
@@drewzero1 I agree and the more I listen to Cory the more I respect him as a face for the hobby. Fish keeping shouldn’t be seen as competitive, or having stages that one is expected to graduate through. But some people have a competitive nature and that’s just the way of the world.
Honestly I prefer “beginner” fish simply because that’s the kind of guy I am. I like hardy, low maintenance, easy to care for, readily available, stress free, etc.
Plus the fact they’re so common and popular makes it easy (and fun) for me to research and learn as much as I can about them
For me I like some beginner fish especially schooling fish like cardinals, black phantoms or lambchop rasbora. I would even argue that my bichirs are beginner level. They do grow big but besides that they are verry easy to care for.
It's just livebearers that aren't my thing. I think it's a combo off their hyper behavior and the unnatural colors. I also have soft water so not ideal for them anyway.
I really enjoy how down to earth you are. Sometimes aquarium keeping comes off like a competitive sport. Who has the biggest, meanest, or most delicate fish. But the lovely thing about aquarium keeping is there really is something for everyone...with no apologies or explanations. Enjoy what you enjoy! I've been doing this for over 50 years and I have my favorites that I keep coming back to, as well as still getting surprised by new fishy friends.
Beautiful comment
Hi, five years behind you. Can keep some great, easily available fish such as bushy noses, small danios and tetras, and Bolivian rams. Life enrichment is priceless.
6:47 - the blue platies looks so beautiful!
I have kept fish on and off for 30 years now, and I still go back to guppies constantly. The colors and variety keep me coming back.
Always something new beving developed which is fun.
Same! I just cant find that same kind of color variety in other fish. Maybe bettas but they take a little more effort to breed.
@@AquariumCoopwhat happened to your mbu puffer?
Wait wait wait 🫷🏼 I knew about Murphy but Ladybird is gone ? 😢 If so I'm sorry man, I know Murphy was a huge loss. I cut Murphy out of the sponge filter box and hung it on my wall in the fishroom to show some more love to the fella.
I came to the comments to see if i was the only one that didnt know!! I didnt know either!!
@@whitneyr4296 yeah this really sucks. I know how much he loved those fish and how all of us fans loved them and enjoyed seeing them in videos and the Murphy camera.
What happened to Murphy? 😢
I stopped in at Aquarium Coop on my way home to Vancouver Island from the US and was looking forward to seeing Murphy again. Only to find that he was gone. Sad, but that’s the thing about most pets - you have to say goodbye too soon.
Nice list, Cory.
Thanks for all the insights.
You're such a positive and enthusiastic influence in the hobby for me. I couldn't thank you enough.
I've been keeping tanks for 20 years also and I keep getting drawn back to Platies as well. They're just such a treat, easy size to keep, easy to breed, rainbow of colors, they're the perfect beginner fish imho. And they look just as nice in a beautiful, high tech planted tank as they do in a 10 gallon Aqueon kit.
I love my ram cichlids they were my first egg breeding fish to spawn, so much personality. I also love angel fish so derpy and chill.
I was a Cichlid man for 40 years but recently, against all odds, became a Guppy lover.
So much less stress....and no more killing. (Now I rescue the Goldfish feeders & stick 'em in my koi pond).
God Bless A.C.O!
This is GOATED wisdom Cory!!1 thanks for all this years of fishkeeping! in 5 years having fish, I´ve tried a lot and failed! This is a must watch video!
Here is my preferred fish that few seem to mention… but black neon tetra are my absolute favorite. A school of them are a blast to keep. They are super hardy, have tons of movement and their schooling behavior is a blast to watch.
A close second for me a pack of albino corys. Could watch them all day cruising around the bottom.
I am so sorry to hear you say you lost both of your big puffers in the last year.
I loved this. I live in Singapore where tropical fish are sold really cheap so I've literally kept and bred nearly everything!
Now I'm back to long fin cherry barbs! Love them!
I love clown loaches but they do get big over the years, but I've fallen in love with dwarf chain loaches. They are crazy little guys.
If something happened too all my tanks, the dwarf chain loaches would be the very first fish I'd replace.
@@jawjagrrl They have become my fish. They school with my rummynose tetras.
Honestly I’d definitely recommend them over clown loaches
They have everything people love about them but at a much more manageable size!
I'm surprised to hear that you fairly regularly re-home fish. I always feel supremely guilty if I have to re-home any of my fish for whatever reason, so this perspective is super refreshing!
I most likely have to do that with a humphead glassfish that we recently bought. I hate to do it but he or she is such a jerk to the rest of the fish in the tank that was so peaceful before. We had to rehome a killifish once that kept eating the smaller fish and our African dwarf frogs, that sucked cause that fish was so cool.
My most beautiful fish is a Comet Goldfish. Got it as a 10¢ feeder from Petsmart. She's now about 7 inches and lives in my outdoor tub.
I got one as a gift someone won at a fair and gave it to me, after 7 months of me not knowing what I’m doing with the comet goldfish I decided to learn more about them and that how I got into the hobby of fish I love my comet
I never do water changes in any of my tanks, the fish, plants, shrimp all love it!
If you get peapuffers, have tons of plants double whatever size you were told to keep them in. Also, before getting them, set up a 5 or 10 gallon separate aquarium as a bladder or pond snail farm. They are super picky eaters it took me 8 months before they would even attempt to eat any pellets or frozen food
Love platys, I created a dark red peppered Platy Strain .
Awesome Go 2 List! Clown Loaches were my 1st wet pet and they will forever have a special place in my heart.
My favorite fish are guppies, Bettas, Pea Puffers, Comet/Shubunkin Goldfish and Bristlenose Plecos. I also like Ramshorn snails and lots of live healthy plants.
I love the intro music! It really gets the spirit of adventure and curiosity stirred up in me. Bravo Sir!
The newbie fish are popular for a reason and probably brought many of us into the hobby. At this point I prefer a new guppy variety to a new species, and while I sometimes come close to talking myself into some sort of amphibian, I then realize watching a goldfish is just as enjoyable to me and much easier
Shubunkins in the 800 gallon would be pretty incredible
This was a great list! You can hear the love in your voice especially with the clown loaches and thank you for mentioning the more difficult elements of their care! My favourite aquarium is my little kitchen planted aquarium with nerites and I'm about to add some cherry shrimp. It's like a little game of Where's Waldo everytime look at it 🤣🔥
Cory!!! You are the man!!! Always so cool and informative 🌿🦐🐟🐾 thank you!!!!
I love my tetras. So many different colors and sizes...May not be the most popular choice but I love my red eyes. They are entertaining little fish.
Guppies fascinate me. I have been studying them for years in my tanks. The boys and the girls even have different eating habits.
Great video! Some of my favorites that really got me hooked on the hobby at a young age and I still keep and breed are swordtails,guppies and mollies. Some of my bucket list ones I still want to try again are discus and German blue rams.
I will always have a mutt guppy tank. I love the variety of color, pattern, and finnage.
Thanks!
I just got some blue eyed fork tail rainbowfish that are so fun. Every time I approach the tank, they rush to the frunt to say hi. I've never seen a tiny fish do that before. I also really love watching kuhli loaches when they get the zoomies at night. Snails are also alot of fun.
My luminatus do the same. They're SO curious about what's going on. Love them!
I love my group of 6 pea puffers - half male but they have established a hierarchy in a heavily planted tank. They are afraid of adult cherry shimp, and the shrimp are very happy to clean out old bladder snail shells
"Helicopters in the water" - loved that description. :)
guppies will always be my pick
Comets in my barrel pond. Tough as nails. Cool to watch.
White clouds and neon tetras. Love the little school fish for my aquarium
I have always found guppies quite enjoyable and a fish I always went back to.
Love these types of videos from you, Cory!
Great video! My favorite is platys. I just love the color variations, the peaceful nature and so easy to care for
I’m enjoying the Heinz 57 guppy world right now, along with blue neocardinia shrimp and snails. Thanks for the great video!
It’ll always be Kribensis for me. They’re just one of the most striking smaller fish with huge personalities. Watching them pair up, breed, and tend their young is just so interesting. I still have great memories of my first pair that I got 35 years ago!
And of course, Variatus Platies!
Awww pea puffer in the list ❤ Mine all get along with Amano shrimps.. they're really cute 🐡
Loved this video, it's important to think about what we actually enjoy and prioritize that, it is a hobby for most of us after all. My list is smaller and shorter, since I live in an apartment and can only keep 2-3 tanks plus a few outdoor patio ponds in the summer. It goes like this medaka, platies, snails shrimp and corys (lots of overlap with yours). I like smaller tanks and t have them all planted.
I'm also starting to enjoy Australian Rainbows.
Peapuffers for the win! I love these guys. I started keeping them in 2020. They are so fun to watch!!!
Some off my can't live without fish:
Bristlenose pleco's and blue phantom pleco's, they are the best pleco's in my opinion as they are decent algae eaters that stay small compared to some other pleco's.
Cardinal tetra's and black phantom tetra's, the combo off those also looks verry good.
Appistogramma's especially the high bodied ones like for example macmasteri. Their shape resembles more boisterous cichlids like oscars but they stay a manageable size, are calmer and can live in a planted tank. Also their are so many species all with diffrent colors and paterns.
I also ordered some angelfish and if that goes well they might also make the list. Working in a LFS I really learned to appreciate angelfish, they are calm but still personable.
I'm going to be setting up a large tank in my kitchen/dinning room next year after it's remodeled. There's no window and no possibility of putting one in so the tank will be the "wndow." You've given me some great ideas on what to try!
Otocinclus catfish, white cloud minnows, angels, kuhli loaches or cichlids are my go to.
Very fun list!
I would love to see one high PH and low PH. My water is very difficult to keep above 7.2 (or even 7.0) and I tend to stick to fish that fit that lower range. On the other side of the spectrum you have the 7.0-8.0+ fish that are commonly available.
My personal top fish everyone should keep would be:
1. Amano Shrimp
2. White Cloud Mountain Minnows
3. Otocinclus (so special!)
4. Corydoras
5. Some type of barb, preferably tigers
6. Ricefish or livebearer of some kind
7. Panaque Pleco + Wood
8. Some type of Ram
Tiger barbs are so underrated and overlooked
I love that striking pattern and they’re very hardy and energetic too!
Been keeping fish since the 70s. I am currently keeping endlers and teacup platys
My favourite I’ve ever kept were shell dwellers, mud skippers, pufferfish, archer fish, leaf fish and elongatus piranha.
Can’t live without Honey Gouramis…just the cutest little things…🫶
Ho hum. Just another awesome video from Corey. I don't know what I'd do with you, big guy. Thanks again.
Thank you so much for all your tips and recommendations on all your videos ❤️ extremely helpful ❤️
Highly second Platys. They’re such an underrated fish because they’re so common and often overlooked. Super hardy and great looking
I'm a huge fan of goldfish and I love Shubunkin!! I wish more breaders in the U.S. would start to breed the Bristol Shubunkin. IMO they are the most beautiful with that big heart shaped tail that is sturdy but not too long or veiled. Please get some Bristols, Cory!!! : )
1. Sparkling Gouramis
2. Ancistrus
3. White Cloud Mountain Minnows (golden)
4. Boraras Urophthalmoides
5. Neocaridinas (any color)
I enjoyed this video, Cory. Thanks!
Loved this video, and that you put in so much information about their behavior. Normally people just talk about how the fish looks, how big they get and what size of aquarium they need. I haven't kept fish nearly as long as you have, but I don't agree on your list :D For example I can't see myself ever having clown loaches, or pea puffers. Totally agree on shrimps, snails and guppies though! The way you described how you look at shrimps, when it's just interesting watching them and see what they're up to now, that's how I want my aquariums. I love shrimps.
I also do love rainbowfish, especially the smaller ones, like the Pseudomugils. Yes, they're a bit expensive, especially since they don't breed easily and don't live that long. But they're fantastic. I also would say to people that they should try the threadfin rainbow (Iriatherina werneri). They're pretty new to me, but I really enjoy just sit and look at what they're up to. Just like the shrimps. Otherwise my list of "Fish I have to try" is way longer than "Fish I believe everyone should try" 😅 Next time I'm buying fish, it will be gouramis. Haven't tried that yet.
I've been keeping fish for decades at this point and the favourite fish I've ever kept is a shubunkin! I posted a short of him on my channel, I've had him for 12 years or so
They seems to high output in entertainment/beauty and relatively low maintenance.
@@AquariumCoop thanks for the reply Cory, absolutely agree! I was breeding ranchus out of a 5ft aquarium and had a pretty catastrophic weekend as I lost them all one by one. I was ready to completely give up on the hobby, stripped the tank down ready to sell on. It was towards the end of the pond season and decided to bring the big guy in for the winter. I went really simple, undergravel filter using pvc pipe, running on a power head. The enjoyment I got from him over the winter kept me going in the hobby. I'm down to one set of shelves with planted nanos, but thoroughly enjoying the hobby again
I’m not sure if it’s my luck, but I’ve kept both platys and mollys in the same tank and I kept having to rehome platys because of behavioral issues (I kept a really generous male to female ratio, and regardless, one of the fish I had to rehome was a female), but have never had those issues with the mollys. Now I just have one female platy, a few of her fry, and the rest are mollys. She’s living her best life now that she isn’t being harassed by the one female.
Even though Mollys are “beginner” fish, I’ve really enjoyed keeping them. I’ve found that I enjoy raising fry, even though I don’t specifically try to breed them (I only have 2 males vs 10 females to keep the peace). They definitely have their own personalities if you watch for long enough.
My favorite fish are:
(1) Moonlight gourami - mine is like a friendly puppy dog who eats out of my hand. Love the platinum silver color!
(2) Filament Barb - my filament barbs are beautiful irridescent green and very friendly. They always come to the front of the tank and greet me. They also have four babies who are growing very quickly.
(3) Roseline shark (barb) - I prefer to call them roseline barbs because they are not closely related to sharks. They are so beautiful and serene.
(4) Threadfin rainbowfish - These lovely fish look like they are from an alien planet--just strange with their pointed mouths and long slim physique. They are incredibly peaceful and the males put on stunning displays when they puff out their fins.
(5) Angelicus loach - These loaches are peaceful and each one has a unique pattern of spot and line on its body. Sometimes they forget that they are bottom feeders and the swim up to eat with the other fish.
Lovely. Appreciate the pictures and video of the fish
Score point for goldfish making it on the list ❤
Really enjoyed this video, love all the recommendations
Pea puffers are the one fish I really really want to try but haven’t yet. Will dedicate a small aquarium to them maybe this winter when I’m stuck inside (live in the northeast USA) Thanks for the list
At the moment all I have is some Bronze Corydoras 1 lemon blue eye bristlenose pleco and 3 Blood parrots. And I've been really thinking of filling up the old 40 gallon with some Guppies.
Are your planted tanks on just gravel or is there soil too,? So many cool ideas! Thankyou an blessings
Thanks for excellent information and video. 👍🙏
I’m pretty close 1)tamasaba goldfish, 2)dojo loach, 3)rice fish, 4) hillstream loach, 5) shrimp
I have a spotted puffer fish. When guests come, I always pick up some snails from other tanks and let my guests watch how it cracks the shell to eat the snail inside. Everyone finds it funny.
I've had a few fish in my time but Endlers (males only, don't want a ton), Angel fish (single in a tank at a time), a Pleco (had a Sailfin that was a real character, besides striking and active), Bettas (also like puppies with so much personality), Long-finned Rosey Barbs (resemble goldfish but much smaller and less mess), Gourami (love their long feeler fins that they use to reinforce their "boundaries"), Cherry Shrimp, Amono Shrimp (surprising amount of personality in one of my first [very dramatic]) and, begrudgingly, Silver Dollars (adopted a huge one that was like a pet [High-ho] plus the nutty ones in our work tank ["second generation " of Nickle and Dime - there always seems to be a "dime" in the pair]).
I agree that the label, beginner, can negatively affect our perception of fish that we should all really try and experience even if we are more experienced aquarist. I have come to appreciate the ease and hardiness of these and enjoy my tanks much more. I'm planning on trying some long-finned Zebra Danios, who I have always thought were very pretty but, in the the past, looked down on because of the above label.
I plan on getting a small group of male platies in my 20 long and I think they’ll with how active and colorful they are they’d be just perfect for me
Bettas, goldfish, angelfish and maybe even oscars are also kind of like dream fish of mine because I love their looks and personality and think they’d make great little wet pets if I had a suitable tank for them
Youre my rock Cory!! Thank you.😊❤
what was the other lined fish in the clown loach tank? KInd of a small tall body
Shubunkins are my most favorite fish. I don't own any because of their size. Beautiful fish
As I was getting ready to move, I thought about this a lot. All my fish are in tubs outside now. I only have one nano tank inside and I’m currently growing out my betta spawn in it. I am planning to keep a large 6x2x2 of rainbows. I have a 100 gallon tub for my laprolofus multifasciatis with plans to add a rock dwelling lake tanganican fish later. Another 100 gallon is for my two Oscars that I grew up from around 1.5-2 inches. I plan to put some Kribs in the 50 gallon pond. I have one more 100 gallon that I want to be a huge community tank. I have one 40 gallon tank that I may turn into pea puffer land. Other than my Oscars, I prefer smaller community fish.
I’d add neon tetras or even green neons since they seem hardier to this list but great list.
Hey Cory! What do you think about Celestial danios, clown killifish, and pygmy cories for a new to the hobby person in a 75 gallon tank with live plants? Throw in some nerite snails and amano shrimp too :)
I'm thinking about doing a clown loach tank, any recommendations for tankmates at 85°?
Love the video Cory! I have never kept guppies the thought has been there but I always end up going a different route. One question can guppies live with flow like a hob or is sponge filter only a better set up for them?
where did you get that fireplace heater?
I'll always remember that clown loach aquarium you had in Conway, I wanted them so bad after that.
love these more personal videos
I had thought my pea Puffer could see me better than the tiny chili rasbora's in the same tank, good to know they have great vision. Mine seems to be happy, seeing the same ones he came from at Piccaso aquatics and mine is twice as big as they are now.
I guess im off to get the x2973! I heard there pretty good.
Love the shirt, and the list too! 🙂
Guppies are my go to fish beautiful colours and shrimps snalis and pleco can live with guppies
Great start to my Friday
I recently got some show quality guppies and man are they beautiful fish!
I’m getting a new 75g tank soon. I want it mainly for for AngelFish but I do want to add a few more fish.
I absolutely love Clown loaches. Would they work with them? Also what do you guys feed them? I’ve never really done anything other than flake, algae pellets and frozen shrimp/blood worms.
Also do they do well with yo-yo loaches?
Thanks!
What do you feed your fish and at whst times of the day do you recommend..?
Love my shubunkins but i just lost my 8 year old one so im down to one in my 75, lost others in the last few years. Definitely seems like i cant do more than 3 adults in a 75 otherwise i start to encounter problems at somepoint within a year. Would love to see them in an 800 gallon tank. Wish i had the space for a 125 gallon so that i could have 4-5 of them as the centerpiece of my living room.
Do you recommend keeping platys and mollies in planted tanks with fluval stratum regarding the acidity effect I hear stratum can create?
I don't. If you wanted the best substrate for those fish, I'd tell you to use crushed coral.
@@AquariumCoop thank you! Hadn’t thought about that substrate
I've never owned Clown Loaches but I imagine they're just as enjoyable as their cousins Dojo/Yoyo loaches
Good ideas with your experience ❤
THANKS CORY
wait I missed something... did you say your puffer at the store and the puffer in your big tank in the fish room are gone?