The Best Freshwater Fish for Beginners

The list of freshwater fish that would be great for the beginner to start with. They are cheap and easy to keep.

• Anabantids (Bettas and Gouramis). Bettas are also known as Siamese Fighting Fish (as in the fish that will attack its own mirror image). Bettas and Gouramis are beautiful labyrinth fishes meaning that they get air at the surface of the water through a labyrinth organ. The downside with male Bettas is that you can only keep one Betta male in a tank (you can have other fish but no other male Bettas). Gouramis are usually peaceful additions to the community tank.

• Cichlids. There are so many different Cichlid species, that you will have no problem picking one that suits your aquarium. Cichlids can get large and are territorial during breeding season. They can be prolific in captivity.

• Cyprinids (White Cloud Mountain Minnow, Zebra Danios, Rasboras, and Cherry Barbs) These little guys are hardy. You will find tons of color and pattern variations. You will also enjoy watching their schooling behavior. If you had to pick one fish to start with, you could not go wrong with a White Cloud Mountain Minnow.

• Livebearers (Guppies, Platies, and Swordtails) These beautiful fish will stay small (under 3 inches for the most part) but that is not the only thing about these guys that makes them a great pick. Brilliantly colored and happy in the community tank, these peaceful fish are extremely easy to keep. Out of all the starter fish, they are the easiest to breed in captivity. Guppies look like they should cost way more than their going price; you'll easily get excited about these fish. 

• Tetras are so cheap it is practically criminal! Tetras are great additions to the community tank and their vivid colors will attract your attention every time they dart around in their little schools.

• Loaches are bottom dwellers that differentiate themselves from most of the fish in this list. They are more secretive; they tend to hang out alone, with many being nocturnal. Loaches require currents in the water as they are stream dwellers in the wild. They will also take care of your snail population if you have a problem with it.

What is AquaScaping

Aquascaping is the craft of arranging aquatic plants, as well as rocks, stones, cavework, or driftwood, in an aesthetically pleasing manner within an aquarium—in effect, gardening under water.

Aquascape designs include a number of distinct styles, including the garden-like Dutch style and the Japanese-inspired nature style. Typically, an aquascape houses fish as well as plants, although it is possible to create an aquascape with plants only, or with rockwork or other hardscape and no plants.

Although the primary aim of aquascaping is to create an artful underwater landscape, the technical aspects of aquatic plant maintenance must also be taken into consideration. Many factors must be balanced in the closed system of an aquarium tank to ensure the success of an aquascape. These factors include filtration, maintaining carbon dioxide at levels sufficient to support photosynthesis underwater, substrate and fertilization, lighting, and algae control.

Aquascape hobbyists trade plants, conduct contests, and share photographs and information via the internet.


Aquascaping also  is a learned art form that allows you to create an underwater landscape, inspiration for many works come from both underwater locations but also natural scenes such as mountains, jungles, deserts, waterfalls and many others.