Help out someone new to the hobbie.

[Nyghtfire]

First of all, if this is posted in the wrong area, Sorry about that, i wasn't sure where this should go.


Well, i'm interested in what fish i could start keeping and some general advice to someone new to this hobbie, i have a fair bit of money set aside to start me off, but i was looking at some of the more common, but predatory fish i could start off with. Or any ideas at all that would be good to start off with.
a smaller 20-30 gallon tank would be ideal, so small fish is a must, as this will be my first tank, and my first fish besides the usual stereotypical dead easy to care for fish (such as goldfish, guppies and such)

Anyways in short, any ideas of what fish are good to start off with and such would be great.
or if possible some things i could read through

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4179959#post4179959 (link to my little introduction thread, may have some use in describing what i'm interested in)

Thanks for Reading.

 

[Redearsunfish]

Welcome. Goldfish and guppies take up more of my time in terms of care than my other tropical tanks!

In any event, i'd suggest convict cichlids, or even some of the african cichlids, like the yellow lab.

 

[knifegill]

Here's a good place to start:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227845&highlight=mini+monsters

You're also likely to find what you're looking for in the world of catfish. True monsters at any size.

Also, be sure you're read up on the nitrogen cycle and buffering before you get started. It will save you money and stress.

 

[Nyghtfire]

Wow just wanted to say thankyou for the fast replys.
Definetly going to research both fish right after i've read the list of mini monsters.
although, from my memory, i can't recall seeing chichilds in any of the local stores, may be due to australia's issues with importing fish.

 

[Becca3766]

I started off with cichlids, specifically yellow labs and Johanni electric blues. They have a lot of personality and they hard pretty hardy.

I moved on into more advanced cichlids now but I still love them!

 

[Diverite]

I'm a big fan of starting with a cichlid as stated above. very hardy fish that have lots of personality and can be predatory towards fish smaller than them.

 

[Nyghtfire]

yeah the more i've read the more chichild's seem ideal, only thing that is worrying me at the moment, being an aussie i'm not sure if there imported into the country, if any other aussies could help me out on this would be awesome, definetly going to have a look around the local stores tommorow and see

 

[knifegill]

Oh, dang. I can't imagine the pain of living in Australia and trying to keep cool fish. I mean, I can't have piranhas or snakeheads, but wow. The list of restricted species for you is a slap in the face. Luckily, you have some AMAZING natives.

 

[Nyghtfire]

yeah we do, what i hope to build up to is a redfin perch, but the size of the tank, and my inexperience with keeping fish is why i'm not looking at grabbing one of them right away.
(i know the redfin aren't technically native and are an introduced species, but i figure if i actually have to catch it in the wild, its native enough)

 

[knifegill]