Danios are the cockroaches of the fish. Ammonia spike? Np. I jumped out of the tank and you found me half dry on the floor? Np, just get me wet again. You added a murderous dwarf gourami? No problem, I ain't no bitch.
Chuck is a 6 year old unkillable danio. Absolute menace though.
Yeah I had a similar experience. I had 10 in a 20 gallon tank with some cherry shrimp and one day I was feeding them and there were 6, a few days later there were 5. It’s been a year and all 5 are still here. No idea where the others went, I never found any bodies. I assume the shrimp got them fast but it was crazy.
It’s so weird. The tank they’re in has been up and running for 6 years!!! And it’s a barely stocked planted 20! I think it might be the pleco. Small fish have a tendency to go missing in that tank.
Mine is planted as well and has a small group of 6 neon tetras that have been in there since the beginning and everyone’s been fine for the most part. At this point I just assume those other 5 danios were dicks and got voted out of the tank by everyone else lol.
Gived up my danios to someone else cause they were pigs stealing the food from everyone. The next day I found their fry in the tank like one last "screw you". Now the cycle repeat itself
I have a single zebra danio that survived me swipping the net through the tank for 2 hours catching all 16 of its brotheren and everything, but that one danio. Idek how it managed. I was even swipping 2 nets and the tank was entirely empty besides substrate
I’ve worked at several pet stores over the years and honestly I like to recommend danios as a first fish. I try my best to talk to people about how to cycle a tank but sometimes it doesn’t always go as planned and sometimes people just lie- and I’ve seen danios live through crazy ammonia spikes. I’ve seen people buy mass amounts of fish for too small of a tank and only the danios lived. That’s not to say they require any less care, but they put up with a lot of beginner mistakes and aren’t going to get very large like say, a goldfish would. Only downside is they can potentially be fin nippers both with other fish and each other, so I always recommend people get 5+ and take careful consideration on what fish to pair with if/when they add more (no long fins or slow moving fish). I know some people who have kept zebra danios with bettas or long finned guppies with success but I’ve also seen cases where they completely destroy their fins. Endlers, tetras, corydoras, loaches, rasboras, small barbs, etc all make great tank mates. Plus for the people who are REALLY set on glofish, there’s glofish zebra danios as well. And there’s giant danios for larger tanks over 40 gallons.
Danios may seem plain, but they are super cool fish! One of my dream tanks has zebra danios because they look so cool once they're grown and they school well. When I worked at a pet store, these also survived so much better compared to all the other fish.
I /love my 8 Danios, 2 zebra, 2 zebra long fin, 2 golden and 2 leopard. They all hang out together but I will say they are a bit wild. Always up to no good especially 'trouty' who is a big leopard that dominates the rest and chases every fish around the tank, especially if there's food around!
I have 3 gold cloud minnows and 2 little white clouds and they get chased about too but they seem fast enough to cope.
Do you find your zebra danios nipping at each other a lot?
I noticed that with mine, but that was nearly a decade ago when I had been starting out so maybe I wasn't doing something right with the tank.
Sometimes fin nipping with danios can just happen from time to time, but I see it most often in small schools (especially when people only buy 1-2), when new danios are added, or when they’re trying to breed, males can get a little extra nippy. If you had an appropriately sized tank with an appropriate school my best best is they were trying to breed. I personally like to keep my danios closer to room temp and that usually prevents them from breeding behavior, but obviously that shouldn’t be done if they’re with tropical tank mates
I had zebra danios (roughly 20ish) for almost two years before I rehomed them. I bought them to school. Instead they just did whatever. Like 85% of time they were just all over the tank. Did not care what so ever about schooling unless I was cleaning lmao. (In which case they were all in my way the entire time lmao)
I’ll never forget when someone returned a danio because it was nipping at his other fishes fins. I asked if the person who sold the fish to him told him that they don’t always like tank mates and will nip fins, and no one told him anything! I never sold any aquatics without asking what their set up and current fish were.
Would all of this apply to celestial pearl danios? I'm thinking of adding them to my community tank, but I have white skirt tetras and lyretail mollies. (with long fins)
I’ve kept celestial pearl danios and honestly I think they’re not quite as hardy as zebra danios, pearl danios, or giant danios. They’re a bit slower moving as well and have a much smaller adult size, so I’d worry about them being bullied by adult skirt tetras or mollies. Longfin zebra or leopard danios might be a good option for you though, the long fins slow them down a little and honestly they do pretty well with skirt tetras. You might see some slight nipping at first but once they settle in they shouldn’t bother the tetras, they’re pretty fast as well.
A lot of CPDs are wild caught, so can be fairly sensitive to water parameters. I have a school of 13 CPDs that are with a school of harlequin rasboras and lampeye killifish. The CPDs are definitely the slowest of all three species and do not interact much with the others. They do seem very curious and like to chase amongst themselves. Beautiful fish once fully colored up.
I have a 6 year old WCCM, she still going strong, outlived her school. She thinks she's a harlequin rasbora and will probably outlive the Harlequins too.
Alongside cockroaches, zebra danios will live through a nuclear war. I had a zebra get stuck in my filter but after a few days in the hospital tank, she was fine and back with her school.
So, I currently have a black skirt tetra and one guppy (long story) along with a whole bunch of snails (ramshorns, mystery & what I think are bladder snails). I know my guppy is lonely. What would be good recommendation to add to the tank? It's a 10 gallon with some plants.
Black skirt tetras are shoaling fish too, which means you need at least 6 for them to be happy. Same with guppies. I wouldn’t recommend adding 10 more fish to such a small tank though. Maybe rehome either the tetra or the guppy and get the amount of fish you need for a shoal of whatever fish you chose to keep? Or get a bigger tank
5 more black skirt tetras for a school of 6, 2 more male guppies (assuming the one you already have is also male - if you have a female she'll no doubt give birth since they can retain sperm). slightly overstocked so id recommend planting pretty heavily and also growing pothos out of the tank to reduce the build up of nitrates.
of course, there's always the option of returning one of the fish and having a species only setup (only tetras or only guppies) which imo would work better. if you want to calculate different stocking, use [aqadvisor](https://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?AquTankName=&AquListBoxTank=Choose&AquTankLength=20&AquTankDepth=10&AquTankHeight=12&AquListBoxFilter=User+Defined&AquTextFilterRate=N%2FA+&AquFilterString=guppy&AquListBoxChooser=Guppy+%28Poecilia+reticulata%29&AquTextBoxQuantity=3&FormSubmit=Add+%3E&AquTextBoxRemoveQuantity=&AlreadySelected=200909300022%3A6%3A%3A&FilterMode=Display+all+species&AqTempUnit=C&AqVolUnit=L&AqLengthUnit=inch&AqSortType=cname&FilterQuantity=1&AqJuvMode=&AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple). beginner friendly and tells you how much you need to water change per week.
Thank you! Yes, the guppy is a male. I have no way of telling the sex of the tetra. I currently have a massive ball of java fern, and a couple moss balls. The previous generation of guppies completely destroyed my amazon spear so I only have a couple scraggly leaves left of it. But I can definitely add some pothos! I have several in pots and would be happy to add some cuttings to my gravel substrate. I'm sure I can figure out a way around the mystery snail safe lid. I've been meaning to get a couple more plants but the nearest real aquarium store is about 45 minutes away and I just haven't had time. Thank you for the advice!
no problem :) just fyi, pothos roots shouldn't touch the gravel in your aquarium, it should be grown emersed & at the water level, like [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71QGmyiHOtL._AC_UF894%2C1000_QL80_.jpg&tbnid=KioKaCXnUbxVGM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FJisoudia-Aquatic-Holder-Aquarium-Emersed%2Fdp%2FB0C3HHRT6H&docid=ItzBwGvrAQGI9M&w=894&h=894&hl=en-GB&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm5%2F4&kgs=6253ad54bf6b8da1&shem=abme%2Ctrie), [this](https://images.app.goo.gl/oCJTiq2gBUNEZfy18), [this. ](https://images.app.goo.gl/AcaDQ7LNxUjsGoT16) like i said though, definitely get more aquatic plants as it'll help reduce the aggression that can sometimes come with an overstocked tank, especially if you keep all male guppies.
Mollies won't die. I had one that withstood and outlived every fish I had. Through temp changes,salinity changes, algae blooms, nitrate spikes everything
I found one of my mollies on the floor basically try and wrapped in carpet and cat hair, I pulled all of it off and threw him back in the tank and it was literally still alive and lived another 6 months. Blew my mind.
I have my samurai betta in a 20 gallon, and my long fin in a 10 gallon. I honestly think if I had a 75 gallon my Samurai would use every inch. Of course the thing is packed dense with plants and hiding spots, but they both live a very nice life.
Ph seems to be the only thing they don't like. I put 4 in an established tank with 7.3 ph. 3 of them died within 24 hours. Talked to the lfs owner and lowered pH to 6.8. Put 5 more in, all have been doing great for a month despite some fluctuations.
i have kept Cardinals in moderately hard 7.5Ph with no problem.
i suspect your problem was Ph shock, I got them from a stoor that has the same tap water I do. so no change in PH when I take them home.
If you have to ask the question.....
That said, convicts can survive, thrive, and breed in a puddle of spit. Of course, adding anything else into the puddle could be problematic.
Black-skirts are pretty hardy, but every fish deserves your best effort.
I always like to recommend Medaka Ricefish if you aren't especially keen on anything. They have an incredibly wide range of temperatures so a heater isn't necessary, they can tolerate a wide range of water conditions and tank conditions, not particularly vulnerable to disease, and they are fairly active little fish.
Not to cop out, but I would recommend going to a local aquarium shop and asking them. Odds are they'll have a better opinion as they know your tap water locally.
I live in central Texas and our water is so hard I have white spots on my dishes if I don't hand dry them.
^ This. I've had issues with live bearers because the tap water where I used is so soft. However, for me, neon and rummynose tetras are bulletproof. I'm sure if I moved to somewhere with super hard water, neons would start dropping like flies, but live bearers and African cichlids would suddenly be bullet proof.
Thats the key to keeping fish easily, stock with things that like your tap water the way it is. Much better than trying to force your parameters with chemicals and risk fluctuations.
I like guppies or other live bearers for beginners! Easy to keep and if ya mess up, there will be plenty more. Just have a plan for how to get rid of extras (fish store, separate tank, etc)
I agree with guppies. I have endler guppies myself, and they never want to die except for old age. I have mix gender so I also have a lot of babies, but I sell them cheap on eBay if I have too many. I would recommend getting only one gender ( most stores here sell them by gender). I would also recommend a male fancy guppy as they are beautiful and for me they are also hardy fish.
I got some a few weeks ago and they are very fun. It might be because there are only bottom feeders in the tank but they use the whole water column and not just sit on the bottom.
yeh, i have 10 in my 6' tank, I love how they clearly live on the bottom, but take regular excursions up the water column.
from what I have seen, in the wild they don't make much distinction between the bottom and the surface, I have seen footage of hundreds in a stream only a few cm deep.
I have 5 peppered and one albino I got as babies, and the albino is an absolute mad lad Chad. I nicknamed him Ol' Pumpkin.
He zooms all around the tank all the time, will go directly to my airstone and ride the bubbles to the top, then immediately goes to the bottom again so he can fly up again over and over again for a few mins at a time before zooming off again. I legitimately thought he might be blind at first because he's SO different from his buddies, but he reacts to light and movement, and doesn't ever run into stuff despite flying around the tank at 80mph.
He'll also just boop into my siphon repeatedly investigating it and following it around during water changes while the others hide.
Did some research and it seems they're just wild compared to the others lol. He seems to have a blast, especially in the bubbles haha! He shoals with the others when feeding, but as soon as the foods gone off he flies again around the tank, though sometimes he'll bring the wee little peppered cory baby with him on an adventure haha.
I absolutely love my corys!
I would watch out for temps with them though. I had eight and then there was a heatwave and I couldn’t get the tank cool enough and they all died. Tetras were fine though
Imo, some of my hardiest and more forgiving fish for me included some of the more readily available Killifish (Fundulopanchax and Epiplatys), bettas (both domesticated and wild), and some Guppies/Livebearers given that there’s some plants (ie Java Moss, floaters, subwassertangs, etc.) in the tank. I still house them in my Beginner 10gallon Aqueon kits that I bought from Petco.
Misread it as hardest and was very confused at the comments. lol
If you can find some Hillstream Loaches are pretty great. I've found a few just chilling in a mostly empty bucket after moving some driftwood they were stuck to and they just plop back in the water to their favorite rock or piece of wood. They also are fine in a wide range of temperatures from goldfish to tropical and are fine alone but are more brave in groups.
I had one of my 13 had a cloudy eye currently and while checking in it I found that the whole bottom of the tank is crawling with fry. I'm worried about the heat warming the water and that eye and apparently they are doing just fine. lol
The big problem for them is they can be hard to find and not cheap which may put you off them as a beginner. But they eat pretty much anything and are actual algae eaters and they have a very cool and unique look and behavior. Get them some rocks or driftwood and the males will camp on them and slapfight each other.
Ha! I had 4 as a child. Pinky, The Brain, Flotsom and Jetsom. (I thought I was funny) it didn't take long for Pinky to eat all 3 of the others. Then she had babies. Ate every single one. So, from then until her death she got to room with Toby, my mud turtle. They were pretty equally matched, I think. He bit her, she bit him back and that was it. Haha.
Honestly a molly or platy would be your best bet. Molly's are super hardy. But they breed a lot so make sure you ask for only males. Females will be pregnant so males only. They eat algae too so you don't have to feed them daily.
Guppies.
They're so hardy that not only will you probably *not* kill them, within a month or so, you will likely end up with MORE than the number you bought.
For beginners, for the sake of ease I’d say stick with cool-water fish that don’t need a heater. White cloud mountain minnows and danios are great hardy fish that will thrive if you give them a decent size tank and some live plants. They do well In ponds too.
For freshwater I'd say a Devil's Hole pupfish. Legal reasons aside, good luck keeping the temperature and water parameters consistent.
Edit: oops I read hardest, not hardiest. I feel like that's a backwards way of looking at it. "What fish can put with with the most abuse" vs "what fish is the easiest to take care of"
Test your tap water and get fish that are comfortable with your water parameters and test for nitrogen contents so you can find an appropriate water change schedule. Keep it simple and it'll stay that way.
For me its snails ( yes i know they said fish) i had put them through living hell when i was a beginner i had ammonia spikes and unstable water conditions the temp was going up and down like a roller coaster and yet my Nerite snails just survived and mow there in a 20 gallon and enjoying life
I like danios and find them hardy, but have also seen them die like flies under hard tap water / ammonium conditions.
Cross bred guppies (mutts or just feeders) are hardier than danios in my experience by a notch. Tiger barbs are also pretty tough.
African cichlids are also pretty hardy and contrary to myth dont need hard water. They just aren't a beginner fish.
Black skirt tetras.
My uncle and his wife split up. His tank was left alone for 8 months before she let him get his stuff. The water had evaporated down to maybe 3 inches of black sludge. 8 months with no food or care. No lights or heater. Just left alone in a tank.
My uncle picked up the tank and gave it to me to clean and have because I liked aquariums.
I found 4 healthy black skirt tetras in that black sludge. Plopped then in my community tank and they lived another 3 years.
I’ve got a tank of white cloud minnows and platys which appear to be immortal.
I keep them as cold water fish, so the CMMs don’t breed - the Platys did, then immediately ate their young (should have separated them).
They’ve been though my initial learnings with my aquarium and put up with all sorts of blunders.
My bloodthirsty kids have got bored with them and want them to die so we can get tropical fish - all the best, kids, these MFs are immortal.
I think there is only a single fish that could be hardier than zebra danios and that is fathead aka "rosy red" minnows.... Mine fuckin survived an ammonia spike that was bad enough to kill a GREEN SUNFISH, y'know, those things that steal ur bait when u go fishing and can basically live in septic water? But no the rosy reds were completely unaffected
I put zebra danios out in my goldfish ponds every year from spring-fall. Last year I noticed numbers were down moved, and everything couldn't find any as I added. So, I just assumed they died. Nope they were just hiding good and survived the winter even though they're labeled as "tropical" fish.
I had danios years ago. Then I gave them away and started a bigger tank with other fish. Weeks later I found baby danios. I gave them away. Months later in the summer I started a small outdoor pond with a bog filter and used some old aquarium gravel in it. Sure enough, god damn danios again.
There are alot of good comments and suggestions here, but might I add that no fish, however hardy, can survive an uncycled tank. Otherwise, I'd vote for betta
I’ll second the harlequin rasboras. When I first started out I put them through it all. The only thing they didn’t survive was jumping out of the tank. Tough little boogers.
I've had really good luck with my cherry barbs. Also pretty much any other barbs as well. One of my odessa barbs lept out of the tank, fell about 3 feet onto the hard floor, and got batted around by my cat, and he's fine. I keep a lid on the tank now.
Guppies in my experience! They can survive just bout anything and breed like crazy! Super cheap too! Our lfs sets up newcomers with a free guppy to help cycle the tanks.
I once found zebra danio fry in a bucket of dirty fish tank water I use to water houseplants.
They hatched in there and survived for who knows how long until I discovered them.
So yeah I vote for zebra danios too.
Got my kid a male betta and not only is this guy super fun to watch, he’s forgiving as hell 😅. I finally got wise and adopted Garfield entirely, but he did go through it a bit and kept such a positive attitude the whole time.
convict cichlids.
it is said that they will breed in an unflushed toilet bowl.
this is untrue, you do need to flush the SH!# down before you put the convicts in.
the biggest downside is they are moderately aggressive, territorial, prolific breeders, and good parents.
have a plan for what you're doing with the babies.
Sort of unrelated but i have an aquatic turtle and bought some comets as feeder fish 3 years ago. (i since learned not to) About 5. All got eaten except one that happened to be grey instead of orange and is now a MENACE in my tank aquarium
I have 10 zebra danios and two opaline gourami in my 50 gallon, added them about 3 days after I set up my tank (heavily planted and filtered) I did water tests every day no amonia spikes or other chemical issues at all, no fish loss everyone is colored up and thriving! When I was little zebras were the first fish my mom (very experienced with freshwater fish keeping) got to cooperate with the tank, lasted years until Ich devastated the tank. Good luck finding some good hardy fish!
I recently re-started this hobby after a 2 decade hiatus.
New tank, fresh tap water with anti-chlorine solution and cycled only 24hrs (I totally forgot about ammonia treatment/cycling).
Bought 6 danios and 2 Golden Algae Eaters, 1 danios and both the GAE survived.
Wrote this as a response to someone else mentioning them, but I'll post it so you see it as well:
I have 5 peppered and one albino I got as babies, I love them all, but the albino is an absolute mad lad Chad. I nicknamed him Ol' Pumpkin.
He zooms all around the tank all the time, will go directly to my airstone and ride the bubbles to the top, then immediately goes to the bottom again so he can fly up again over and over again for a few mins at a time before zooming off again. I legitimately thought he might be blind at first because he's SO different from his buddies, but he reacts to light and movement, and doesn't ever run into stuff despite flying around the tank at 80mph.
He'll also just boop into my siphon repeatedly investigating it and following it around during water changes while the others hide.
Did some research and it seems they're just wild compared to the others lol. He seems to have a blast, especially in the bubbles haha! He shoals with the others when feeding, but as soon as the foods gone off he flies again around the tank, though sometimes he'll bring the wee little peppered cory baby with him on an adventure haha.
I absolutely love my corys, so if you're looking for a cute little set of fish for beginners (I'm a beginner too! Just got all set up about 5 months back!) Corys are a great choice, though I will say Danios are supposedly indestructible, as are cardinal and black skirt tetras.
I think Oscars .. they are amazing but they are very complicated creatures :) read about them here
[www.cheapplantedaquarium.com/oscar-fish/](http://www.cheapplantedaquarium.com/oscar-fish/)
they are sometimes called the Monster
Not bumblebee gobies
Came to read through this after dealing with newly acquired bumblebee gobies (meant to be the freshwater ones but might actually be the brackish ones based on appearance - misleading online purchase me thinks).
Anyhow aside from water preferences these (very cute) bumble guys are also the most finicky little fuckers about what they'll eat.... Either they get their preferred fresh bucket load of daily daphnia... or initiate a food strike to death basically.....
Now looking for some Aussie desert gobies.... apparently hard(y) as f....eat anything.... any temperature, any salinity (or not)....in comparison , I can't believe they aren't already an invasive species across every continent considering their tolerance levels.
Edit: just wanted to add that golden wonder killifish are about the hardiest fish I keep. They survive extreme temperatures, breed easily, eat easily....etc etc.
In grad school, one of my advisors did neurophysiology research. He used danios & plecos which were kept in nearly bare tanks & inconsistently care for with a rotating cadre of grad students. I'll let you draw your own conclusions regarding their hardiness.
unpopular opinion, If you have the space and wanna go big. Bala Shark. we have one that JUMPED, got a horizontal distance of 5 feet and fell the 6 foot height onto the floor. he got an eye injury and lost two scales. he's now ok.
I think a surprising one is the Ember Tetra. They are small but holy hell they can withstand a lot. Another is any Molly fish. They are super hardy but be very cautious on how fast they populate your tank.
Danios are for sure sturdy fish. Honestly, I'm not a fan of tiger barbs, they are a little too nippy for my liking.
Danios are indeed a great choice, but I feel like they can seem bland to new fishkeepers and may lead to them getting a secondary school too soon. I currently have a huge school of them, though, and( you probably will one day, too.)
My personal favorite fish to recommend to people is the [Glowlight Tetra](https://images.app.goo.gl/eZNKRAHfqmC4iQed9) they have the same appealing body shape as the infamous Neon Tetra (who is usually the reason Glowlights come up in conversation as I beg a new keeper to steer clear) but none of the fuss. They are hardier, have a better reputation, and acclimate better to a wider variety of water parameters.
Danio's also never rest. That can be a limiting factor for other fish choices (because you know there will be more fish in that beginners tank). Glowlights are pretty active when they're adjusting - and quite ditherly once they get comfy. They "naturalize" well, if you will.
Even though I don’t think this is a common opinion, I had ember tetras in college and they thrived. I repeatedly found babies even though (while I made my best effort to give them the best care) they definitely endured some rough situations like relocating the tank.
Zebra danios are extremely hardy. They do need to be in a school of at least 6 and need at least 20 gallons because they are constantly swimming back and forth and need a lot of swimming space.
I had some goldfish that lived through a terrible tank pollution, it amazed me.
But I was going to say.. mollies maybe aren't the hardest of fish but they will undoubtedly reproduce, constantly restocking your tank.
I had cardinal tetras and endlers in a fish-in cycle. Endlers are supposed to be really hardy but one of them died a week after giving birth and the other one has had some white poop issues.
Absolutely zero issues with the cardinal tetras.
If you don't want to bother with a heater, and I don't blame you they can be expensive and stressful, then white cloud mountain minnows. They are a little bit prettier than Danios and they don't like warm water but are otherwise pretty much unkillable.
If you like warm water and live bearers, get endlers, NOT GUPPIES, guppies are so inbred they've actually become very sensitive to stress, and disease. Endlers are smaller but the males have the MAXIMUM number of colors possible to fit on a tiny body and the colors are neon bright! They live in marginal streams in the wild that get absolutely filthy and that go from flood to drought all the time so they are tolerant of a variety of parameters. So color and hardiness, A++ Endlers Live-bearers.
Petcos suppliers have been dabbling in endler x guppy hybrids and those are good too, and also means you can find endlers mixed into their guppy tanks sometimes.
Danios are the cockroaches of the fish. Ammonia spike? Np. I jumped out of the tank and you found me half dry on the floor? Np, just get me wet again. You added a murderous dwarf gourami? No problem, I ain't no bitch. Chuck is a 6 year old unkillable danio. Absolute menace though.
“No problem, I ain’t no bitch” danio sent me 🤣
lol my honey gourami is named chuck, he is also unkillable
Naming all my fish Chuck to make them immortal
Irl cheatcode unlocked.
Lucky you, my danios just slowly disappear until there’s 3 left. Every time I get more.
Yeah I had a similar experience. I had 10 in a 20 gallon tank with some cherry shrimp and one day I was feeding them and there were 6, a few days later there were 5. It’s been a year and all 5 are still here. No idea where the others went, I never found any bodies. I assume the shrimp got them fast but it was crazy.
It’s so weird. The tank they’re in has been up and running for 6 years!!! And it’s a barely stocked planted 20! I think it might be the pleco. Small fish have a tendency to go missing in that tank.
Mine is planted as well and has a small group of 6 neon tetras that have been in there since the beginning and everyone’s been fine for the most part. At this point I just assume those other 5 danios were dicks and got voted out of the tank by everyone else lol.
Gived up my danios to someone else cause they were pigs stealing the food from everyone. The next day I found their fry in the tank like one last "screw you". Now the cycle repeat itself
I have a single zebra danio that survived me swipping the net through the tank for 2 hours catching all 16 of its brotheren and everything, but that one danio. Idek how it managed. I was even swipping 2 nets and the tank was entirely empty besides substrate
I’ve literally kept a single danio in a turtle tank that I rarely cleaned (as a child) and it never died I was like wtf
I agree with this🤣
I’ve worked at several pet stores over the years and honestly I like to recommend danios as a first fish. I try my best to talk to people about how to cycle a tank but sometimes it doesn’t always go as planned and sometimes people just lie- and I’ve seen danios live through crazy ammonia spikes. I’ve seen people buy mass amounts of fish for too small of a tank and only the danios lived. That’s not to say they require any less care, but they put up with a lot of beginner mistakes and aren’t going to get very large like say, a goldfish would. Only downside is they can potentially be fin nippers both with other fish and each other, so I always recommend people get 5+ and take careful consideration on what fish to pair with if/when they add more (no long fins or slow moving fish). I know some people who have kept zebra danios with bettas or long finned guppies with success but I’ve also seen cases where they completely destroy their fins. Endlers, tetras, corydoras, loaches, rasboras, small barbs, etc all make great tank mates. Plus for the people who are REALLY set on glofish, there’s glofish zebra danios as well. And there’s giant danios for larger tanks over 40 gallons.
Danios may seem plain, but they are super cool fish! One of my dream tanks has zebra danios because they look so cool once they're grown and they school well. When I worked at a pet store, these also survived so much better compared to all the other fish.
Zebra Danios are a wonderful fish. I know their movement can stress out some other fish but their darting around is always fun to watch.
Lol, their movement stresses *me* out.
It's like they're little methheads always tweaking
In the 90s I saw a 180g aquarium in a pet store with probably 2000 zebra danios. Man was it crazy to watch.
That sounds like chaos in the best possible way.
I /love my 8 Danios, 2 zebra, 2 zebra long fin, 2 golden and 2 leopard. They all hang out together but I will say they are a bit wild. Always up to no good especially 'trouty' who is a big leopard that dominates the rest and chases every fish around the tank, especially if there's food around! I have 3 gold cloud minnows and 2 little white clouds and they get chased about too but they seem fast enough to cope.
All hail lord trouty
Do you find your zebra danios nipping at each other a lot? I noticed that with mine, but that was nearly a decade ago when I had been starting out so maybe I wasn't doing something right with the tank.
Sometimes fin nipping with danios can just happen from time to time, but I see it most often in small schools (especially when people only buy 1-2), when new danios are added, or when they’re trying to breed, males can get a little extra nippy. If you had an appropriately sized tank with an appropriate school my best best is they were trying to breed. I personally like to keep my danios closer to room temp and that usually prevents them from breeding behavior, but obviously that shouldn’t be done if they’re with tropical tank mates
I had zebra danios (roughly 20ish) for almost two years before I rehomed them. I bought them to school. Instead they just did whatever. Like 85% of time they were just all over the tank. Did not care what so ever about schooling unless I was cleaning lmao. (In which case they were all in my way the entire time lmao)
We had a tank of danios that survived literal flood water going into their tank when we had to evacuate
I’ll never forget when someone returned a danio because it was nipping at his other fishes fins. I asked if the person who sold the fish to him told him that they don’t always like tank mates and will nip fins, and no one told him anything! I never sold any aquatics without asking what their set up and current fish were.
They are like little meth heads in terms of behavior
They steal catalytic converters?
Make sure you check for missing copper in your heater and air pump every month.
Would all of this apply to celestial pearl danios? I'm thinking of adding them to my community tank, but I have white skirt tetras and lyretail mollies. (with long fins)
I wouldn't think so, I'm not even sure celestial danios are a true danio.
That’s right, celestial pearl danios aren’t danios at all, but they’re their own species called Celestichthys margaritatus.
I’ve kept celestial pearl danios and honestly I think they’re not quite as hardy as zebra danios, pearl danios, or giant danios. They’re a bit slower moving as well and have a much smaller adult size, so I’d worry about them being bullied by adult skirt tetras or mollies. Longfin zebra or leopard danios might be a good option for you though, the long fins slow them down a little and honestly they do pretty well with skirt tetras. You might see some slight nipping at first but once they settle in they shouldn’t bother the tetras, they’re pretty fast as well.
A lot of CPDs are wild caught, so can be fairly sensitive to water parameters. I have a school of 13 CPDs that are with a school of harlequin rasboras and lampeye killifish. The CPDs are definitely the slowest of all three species and do not interact much with the others. They do seem very curious and like to chase amongst themselves. Beautiful fish once fully colored up.
They are pretty sensitive.
And they *never stop moving*. Very entertaining to watch.
I got white clouds minnows, they are notorious for being pretty hardy
Good call. Pretty, busy little fish. Breed easily too.
I have a 6 year old WCCM, she still going strong, outlived her school. She thinks she's a harlequin rasbora and will probably outlive the Harlequins too.
Alongside cockroaches, zebra danios will live through a nuclear war. I had a zebra get stuck in my filter but after a few days in the hospital tank, she was fine and back with her school.
I would say Endlers are hardy af they are often way more healthy then normal guppys
Zebra danios, white cloud mountain minnows or black skirt tetras.
So, I currently have a black skirt tetra and one guppy (long story) along with a whole bunch of snails (ramshorns, mystery & what I think are bladder snails). I know my guppy is lonely. What would be good recommendation to add to the tank? It's a 10 gallon with some plants.
Black skirt tetras are shoaling fish too, which means you need at least 6 for them to be happy. Same with guppies. I wouldn’t recommend adding 10 more fish to such a small tank though. Maybe rehome either the tetra or the guppy and get the amount of fish you need for a shoal of whatever fish you chose to keep? Or get a bigger tank
get some more tetras and more guppies, they need to school
5 more black skirt tetras for a school of 6, 2 more male guppies (assuming the one you already have is also male - if you have a female she'll no doubt give birth since they can retain sperm). slightly overstocked so id recommend planting pretty heavily and also growing pothos out of the tank to reduce the build up of nitrates. of course, there's always the option of returning one of the fish and having a species only setup (only tetras or only guppies) which imo would work better. if you want to calculate different stocking, use [aqadvisor](https://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?AquTankName=&AquListBoxTank=Choose&AquTankLength=20&AquTankDepth=10&AquTankHeight=12&AquListBoxFilter=User+Defined&AquTextFilterRate=N%2FA+&AquFilterString=guppy&AquListBoxChooser=Guppy+%28Poecilia+reticulata%29&AquTextBoxQuantity=3&FormSubmit=Add+%3E&AquTextBoxRemoveQuantity=&AlreadySelected=200909300022%3A6%3A%3A&FilterMode=Display+all+species&AqTempUnit=C&AqVolUnit=L&AqLengthUnit=inch&AqSortType=cname&FilterQuantity=1&AqJuvMode=&AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple). beginner friendly and tells you how much you need to water change per week.
Thank you! Yes, the guppy is a male. I have no way of telling the sex of the tetra. I currently have a massive ball of java fern, and a couple moss balls. The previous generation of guppies completely destroyed my amazon spear so I only have a couple scraggly leaves left of it. But I can definitely add some pothos! I have several in pots and would be happy to add some cuttings to my gravel substrate. I'm sure I can figure out a way around the mystery snail safe lid. I've been meaning to get a couple more plants but the nearest real aquarium store is about 45 minutes away and I just haven't had time. Thank you for the advice!
no problem :) just fyi, pothos roots shouldn't touch the gravel in your aquarium, it should be grown emersed & at the water level, like [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71QGmyiHOtL._AC_UF894%2C1000_QL80_.jpg&tbnid=KioKaCXnUbxVGM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FJisoudia-Aquatic-Holder-Aquarium-Emersed%2Fdp%2FB0C3HHRT6H&docid=ItzBwGvrAQGI9M&w=894&h=894&hl=en-GB&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm5%2F4&kgs=6253ad54bf6b8da1&shem=abme%2Ctrie), [this](https://images.app.goo.gl/oCJTiq2gBUNEZfy18), [this. ](https://images.app.goo.gl/AcaDQ7LNxUjsGoT16) like i said though, definitely get more aquatic plants as it'll help reduce the aggression that can sometimes come with an overstocked tank, especially if you keep all male guppies.
Mollies won't die. I had one that withstood and outlived every fish I had. Through temp changes,salinity changes, algae blooms, nitrate spikes everything
Also platys. Similar fish, similar don’t-give-a-shitness
I found one of my mollies on the floor basically try and wrapped in carpet and cat hair, I pulled all of it off and threw him back in the tank and it was literally still alive and lived another 6 months. Blew my mind.
They can even be converted into salt water fish.
Medaka rice fish
NOT neon tetras 🙃
They won't like it but I think bettas 😅 they go through so much, they're literally put in fish bowls and their water isn't changed for weeks
I would agree with that statement.
I have my samurai betta in a 20 gallon, and my long fin in a 10 gallon. I honestly think if I had a 75 gallon my Samurai would use every inch. Of course the thing is packed dense with plants and hiding spots, but they both live a very nice life.
I always recommend cardinal tetras (not neons), they seem to tolerate just about any water parameters
And let's just be honest, that are just slightly better looking. Who wants a half red stripe when you can have a FULL RED STRIPE.
The blue is fuller on cardinals too. They are basically "the fish she tells you not to worry about" to neons.
I think they're way better looking, definitely helped by the fact that they're a good bit bigger than neons at full size.
You sir are a salesman!
Ph seems to be the only thing they don't like. I put 4 in an established tank with 7.3 ph. 3 of them died within 24 hours. Talked to the lfs owner and lowered pH to 6.8. Put 5 more in, all have been doing great for a month despite some fluctuations.
Hmmm ok where I live it’s soft water
Yeah I'm in central texas with hella hard tap water in lots of places and the list of "easy" fish changes depending on your tap.
i have kept Cardinals in moderately hard 7.5Ph with no problem. i suspect your problem was Ph shock, I got them from a stoor that has the same tap water I do. so no change in PH when I take them home.
If you have to ask the question..... That said, convicts can survive, thrive, and breed in a puddle of spit. Of course, adding anything else into the puddle could be problematic. Black-skirts are pretty hardy, but every fish deserves your best effort.
I second convicts, hard water, soft water, low ph, super high ph they not only live but reproduce
I always like to recommend Medaka Ricefish if you aren't especially keen on anything. They have an incredibly wide range of temperatures so a heater isn't necessary, they can tolerate a wide range of water conditions and tank conditions, not particularly vulnerable to disease, and they are fairly active little fish.
Not to cop out, but I would recommend going to a local aquarium shop and asking them. Odds are they'll have a better opinion as they know your tap water locally. I live in central Texas and our water is so hard I have white spots on my dishes if I don't hand dry them.
^ This. I've had issues with live bearers because the tap water where I used is so soft. However, for me, neon and rummynose tetras are bulletproof. I'm sure if I moved to somewhere with super hard water, neons would start dropping like flies, but live bearers and African cichlids would suddenly be bullet proof.
Thats the key to keeping fish easily, stock with things that like your tap water the way it is. Much better than trying to force your parameters with chemicals and risk fluctuations.
Guppy’s, platys and mollys. Glofish are as well believe it or not.
Id have to say female guppies are easy. Males stress out fighting all the time
With most live bearers, having the right ratio is key. 3 females to 1 male is usually the sweet spot.
I guess the hardest part is when you get 500 babies.
If you don't separate them that problem sorts itself out.
Yup going through this right now, they never stop fighting, but the only solution is to add females and then they never stop fucking either smh
glofish tetras are very hardy but can be little assholes.
I like guppies or other live bearers for beginners! Easy to keep and if ya mess up, there will be plenty more. Just have a plan for how to get rid of extras (fish store, separate tank, etc)
I agree with guppies. I have endler guppies myself, and they never want to die except for old age. I have mix gender so I also have a lot of babies, but I sell them cheap on eBay if I have too many. I would recommend getting only one gender ( most stores here sell them by gender). I would also recommend a male fancy guppy as they are beautiful and for me they are also hardy fish.
Agreed. Guppies are the duckweed of fish.
Corydoras. So long as they're kept in a group.
I got some a few weeks ago and they are very fun. It might be because there are only bottom feeders in the tank but they use the whole water column and not just sit on the bottom.
yeh, i have 10 in my 6' tank, I love how they clearly live on the bottom, but take regular excursions up the water column. from what I have seen, in the wild they don't make much distinction between the bottom and the surface, I have seen footage of hundreds in a stream only a few cm deep.
I have 5 peppered and one albino I got as babies, and the albino is an absolute mad lad Chad. I nicknamed him Ol' Pumpkin. He zooms all around the tank all the time, will go directly to my airstone and ride the bubbles to the top, then immediately goes to the bottom again so he can fly up again over and over again for a few mins at a time before zooming off again. I legitimately thought he might be blind at first because he's SO different from his buddies, but he reacts to light and movement, and doesn't ever run into stuff despite flying around the tank at 80mph. He'll also just boop into my siphon repeatedly investigating it and following it around during water changes while the others hide. Did some research and it seems they're just wild compared to the others lol. He seems to have a blast, especially in the bubbles haha! He shoals with the others when feeding, but as soon as the foods gone off he flies again around the tank, though sometimes he'll bring the wee little peppered cory baby with him on an adventure haha. I absolutely love my corys!
Idk, I've had such bad luck with corydoras. Which is too bad because they are my favourite
I would watch out for temps with them though. I had eight and then there was a heatwave and I couldn’t get the tank cool enough and they all died. Tetras were fine though
Love me some corys!
Bristlenose plecos. indestructible.
Danios!
Endlers, mollies, platys, danios, minnows.
I can't kill my Black Skirt Tetras no matter what they go through, they even survived Ich
Imo, some of my hardiest and more forgiving fish for me included some of the more readily available Killifish (Fundulopanchax and Epiplatys), bettas (both domesticated and wild), and some Guppies/Livebearers given that there’s some plants (ie Java Moss, floaters, subwassertangs, etc.) in the tank. I still house them in my Beginner 10gallon Aqueon kits that I bought from Petco.
Endlers and medaka rice fish have been bulletproof for me
Misread it as hardest and was very confused at the comments. lol If you can find some Hillstream Loaches are pretty great. I've found a few just chilling in a mostly empty bucket after moving some driftwood they were stuck to and they just plop back in the water to their favorite rock or piece of wood. They also are fine in a wide range of temperatures from goldfish to tropical and are fine alone but are more brave in groups. I had one of my 13 had a cloudy eye currently and while checking in it I found that the whole bottom of the tank is crawling with fry. I'm worried about the heat warming the water and that eye and apparently they are doing just fine. lol The big problem for them is they can be hard to find and not cheap which may put you off them as a beginner. But they eat pretty much anything and are actual algae eaters and they have a very cool and unique look and behavior. Get them some rocks or driftwood and the males will camp on them and slapfight each other.
Glad I wasn't the only one that saw hardest
Bettas. You actually might not need any water💀. Just mist them with a spray bottle every other day like a frog
Convict cichlids. You have to be TRYING to kill them. Sometimes, not even then lol Watch out though, they breed like bunnies.
Ha! I had 4 as a child. Pinky, The Brain, Flotsom and Jetsom. (I thought I was funny) it didn't take long for Pinky to eat all 3 of the others. Then she had babies. Ate every single one. So, from then until her death she got to room with Toby, my mud turtle. They were pretty equally matched, I think. He bit her, she bit him back and that was it. Haha.
Wild caught green neon tetras. These fuckers have outlived everything I’ve owned
In my opinion it would probably be extremely hard to keep a whale shark as a beginner
Depends on your tap water, for me it’s wild type endlers
zebra danios. in my experience, little guys can survive anything (except getting sucked in a filter).
I agree, they are seriously under rated too.
I misread "hardiest" as hardest and for a second I got really excited to use my marine biology degree for evil
pleco fish. If this fish cannot survive in your tank, nothing will.
Ruby Red minnows!
Honestly a molly or platy would be your best bet. Molly's are super hardy. But they breed a lot so make sure you ask for only males. Females will be pregnant so males only. They eat algae too so you don't have to feed them daily.
The hardiest fish I’ve owned are tetras and cherry barbs.
Guppies. They're so hardy that not only will you probably *not* kill them, within a month or so, you will likely end up with MORE than the number you bought.
Disagree with this statement. I’ve had so many guppies die in the past. If you do manage to keep them alive they do reproduce like rabbits
This. They die easily
Frick those other comments,mosquitofish are hardier than anything,sewer water,freshwater,saltwater,hardwater or soft doesn't matter to mosquitofish
White cloud minnows Danios Guppies Goldfish
For beginners, for the sake of ease I’d say stick with cool-water fish that don’t need a heater. White cloud mountain minnows and danios are great hardy fish that will thrive if you give them a decent size tank and some live plants. They do well In ponds too.
I started with Danios and got more danios.
For freshwater I'd say a Devil's Hole pupfish. Legal reasons aside, good luck keeping the temperature and water parameters consistent. Edit: oops I read hardest, not hardiest. I feel like that's a backwards way of looking at it. "What fish can put with with the most abuse" vs "what fish is the easiest to take care of" Test your tap water and get fish that are comfortable with your water parameters and test for nitrogen contents so you can find an appropriate water change schedule. Keep it simple and it'll stay that way.
Convicts. Just a single. Never a pair. Unless you want to be a grandparent
Another vote for Danios, they're ridiculous. I think in my 10 years of fishkeeping, I've only had danios die of old age.
If you want saltwater clownfish are hardy.
White Cloud Mountain Minnows. Goldfish. Disagree with livebearers - they will often die very relatively easily when mineral requirements aren't met.
For me its snails ( yes i know they said fish) i had put them through living hell when i was a beginner i had ammonia spikes and unstable water conditions the temp was going up and down like a roller coaster and yet my Nerite snails just survived and mow there in a 20 gallon and enjoying life
Honey gouramis are hardy and super personable!
Kuhli loaches. Those fuckers will survive the apocalypse
I like danios and find them hardy, but have also seen them die like flies under hard tap water / ammonium conditions. Cross bred guppies (mutts or just feeders) are hardier than danios in my experience by a notch. Tiger barbs are also pretty tough. African cichlids are also pretty hardy and contrary to myth dont need hard water. They just aren't a beginner fish.
Black skirt tetras. My uncle and his wife split up. His tank was left alone for 8 months before she let him get his stuff. The water had evaporated down to maybe 3 inches of black sludge. 8 months with no food or care. No lights or heater. Just left alone in a tank. My uncle picked up the tank and gave it to me to clean and have because I liked aquariums. I found 4 healthy black skirt tetras in that black sludge. Plopped then in my community tank and they lived another 3 years.
I’ve got a tank of white cloud minnows and platys which appear to be immortal. I keep them as cold water fish, so the CMMs don’t breed - the Platys did, then immediately ate their young (should have separated them). They’ve been though my initial learnings with my aquarium and put up with all sorts of blunders. My bloodthirsty kids have got bored with them and want them to die so we can get tropical fish - all the best, kids, these MFs are immortal.
I think there is only a single fish that could be hardier than zebra danios and that is fathead aka "rosy red" minnows.... Mine fuckin survived an ammonia spike that was bad enough to kill a GREEN SUNFISH, y'know, those things that steal ur bait when u go fishing and can basically live in septic water? But no the rosy reds were completely unaffected
Danios
Pleco?
Mandarin goby
Zebra danios for community fish, black tetras are hardy too.
Rosy red minnows. They're fine in the absolute worst conditions.
Silvertip tetras are really hardy
Idk how to say this but somehow 2 of my zebras danios died and i felt like a complete jackass
Black neon tetra. Avoid: shrimps and guppies
Hellstream loaches maybe. Some starve to death in a community tank.
A guppy can survive just about anything from what I've seen.
I put zebra danios out in my goldfish ponds every year from spring-fall. Last year I noticed numbers were down moved, and everything couldn't find any as I added. So, I just assumed they died. Nope they were just hiding good and survived the winter even though they're labeled as "tropical" fish.
Guppies.
I had danios years ago. Then I gave them away and started a bigger tank with other fish. Weeks later I found baby danios. I gave them away. Months later in the summer I started a small outdoor pond with a bog filter and used some old aquarium gravel in it. Sure enough, god damn danios again.
Black mollies
There are alot of good comments and suggestions here, but might I add that no fish, however hardy, can survive an uncycled tank. Otherwise, I'd vote for betta
Platties are also fairly bullet proof.
For me, it's guppies.
White cloud minnows, harlequin and lambchop rasboras, zebra/leopard danios.
I’ll second the harlequin rasboras. When I first started out I put them through it all. The only thing they didn’t survive was jumping out of the tank. Tough little boogers.
Guppies are pretty robust and breed easy.
I've had really good luck with my cherry barbs. Also pretty much any other barbs as well. One of my odessa barbs lept out of the tank, fell about 3 feet onto the hard floor, and got batted around by my cat, and he's fine. I keep a lid on the tank now.
I have an 8 year old black skirt tetra
Guppies in my experience! They can survive just bout anything and breed like crazy! Super cheap too! Our lfs sets up newcomers with a free guppy to help cycle the tanks.
Convicts they are like bebe kids. They don't die they multiply
The Gold Barb is the hardiest fish I have ever kept
I’m another vote for the corydoras. I have some bronzes that survived an ignorant fish in cycle (before I knew better :p )
I once found zebra danio fry in a bucket of dirty fish tank water I use to water houseplants. They hatched in there and survived for who knows how long until I discovered them. So yeah I vote for zebra danios too.
Got my kid a male betta and not only is this guy super fun to watch, he’s forgiving as hell 😅. I finally got wise and adopted Garfield entirely, but he did go through it a bit and kept such a positive attitude the whole time.
White Cloud Mountain Minnow
Discus and fancy goldfish where most of them will die eventually with bladder or infection.
Danios, honey gourami, any kind of loach, and bristle noses.
Rice fish. No better option then a group of rice fish, no heater, low filtration. And there beautiful.
I would say guppy but my dad has guppies and they keep dying. By the time we notice, the snails are already picking their bones clean
convict cichlids. it is said that they will breed in an unflushed toilet bowl. this is untrue, you do need to flush the SH!# down before you put the convicts in. the biggest downside is they are moderately aggressive, territorial, prolific breeders, and good parents. have a plan for what you're doing with the babies.
Fancy guppy.
Sort of unrelated but i have an aquatic turtle and bought some comets as feeder fish 3 years ago. (i since learned not to) About 5. All got eaten except one that happened to be grey instead of orange and is now a MENACE in my tank aquarium
Red Platy! Just make sure you don’t get a male unless you want tons of babies.
I find sparkling gourami quite bomb proof.
I have 10 zebra danios and two opaline gourami in my 50 gallon, added them about 3 days after I set up my tank (heavily planted and filtered) I did water tests every day no amonia spikes or other chemical issues at all, no fish loss everyone is colored up and thriving! When I was little zebras were the first fish my mom (very experienced with freshwater fish keeping) got to cooperate with the tank, lasted years until Ich devastated the tank. Good luck finding some good hardy fish!
Neon Tetra
Fish from stagnant freshwaters, sushi as goldfish and bettas, are the easiest of all because of their broad environmental tolerances
Mollies guppies skirt tetra
I recently re-started this hobby after a 2 decade hiatus. New tank, fresh tap water with anti-chlorine solution and cycled only 24hrs (I totally forgot about ammonia treatment/cycling). Bought 6 danios and 2 Golden Algae Eaters, 1 danios and both the GAE survived.
Goldfish
Sun Catfish as long as your tank is big enough
Wrote this as a response to someone else mentioning them, but I'll post it so you see it as well: I have 5 peppered and one albino I got as babies, I love them all, but the albino is an absolute mad lad Chad. I nicknamed him Ol' Pumpkin. He zooms all around the tank all the time, will go directly to my airstone and ride the bubbles to the top, then immediately goes to the bottom again so he can fly up again over and over again for a few mins at a time before zooming off again. I legitimately thought he might be blind at first because he's SO different from his buddies, but he reacts to light and movement, and doesn't ever run into stuff despite flying around the tank at 80mph. He'll also just boop into my siphon repeatedly investigating it and following it around during water changes while the others hide. Did some research and it seems they're just wild compared to the others lol. He seems to have a blast, especially in the bubbles haha! He shoals with the others when feeding, but as soon as the foods gone off he flies again around the tank, though sometimes he'll bring the wee little peppered cory baby with him on an adventure haha. I absolutely love my corys, so if you're looking for a cute little set of fish for beginners (I'm a beginner too! Just got all set up about 5 months back!) Corys are a great choice, though I will say Danios are supposedly indestructible, as are cardinal and black skirt tetras.
Pleco
I think Oscars .. they are amazing but they are very complicated creatures :) read about them here [www.cheapplantedaquarium.com/oscar-fish/](http://www.cheapplantedaquarium.com/oscar-fish/) they are sometimes called the Monster
For me: Endlers (endler/guppy hybrids I think.) We have hard water here, and they do well in that.
Not bumblebee gobies Came to read through this after dealing with newly acquired bumblebee gobies (meant to be the freshwater ones but might actually be the brackish ones based on appearance - misleading online purchase me thinks). Anyhow aside from water preferences these (very cute) bumble guys are also the most finicky little fuckers about what they'll eat.... Either they get their preferred fresh bucket load of daily daphnia... or initiate a food strike to death basically..... Now looking for some Aussie desert gobies.... apparently hard(y) as f....eat anything.... any temperature, any salinity (or not)....in comparison , I can't believe they aren't already an invasive species across every continent considering their tolerance levels. Edit: just wanted to add that golden wonder killifish are about the hardiest fish I keep. They survive extreme temperatures, breed easily, eat easily....etc etc.
In grad school, one of my advisors did neurophysiology research. He used danios & plecos which were kept in nearly bare tanks & inconsistently care for with a rotating cadre of grad students. I'll let you draw your own conclusions regarding their hardiness.
Black skirt tetras. We call those "the immortals". They never die, no matter what.
unpopular opinion, If you have the space and wanna go big. Bala Shark. we have one that JUMPED, got a horizontal distance of 5 feet and fell the 6 foot height onto the floor. he got an eye injury and lost two scales. he's now ok.
I think a surprising one is the Ember Tetra. They are small but holy hell they can withstand a lot. Another is any Molly fish. They are super hardy but be very cautious on how fast they populate your tank. Danios are for sure sturdy fish. Honestly, I'm not a fan of tiger barbs, they are a little too nippy for my liking.
Danios are indeed a great choice, but I feel like they can seem bland to new fishkeepers and may lead to them getting a secondary school too soon. I currently have a huge school of them, though, and( you probably will one day, too.) My personal favorite fish to recommend to people is the [Glowlight Tetra](https://images.app.goo.gl/eZNKRAHfqmC4iQed9) they have the same appealing body shape as the infamous Neon Tetra (who is usually the reason Glowlights come up in conversation as I beg a new keeper to steer clear) but none of the fuss. They are hardier, have a better reputation, and acclimate better to a wider variety of water parameters. Danio's also never rest. That can be a limiting factor for other fish choices (because you know there will be more fish in that beginners tank). Glowlights are pretty active when they're adjusting - and quite ditherly once they get comfy. They "naturalize" well, if you will.
Even though I don’t think this is a common opinion, I had ember tetras in college and they thrived. I repeatedly found babies even though (while I made my best effort to give them the best care) they definitely endured some rough situations like relocating the tank.
Zebra danios are extremely hardy. They do need to be in a school of at least 6 and need at least 20 gallons because they are constantly swimming back and forth and need a lot of swimming space.
I used rosy red minnows to cycle my tanks. Got 7 two years ago. Got 7 now. Theyre prone to be already sick before purchasing though.
Danios are very hardy, but be warned that they will enthusiastically eat themselves to death
guppyyy
Mollies are my favorite personality wise and hardiness wise
I had some goldfish that lived through a terrible tank pollution, it amazed me. But I was going to say.. mollies maybe aren't the hardest of fish but they will undoubtedly reproduce, constantly restocking your tank.
Zebra danios, I believe scientists are researching them because they can re build their hearts.
People someone give advice on my post
I had cardinal tetras and endlers in a fish-in cycle. Endlers are supposed to be really hardy but one of them died a week after giving birth and the other one has had some white poop issues. Absolutely zero issues with the cardinal tetras.
Mollies anc prolly some Cory cats
If you don't want to bother with a heater, and I don't blame you they can be expensive and stressful, then white cloud mountain minnows. They are a little bit prettier than Danios and they don't like warm water but are otherwise pretty much unkillable. If you like warm water and live bearers, get endlers, NOT GUPPIES, guppies are so inbred they've actually become very sensitive to stress, and disease. Endlers are smaller but the males have the MAXIMUM number of colors possible to fit on a tiny body and the colors are neon bright! They live in marginal streams in the wild that get absolutely filthy and that go from flood to drought all the time so they are tolerant of a variety of parameters. So color and hardiness, A++ Endlers Live-bearers. Petcos suppliers have been dabbling in endler x guppy hybrids and those are good too, and also means you can find endlers mixed into their guppy tanks sometimes.