hi I'm Irene with Girl Talks Fish and if you're like me you probably started the hobby by getting
a betta fish or guppies at Petco or some other big name pet store and eventually you were thinking I
think I might like to try something a little different welcome to the realm of local fish
stores the the only problem is that Petco tends to sell like easy hearty fish versus your local fish
store offers everything and so for at least me back when I was a newbie it was kind of hard for
me to tell the difference between a beginner friendly versus advanced level fish like I
remember my friend one time came home with a black ghost knifefish and I was like oh my gosh that's
so cool and I don't think either of us realized how big they get or what kind of special care
requirements they have so today we are going to talk about 10 beginner fish you can get from your
local fish store and whether or not they're actually that easy to take care of the first
beginner aquarium fish that I got in a local fish store would be furcata rainbowfish or forktail
blue eyed rainbow fish and I was just so attracted by their little waving yellow pom-poms that bright
blue eye definitely kind of a very fast swimmer that swims on the upper half of the aquarium
I actually kept them with a betta fish in my community tank and I wouldn't say they outcompeted
him for food necessarily the thing I didn't didn't know is they do have relatively shorter life spans
compared to other aquarium fish so maybe as a more intermediate fish keeper I would have considered
breeding them to continue on the line because they're really really fun fish number two on the
list would be the green neon tetra they're not found in pet stores like the normal neon tetra
because I guess they're a little less popular they're smaller they don't have as much red on
them but I give them 5 out of 5 for appearance like that iridescent brilliant turquoise blue
stripe on their bodies is stunning like you can see them from across the room even if the
aquarium light is off I I love them I would say that they are a little bit Shyer in personality
so you might want to put them in a densely planted or decorated aquarium but you know go ahead plop
yourself in front of the tank sit there a little while so they can get used to and then they will
come out and you'll be able to fully enjoy their beauty if you want more tips about them go ahead
and see the full care guide over here the first centerpiece fish I ever got from a local fish
store would be the peacock gudgeon it's got a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors on it but I don't
know to me it's not as saturated in its coloration compared to like guppies and platies that see to
stand out more I know some people say that they're kind of feisty especially when they're breeding
and kind of defending their territory but I only had one and she was super sweet so I would say
they're really easy to take care of especially for an oddball fish so try them if you can
now I had to try celestial pearl danios because all these aquascapers were going
on and on about how they're amazing fish for their aquascapes because they look like these
miniature brook trout with their bright red fins and the beautiful golden pearls on their body
very beautiful fish a lot of times they get the reputation for being shy but mine weren't that
shy at all actually in fact I constantly found them chasing each other around and sometimes
they would fin nip each other which was kind of stressful for me but again in the right
tank if you don't have any tank bullies they're you know chasing them around or bullying them
you put them in a beautiful planted tank I think they'll do really well for you
I got kuhli loaches around the same time as my celestial pearl danios is because I was
trying to set up the Shy Guys tank with only shy fish and honestly I wish I'd gotten them sooner
because they're probably my favorite beginner fish on this list like they're amazing looking
oddball fish they kind of look like tiny eels or snakes with zebra bands or stripes on them
and they're extremely hardy my friend Master Breeder Dean he has this story where he kind
of partially took down a tank and he had about an inch of water in there and he didn't realize
one kuhli loach was there didn't feed the tank at all a year later he actually goes to
finish cleaning up that tank and the kuhli loach was still alive so quite bulletproof
they're a bottom dweller great cleanup crew I can't say enough good things about them
another really cool oddball can you tell I like oddball fish is the hillstream loach I love the
look of this tiny stingray that's shuffling around on your glass they're so cool and I was originally
afraid to keep them because everybody on the internet said oh you have to keep them in a
high flow river like aquarium but then Cory from Aquarium Co-op said that you could keep them in
normal community takes it so I tried it took a risk and they worked out so one of my favorite
algae eaters for sure they're very enthusiastic about attacking all kinds of algae and they're
just so cool sometimes the males will like spar each other but they don't really hurt each other
they just kind of shuffle around each other um and if it bothers you do what I did I just added more
aquarium plants and then they stopped chasing each other okay just one more loach I promise
it is a little more expensive than the other ones the dwarf chain loach but they eat small
snails which is amazing if you have a pest snail problem I like them because you know their name as
it mentions the dwarf chain loach they have this like chain-like pattern on their bodies and even
though they're supposedly bottom dwellers I would notice them like kind of flopping their wings like
miniature dolphins kind of swimming around the mid water which is really cool I like how they
form these social hierarchies and you'll see them kind of chasing each other around like "follow
the leader" style and they even though they're very very fast I wouldn't say they're the most
aggressive eaters though because I definitely kept them in a community tank with a betta fish and he
was able to like guard the food even though he was super old and grumpy and then they would
wait their turn after he had had a spill so if you have a bit of a budget definitely check them out
I haven't talked about this fish a lot but at one point I did own a trio of Apistogramma agassizii
they were supposed to go in my 10 gallon breeding project tank and that failed because I kept eating
their eggs so they do like really warm water and I just I didn't really like the chasing because
kind of a pair of them would form and then they would bully around the other ones so that kind
of stressed me out but very beautiful very easy to feed and when I ended up removing that extra
female and putting her in the community tank she was pretty peaceful and got along with everyone so
yeah try out Apistogrammas very beautiful now dwarf platies are on my list of beginner fish
for local fish stores because I've seen a lot of varieties of regular platies at Petco and PetSmart
but I've never seen like the teacup variety so I really like them because they have all the same
care requirements very very hearty but a much smaller size which means you you can keep them
in smaller aquariums of course like all libraries they breed like crazy they're going to reproduce
for you and I particularly like the dwarf red coral platies I got because that bright bright
red against the green plants really complemented each other they're good at eating algae which I
had no idea they could do again can't say enough good things about them they are probably one of my
favorite libraries right now but many more to try in the future for sure I know I just did a care
guide on these and they're probably not going to attract a lot of beginners because they look
pretty washed out and pale when you find them at the fish store but I wanted to mention chili
rasboras because I personally have found them very very easy to care for as long as you give
them tiny foods and then you wait about three or four weeks they basically color up and turn
this super red very deep coloration with black markings on it definitely want to recommend it
if you have a nano tank to keep in your office or on your dorm desk or in a bedroom this would be a
good very tiny fish to keep so don't be like me where I was kind of really scared to go into my
first local fish store because I know there's a lot of selection and crazy things to see there
but the employees are there to help you just make sure you ask the right questions because
I had a rough time with my first batch of pygmy corydoras because I didn't consult the employees
so if you want to hear about that story I've got a whole list of the official must ask questions
when you go into an LFS take time to enjoy your aquariums and I'll see in the next video