when i get my big tank i am going to move my goldies into that and have my little 15gallon tank for tropicals i was wondering whaat would be a good fish to start of with one a for a begginer who has never really owned a trropical before? thanks for all the advice that is going to come in

You could get guppies or minnows. They are small and I think they are would be pretty hardy. Another good idea would be a single male Beta with some ghost shrimp. Since there would be only one fish In there the water quality would be easy to maintain.

I have neons and corys in mine and they are pretty easy so long as you have a cycled tank for the neons. This is my first tropical tank too, so welcome to the world of tropicals! They are much easier than GF, (although I can't wait to have GF again) so if you can care for GF then you'll do fine with tropicals.

The neons are pretty clean fish and the corys keep the tank clean eating left over food. Good luck with whatever you choose!

I started with platies, myself. Guppies or neons are also good.

I dont think that the minnows are the most interesting choice you have IMO, a 15 gallon tank is a nice size to build a small community around. I think that guppies are quite flawed as a begginer fish, though they are recommended, they are often weak because of bad breeding programes and also if you mix the genders they are going to breed...a lot so you will have to house the babies. And if you keep just males you leave them open to aggression problems with fin nipping etc.

Tropical fish generaly apart from quite high specialist tanks, are around the same maintanance level of goldfish. So there are no real differences in care levels, they still need a cycled tank and regular water changes and filter cleaning.

At the moment I am looking to get a tank a similar size to you (see my post if you like). I have found this site to be realy helpful with small species that can school and live solo as highlight fish in a tank of this size, http://www.franksaquarium.com/nanofish.htm some are hard to come by but others are not so. There are other fish this size from all sorts of families of fish that can fit in this size tank such as the shell dwelling cichlids, they need slightly specialised care but are quite unique in their housing and how they live. An other option for this size tank are dwarf puffers but they again come with other needs that would need research I know there are some people on this board that keep them if your interested in their care.

hope ive helped ^^

i would try rosie reds cause they are cheap and very hardy

rosy reds are good but i think they are kinda boring i used to have them

First of all I agree about getting the rosies, I love mine! But I understand if you want something else.

My most peaceful fish that get along with everybody are--cories, platys, rosies, gold barbs, hatchets, and X-ray tetras. These are all fairly hardy except the silver hatchetfish.

Somewhat agressive are my swordtail males, lampeye tetras, serpae tetras and one of my blue tetras. The tetras are fin nippers and all these will chase other fish from time to time.

I have a bunch of zebra danios and they only chase each other and seem to be quite hardy.

I now have 5 male guppies and they are in with a cory. They are very active and don't nip at each other at all. They totally ignore the catfish who just goes about his business scouring the bottom.

i am thinking of some neon tetras or fancy guppies i like schooling fish

Neon tetras are nice. I myself prefer the bigger tetras. Some of the bigger ones even come in long finned varieties which makes em look really pretty; but, they're also more prone to fin rot and such.

If you really just want some cool schooling fish then I would have to recommend the zebra danios first. Like I said they seem to be pretty strong, unlike neons. And the danios are extremely active and playful--mine are zipping around, darting in and out of the plants and cave, chasing each other almost all the time. They look like they enjoy life. At food time they appear to be in a feeding frenzy--wow! Also, they come in a couple different sizes, several colors, long or short fins, and some have spots instead of stripes. You can get them in flourescent colors as well--glofish--which is what I have.

okay i will consider it either zebra danios or neon tetras or guppies

If you want active fish, I'd with the zebra danios. They're WAY more active than my black and regular neon tetras. My tetras just kind of chill (lol) and float in the water. Mine don't even school lol.

i have decided to go with tetras i just need to figure out what type

Bettas are relatively easy. Endlers seem to be easy too.

Be careful with the guppies or you could have 20 million babies. Not that platies don't have millions of babies 2, but that would be my choice. I have 1 male and 2 female platies, plus on half grown baby and three small babies. They are my pride and joy! The babies are adorable and I think they are very intertaining. But be sure to only get one male per 2-3 females or the alpha male will keep nipping the other and might end up killing it.
I would also suggest cories because they are adorable. But get some of the algae wafers or something if you have other fish in the tank because they can't survive of just leftover food.

So have you made any decisions as to the type of Tetras? Do you have any pics yet?? I still recommend a cory to keep the bottom of the tank clean because as soon as the food hits the bottom, the tetras won't eat it, so the cory's gobble it up.

I have one Rosy-type Barb, and plan on getting more as soon as I move and get a 10 gallon up and running. This one is so friendly!

If you get a cory, at least get 3. They are schooling fish. But as I said, be sure to feed them something extra too. There is a type of Hikari food that is made especially for them, and you can get it in Petsmart or nnnnnn. You only have to feed it about 2-3 times a week, but put about 2 wafers in the water while you are feeding. It really makes a difference.