What kind of fish should I get?

[PrincessVelour]

I have decided the time has come to get a fish tank for my home. I have kept a happy little 10-gallon aquarium at work for several months now, and I am going to start shopping for a 30-gallon or larger for my house.

Here's the question -- what kind of fish should I put in it? I want to have cute, friendly fish -- fun to watch, not fighting all the time. I would prefer more fish to fewer, so I am going to avoid territorial species like bettas. I am also not getting guppies, because I have many of them in my office aquarium already.

Any advice? What are your favorite kinds of fish?

Also, is a tank that large proportionally more work than a 10-gallon?

[Garfield]

How about neon tetras? I love them. Really pretty and gentle fishes. :)

[Cavalier]

Harlequin Rasboras are nice hardy little fish. They have long lifespans as well :)

Corydoras are nice active fish too.

[EmilyRugburn]

If you'd really prefer to have "more" fish, then you should consider something larger than a 30g. A 55g tank is a good sized tank that will allow for "more" fish, but not completely break the bank.

Congo tetras are good for a 55g. They're active and pretty. Australian rainbows are good, too. They're similar in size to the congos, though, so you'll want to choose one over the other, then go with a school of small fish as a filler. Try and avoid the "Noah's Ark" tank as much as possible.

The Noah's Ark tank contains 2 of everything the owner wants. LOL!

Having 2 or 3 schools of something is better than having a mish mash of 2 individual fish.

So, if you went with a 30g tank, you could do something like 10 harlequin rasboras and 10 black neons, then put some kuhli loaches on the bottom, and a couple of otocinclus for algae control.