Setting up your first fish tank can be exciting but there are a lot of choices to make not the least of which is choosing freshwater tropical fish that will get along and thrive in your tank. A novice aquarist needs fish that are rather hardy and easy to take care of. Luckily, there are plenty of beautiful and exciting tropical fish that fit the bill.

the first time aquarium owner might be wise to start with guppies. Sometimes you can find them as juveniles and buy them pretty inexpensively but the juveniles are rather boring to look at it you might want to go with a mature fish which will probably only cost a couple bucks anyway. Guppies are great starter fish since they are quite social and will get along with most of the other fish to want to put your tank. They are one of the easiest fish to care for and are so hardy that you may often find that they are reproducing writing your tank without you even trying. Another great freshwater tropical fish for the beginner is the tetra.

These fish on the small side and they like to hang around in the school so they can make a nice display in your fish tank if you have seven or nine of them swarming around together. They like to be in a school of six or more fish and are good community fish which rarely act aggressively towards other fish. If you're looking for larger tropical fish for your tank and you might think about investing in the gourami. these fish should be bought in pairs - a male and female as the males are aggressive towards each other.

Having said that, it's important to note that they don't act aggressively towards other fish so having one male and one female is fine and they are quite easy to care for. Loaches can be an Interesting tropical fish to add to your tank although you'll need to watch out because some among like to bury themselves in the gravel and you'll never see the down things! they usually get along great with other fish and, with the exception of the Yoyo loach they should be kept in pairs. If you want to keep your loachs happy, however, you will need to provide some decorations for them to hide in. There are many different types of Barbs that can be quite pretty and they are very easy to keep but you won't want to put them in a tank if you are expecting to have fish with long fans like angelfish or long tail guppies since the barbs like to bite at the fins and shred them.

If you are thinking about keeping Barbs than you want to buy it leased for as they like to be kept in groups. unfortunately some of the more exotic freshwater tropical fish such as angelfish are not as easy to keep in you may want to hold off Into you have more experience. Angelfish, while they look delicate, can actually be bullies and me your smaller fish. On the other hand, many kinds of fish like to shred their fins so they themselves may be attacked depending on the other fish you have.

One solution, of course, is to have only angelfish in your tank. Either way, they are happiest when they are in a group of two or more fish.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.fish-tank-guide.com we you can learn more about aquarium care and maintenance as well as choosing freshwater tropical fish.