Tropical fish - what should we start with

[MsGee]

We have promised DD (5) some fish and know we want tropical fish but I'm not sure where to start.

We used to keep koi and goldfish so we are not total novices but in our new house we've only got room for a smallish (although wil obviously go as big as poss) tank.

Any advice? We are ok on tanks, filtration, uv and all that - its more the actual fish to start with. I don't want to get the wrong ones and for them to be unhappy.

Danios are a good hardy starter fish.
So are Cherry Barbs.

I have Zebra Danios, Cherry barbs, purple Harlequin Tetras, 5 Banded Barbs.
They are all peaceful shoaling fish with little aggression.

Avoid Guppies if you don't want to deal with live bearing fish.

I also have 2 Tiger Hillstream Loaches! I prefer them to Plecs as they don't grow as big.

Platys are nice and simple too, and can come in lovely colours.

We started with male guppies in a small tank, i do find they are not that hardy (as they tell you in the shop), i love my bristle nose plecs as they dont grow as big as the other plecs, i agree with Danio's, they seem hardy and are fun to watch. Platys are nice but they breed quite fast as do Mollies.

Before you decide on any fish, what size is your tank and what is your tap water like (hard, soft, acidic, alkaline?). That will narrow things down. Then you can decide what sort of thing you want, what sort of decor you want etc. That will narrow it down more.

You'll need to set up and cycle the tank before you can add any fish. That might take up to 6 weeks. Choosing fish is the very last step!

How big of a tank can you fit in? The absolute minimum is about 45 litres for a single specimen (ie a male betta) or 60 litres for a shoal of small fish (one species). If you want more than one type of fish then I'd go for something around 80-90 litres to start off with.