I want a pet fish... please advise me!

[moominleigh94]

Basically, I would like a pet fish or two to talk to and watch swimming around. They'll go on my desk. Can anyone give me advice on what fish to get, any tips on how best to keep them etc?

I had fish in the past from a dodgy pet shop and they died within three days would quite like to avoid that.

Warm water need less cleaning.
Platys and danios are easy, breed live young and pretty.
You need the right tank for the number of fish, a filter, water conditioner and lots of patience to allow your aquarium to stabilise before you put your fish in.

there are lots of guides to setting up and stocking a tank on the web eg fishkeeper.co.uk/downloads/tetra/Setting_up_a_tropical_aquarium.pdf

enjoy

Tropical fish don't need less cleaning, but goldfish (the most common coldwater fish) are messy buggers and need a massive- and I do mean massive- tank so they are out for sure.

Platys and a few species of danio would be a good choice for a beginner, depending on your water parameters- some fish prefer hard, alkaline water and some prefer soft, acidic water so the stuff that comes out of your tap may limit your choice of fish.

Your starting point is figuring out how much space you have for a tank. I would recommend something around 60 litres+, that will give you enough choice of fish. Small tanks are often peddled to beginners but they are usually too small to even keep fish in and smaller tanks are actually harder to keep clean and stable. If your desk isn't big enough for a 60 litre tank then is there somewhere else you can put it?

Before you add any fish at all, you'll need to do a fishless cycle. I'm guessing the dodgy fish shop didn't tell you about cycling and that's why your fish snuffed it.