Beginners Guide - Second Fish.

The previous sections talked about good fish for the complete novice aquarist. This section will discuss good fish for beginning aquarist's who have had some experience or who are willing to do more careful research and shopping before buying their fish.

Many of the fish recommended here are every bit as hardy, adaptable, and easy to care for as those in the first section. However, in the first section I was able to recommend whole groups of fish or at least say to watch out for only a species or two in each group as bad choices. Here, however, the groups will be quite mixed with many good choices and many poor ones.

Also, some of the fish in this section are hardy only if some special needs are cared for. If you wish to successfully keep fish from these groups you need to be sure you know which species you are getting and what their needs are.

Why bother? If you are a complete novice, perhaps you shouldn't. The great choices from the "First Fish'' list should allow you to get your feet wet (as it were) with minimum risk. However, as you gain experience you may decide to give some of these fish a try.

Many are quite beautiful and/or have interesting behaviors and some aquarist's become so taken with them that they join specialist clubs just to learn about and trade one group or another of these fish.