15 best aquarium fish

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective and does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Before you put an aquarium at home, you should decide which fish should live in it. Because some of them are not very friendly in nature, others require special care, and still others are very difficult for a beginner.

We have compiled a rating of the 15 best aquarium fish that are suitable for both a beginner and a professional in the establishment of such animals.

Rating of the best aquarium fish

Nomination	a place	Name of product	rating
The best aquarium fish of the cichlid family	1	Scalars	4.9
	2	Black-striped cichlazomas	4.8
The best unpretentious catfish for beginners	1	Speckled catfish corridor	4.9
	2	Ancistrus	4.8
The most unpretentious viviparous fish (Pecilia family)	1	Mollies	4.9
	2	Guppy	4.8
	3	Pecilia	4.8
	4	Swordsmen	4.7
The best aquarium fish of the carp family	1	Barbs	4.9
	2	gold fish	4.8
	3	Danio Rerio	4.7
The most unpretentious aquarium fish of the labyrinth family	1	Marble gourami	4.9
	2	Cockerels	4.8
	3	Gourami	4.7
The best aquarium fish of the haracin family	1	Ternetia	4.9

The best aquarium fish of the cichlid family

Scalars

Rating: 4.9

Why first place: Suitable for beginners, with a beautiful view.

Large and beautiful, rather unpretentious fish. A predator, often feeds on small crustaceans and fry of neighbors in the aquarium. Lives long, up to 15 years. Needs a large and tall aquarium.

Omnivorous, but needs animal food, including live food – for example, a bloodworm. Suitable for a general aquarium, but it should be borne in mind that she often shows aggressiveness to small fish species. Often suffers from 'neighbors' who bite off fins, which is also worth considering.

Advantages

• Mostly unpretentious;

• Lives long;

• Suitable for general aquarium.

disadvantages

• There are whimsical views;

• Needs a peaceful environment;

• Often suffers from fin-biting fish.

Black-striped cichlazomas

Rating: 4.8

Why second place: Unpretentious, but aggressive.

Quite a rare fish among novice aquarists – both because of its not very attractive appearance, and due to its aggressive nature. Indeed, black cichlazomas often attack other inhabitants of the aquarium, regardless of their size.

The main feature of these fish is their high reproduction rate. They are able to spawn even in a common aquarium (where they should not be kept). Fish are undemanding even to the quality and composition of water. Like scalars, they are predators and therefore need food of animal origin.

Advantages

• Simplicity of content;

• They multiply quickly and easily;

• Not picky about food.

disadvantages

• Better kept separate;

• Aggressive

• Not very popular (difficult to find in pet stores and problems getting help from experienced breeders).

The best unpretentious catfish for beginners

Speckled catfish corridor

Rating: 4.9

Why first place: Peaceful, easy to maintain, not demanding to care for.

Commonly known as simply the 'speckled catfish', this fish is the perfect fish for beginners. It is popular with hobbyists and can be found in any pet store – and there you can get advice on the content. The fish is peaceful and schooling. It can be kept in a common aquarium, ideally if there are several individuals at once.

It is recommended to keep in cool water (up to 25 degrees). When the temperature rises, the catfish metabolism accelerates and the life time decreases, which in optimal conditions is about 7 years. Omnivorous, feeds only from the bottom. Active all day long.

Advantages

• Easy to maintain;

• Suitable for general aquarium;

• Easy to breed.

disadvantages

• Sensitive to water temperature;

• Dim;

• Noisy, capable of making sounds.

Ancistrus

Rating: 4.8

Why Runner Up: Easy to maintain, but – unlike its predecessor in rankings – needs a large aquarium.

Better known as 'sticky catfish', ancistrus is great for the beginner hobbyist. In addition, it really cleans the walls of the tank from bacterial contamination, algae and animal feed residues. It is unpretentious in its maintenance – there is only one requirement: the aquarium must have a capacity of 100 liters or more.

In addition, ancistrus needs a snag or other artificial 'grotto' where it will hide from other fish. It is omnivorous, consumes both plant food and animal feed. Like other catfish, it needs relatively cool water – from 25 degrees.

In ideal conditions, it lives up to 10 years and grows up to 15 centimeters in size. And in nature, it can grow up to a meter.

Advantages

• Easy to maintain;

• Useful – cleans algae;

• It even feeds on plant foods.

disadvantages

• Needs a large aquarium;

• Needs shelter;

• Leaves a lot of waste, a good filter is needed when kept in a shared aquarium.

The most unpretentious viviparous fish (Pecilia family)

Mollies

Rating: 4.9

Why First Place: Beautiful, varied and easy to maintain.

Mollies is a common name for a group of species of the family of platies. Fish are suitable for beginner hobbyists as they require minimal maintenance. Alternatively, you can create a shared aquarium with only mollies – and still have a varied biome. These fish come in five different colors!

Mollies need a not very large aquarium – each fish requires 25 liters of volume. The main requirements are for water – it must be at a stable temperature of about 25 degrees, hard and even slightly salted. In other conditions, fish do not feel very comfortable. Fish feed mainly on food of plant origin.

Advantages

• Variety and popularity;

• Suitable for a small aquarium;

• Get along with other fish.

disadvantages

• Sensitive to water characteristics;

• They often suffer from fungi, especially in cold water;

• Need thickets of plants.

Guppy

Rating: 4.8

Why Runner Up: Good for beginner hobbyists, but don't get along well in a community aquarium.

Guppies are ideal fish for aspiring aquarists, including children. Due to their small size, they do not need a large capacity, and the bright color attracts attention and pleases the eye. In addition, guppies are the most unpretentious fish in the ranking. They feel good in water of any composition and temperature. Unless, when kept in 'extreme' conditions, they become pale, and the size of the tails decreases.

Guppies breed easily, even in a shared aquarium. They feed on any food, be it of plant or animal origin. However, due to their small size combined with their huge 'mouth-watering' tail, they often suffer from other inhabitants of the aquarium.

Advantages

• Ease of content;

• Unrivaled simplicity;

• Bright and varied colors.

disadvantages

• To breed thoroughbred fish, you still need to create suitable conditions;

• Often suffer from other inhabitants of the aquarium;

• Susceptible to fin diseases, including fungal diseases.

Pecilia

Rating: 4.8

Why the third place: Very easy to maintain, but less common than guppies, and require a larger aquarium.

In terms of the content of the platys, they are quite comparable to guppies – that is, they are suitable for novice aquarists, even children, they are not particularly demanding on the quality and temperature of the water, they eat everything and get along well in the general biome. Unless, due to their larger size, these fish need a larger reservoir – about 5-7 liters for each at least.

Pecilia are very diverse. The color is dominated by yellow and black tones. In addition, even one brood can have several colors. By the way, platies reproduce quite well in the general aquarium, although it is better to separate fry from adult fish.

Advantages

• Diverse but always beautiful view;

• Easy to maintain;

• They multiply very quickly.

disadvantages

• Fry should be removed from adult fish;

• Often suffer from other inhabitants of the aquarium;

• It is impossible to predict the color of the offspring.

Swordsmen

Rating: 4.7

Why fourth place: Unpretentious, beautiful, but rather aggressive towards each other.

As direct relatives of guppies and platies, swordtails are distinguished by their unpretentiousness in terms of keeping and food. They may well live in shared aquariums, even small ones, which will delight novice breeders – especially children.

However, there are two factors to consider when maintaining content. Firstly, swordsmen are quite aggressive towards each other, especially males – the very ones with a long tail fin. Secondly, these fish swim quickly and often jump out of the aquarium, which is why it should be kept closed.

Advantages

• Beautiful and varied;

• Unpretentious in keeping and breeding;

• They multiply very quickly, even in the general aquarium.

disadvantages

• Are aggressive towards each other;

• Fry should be removed immediately from adult fish;

• It is undesirable to keep more than one male in the aquarium.

The best aquarium fish of the carp family

Barbs

Rating: 4.9

Why first place: Suitable for novice aquarists and not overly demanding on conditions.

Barbs are a common name for a family of several dozen species of aquarium fish. In the process of selection, they bred different not only in color, but also in shape. However, the main character traits have been preserved.

Barbs are highly active. That is why they need a large aquarium – preferably at least 50 liters per school of several fish. In addition, they – unlike other species in the ranking – need running water. Therefore, it is advisable to create an artificial current in the aquarium.

Advantages

• Active, playful behavior;

• Diverse in color and shape;

• Easy to maintain.

disadvantages

• Need a large, spacious aquarium;

• It is advisable to choose a dark substrate for the aquarium;

• Need an artificial flow in the aquarium.

gold fish

Rating: 4.8

Why second place: Beautiful, but demanding of content.

Goldfish are one of the most famous representatives of the carp family. They differ in variety – there are both quite familiar species and very exotic ones. The complexity of the content is directly determined by the rarity of the breed.

So, traditional goldfish are quite simple to keep. But veil-tails or orands require special conditions. But all these fish are very sensitive to water quality, need a large aquarium and do not get along well with the 'neighbors', since they are now and then trying to bite off the fins infrequently.

Advantages

• Beautiful and varied;

• Peaceful and calm;

• Suitable for novice aquarists when kept alone.

disadvantages

• Demanding on water quality;

• Species with bushy tails, as well as helmets, bubble eyes, etc., need a large aquarium;

• They get along poorly in a common aquarium, often suffer from predators.

Danio Rerio

Rating: 4.7

Why third place: Suitable for beginner hobbyists and small aquariums, but quite shallow in itself.

Danio rerio is one of the first domesticated fish. It is unpretentious and therefore suitable for novice aquarists. Beautiful appearance and active disposition make her a suitable pet even for children.

The main advantage of the zebrafish is its unpretentiousness, comparable to that of a guppy. This fish can live in water of any temperature, it is not demanding on hardness, salinity and even quality. However, it is gregarious, so it is advisable to purchase at least 5 zebrafish for the aquarium.

The fish is well suited for keeping in a common aquarium, as it easily gets along with small and medium-sized, low-aggressive neighbors.

Advantages

• The easiest to maintain – in the entire carp rating;

• Beautiful and active;

• It feeds on both plant and animal feed.

disadvantages

• It is advisable to create an artificial current in the aquarium;

• Under high temperature water they are susceptible to various diseases;

• Not suitable for solitary confinement at all.

The most unpretentious aquarium fish of the labyrinth family

Marble gourami

Rating: 4.9

Why first place: Very unpretentious. It only needs a large aquarium.

One of the few fish of the labyrinth family, which are perfect for a novice aquarist. She is demanding except for the volume of water. Marble gourami do not live well in small aquariums, give them containers of 80 liters or more. They are also loners. It is undesirable to keep more than two marble gourami in the aquarium, as they will start fighting with each other.

Marble gourami are suitable for total water temperatures up to 23-25 ​​degrees. In addition, these fish do not like currents. So in the same aquarium with zebrafish, for example, it is better not to keep them.

Advantages

• Omnivorous;

• Peaceful, calm disposition;

• Easy to care for.

disadvantages

• Requires a large aquarium;

• Quite difficult to breed;

• They get along poorly with active fish, especially predators.

Cockerels

Rating: 4.8

Why runner-up: Simple and very undemanding in content, but characterized by aggressive behavior.

Males got their name not only for their bright, lush appearance, but also because of their aggressive nature. The males of this fish are rare owners, they do not like it when there are still 'fighters' of the same sex in the aquarium and regularly arrange fights. True, without fatal outcomes, fortunately.

But the bettas are the real leader in the unpretentiousness rating. They can even be kept in a three-liter jar. Of course, it is desirable to create pleasant conditions for them – a temperature of 24-27 degrees, soft water, a volume of 30-50 liters for each male.

Advantages

• Bright, impressive coloration;

• Unpretentiousness;

• It gets along well in a common aquarium.

disadvantages

• It is undesirable to keep more than one male in the aquarium;

• It can hurt in cold or too warm water;

• For spawning, it is necessary to transplant the fish into a separate container.

Gourami

Rating: 4.7

Why third place: Beautiful and unpretentious, but also aggressive towards each other.

Gouramis are quite similar in behavior and content to cockerels, except that they have a less spectacular appearance. They are also very, very unpretentious, they do not require special maintenance conditions – it is only necessary to provide them with constant access to the surface, where they will breathe air.

As a consequence, an aquarium containing gourami must be fitted with a lamp cover. It is also worth considering that the males of these fish are aggressive towards each other – and they can even fight with representatives of other breeds. Therefore, when keeping several gourami in an aquarium, it is desirable to either increase the volume of it to 100 liters or more, or to make many shelters and snags (or better, both).

Advantages

• Very easy to maintain;

• Diverse;

• They get along in a common aquarium.

disadvantages

• Male gourami fight among themselves;

• Difficult to breed;

• Need a closed aquarium.

The best aquarium fish of the haracin family

Ternetia

Rating: 4.9

Why first place: Easy to maintain, beautiful and active.

The thornsia is a gregarious and very active fish, one of the fastest in the rating. She constantly rushes around the aquarium, which is able to please even the most restless observer. Thorns float so fast that they often jump out of the water – therefore it is advisable to keep them in a covered container.

Since the fish is active, it needs an aquarium from 60 liters. A flock of 6-8 thorns can live in such a container. Fish are undemanding to water quality, but the ideal conditions for them are a natural biotope with many plants, a sandy bottom and even fallen leaves, leading to acidification of the environment.

Advantages

• Active, playful behavior;

• Suitable for general aquarium;

• Undemanding to water quality.

disadvantages

• Jumps out of the water often;

• Ideal conditions for thorns are not compatible with ideal conditions for other fish;

• Sometimes fins are cut off to fish with lush fins.

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.