Consumers Digest - What type of fish is best to buy for the first time owner?

What type of fish is best to buy for the first time owner?

I'm looking to buy some fish to help make my apartment a little more homely. What is the best type for a first time buyer. Preferably relatively cheap to buy and not too hard to maintain.

Public Comments

Goldfish at the pet store. They're like 10 cents and the bowl is a dollar.
I would buy Guppies. I would buy about 4 -2 male and 2 female. They are not too hard to maintain. When i bought my guppies (2 years ago) they cost $1.15. I don't know whether the price has changed or not. They also keep reproducing and they practically never die off.
Betta...easy to keep and maintain, lives very long, colorful, cheap, and more... Definately not goldfish which are very hard to keep and maintain!
I suggest a beta fish, also known as a chinese fighting fish. Only get one tho, because they will fight (hence the name lol) but every single one of my fish that I have had since I was little was a Beta fish.
NO NOT GOLDFISH Without a 20+ gallon tank, air pump and proper maintenance, they will not thrive. Although they are cheap to buy, they cost much more to take care of (and no, they cannot live in bowls). I would suggest a betta fish: pretty colours, a variety of finnage, hardy and cheap. - Betta fish: $2-3 - 2.5 gallon tank from Wal-Mart, Petco or Petsmart (with food, filter, gravel, plants..etc.): $20-$30 - Mini-heater: $10-$15 If you don't like the food that comes with the tank, you can get good quality betta food for about $2. You feed them a bit every day, fast them one day of the week, and do about 25% water changes weekly. That's all! * Remember to CYCLE your tank for at least two weeks before putting your betta (or any type of fish) in. This is simply running the filter for 2 weeks so the ammonia/nitrite cycles can be established.
the fish i bought when i first started were platies, they are very easy to take care of and don't require too much space, only about 10 gallons.You could also buy other small live bearers suchs as guppies and mollies.
Zebra danios are one of the most hardy fish.Small,silver-buy them in a school-4-5,and they will swim around a lot.
goldfish are awesome cheap, cute, easy to look after , and give that homey feel your looking for ;)
you can NOT keep goldfish in a bowl bettas are realeasy you just need a 2.5 gallon tank (or bigger) with filter and heater I aslo like platys and guppies for beginners :) go here to resseach on species http://www.fishlore.com/freshwaterfish.htm
The following is a list of some of the hardiest fish I've kept over the years: zebra dinos (schooling) neon tetras (schooling) white cloud minnows (schooling) Betas (don't get 2 males) cory cats (schooling) You could also get a couple ghost shrimp. They're not all that hardy but they're entertaining to watch, help clean the tank, grow up to 1.5", and only cost 10-20 cents in most fish stores. Good luck =p
Something easy here, are the fancy goldfish, and what is commanly called a couple spotted catfish. They get along great together, it's easy to keep the water clean, and they are a blast to watch during feeding. Especially if you have any mosquito larva. They go insane. Just have a big enough tank, I would recommend about 35 gallon at least, and under gravel filter, etc. Oscars are another pretty hardy fish, and they get very tame as well. But they need a large tank to grow properly into a nice full sized friendly fish.