Fish suggestions

[oceanbug]

Hey there,

I've set up a freshwater aquarium in my office, and I'm wondering what fish to add. It's only a 16 gallon, so I can't have anything too big, obviously.

I'm not married to the idea of a variety of fish. I'd be happy with a species tank, as long as the fish are interesting.

In the shop yesterday, I spotted some puffers (I'm not sure what type), but I thought they were the cutest things I'd ever seen. But I'd told the owner I was looking for non-agressive, community fish, so he vetoed the puffers straight away. However, as I said, I'd be happy with a species tank, for the right species.

Would the dwarf puffers be a good choice? I want to stick to freshwater, definitely. Are there other varieties of puffers that are freshwater and don't grow too big for a 16 gallon?

I'm not averse to other species, either, of course. I think the convicts are pretty cool looking. Oscars are cool, but I undestand they get too big for my tank.

I'm all ears and totally open to suggestions.

Thanks!

[xoolooxunny]

Did you cycle the tank? No fish for you! Unless you've already cycled. I've heard tiger barbs are fun to watch, you could go for a school of them. I don't know, it's hard to say. It sounds like you have more of an aggressive/cichlid taste than peaceful community. Convicts would be a good choice for entertainment/hardiness, but your tank isn't large enough.

[Drumachine09]

I wouldnt do tigerbarbs. If your tank is cycled, you could do something like dwarf gouramis, tetras, corys and a pleco.

[xoolooxunny]

ahh, corys, yes. sounds good to me!

[Drumachine09]

ahh, corys, yes. sounds good to me!
Corys are the fish that can go with anything IMO.

[Abbeys_Mom]

Welcome to the forum :)

[cocoa_pleco]

2 kribs would work if you filter good

[wijnands]

Guppies. Probably the easiest species. Their mating rituals can be fun to watch.
Cardinal tetras could also be an interesting option. 16 gallon would allow for a small group.

[bettaboy691]

hummm...16 gallons, what fish?
well, it need to be mature and cycled etc.and filtered and heated, but you probally already know that.
by the sounds of it, you sound like you done a little research.
dwarf puffer would be good in a 16g. i would put 3-4 in there, but probally 3.you would need to read up on these and be prepeared to look after them well, they arent easy fish for begginners.
livebearers are fun to watch. they will probally have fry, either take to fish shop to sell or whatever.or just get males, easiest way. females might have been sexed up at the shop so even then you might get fry.
some gouramies would work, dwarfs mainly.
female betta tank also another possability.
but for easy to care for, tetras are nice, a small (5) group of about 5 different species would work.
cories are intresting too, would live with most other fish, not puffers.
dont know much about cichlids so cant really comment.
a small community would look nice too, having sand substrate (for cories) maybe a few kuhliis (sand needed too), hatchets, rasboras.
cant think of anything else at the moment.

[Chrona]

If you go with schooling fish, you want to stick to one or two varieties in such a small tank.

[Incredulous_Ed]

A bunch of zebra danios. They are alot of fun to watch! and maybe some cories as well to fill the bottom part of the tank.