Simple But Showy Start?

Hello... and welcome back to the hobby.

I've only started in the past 6 months - and I started with Guppies. I lost one about every two weeks, including this week  . They're very weak.

I've just got 6 Cherry Barbs and I love them to pieces. The 'boys' dance and flare their fins and go very red when they're establishing their pecking order or showing off to the 'barbie girls' (MrsB calls it willy waiving!) They should be in groups of 6 or more, but that'd be fine for your tank. They're also very hardy and adaptable - always good in a new tank.

Hope this helps.

Hi, there are quite a few fish that can be kept in 10 gallon tanks. That's US gallons, 37 litres, so they would be suitable for your tank from a size point of view, though it would also depend on what your water is like: soft acid or hard alkaline. You can usually find this info somehwere on your water supplier's website.

Rather than guppies, how about endlers livebearers? Smaller, hardier though they don't have quite the same flashy tails. I would recommend only males (same for guppies) as they both breed like rabbits. These like hard alkaline water.
Celestial pearl danios prefer soft acidic conditions (they are also known as galaxy rasboras) while ember tetras like acid to middling and soft to middling. For fish like this, a minimum of six of any species.

It will be easier to suggest fish if you can find out what your tapwater is like.




Since it's been a while since you last had fish, are you aware of cycling the filter? That is, growing enough bacteria in your filter to take care of the ammonia made by a tankful of fish. The really old way was to get a few fish and see what survived. Nowadays, fishles cycling is recommended, though you can still cycle with fish if you are prepared to do the necessary work - and big water changes with a small tank shouldn't be too hard 
How to threads for the two methods:
http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,17.0.html
http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,16.0.html

I don't know if you've seen this article?

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/article/first-fish-for-your-tropical-aquarium.html

well done thanks very much.

I presume you have hard water from a pH of 8. It rules out Rasboras, but allows Guppies and Cherry Barbs.

You local fish shop should keep most of their fish in the same conditions as the local tap water, with a section for (say) Soft Water fish, otherwise people would be buying fish acclimatised to different water than their tap water, and then kill them instantly(ish) when they got home. Wander along to your's, take a note-book, and jot down any fish that they have that takes your fancy then research them.

Thanks Colin and Sue. Yes I should have said the water is mentioned as slightly hard, here just outside Nottingham city.
 Just down the road is a branch of Maidenhead Aquatics, with a very good fish stock, it seems to me. i would say only a limited range of smaller tanks is there, but no doubt other venues would have the actual tank I finally choose - still keen on the 45l Arcadia for what and where I want. The Hagen Fluval of similar capacity is on show but access looks poor for someone with less than good hand mobility.