Best Freshwater Fish For Beginners (Top 14)

Here I have compiled a list of the most common and popular beginner friendly fish for any new fish keeping enthusiast to choose from. I have added categories based on what you are looking for such as community tank friendly, tropical fish, colorful fish, cleaners, etc. next to each one to help you to easily spot what you are looking for.

I have also included a little more information about each fish that would help you choose the best fish for your new fish tank.

• Bettas (Tropical Fish, Top Dwelling, Colorful & Community Tank)
• Corydoras (Tropical Fish, Bottom Dwellers, Tank Cleaner & Community Tank)
• Neon Tetras/Cardinal Tetras (Tropical Fish, Mid-Water Dwelling, Colorful, Schooling & Community Tank)
• Barbs/Cherry Barbs/Tiger Barbs (Tropical, Mid-Water Dwelling, Colorful, Schooling & Community Tank)
• Guppies (Tropical, Mid-Water Dwelling, Colorful, Schooling & Community Tank)
• Mollies (Tropical, Mid-Water Dwelling, Colorful, Schooling & Community Tank)
• Gourami/Dwarf Gourami (Tropical, Top Dwelling, Colorful & Community Tank)
• Angelfish (Tropical, Mid-Water Dwelling, Colorful & Community Tank)
• Common Goldfish (Cold Water, Mid-Water Dwelling, Colorful & Community Tank)
• White Cloud Mountain Minnow (Cold Water, Mid/Top-Water Dwelling, Colorful, Schooling & Community Tank)
• Platies (Tropical, Mid-Water Dwelling, Colorful, Schooling & Community Tank)
• Plecos / Suckermouth Catfish / Bristlenose Pleco (Tropical, Bottom Dwelling, Tank Cleaner, Colorful & Community Tank)
• Rasboras / Harlequin Rasboras / Chilli Rasboras (Tropical, Mid/Top-Water Dwelling, Colorful, Schooling & Community Tank)
• Kuhli Loaches (Tropical, Bottom Dweller, Tank Cleaner, Colorful & Community Tank)

Bettas (Siamese Fighting Fish) are known for their vibrant colors, long fins and aggressive behaviors. Betta Splendens come in many different varieties such as Halfmoon, Crowntail, Plakat, Doubletail, Veiltail, Elephant Ear and Alien, each showcasing different fins, patterns and colors.

Some Plakat Bettas are available in a GMO version, this gives them a neon yellow appearance and a beautiful glow when under blue light. Aggressive males should be kept alone (just one Betta per tank) and can easily be added to community tanks as long as the other fish don’t resemble them. Female Bettas can live together in sorority tanks (especially if they are siblings) and also make a great addition to any community tank.

Breeding with Bettas can be a tricky task, but persistence, trial and error will eventually get you success.

Corydoras are a peaceful little catfish that operate on the bottom of the tank, eating and cleaning up any leftover food and dead plants. Corys come in a few varieties to choose from, each with their own characterized patterns and colors. The most popular varieties are Bronze, Albino, Sterbai, Peppered, Panda and Skunk. Corys should be kept in shoals of four; you can never have enough cleaners.

Corys are a great addition to any community tank, bringing life to the bottom of the tank, while having a cleaning job on the side.

Tetras are an amazing option for any community tank, encorporating color and the schooling fish effect. Due to their small size, you need to ensure the rest of the fish in the tank are a similar size or atleast not that much larger for the Tetras to fit into their mouth (they will be eaten). Tetras come in many different sizes, colors and patterns.

Many beginners love getting GMO Tetras for their vibrant colors and rounder bodies, although many different varieties of Tetras are available in a GMO version. The various different Tetra varieties include Black Neon, X-Ray, Cardinal, Silver Tip, Congo, Rummy-Nose, Glowlight, Ember and Lemon Tetra.

Barbs are available in many different sizes and colors, making them the perfect addition to community tanks. The beginner friendly and peaceful varieties of Barb fish are the Cherry, *Checker, Gold/Chinese, Five Banded, Greenstripe, Redside/Two-Spot, Swamp, Ticto/Odessa/Red Crystal, *Tiger and *Sawbwa Barrb.

The (*) marked Barbs are known to like to nip at fins of other fish, so it is best not to pair them with fish with long and flowing fins. Barbs should be kept in schools of at least six and they enjoy planted tanks that provide hiding spots.

Guppies are among the most popular choice for beginners; they are small and colorful fish that give birth to live young. Guppies are much like rabbits in my opinion as they multiply super-fast. If you are going to add Guppies to your community tank you won’t have a problem with them overpopulating as the other fish in the tank will most likely eat any small babies.

Guppies can be classified as common and fancy, naturally the fancier Guppies are more expensive than the very affordable common ones. The following are some beautiful fancy options: Blue Cobra, Metal Blue Lace, Snow White, Red Cobra, Bumble Bee, Yellow Cobra and the Koi Guppy.

If you have any Bettas in your tank, it is a saver option not to add any Guppies as they might be seen as a threat seeing that they could appear similar looking with their flowing fins.

Molly fish are an extremely popular fish to start with as they are colorful and have many different types of patters and spots. Mollies are easy to care for and make a great addition to community tanks. Mollies have a lifespan of around 3-5 years, are active and enjoy larger planted fish tanks.

Mollies are always cleaning/eating plant debris and love swimming between the plants. They are mainly white/silver, black, red, orange and yellow, making a great addition of color to your tank. Molly fish are also livebearers like the Guppies.

Common varieties of Mollies include the Shortfin, Black and Liberty Molly. Fancier types include the beautiful Sailfin (Longfin), Yucatan Lyretail (Forked tail), Dwarf, Balloon Belly and Dalmatian Molly.

Another great option to the Molly fish are Platys, they look similar to Mollies but are a bit smaller and rounder and are available in more colors. Platies are also livebearers and the friendlier option between the two fish types and work great when in community tanks.

Platies can be red, blue, green, yellow, black, brown and orange with color combinations and calico patterns. They are a great schooling type fish that should be kept in a group of 3-6 with a female to male ratio of 2:1, just to give the girls a break.

Popular types of Platys for beginners are the Mickey Mouse, Reg Wagtail, Sunset/Sunburst and Bumblebee Platy.

Gouramis are beautifully colorful peaceful fish that work great in community tanks. Gouramis work best when paired with similar sized fish. A small group of 3-5 work best together in a large, planted tank. My Gouramis love floating plants and spend most of their time between the top plants of my community tank.

Great Gourami options are the Pearl, Dwarf, Neon Blue Dwarf, Blue, Honey, Moonlight, Gold, Sparkling and Kissing Gourami.

Freshwater Angelfish make a beautiful addition to any community tank, adding a graceful element to any fish tank. Angelfish come in different colors and patterns, the most common colors are silver, black and gold.

Popular starter Angelfish varieties are Koi, Albino, Chocolate, Gold, Altum, Black, Blushing, Ghost, Smokey, Zebra and Majestic Angelfish.

If you are looking for the hardiest of hardy fish, the Common/Comet Goldfish would be your best choice. You won’t even need a heater for your tank as these fish thrive in water ranging from 68-72F (20-22C) and they can tolerate colder water well.

Available colors are red, orange, yellow, white, calico (sheen/pearly, darker spots/patches) or sarasa (silver/white with red patches). You also get many different fancy goldfish types that are semi-tropical that do well in warmer water. Fancy goldfish have beautiful long flowing tails and fins with some interesting features at times.

The White Cloud Mountain Minnow is one of the best beginner and budget friendly fish you can consider. They are considered the budget version of Neon Tetras, being as colorful and not requiring a heater, meaning even less cost to run.

These small and hardy fish are a great schooling fish of groups of 6 or more. Adults reach a size of 4CM (1.575 inches) with the males being more slender and colorful than the females. The Minnow thrives in colder water temperatures (64-72F or 18-22C) and should not be kept at higher temperatures (75-79F or 24-26C) for extended periods as this will shorten their lifespan.

Minnows have a beautiful range of colors from silver-green/bronze to gold and red with their distinct shimmering fluorescent line running along their body. Color and feature variations can be seen with the Meteor Minnow that has longer fins and the Linni Minnow that has white and red fins with a red body.

Plecos, the suckermouth or bristlenose catfish are very popular amongst beginners as they are know as cleaners of your fish tank. Unfortunately some grow very large in a few months and produce more waste than cleaning at that stage.

The Common Pleco can grow over 12 inches (30CM), Bristlenose Plecos grow to about 3-5 inches (7-12CM), dwarf varieties usually stay under 2 inches (5CM) and Clown varieties tend to grow to 3 or 4 inches (7-10CM). Choosing the right variety for your size tank is very important as most people don’t realize the size the Plecos would reach and eventually regret purchasing their Pleco when it starts outgrowing the tank and other fish.

The Common Pleco colors are brown, black or olive-green but the more colorful varieties come in many different colors and patterns. If you are looking to add color and interest to the bottom of your tank, you should consider the following varieties: Zebra, Leopard Frog, Gold Nugget, Blue Phantom, Clown, Red Lizard Whiptail, Emperor, False Zebra and Red Bristlenose Plecos.

Rasboras are another great schooling fish option for any level of fishkeeper. They peaceful, colorful and active swimmers, providing your community tank with amazing color and life. Rasboras love planted tanks and space to swim.

Most varieties of Rasboras can be classified as nano sized fish reaching less than 1 inch (2CM) as an adult. Larger varieties can grow up to 4 inches (10CM) but are still smaller than most adult fish. They should be kept in groups of 7 or more, some people stock 25 of them and it looks spectacular in the larger tanks.

Rasboras are available in a wide range of vibrant colors and patterns with darker contrasting marking like lines and spots. The most popular varieties are the Harlequin, Lambchop, Chili, Neon Blue, Rummynose, Galaxy (Celestial Pearl Danio) or Strawberry Rasbora.

Kuhli Loaches or Eel Loaches are another popular and interesting choice for any fish tank. These loaches love moving around in the bottom of your tank, hiding, burrowing and searching for food. They are more active at night, but keeping them in larger groups can make them more coinfident and active during the day.

Keeping 2/3 together is good, but it is usually recommended to stock 5/6 in a tank together. Adults can grow up to 4 inches (10CM) and can live up to 14 years. Kuhli Loaches usually have a yello/pinkish underbelly with various tripes, bands and patterns running along their bodies, usually black, orange, red, gold, silver/white and bronze.