Fish

🐠 Aquarium keepers

Aquarium + fish supplies for Irish keepers

Fishkeeping is mostly water chemistry — the fish are the easy part. We're curating a serious starter range of tanks, filters, lighting, food and water treatments. While we stock up, here are the species that actually suit a beginner, the cycling step nobody mentions in pet shops, and the Irish-tap-water reality every new keeper needs to know.

What we'll be stocking

Aquariums & starter kitsLightingFilters & pumpsHeaters & thermometersSubstrates & gravelDecorations & hidesFish foodWater care & treatmentsCleaning tools

Popular beginner fish + tank-mates

Betta (Siamese Fighting Fish)

Betta splendens

Level
Beginner-friendly (solo)
Size
5–7 cm
Life
3–5 yrs
Diet
Carnivore — quality betta pellets + frozen bloodworms
Habitat
20 L minimum (heated, filtered, planted) — NEVER a bowl
Climate
24–28 °C
Lighting
Standard low-output planted-tank lighting

Long-suffering pet shop "bowl fish" — actually needs a proper heated, filtered tank. Males kept solo (will fight any other male, attack fin-nippers). Females can sometimes live in a sorority of 5+ in a 60 L+ tank. The most beautiful first fish if you set up properly.

Guppies

Poecilia reticulata

Level
Beginner-friendly
Size
3–6 cm
Life
2–3 yrs
Diet
Omnivore — flake food + occasional frozen treats
Habitat
60 L minimum for a school of 6+; hard, alkaline water suits them
Climate
22–26 °C
Lighting
Standard planted lighting

Colourful, peaceful, breed prolifically — keep all male if you don't want hundreds. Tolerant of beginner mistakes once the tank is cycled. Irish tap water is generally suitable; check your local hardness if buying soft-water fish later.

Neon Tetras

Paracheirodon innesi

Level
Beginner / intermediate
Size
3–4 cm
Life
5–8 yrs
Diet
Omnivore — small flake + frozen daphnia
Habitat
60 L minimum, school of 8+; soft, slightly acidic water preferred
Climate
22–26 °C
Lighting
Subdued planted-tank lighting

Iconic schooling fish — only impressive in a tight group of 8+. Stress easily; add only to a fully cycled, mature tank (4 weeks min). Sensitive to chlorine spikes from tap-water changes — always dechlorinate.

Corydoras Catfish

Corydoras spp.

Level
Beginner-friendly
Size
3–7 cm
Life
5–10 yrs
Diet
Omnivore — sinking pellets + leftover flake; NOT just "leftovers"
Habitat
60 L+, school of 6+; smooth sand or rounded gravel substrate
Climate
22–26 °C
Lighting
Standard lighting

Peaceful bottom-dwellers, work in shoals (never one or two — they get depressed). Rough or sharp gravel wears their barbels off; smooth sand is best. Fantastic peace-keepers in a community tank.

Goldfish (please read first)

Carassius auratus

Level
Intermediate — frequently mis-sold
Size
15–35 cm (yes, really)
Life
15–25 yrs
Diet
Omnivore — quality pellets + greens (peas, courgette)
Habitat
Single fancy goldfish: 75 L+; common goldfish: pond or 200 L+
Climate
Cold water 18–22 °C — no heater needed
Lighting
Standard

Goldfish are NOT bowl fish. Common (single-tail) goldfish reach 30+ cm and need a pond. Fancy varieties (Oranda, Ryukin) max at ~20 cm and need a big tank with strong filtration — they're messy. The cause of countless dead "first pets" is treating them like ornaments. Do this right or pick a betta instead.

Setup essentials — get these right or don't start

🔄

Cycle the tank BEFORE adding fish

The single most-skipped step. Run the filter for 4–6 weeks with an ammonia source (raw ammonia drops or a hardy starter culture) until ammonia and nitrite read 0 and nitrate appears. Adding fish to an uncycled tank is the #1 cause of "new tank syndrome" deaths. Test kits (API Master Test Kit) are non-negotiable.

📐

Tank size — bigger is more stable

Small tanks crash chemistry fast. Beginners do better with a 60–100 L starter than a 20 L "desktop" tank. The old "1 cm of fish per litre" rule is generous — under-stock the first 6 months while you learn.

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Filtration: 4–5× tank volume per hour

A 60 L tank wants a filter rated 240–300 L/h. Internal sponge filters work for small tanks; external canisters for 100 L+. Never replace all filter media at once — it kills your nitrifying bacteria. Rinse media in old tank water, never tap water.

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Always dechlorinate Irish tap water

Irish Water adds chlorine (and sometimes chloramine) to tap water. Both kill fish and beneficial bacteria. Use a dechlorinator (Seachem Prime, Tetra AquaSafe) on every water change. Treat for the full new-water volume, not the whole tank.

🌡️

Heater + thermometer (tropical fish only)

Tropical species need a heater rated ~1 W per litre (50 W for a 60 L tank). Always pair with a digital thermometer — heater stats fail. Goldfish are coldwater; a heater is wrong for them.

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Substrate matched to fish

Smooth fine sand for bottom-dwellers (Corydoras, loaches). Rounded gravel for community fish. Avoid sharp/coloured stones from non-aquarium suppliers — dyes can leach. Plant-friendly substrates (ADA Aqua Soil, Tropica) for live-planted setups.

🔆

Lighting on a timer, not all day

8–10 hours/day on a plug timer. Constant light grows algae. Light spectrum matters for live plants — 6500K full-spectrum LED is the safe default.

📦 We're stocking up

Our fish range goes live as we vet suppliers — we won't list anything we wouldn't use ourselves. In the meantime, our calculators, breed guides and AI vet tools below are free and don't need stock.

Free calculatorsAI symptom checkerFood recall watcherContact us

Frequently asked questions

Why do I have to "cycle" the tank?

Fish produce ammonia. Without a colony of nitrifying bacteria in your filter, ammonia builds up and burns your fish to death. Cycling means running the tank for 4–6 weeks BEFORE adding fish, with an ammonia source, until those bacteria establish and convert ammonia → nitrite → nitrate. Skip this and you'll lose every fish in 7–14 days. The pet shop usually won't mention it.

Are goldfish good first fish?

Almost never as sold. Common goldfish reach 30 cm and need a pond or a 200 L+ tank. "Fancy" goldfish (Oranda, Ryukin) need 75 L+ for one and excellent filtration because they're messy. The classic goldfish-in-a-bowl image is the cause of countless dead first pets. Get a Betta or a small school of guppies instead.

What's the best beginner fish for an Irish setup?

A male Betta in a planted 25–40 L tank is hard to beat — single fish, no compatibility issues, beautiful. A community of guppies + Corydoras in a 60 L tank is the next step up. Start with hardy livebearers; save tetras and apistogramma for after you've mastered water changes.

How much does a starter aquarium cost?

Realistic budget for a 60 L cycled community setup in Ireland (2026): €120–€220 for the tank kit (tank + filter + heater + light), €30–€60 for substrate + plants + decor, €15 for water test kit + dechlorinator, then €15–€40 for the first fish. Total: €180–€330. Add €20–€40/month for food + replacement filter media + occasional plants.

Is Irish tap water safe for fish?

Once dechlorinated, yes — Irish tap water is generally hard and slightly alkaline, suiting livebearers (guppies, mollies, platies), African cichlids and most community fish. Some areas use chloramine (not just chlorine), so use a dechlorinator that handles both (Seachem Prime, Tetra AquaSafe Plus). Never add fish to fresh tap water.

How often do I do water changes?

20–25% of the tank volume every 1–2 weeks for a stocked, cycled tank. Use a gravel-vacuum siphon to pull waste from the substrate at the same time. Always dechlorinate the new water and roughly match temperature — sudden cold or warm water shocks fish.

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