My Top 6 Must-Try Aquarium Fish after 20 Years of Experience

Cory is preparing to reduce his fish room from 36 tanks to 10, and he starting thinking about which fish he wants to keep. Here is his list of must-have fish that he almost always has in his fish room because of their distinct characteristics and fun factor.

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WHO WE ARE
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At Aquarium Co-Op, we focus on your aquariums. We specialize in freshwater tropical fish, aquatic plants, and the overall betterment of the freshwater fish keeping hobby. Our goal is to help you with your first pet fish and graduate you to an advanced aquarium hobbyist. If you'd like to take it to the next level, subscribe to Aquarium Co-Op and check out our weekly videos.

Cory McElroy is employed by Aquarium Co-Op LLC. He also owns Aquarium Co-Op LLC. Therefore, all content is sponsored by Aquarium Co-Op.

#Aquariumcoop #Aquariumfish #Fishtank

[bwxfyrm]

Listening to Cory talk lowers my anxiety, he’s so calm and cool. You look good Cory keep it up brother

[kissedbysun]

I really enjoy how down to earth you are. Sometimes aquarium keeping comes off like a competitive sport. Who has the biggest, meanest, or most delicate fish. But the lovely thing about aquarium keeping is there really is something for everyone...with no apologies or explanations. Enjoy what you enjoy! I've been doing this for over 50 years and I have my favorites that I keep coming back to, as well as still getting surprised by new fishy friends.

[edmorris]

I like that your Top 6 are all species that are generally available from most retailers, generally seen as ‘beginner fish’. I hate the way some people interpret ‘beginner fish’ to mean inferior, or something you need to progress from.

[brooksmiller]

6:47 - the blue platies looks so beautiful!

[butkusfan]

I have kept fish on and off for 30 years now, and I still go back to guppies constantly. The colors and variety keep me coming back.

[nathanhoveyaquatics]

Wait wait wait 🫷🏼 I knew about Murphy but Ladybird is gone ? 😢 If so I'm sorry man, I know Murphy was a huge loss. I cut Murphy out of the sponge filter box and hung it on my wall in the fishroom to show some more love to the fella.

[sharonjack]

I am so sorry to hear you say you lost both of your big puffers in the last year.

[elizabethf]

I'm surprised to hear that you fairly regularly re-home fish. I always feel supremely guilty if I have to re-home any of my fish for whatever reason, so this perspective is super refreshing!

[berenicehickey]

I loved this. I live in Singapore where tropical fish are sold really cheap so I've literally kept and bred nearly everything!
Now I'm back to long fin cherry barbs! Love them!

[RicardoJunqueira]

Nice list, Cory.
Thanks for all the insights.
You're such a positive and enthusiastic influence in the hobby for me. I couldn't thank you enough.

[John-Ebsen]

I love clown loaches but they do get big over the years, but I've fallen in love with dwarf chain loaches. They are crazy little guys.

[Bobbybruner]

I love my ram cichlids they were my first egg breeding fish to spawn, so much personality. I also love angel fish so derpy and chill.

[Kodygreenk]

Love platys, I created a dark red peppered Platy Strain .

[gzo]

Here is my preferred fish that few seem to mention… but black neon tetra are my absolute favorite. A school of them are a blast to keep. They are super hardy, have tons of movement and their schooling behavior is a blast to watch.

A close second for me a pack of albino corys. Could watch them all day cruising around the bottom.

[kenk]

My most beautiful fish is a Comet Goldfish. Got it as a 10¢ feeder from Petsmart. She's now about 7 inches and lives in my outdoor tub.

[AlexS_]

The newbie fish are popular for a reason and probably brought many of us into the hobby. At this point I prefer a new guppy variety to a new species, and while I sometimes come close to talking myself into some sort of amphibian, I then realize watching a goldfish is just as enjoyable to me and much easier

[sharonjack]

My favorite fish are guppies, Bettas, Pea Puffers, Comet/Shubunkin Goldfish and Bristlenose Plecos. I also like Ramshorn snails and lots of live healthy plants.

[DashDrones]

I never do water changes in any of my tanks, the fish, plants, shrimp all love it!

[jordanhamann]

Shubunkins in the 800 gallon would be pretty incredible

[katiewood]

I will always have a mutt guppy tank. I love the variety of color, pattern, and finnage.