Neon tetra
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 1.6 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 70–79 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- groups of 6+
Colorful freshwater fish
The freshwater fish with the strongest natural colors: reds, blues and golds that rival a reef tank. Many show their best color only when settled, among plants and in a group, and males are often brighter than females. Two shrimp make the list too: red cherry and crystal red.
Betta
Semi-aggressive · Top · easy care
- 3 in adult
- 5+ gal
- 76–82 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- one male per tank
Guppy
Peaceful · Top · easy care
- 2.8 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 72–82 °F
- pH 7 to 8
- groups of 3+
Platy
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 2.5 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 70–80 °F
- pH 7 to 8.2
- groups of 3+
Cardinal tetra
Peaceful · Middle · moderate care
- 1.2 in adult
- 20+ gal
- 73–81 °F
- pH 5 to 7
- groups of 8+
Ember tetra
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 1.2 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 73–84 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- groups of 8+
Honey gourami
Peaceful · Top · easy care
- 2 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 72–82 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- alone or pair
Dwarf gourami
Peaceful · Top · moderate care
- 3.5 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 77–82 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- one male per tank
Chili rasbora
Peaceful · Middle · moderate care
- 0.8 in adult
- 5+ gal
- 72–82 °F
- pH 5 to 7
- groups of 8+
Celestial pearl danio
Peaceful · Middle · moderate care
- 1 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 72–78 °F
- pH 6.5 to 7.5
- groups of 6+
Endler's livebearer
Peaceful · Top · easy care
- 1.8 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 72–82 °F
- pH 7 to 8
- groups of 3+
Cherry barb
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 2 in adult
- 20+ gal
- 73–81 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- groups of 6+
Swordtail
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 5.5 in adult
- 29+ gal
- 72–82 °F
- pH 7 to 8.4
- groups of 3+
Dwarf neon rainbowfish
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 3 in adult
- 29+ gal
- 75–81 °F
- pH 6.5 to 7.5
- groups of 6+
Boesemani rainbowfish
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 4.5 in adult
- 55+ gal
- 75–82 °F
- pH 7 to 8
- groups of 6+
German blue ram
Peaceful · Bottom · demanding care
- 3 in adult
- 20+ gal
- 78–85 °F
- pH 5 to 7
- alone or pair
Cockatoo dwarf cichlid
Semi-aggressive · Bottom · moderate care
- 3 in adult
- 20+ gal
- 75–84 °F
- pH 5.5 to 7.5
- alone or pair
Agassiz's dwarf cichlid
Semi-aggressive · Bottom · moderate care
- 1.7 in adult
- 20+ gal
- 75–84 °F
- pH 5 to 7
- alone or pair
Black ruby barb
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 3 in adult
- 29+ gal
- 72–79 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- groups of 6+
Discus
Peaceful · Middle · demanding care
- 8 in adult
- 55+ gal
- 82–88 °F
- pH 5 to 7
- groups of 5+
Flame tetra
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 1 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 72–82 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- groups of 6+
Gardneri killifish
Semi-aggressive · Top · easy care
- 2.6 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 72–79 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- groups of 3+
Jewel cichlid
Aggressive · Bottom · easy care
- 6 in adult
- 40+ gal
- 72–82 °F
- pH 6.5 to 8
- alone or pair
Lyretail killifish
Peaceful · Top · moderate care
- 2.4 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 70–79 °F
- pH 5.5 to 7
- groups of 3+
Peacock cichlid
Semi-aggressive · Bottom · moderate care
- 6 in adult
- 55+ gal
- 75–82 °F
- pH 7.5 to 8.6
- one male per tank
Peacock gudgeon
Peaceful · Bottom · easy care
- 3 in adult
- 15+ gal
- 72–79 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- groups of 4+
Phoenix rasbora
Peaceful · Middle · moderate care
- 0.8 in adult
- 5+ gal
- 74–82 °F
- pH 5 to 7
- groups of 8+
Red rainbowfish
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 5.9 in adult
- 55+ gal
- 72–79 °F
- pH 7 to 8
- groups of 6+
Scarlet badis
Peaceful · Bottom · moderate care
- 0.8 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 72–79 °F
- pH 6.5 to 7.8
- one male per tank
Sparkling gourami
Peaceful · Top · moderate care
- 1.6 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 76–82 °F
- pH 6 to 7.5
- alone or pair
Threadfin rainbowfish
Peaceful · Middle · moderate care
- 2 in adult
- 20+ gal
- 73–84 °F
- pH 6 to 7
- groups of 6+
Turquoise rainbowfish
Peaceful · Middle · easy care
- 4.7 in adult
- 55+ gal
- 72–79 °F
- pH 7 to 8
- groups of 6+
Cherry shrimp
Peaceful · Bottom · easy care
- 1.6 in adult
- 5+ gal
- 65–82 °F
- pH 6.5 to 8
- groups of 10+
Crystal red shrimp
Peaceful · Bottom · demanding care
- 1.2 in adult
- 10+ gal
- 62–76 °F
- pH 5.8 to 7.4
- groups of 10+
No species on this list match those filters. Try a larger tank or clear a filter.
More fish lists
Fish for a 5 gallon tankFish for a 10 gallon tankFish for a 15 gallon tankFish for a 20 gallon tankFish for a 29 gallon tankFish for a 30 gallon tankFish for a 40 gallon tankFish for a 50 gallon tankFish for a 55 gallon tankFish for a 75 gallon tankFish for a 100 gallon tankFish for a 125 gallon tankBest fish for beginnersBetta tank matesGoldfish tank matesAngelfish tank matesShrimp-safe fishCold-water fishSchooling fishBottom-dwelling fishTop-dwelling fishAlgae eatersNano fishCenterpiece fishFish for hard waterFish for soft waterDither fishAll fish
Names, and adult sizes where the article gives one, are checked against Wikipedia; care ranges are common hobby guidance, and each species page says which is which. 32 of these 34 are fish. Photos are real photographs from Wikimedia Commons, credited below; the lineup is our own drawing at one scale.
Photo credits
Real photographs from Wikimedia Commons, resized and cropped to fit; each is used under the license named.
- Neon tetra Holger Krisp, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Betta ivabalk (Pixabay), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Guppy Marrabbio2, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Platy Monika Korzeniec, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cardinal tetra CHUCAO, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ember tetra Klaus Rudloff, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Honey gourami Antoon Dommerholt (Dutch Wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dwarf gourami Quatermass (English Wikipedia), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Chili rasbora JoKrimmel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Celestial pearl danio Cisamarc, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Endler's livebearer Dgrummon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cherry barb Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Swordtail Usien, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Dwarf neon rainbowfish Leo-nie-weh-oh; cropped by Der Regenbogenfisch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Boesemani rainbowfish H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- German blue ram Eric Mengel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cockatoo dwarf cichlid William Kreijkes, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agassiz's dwarf cichlid Cisamarc, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Black ruby barb Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
- Discus Patrick Farrelly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Flame tetra Igor Balashov (iNaturalist), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Gardneri killifish Tommy Kronkvist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Jewel cichlid NasserHalaweh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Lyretail killifish Alexander Prokoshev, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Peacock cichlid Xav84800, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Peacock gudgeon Dirk Godlinski, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Phoenix rasbora Andrewbogott, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Red rainbowfish Hectonichus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Scarlet badis ATuin-hek, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sparkling gourami BEDO (Thailand), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Threadfin rainbowfish NRJMelvinT, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Turquoise rainbowfish Thomnight, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Cherry shrimp TheJammingYam, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Crystal red shrimp DirkBlankenhaus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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