These friendly fish tend to get on well with others.placeholder image
These friendly fish tend to get on well with others. | Canva/Getty Images

Tropical Fish for Community Tanks 2025: Here are 17 of the friendliest breeds of colourful pet fish - including the Guppy

By David Hepburn

Writer-at-large

Published 30th Jun 2025, 14:55 GMT

These fish should happily share a tank - meaning you can have a variety of finned friends.

From garden ponds filled with Koi Carp to the humble goldfish bowl – the UK is a nation of fish lovers.

The Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association (PFMA) say there are an incredible five million indoor fish tanks in Britain.

Around 10 per cent of British households own pet fish – making them the third most popular animal to welcome into our homes after cats and dogs.

There’s plenty of choice when it comes to adding fish to (well prepared and correctly set up) home aquariums, with pet shops offering a bewildering range of colourful and interesting finned friends.

But if you’re setting up an aquarium and want to have a number of different fish, then you’ll want once that aren’t going to fight (or even eat) each other - in what is known as a ‘community tank’.

Here are the 17 best breeds of friendly fish for community aquariums.

Harlequin rasboras are known for their distinctive orange bodies with black triangular markings and have been kept in aquariums for over a century. They are another schooling fish that are happiest in groups of six or more and are the perfect hardy fish for beginners. Their peaceful nature allows them to coexist with a wide range of community fish.

5. Harlequin Rasbora

Harlequin rasboras are known for their distinctive orange bodies with black triangular markings and have been kept in aquariums for over a century. They are another schooling fish that are happiest in groups of six or more and are the perfect hardy fish for beginners. Their peaceful nature allows them to coexist with a wide range of community fish. | Canva/Getty Images

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Swordtails are easy-going fish with an elongated tail resembling a sword - but it's never used for violence. Another fish that likes plenty of vegetation, the males are only occasionally territorial and otherwise this is a very friendly fish.

6. Swordtail

Swordtails are easy-going fish with an elongated tail resembling a sword - but it's never used for violence. Another fish that likes plenty of vegetation, the males are only occasionally territorial and otherwise this is a very friendly fish. | Canva/Getty Images

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Perfect to give you a helping hand with cleaning your aquarium, the Corydoras Catfish are bottom-dwelling fish that hoover up any leftover food. They prefer to be kept in groups of at least six and are extremely peaceful. Orinally from South America, they can defend themselves in a fight, thanks to their body armor topped by sharp spines.

7. Corydoras Catfish

Perfect to give you a helping hand with cleaning your aquarium, the Corydoras Catfish are bottom-dwelling fish that hoover up any leftover food. They prefer to be kept in groups of at least six and are extremely peaceful. Orinally from South America, they can defend themselves in a fight, thanks to their body armor topped by sharp spines. | Canva/Getty Images

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Also known as the Galaxy Rasbora, whatever you call them the tiny Celestial Pearl Danio isn't going to hassle anybody else in its tank. They look like tiny trout and originally hail from Myanmar and Northern Thailand.

8. Celestial Pearl Danio

Also known as the Galaxy Rasbora, whatever you call them the tiny Celestial Pearl Danio isn't going to hassle anybody else in its tank. They look like tiny trout and originally hail from Myanmar and Northern Thailand. | Canva/Getty Images

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