Great idea MamaBear!
As we both admitted to in another thread, it's easy to go nuts when starting.
I recently started a new game and have had worked hard at being patient and build a good infrastructure before trying to breed every fish possible. Here's my tips:
* Start game with help on. Provides nice "pop up" messages when things happen.
* Don't buy anything when you start! Save your money.
* Try out a few breeds. One hint - breed a Spotanus with a Fruitfish and a Shark. These typically will produce something worthwhile to sell. Common early big-sellers are a Golden Goldbulb and a couple of different types of Leaffish.
* If you are lucky and end up with a magic fish early - breed this one like crazy - sells for a lot of $$
* Once you find the combinations that produce the big sellers - ONLY BREED THOSE FISH. Don't worry about cross breeding others for now.
* Some may question this - but buy Aeration System early. From my experience it keeps the water clean and you avoid early diseases.
* Key early purchase is Fish Environment. Keep breeding and selling until you upgrade Fish Environment and Food to highest levels.
* Don't be tempted to buy a bunch of stuff until all research is done. Level 3 Fish Environment is $1500 so make sure you have that much.
* Other things to buy when you have extra cash - heater, selling enhancements, Plant of Curing.
* To avoid the mistake I ran into of just going crazy - set the speed to Fast and turn off the device (or do something else) for a while. When you come back and have babies, breed the limited set again, sell the adults and turn it off again.
I've attached a screenshot of my status. As you can see I'm not too far into the game yet have earned quite a bit.
Good luck!
-al