You can’t just choose any fish you like and expect them to all get along well together, it doesn’t work like that - you need a plan.
Firstly, do you want a community aquarium or a species tank? A community aquarium will hold a variety of different fish that will all live in harmony with each other. A species tank, as the name suggests, will only hold one variety of fish.
Most people start with a community aquarium, and it is a very good place to start.
Before you work out exactly which fish you want, you need to work out have many inches (or centimetres) of fish you can accommodate in your new aquarium. A long, shallow tank will hold more fish than a short deep tank, because it is the amount of oxygen in the water that is more important than the actual quantity of water.
As a guide you can expect to be able to fit one inch of fish for each gallon of water, so a good place to start is to calculate the number of inches of fishes you can accommodate. This is measured from the mouth of the fish to the start of the tail, and don’t forget to find out how big the fish will grow to, don’t just look at the size of them in the shop as they will almost certainly grow.
How do you go about choosing the right fish for you? Firstly look around and see if there are any fish which you definitely want, and start your plan there. You need to know what size the fish you want will grow to, and how many you should keep together. Some fish are fine singly or in pairs, others only really thrive when they have friends to shoal with.
When you have chosen the fish you want to base your aquarium on, look to see how many you need to get, and how many inches they will use up. Next, will they live in harmony with all other fishes, or are there some they don’t get along with? Also, take note of where they live in the aquarium. Some fish are bottom dwellers, some live mainly at the top, and others in the middle of the aquarium.
The best way to have a balanced aquarium is to have some fish that live in each level of the aquarium, as well as some fish that will keep the bottom clean, like corydoras. I also always like to have fish that will keep the sides clean, like a pleco (suckermouth catfish).
Community Freshwater Tropical Fish
There is a large variety of freshwater tropical fish that you can add to your fish tank but my two favorites are Mollies and fancy guppies. These fish are livebearers meaning that instead of laying eggs, they give birth to a little tiny fish and they are, in fact, quite easy to breed even for a novice aquarist.
Mollies
A Molly is a great fish for a beginner hobbyist. These fish are fairly hearty and will withstand adversity and conditions well so if you make a mistake you can have a good chance of you for surviving. You want to be sure that you have a least a 15 gallon tank and you have a good heater as these fish like the temperature to be between 70 and 82'F.
There are two general types of Mollies to choose from the Sail fin and the short finned. Most typically what you will find a short finned Mollies - the Black Molly and the gold dust Molly at your pet store. This Sail fins are much larger than have a striking shape but are harder to care for.
Mollies can be fed the regular flake food that you find in the fish store but you might want to think about mixing in some freeze dried blood worms and even throwing in a few black worms or two for a treat. If your finish tank does not have a lot of algae you'll want to also supplement their diet with spirulina flakes.
When keeping Mollies it's important to have more females than males. other fish that will coexist good in a fish tank with mollies include the Plecostomus, Swordtails, Angelfish, Corydoras, Catfish, Silver Tip Tetras, Red Serapes and Black Skirts.
if given the proper environment and care Mollies can grow to be five inches long and live to be five years old.
Fancy Guppies
The male fancy guppy is beautiful with a long flowing tail light comes in a variety of beautiful colors - golds, greens, blues, Reds, blacks. The female, on the other hand is rather plain coming in grayish brown. Many people love the guppy is a freshwater tropical fish and keep tanks with several copies in them which really maximizes the beauty of their colors as they swim in a school.
if you plan on keeping, or maybe even breeding, fancied up these then you want to be sure to have a big enough tank to provide them with enough room in a good heater as they like it to be between 78 and 82'F.
On the whole, guppies are pretty easy to keep that you can feed them floating flake food supplemented with frozen brine tramp or freeze dried blood worms.
You want to keep twice as many females as males in your aquarium. You can also keep Neon Tetras, ghost shrimp, glass fish, gouramis, dwarf frogs and catfish. Given the right conditions guppies can grow to be about 2 inches long and live for around three years.
Both mollies in guppies will do better if you add a little bit of marine salt to your freshwater fish tank - just one tablespoon for every 5 gallons should do. You might be able to keep them in a fish tank together but just be aware that the larger mollies can attack the guppies.
Both Jackie Robinson & Lee Dobbins - are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jackie Robinson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Aquarium Fish, Tropical Fish and Puppies Dogs. Jackie Robinson is a keen hobbyist and has kept tropical fish for many years. See more information about breeds of tropical fish, and other useful information about tropical fish at her website. Jackie Robinson's top article generates over 1000 views. to your Favourites.
Lee Dobbins - has sinced written about articles on various topics from . Lee Dobbins writes for where you can learn more about fish tank keeping and find out about more. Lee Dobbins -'s top article . to your Favourites.
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