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Choosing The Right Fish

There are several types of fish to choose from when creating an aquarium. However, not all fish can co-exist nicely, so take care in picking your fish. Generally, there are four overlapping fish categories. The first two tell you what temperature the fish want and the latter two tell you how salty they like their water. * Tropical fish live in warm freshwater or saltwater. * Cold water fish can also live in saltwater or freshwater but they prefer cooler temperatures. *saltwater fish, cannot live in freshwater, but sometimes fall in the tropical category. * Freshwater fish, as the name implies, are fish that only live in freshwater. This may all seem simple enough, but there are great differences when it comes to caring for the different types of fish. If you have freshwater fish, as they are the easiest to maintain and are the hardiest of the bunch.

Things to Consider

* '''Theme''' An easy way to keep a balanced ecosystem in your underwater world is to choose a theme. Let's say you choose Amazon, Caribbean, whatever. Once the theme is chosen, look for plants and fish that naturally inhabit those environments. It makes shopping and maintenance easier. * '''Size''' Most fish will grow to fit their environment (within their genetic power). Take a goldfish for example. If you keep it in a very small tank it will not grow. However, given the proper conditions in a larger space it can grow up to three times what you would expect. Put one in a pond and watch what happens. Remember that buying a fish as a fry (baby fish) means that you will need to give it room to grow in as it matures. * '''Consistency of Environment''' Once you decide on how willing you are to dedicate time to upkeep for a certain type of fish, you will need to stick with that one type. This is important for tank conditions such as water temperature and salt content. ** The water alkalinity or acidity and mineral content (commonly referred to as hard or soft water) will also have to remain consistent. Keeping fish in the wrong type of water can either kill them or significantly reduce their life span and chance of survival. * '''Compatibility''' Be aware that not all fish "get along". Try to get fish that are relatively the same in size so that none get bullied around by bigger fish, or in the worst case, get eaten.

International Resources

For this resource in your home country, please see: ! DE: Fische