How to Select Ornamental Fish for Your Aquarium

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How to Select Ornamental Fish for Your Aquarium

By: Dr. Greg Lewbart

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For most people, freshwater fish are the aquarium fish of choice. Saltwater – or marine – creatures make up less than 10 percent of pet-fish sales and are generally more expensive to keep and less hardy. Here are some tips that will help you put together a basic freshwater aquarium.

Fish for Community Aquarium

Community aquariums house between three and thirty non-aggressive fish in a tank that ranges from 20 to 50 gallons and up. Most of these fish will eat flake or pelleted food and thrive in water with "middle-of-the-road" pH, hardness, and temperature values. Good varieties for a community aquarium include:

Mollies

Guppies

Swordtails

Gouramis

Silver dollars

Tetras

Corydoras catfish

Small plecostomus species

Danios

Loaches

Koi (primarily in ponds)

Goldfish - there are numerous varieties available

Fish for Aggressive Aquariums

Aggressive aquariums usually house a small number of larger fish that may attack or even consume more submissive fish. Many "aggressive" species are beautiful to look at – and can live surprisingly long lives. When mixing aggressive species in a single aquarium, choose fish of comparable size and make sure you add some structure (plants, driftwood, etc.) so the animals can "stake out" territory and hide, if necessary. Aggressive aquarium species include:

Oscars

Jack Dempseys

Red devil cichlids

Jewel cichlids

Convicts

Large plecostomus species

Green terrors

Piranhas (illegal in some states)

Carnivorous catfish

Single Fish Aquariums

The easiest kind of aquarium to keep is one that houses a single fish. For the most part, fish aren't social creatures and don't require contact with others, except to reproduce. They don't get lonely when there aren't other fish around; in fact, they're often happier not having to compete with others for food, space, and attention. If you're going to have just one fish, here are some good species to choose from:

Goldfish

Any of the aggressive species

Pacu

Large catfish

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1Tips on Feeding Large Cichlids
Oscars and Jack Dempsey's love goldfish, but are they safe?
Read More
2How Much Food is Too Much?
As a general rule, your fish should be fed no more than what they can eat in three minutes; in most cases, a single daily feeding is adequate. Too much food can make a fish sick; what they actually do...
Read More
3The New Kid in the Tank
Without question, one of the most important things you can do for your pet fish is to isolate new fish for at least 2 weeks (4 to 6 weeks is ideal) before introducing them into your aquarium.
Read More
4Aggression in Your Aquarium
Intraspecific (between members of the same species) and interspecific (between members of different species) aggression is common when it comes to keeping pet fish in your aquarium or pond. You can solve...
Read More

How to Select Ornamental Fish for Your Aquarium

How to Select Ornamental Fish for Your Aquarium

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"How to Select Ornamental Fish for Your Aquarium"

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