Article by Amber Contant
If you love fish and marvel at their colors and the incredible diversity of Aquarium fish on the market, then you should consider getting an Aquarium. To do so will require a bit of know how; starting with your selection of fish. You can’t get just any fish for your aquarium, figuring out which will suit the size of your aquarium and what combinations of fish can coexist requires some knowhow. With that knowhow and a bit of patience, maintaining a salt water aquarium should be no trouble at all.
Get the Balance Right
The key to maintaining an aquarium successfully is balancing a lot of variables. The first consideration is how big a tank do you want, and do you have space for that tank? Tanks come in all kinds of custom dimensions to suit different living spaces, there are tanks that are long and wide, for more cramped spaces, you can probably have a tank of similar size that is tall rather than wide.
The size of your tank determines how many fish you can have, in general, a good rule is to have two inches of fish per gallon of water capacity, e.g. if your tank is 10 gallons, you can have 10 fishes, each two inches long, or five fishes four inches long. You should get your fish only from an established dealer. Less reputable dealers are more likely to give you fish that are sick or dying. You can tell a lot about dealers by looking at their showcase aquariums. The point after all of having an aquarium is to beautify your home or office.
Compatibility
There is a huge amount of variety in the world’s oceans and fresh waterways, and clearly, you can’t even have a fraction of it in even the biggest available aquariums. Do your research, find out what kinds of fish are suited to your lifestyle, remember that some fish require more care than others; if you are a busy person you may not want fish that are too high maintenance. Different kinds of fish have specific needs with respect to diet, temperature, chemicals, and compatibility with other fishes.
First decide if you want freshwater fish or salt water fish, freshwater fish are easier to take care of, but there are those who prefer the greater diversity available with saltwater fishes. Either way, it is easiest to get a school of just one type of fish, their care requirements will be the same and you won’t have any compatibility issues. With a school of fish that look almost identical to each other, it is also very easy to spot sick ones. Popular varieties are cardinal tetras or neons, loaches or pearls, clown plecostomus or bristle-nose corydoras catfish, zebra danios and any type of barbs. It is also a good idea to get two otocinclus catfish to control the algae in the tank, of course you may need to get more for bigger tanks.
A perfect fish to raise for beginners is the killifish. The great thing about this variety, is that it is very easy to maintain, you won’t be overwhelmed by the requirements for taking care of it. Killifish can be hard to find though.
If you do plan to mix fish, do your research and as your dealer before attempting it. Some common varieties can have very uncommon requirements, cichlids for instance can grow quite a bit from the time you first buy them, and a single angelfish requires at least a ten gallon tank. Oscars are pretty, but they can be messy, and they eat a lot of other types of fish. An aquarium can be a challenging thing to maintain, but for many, the rewards are well worth the trouble. There’s no harm in trying it out and seeing for yourself.
Amber Contant, from Pet-Super-Store.com,submitted this article. Go to Pet-Super-Store for an impressive assortment of dog beds.
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