
A majority of beginners with aquariums will be overwhelmed by the huge amounts of decisions they need to make, as well as the vast variety of fish they have to choose from when it comes to setting up a new aquarium.
You need to consider the size, type, and positioning of their new aquarium, as to whether they will choose saltwater or freshwater for the tank. Let’s not forget living plants, or plastic plants.
Then you have filters, lights, heaters, food, and of course, the fish. There is just A LOT to decide.
When it comes to choosing the fish, you also need to think of care, which is where guides such as https://theaquariumguide.com/articles/mollies-care-guide come in handy. But, you need to choose the fish before you start thinking about fish. Or at least narrow down your choices!
So, how do you choose fish that are compatible for your home aquarium? Well, let’s get you started on the ‘how to’ of picking the right fish!
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Things To Think About
The first thing you need to do is make some decisions based around questions you ask yourself.
You need to do research, and decide on the fish that are best suited for your aquarium based on your answers to the questions you have asked yourself. With over 25,000 species of fish and with 2,000 available to aquarium owners, your list really needs narrowing down.
So, what should you be asking yourself?
Here are some questions to ask as you make your decisionss.
- If the fish gets big will it frighten or attack smaller fish?
- How big is it likely to get?
- Is it a territorial fish and does it need a big space for itself?
- Does it eat other fish? (Most tropical fish will eat other fish.)
- Will it eat live foliage?
- Is it available/ easy to get near me?
- Is it expensive/ in my price range?
- Will it dig in the aquarium?
- Does it ‘nip’?
- Is it too small to fit in with other fish?
- Does it require specifics with its water? (I.e. temperature, pH level, hardness/softness.)
- Is it a fish taken out of the wild, or was it raised domestically?
- Does it need to be in a group/school of fish, or does it enjoy the solo lifestyle?
These are the most important questions to be asking yourself and answering every time you consider a new fish for your aquarium. Some of these are more important than others as with fish that attack others, nip, bite and eat other fish. You want to avoid your aquarium becoming a hunting ground.
Ideally you want to be building your aquarium up around the species you have chosen that will be in it. If you do this you will be more successful at this and your fish will be healthier.
If you make up a tank that is centralized around the happiness of the fish, their needs, you are more likely to have a successful and healthy aquarium.
The type, location, and size of your aquarium will need to be tailored to be the most ideal environment for your fish. Your heating and filtering choices should also be chosen based on the fish as well. As should your lighting, food, plants and substrate as well.
Some Ideal Fish
Here are some ideal fish that you can choose, they are best suited for beginners with aquariums.
Neon Tetra
Neon Tetras are easy-going and bright, as a great addition to freshwater community tanks. They are easy prey for aggressive fish, but they are friendly and good fish to start off with, they also like schooling together.
They also do not need much space, and are easy going eaters.
Panda Cory Cat
You could also get Panda Cory Cat’s, they are small scavengers, and they have a white and black color pattern. This is why they have their name. They are often found living in groups of around 6, and will enjoy sifting through a very fine substrate collecting little bits of food from the floor.
They tend to get along with most other fish types, so they are ideal for community tanks.
Platys, Guppies, Mollies
The amount of breeds of these types of fish is insane. All of them are very easy-tempered, community fish. However, remember that they will also reproduce very fast, unless you separate the genders or only get females or males.
Most pregnant mothers of these are adopted, giving birth to many babies in days of being added to a tank.