This guide is intended to be a starting point for anyone thinking of keeping fish, or who has perhaps just started and realised they don't know what they are doing.
Hopefully, it will point you in the rightdirection, informyou of some of the highs (and lows) of the hobby, and save youa lot of time, money anddissappointment!
This guide can't tell you everything you will need to know, butthere are plentyof sources of useful information easily available: here on Ebay there are some very good guides, there aretons of good sites on the web, and loads of excellent books on the subject for everyone from a completebeginner through to a veteran 'expert' with 20 years experience.
In the long run I would recommendgetting a fewgood books, perhaps one or two general ones, and then later on some more specialist ones when you decide where your interest lies. Websites rarely contain as much information as a good book (although there are someverynoteworthy exceptions to this rule!). Websites can be very useful for getting a 'feel' for an area of fishkeeping though and can be used for guidance on whatto look for in a book, before you part with any of your money.
One of the best sources ofpractical information and advice is a good local shop run by enthusiasts (not a big chain storerun for profit by accountants and staffed by 'trained' monkeys - no offence to anyone working in such a shop, the beststaff in these placesusually end up getting out and opening the better kind of 'enthusiast' aquatic shop anyway). Quality local shopsof this kind are somethingof an endangered speciesthese days, so if you find one it is well worth supportingit with your custom!
It is important to know something about what you are doing before you begin to keep fish, and certainly BEFORE YOU BUY FISH, as there are many pitfalls for the beginner.A bit of background knowledge is not that hard to acquire and will be repaid many times over.
Why bother?
Mistakes made by people new to fishkeeping can (and usually do) have the following consequences:
Wasted Effort(lots of money and time wasted on buying the wrong things and using them in the wrong way)
Disillusionment(a very high percentage of beginners lose interest because of a few simple mistakesand miss out on a great hobby)
Unneccessary Cruelty (YOU will be directly responsible for the (often slow andlingering) deaths ofliving creatures)
Ignoranceis no excuse for mistreating fish - there is still a prevalent feeling amongst some people in this country that fish are in some way 'lower creatures' that 'don't feel pain', but this is thankfully changing, even if our Government still defend thegivingaway oflive Goldfishas prizesat fairs!!!
Research has proven that fish are as sensitive to pain and psychological stress as any human being, and we now have a very good idea about what kind of conditionsdifferent species of fish need to live long,healthy, and stressfree lives in captivity. This information is available for anyone who is prepared to take the time to look,whichshould make NOT providing these conditions a crime.
Laws are changing and pressure groups are having an influence onNational Governments about how fish are: imported, transported, sold and kept, with time the regulations are only likely to get stricter, hopefully the decisions made will be the right ones, based on informed judgement,and won't just be 'knee jerk' reactions.
Fishkeeping is currently under pressure as a hobby fromsomevocal (if not very well informed)sources, a number of'animal rights' groups havedecided that no fish should ever be kept in captivity, unfortunately their judgements are based on the worst abuses which are currently permitted (e.g. fairgrounds, goldfish bowls, bad shopsetc...). It would be better for us all if we didn't give them any more fuel to burn us with, and instead theycouldbe encouraged to see the positiveaspectsof the hobby (there are many of these!). It might justbe a 'pie in the sky' to hope so, but it would be a real step forward for the fishkeeping hobby if some of these lobbyistscould bepersuaded tocampaign for better fishkeeping and the benefits it has to offer in terms of fish conservation, andethical pet keeping,rather thantrying toban it altogether.
Why keep fish?
There are many positive aspects to keeping pet fish, just a few are listed here, from the mundane and practical to the spiritual and possibly optimistic:
Generally easy pets to keep and care for, well suited to modern living conditions and small spaces.
Generally inexpensive, the vast bulk of the outlay is at the start with fishtank, stand etc.., but cheap in the long term.
Something for everyone, what ever your tastes and situation there is some kind of fish for you.
No problem leaving alone for short breaks and holidays.
Well suited as pets for (intelligent and caring) children and those with limited mobility.
Relaxing to watch, fishkeeping has been scientifically proven to reduce stress and blood pressure, there is also evidence that a fishtank placed in a stressful environment (such as a Dentist's waiting room) can help to calm people down.
A form of artistic expression. You can express yourself and your good taste (or lack of) throughthe environments you set upand theway youdisplayyour fish.Obviously, the well being of the fishes must come before all other considerations, although with some thought both can be achieved.For example,fishgenerally hate bright lights and over bright decor, if you wanted to have a brightly lit tank, a happy counter balancecould be established by having lots of lavish planting and lots of decorative bogwood to provide hiding places for nervous fish, thus giving them a good, stressfree home and you a bright, dramatic aquarium.
Good Feng Shui, whether you believe in it, or not, there is no denying a beautiful tank adds to the ambience of a room and is a point of interest for everyone who stops to view it in a way a piece of static art never could be.
Educational, for adults as well as children, entire lifetimes can (and do) get spent by people studying their fish withouteverrunning out of new things to learn.If as natural an environment as possiblecan be created for your fish it is common to observe the complete gammit of behaviourincluding complex socialisation, feeding, courtship, breeding andparental rearing of these fascinating and varied creatures.
Helps to preserve natural environment,somespecies are still 'wild caught', where this is properly policed (as it increasingly is) itprovides a sustainable natural harvest forsome of the poorest people in some of the most endangered environments in the world. When the alternative is often clearing land for cattle ranching or Soya production, with loss of many different species (including the fish themselves), the benefits are obvious.
Provides a sustainable and ethicalincome for many people inpoorer countries, whether the fish are wild caught, or captive bred (vast majority), this is true. Many of the fish farms which bred and rear fish for the trade are family run affairs in poor regions of the world, where other career options may be limited to virtual slave labour in 'sweatshops', drug dealing and/or prostitution.
Helps to generate interest in the environment and in endangered species.
Many species of fish are endangered in the wild due to: introduction of larger'edible' competitors, or overfishing for food, habitat loss (dams,hydroelectric schemes, flood 'control' schemes, canals and irrigation,and mostly clearing and draining for farmland)and pollution.A huge range ofspecies are captive bred for the fishkeeping hobby, and evensome of the most popular are endangered or extinct in the wild because their habitat has been irrepairably changed. Usually thesefish are too small to eat andhave no commercial value other than being decorative and thereforedesirable in aquariums, so if it wasn't foraquarists keeping these fish in some cases they wouldn't exist at all! Tragic thatit is that the natural environment of these fish is gone forgood, at least the species continues inour care for future generations to enjoy.
ANYONEcan have a positive impacton the hobby, on their own well being,and on the world, by keeping fish well, by breeding and rearing good quality fish to trade with other hobbyists, by educating others,and by creating a source of beauty and relaxation for those around them to enjoy. In a time whenwe seem to have less and less control over our own lives and the direction the world is goingI can't be alone in thinking this is a good thing?
What toavoid, theugly side offishkeeping...
Of course thereare many negative aspects to the hobby worldwide tooand it is a good idea for the newcomer to be aware of some of these so they can avoid them:
Not all commercial collectors, breeders, exporters, importers, dealers, andshops are as ethical as they ought to be...YOU can make a difference on this one by voting withyour feet (and your wallet).
Many people are STILL trying to keep fish in containers that arewaytoo small for them. You can STILL buy Goldfish bowls, and thereseem to be even more miniature tanks available than ever!!!Unlessyou want to keep tiny fish that stay small AND don't mind living in a tiny space (e.g. Endler's Livebearers) steer clear of anything less than a40-60 litrefishtank like the plague. As a rule the larger the tank the easier it is to set up and maintain- trust me on this one.
The poor old Goldfish seems to bethe most abused fish in the world. Kept in the right environment aGoldfish can live for 30 years and grow to a foot (30cm)in length.Healthy specimensare beautiful, colourful,hardy, easy to breedfish with lots of charisma that can usually be trained to take food from their owner's hand.Unfortunately they areSTILL: kept in containers that are way too small for them,kept without filtration, fed on terriblediets, given away as prizes at fairs, flushed down the toilet alive,fed to other animals alive, considered stupid (with a five second memory - a complete urban myth), andinbred, mutatedand mutilated into bizzarre and hideous forms, all for our 'entertainment'. If you want to keep Goldfish properly you will need:a BIG Pond, or a HUGE tank, you will need to have a correspondingly huge filter for any tank, and you would be very, very well advised to steer clear of any 'fancy' Goldfish with mutated fins, body, and/or head and eyes! Black Moors are Goldfish, so are Shubunkins, Comets, Fantails, Lionheads, Orandas etc... all are Goldfish.Standard 'Goldfish', Comets and Shubunkins are fine and are likely to have long healthy lives in even average conditions, the rest are severe mutants with little chance of survival for more than a couple of months.Before anyone says it: YES your Grandmother'sFantailed Boggle eyed GoldfishMAY have survived in a goldfish bowl for 20 years fed on a diet of biscuit crumbs, but people have survived being buried alive in coffins formonthson end, eating only cockroaches... doesn't make it right does it?
As if torturing Goldfish wasn't bad enougha FEWfish 'breeders' and 'scientists'in the Far Easthave stooped to new lows over the last decade by: tattooing, dying, mutliating, artifically hybridising,andgenetically modifying arange of fish species. Needless to say these 'Frankenstein' fishshould be avoided like the plague and any shop that sells them shouldn't have the benefit of your custom (they deserve far worse, but I don't thinkEbay will let me say what I think). The problem is that to a newcomer what might look likean attractive and colourful fishhasin fact been injected (for example) with a dye to make it look more 'appealing' and will shortly die as a result of theshock and/or related diseases. When the new ownerfinds out what they'vegot they are usuallyhorrified, but are stuck with it and the knowledge that they have been the final link in a hideous, sadistic, and quite possiblyillegal business.Ignorance is no excuse, research before you buy is painless and within anyone's capabilities.
One of the results of these 'experiments' in the Far East which seems to be here to stay is the so called 'Parrot Fish' or 'Parrot Cichlid'. This 'species' is actually a hybrid between twovery distantly related species of Central American Cichlid,in this case both 'parent' species grow to a large size and are well known for aggression (notALL Cichlids - pronounced 'Sick-Lid',are largeand/or aggressive - another urban myth!). Young Parrot fish can look quite'cute' in a sad and pathetic way (if that appeals), butagain, it may not be immediately apparent to the new owner what exactly they have, and what problems they have in store. With age 'Parrots' are prone to a range of ailments and deformities, usually fade to a dull orangey yellow (good food can help slow down both these problems), develop the black markings ofone of their 'parent' species,and become more 'lop-sided' and asymetrical. They can grow to a foot (30cm) in length, andhealthy specimens can bevery territorial and aggressive. Because of their deformed mouths theyare slow and messy eaters, andthey may also struggle to eat some foodsor may simply 'waste away'from starvation when kept with other fish that can eat faster. All in all, they are best avoided. Especially be aware of dyed, tattooed, and/or mutilated Parrots - some 'strains' have their tail fins amputated which means the poor sods can't even swim properly - imagine having your legs amputated to make you more appealing to would be buyers!
It isvery important that the newcomer is aware that aquatic shops are businesses, whilst an ethical one run by enthusiasts is likely togive honest advice in the hope of retainingyour custom long term,a bigger store run purely for profit is unlikely to care what happens to you, or your purchases, once you leave. Basically, this meansBE CAREFUL WHOSE ADVICE YOU TRUST - a little bit of knowledge can helphugely here and there is no harm in testing out a new store with some well chosen questions to which you already know the answer...How big do Goldfish grow? What is the minimum size of tank they need?Are Parrot Fish aggressive? etc...
Another word of warning on bigger stores (I'm not picking on them particularly - some smaller pet shops with no specialist aquatic staff areabsolutely appalling and a veritable minefield for the beginner!). Centralised filtration systems (CFS) are increasingly popular because they are cheap and easy to maintain and very few bigger stores don't have them. Basically, a CFS is a big filter which cleans the water from a whole lot of tanks in one go... if you can't see individual filters in individual tanks then the odds are the shop runs CFS - ask if you are not sure, the reaction can be interesting in itself! In principle CFS is fine if the fish are well quarantined and there is no disease in the system. Unfortunately very few shops do any form of quarantining (holdingnew fish inisolationfor a period of time to check for and treat disease), some may claim they do, but very few actually do (again the most likely to do soare those run by enthusiasts themselves), even fewer do it fora long enough time (ideally four weeks ). Obviously, quarantining is expensive for a business and in a trade where customersare mostly price driven most shops can't really afford to quarantine.If a fish with a virulent disease is introduced to a CFS then the entire stock of fish in connected tanksare also likely to be infected, or at least incubating the same disease,some measures may be taken to supress the disease in the tanks connected to the CFS (such as the use of UV filters), but the odds are when you get your fish home and put them in your tankthey (and all your other fish) will quickly succumb to whatever disease(s) they are incubating...If the shop are turning over enough stock they won't care about the odd casualty (or 500) and if theyremove visibly sick fishyou probably won'teven be aware the disease is present. By the time the fish is ailing, it's in your tank and no longer the shop's problem... in fact they might well be looking forward to you returning to buy some more in a few days time?! Maybe, I'm just cynical, but I prefer to buy my fish fromsmaller 'traditional' local shops where every tank is separately filtered and the nets are rinsed in disinfectant...
What to keep, or all fish are the same aren't they?
Not at all,fish are a very, very diverse group of animals. There areliterally thousandsof different types, species, and strainsof fish available,each with different requirements.
The concept of a 'community tank' in which you can keep a random selection of fish chosen at whim isfortunately coming to it's natural conclusion -Random 'community tanks' don't work, fullstop. The problem is all those different species of fish, from totally different environments, with different feeding and living space requirements, and totally different body language can't survive together in peace for long. Sooner, or later, the fights will start, one of the species will succumb to the wrong conditions necessary for keeping another one, or one fish will simply end up as dinner for another one!
Having said thatmixed communitiesof fish can work if they are all fish with similar requirements andof a similar size and level of aggression. Obviously, chosing fish for such a set up requires a certain level of knowedge,which the beginner is unlikely tohave, butselecting frompeaceful 'community fish' of a similar size and requiring the same kind of water is always a good starting place.
Often the best form ofmixed communityis a 'Biotype' or 'Biotope' tank, which tries to represent as accurately as possble the local natural environmentto which the selected fish are native.
An example ofa Biotypeis the 'Malawi Tank' in which fishare selected from those native to LakeMalawi in Africa,many of these fishnaturallydwell in the rubble slopes of the Lake edge and like to carve out feeding and breeding territories for themselves centred on the crevices andholes between boulders. A large tank is necessary, and must bepartially filled with a great stack of stones (slate is ideal for this) in which the individual fish can: hide, breed andfight (largely ritualised) battles oversmall feeding territories and mates. The choice of water chemistry, temperature, and even food is simple, as far as possible the aquarist tries to recreate the conditions of Lake Malawi, which is easily achievable given the range of equipment and foods available.It is not quite as simple as this in reality, as there are still many fish native to Lake Malawi whichthis set up wouldn't suit, but it gives an idea of whatcan be easily achieved, and thousands of Malawi enthusiasts around the country keep tanks like this with thriving shoals of beautiful, colourful, fascinatingfish in them.
Another option is a so called 'Species Tank', e.g. just keeping a single species, or maybe one, or two, largespecimen fish with maybe acouple of compatible'friends' of different species. If your taste runs to large predators (or just HUGE fish) thenyou aren't really going to have any other options. But, this kind of set up actually works extremely well for breeding tanks,very small tanks, and where youwant to create a dramaticdisplay with a shoal of a singlespecies (such as piranhas). Usually beginners overlook the possibility of keeping aspecies tank as they think it will be lessinteresting and spectacular than a 'community tank', in actual fact the opposite is usually true.
As a starting pointhere are some thingsyou need to thinkabout (and research) when deciding what fish to keep:
Freshwater or Marine? (freshwater is cheaper and usually easier to get hold of and keep, marines are perhaps more colourful)
Coldwater or Tropical? (there are many more tropical fish available in the UK (freshwater and marine),coldwater fish (other than Koi and Goldfish) are now hard to get hold of,coldwater marines are very difficultand rare)
Planted or Unplanted? (aquatic plants are a whole new ball gamewith requirements of their own- seeour aquatic plant guides for more info.)
Biotype, Species Tank, or Community?
Species: Cost?, Availability?, Hardiness?, Compatibility?, Shoaling?, Food? Eventual Size? Water Chemistry?
Getting started and where to go from here.
Hopefully this guide has given you some food for thought and stopped you rushing out to buy a tank and/or fish. It is well worth taking a bit of time to do some research and plan what you want, in the long run it will pay off tenfold!
Probably the next step is to buy the equipment you will need and set up a tank. At this stage you must also resist the temptation to buy any fish, as the filter will need a period of at least 3-4 weeks to mature,during whichfurtherchanges to your plan arestill possible, and once again good preparation will pay off in the long run.
When you are eventually in a position to buy your fish, resist the temptation to rush out and buy on impulse and stick to your plan. Also try to avoid buying sickly fish just because they are the only ones available of a species you want (I've had many hard lessons here). It is very sound advice to onlypurchase good quality healthy stock even if they cost considerablymore, once again the return on your investment in time and moneywill be well worth it as a healthy fish will almost definitely outliveliterally hundreds ofsickly ones AND won't introduce any contagious disease to your tank.
Good luck, and I hopeyour first tank inspires youto go on to many more years of successful fish keeping.
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