Tips on Tropical Fish Keeping

Tropical fish keeping can be more than just a simple hobby. It can be a way to beautify your home, teach your children about caring for a pet and provide you with something very enjoyable to watch. Tropical fish keeping is also very easy, even if you've never owned a fish before. If you're considering trying your hand at tropical fish keeping, here are some of the main items you'll need so you can begin shopping around:

· Aquarium tank

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· Aquarium stand (optional)

· Air pump

· Lighting equipment

· Hood

· Filters

· Heater

· Thermometer and water test kits

· Aquarium Gravel (2" on bottom of tank

· Aquarium Maintenance Kit

· Decorations

If you're new and inexperienced at tropical fish keeping, I strongly recommend you learn all you can about the topic and visit your local pet or fish store for help and advice prior to making your purchases on the equipment required. The type of fish you get will depend on your personal choice. Guppies and Betta are both very easy to raise, so you may want to start with them.

Choosing a tank is one of the largest decisions you'll make in your fish keeping hobby. Keeping your budget and size of your room in mind, try to get a fish tank large enough to allow your fish plenty of room. Even if you're new at tropical fish keeping, try to start with at least a 10-gallon tank. It's better to have a big tank with fewer fish than a smaller tank that's crowded. The more water surface they have, the more oxygen they'll get. Air pumps will help aerate the water and keep your fish supplied with oxygen.

While an aquarium stand is an attractive addition, you can also use an end table or some other kind of table if you're trying to cut back on costs. The expenses involved in getting started on tropical fish keeping can add up quickly! Make sure you keep your tank away from direct sunlight and heating or cooling vents. The tank should also not be near noisy appliances or machines, as they'll be stressed very easily.

Your aquarium tank can be an acrylic or glass tank. Your pet store can help you choose the heaters, lights, air pumps and hood you'll need for tropical fish keeping. While some people choose complete filtration systems, others choose to go with a simple canister or sponge filter. Filtration systems are available in three types: biological, mechanical, and chemical. The purpose of filters is to help keep the water clear, remove odors and eliminate harmful substances from the water.

Pet and fish stores offer heaters that have attached lights (fluorescent or incandescent) and hood, providing you with one complete and very convenient system.

A heater that's thermostatically controlled will help you to maintain the correct temperature in your water. While tropical fish may be very easy to keep and maintain, they do have certain requirements to ensure a healthy environment. A water test kit is a necessity for tropical fish keeping to ensure their water is the proper pH level and temperature.

Once you've set up all the necessities for your aquarium (pumps, heaters, filters, lights, etc.), you're ready for the fun stuff: selecting decorations. You'll be amazed at the many different varieties of aquarium decorations you'll find. You'll have so much fun; you may find yourself at the pet or fish store every week!

Tips on Tropical Fish Keeping

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Successful Tropical Fish Breeding

There are dozens of different kinds of tropical fish for breeding to choose from, so the first question you must ask yourself is what kind of fish you would like to breed. Why is this important? Well, for one, there are basically two different kinds of tropical fish when it comes to reproduction. There are those that produce live births, which are minnow babies, and those that lay eggs.

Many professional breeders advocate for beginner breeders to start with live bearing fish, especially if the individual has little to no working knowledge of tropical fish or breeding experience of any kind. There are three main kinds of live bearers, referred to as guppies, platys, and mollies.

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One of the most important first things to remember when breeding live fish is to keep the newly born babies, which are called fry, away from other fish, or community, in the tank. Other adult fish don't consider fry to be living fish and instead find them to be a tasty treat. If you don't separate the babies from the rest of the fish, odds are they won't have much of a chance to survive very long. You breeding effort will end up being in vain. Also, don't assume that the fry's mother will not dine on them either. It's best to separate and isolate them from all adult fish upon birth.

When you plan on getting into fish breeding, it's a good idea to have another tank available, clean with a filtration system and the same water that's in the main tank ready to go once the babies are born. One difference that needs to be taken into account is water temperature. While adult tropical fish do fairly well in a consistent climate, there are certain water temperatures that are optimal for breeding among certain species of tropical fish. If you have a particular species you plan on breeding, bring your primary tank to that temperature to help the process along.

Also, baby tropical fishes are much more susceptible to the minute fluctuations in temperature. Decide which kind of tropical fish you are breeding and study the ideal water temperature for their fry. Maintain this secondary tank to that temperature and check it daily as the mother appears closer to giving birth.

Breeding your fish can be a fun and educational experience for people of just about any age, though it is not recommended that children partake in this unsupervised, since tropical fish require more care and are sensitive to changes in its surroundings than most freshwater fish. It is also a good idea to have a plan in place for what will happen with the baby fish that result from breeding. They can make ideal gifts for friends and relatives, complete with a tank and supplies to get started.

Also fish breeding can be a lucrative hobby for some, as long as they understand the market and where to find others willing to buy them. Check with you local government officials on any rules and regulations regarding commercial breeding of tropical fish.

Fish breeding can also be a great way to increase the size of your tropical fish family. Just remember to upgrade the size of the tank to accommodate the new additions.

Successful Tropical Fish Breeding

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